Aerobic Activity For Digestion Relief: How Aerobic Activity Relieves Irritable Bowel Syndrome

If you suffer with some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, you have lots of company. Irritable bowel syndrome afflicts 10% to 15% of all people worldwide. That would be about a billion people around the world who suffer from the same affliction. It affects about 1/5 of Americans, and is a little bit more common in women than in men. In many places around the world it is caused by poor living conditions. In places like the United States, Canada, Europe, and other industrialized nations, this affliction may have its roots in stress or bad eating habits.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a condition characterized by bloating, diarrhea, cramps, constipation and abdominal pain and discomfort. In America it usually develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. By this period of life people are starting to suffer the effects of unhealthy lifestyles like inactivity and bad eating habits. Especially where these symptoms are the result of inactivity, aerobic activity can often correct and reverse much of the damage.

The entire system of an unconditioned person is weak because his inactivity has caused his cardiovascular system to degenerate. Weakened lungs and heart provide the body with a very meager and inadequate blood-oxygen supply so that muscles cannot operate at full capacity. Aerobic activity conditions the body and greatly enhances the blood-oxygen supply to every tissue in the body, including the core muscles that move food and nutrition through the system. The result is that the body's digestive muscles can perform their function and eliminate waste more quickly and efficiently.

An experiment was conducted in Sweden to investigate the effects of Aerobic activity for the relief of irritable bowel syndrome. Participants who were suffering from the disorder were divided into two groups. The first group in the study continued with their normal habits and lifestyle. The second group did moderate or vigorous activity 3 to 5 times a week for periods of about 20 to 30 minutes. When the investigation was completed, 5% of participants in the inactive group reported a decrease in symptoms while 25% of participants reported that their symptoms worsened. In the active group, on the other hand, 51% of participants reported an improvement in symptoms while only 8% of participants reported that their symptoms had worsened.

If the investigation in Sweden had continued for an extended period, the results would probably have shown much greater improvements for those in the active group. When irritable bowel syndrome is the result of many years of inactivity, the body needs time to be reconditioned. A person will probably begin to feel the positive results of aerobic activity within a few days, but it will usually take several weeks to substantially strengthen the cardiovascular system and enrich the body's blood-oxygen supply. Aerobic activity may not be the answer for everyone, but it is a great help to most.