Milk thistle

Question
Hi Dr.

I have always suffered from a mild case of IBS with the main symptoms being nausea, heartburn, and bloating.

Certain foods such as red meat and dairy seem to trigger the bloating and I have reduced this.

However, I have real problem with alcohol.

I am not a heavy drinker but a few times a year, such as Xmas, I may go overboard.

This is follwed by severe abdominal distension, but not weight gain, for days after.

I have seen my doctor and my liver tests fine and is not enlarged.

Also, one or two drinks a couple times a week is OK. its just when I have six or more.

Have you come across this before, and besides the obvious answer of not drinking, is there anything I can take to help?

A friend suggested milk thistle. Is this effective and what dosage and for how long? What about yogurt?

THanks for any help!


Answer
Milk Thistle is great for liver detoxification, but that may not be enough here.  It sounds like you have some real digestive complaints, so I would recommend you see a functional medicine practitioner in your area and have them run a stool panel on you that checks for overall gut function and a balance of good and bad bacteria.  You might also consider a food allergy panel to identify the specific foods that are causing the issues.  Once you avoid those, any other treatment or supplement will help more.  RE yogurt - it can be a healthy food option if it is not loaded with sugar, but I would not say it is a great option for a therapeutic effect on the gut.  You will need to get a high dosage probiotic with the strains specific to what your lab test indicates.