IBS: IBS is a real, physical condition.
6 sections, about 11 minutes in total
4–10%
Between 4 and 10 percent of adults meet IBS criteria (~4% by strict Rome IV, up to ~10% by broader definitions).
~2×
IBS is diagnosed about twice as often in women.
500 M
500 million neurons line your gut and carry signals to and from your brain.
Start with the signs
The signs of IBS.
IBS stands for irritable bowel syndrome. It is a disorder of how the gut and brain talk to each other, often called gut-brain interaction. The gut is more sensitive and its movement is less regular, but tests show no damage. It is diagnosed by the pattern of symptoms, not by a scan or a blood test. Tap the signs you have to see why they happen.
Nothing you tap is stored. This is a mirror for you, not a form for us.
The diagnostic pattern
Check your last three months.
Tap what matches you. These items are simplified from the Rome IV criteria.
Nothing checked yet. Tap each card that matches, and the verdict updates as you go.
These items are simplified from the Rome IV criteria for learning. IBS is a medical diagnosis, partly because ruling out conditions like celiac disease and IBD matters even more than settling on the label.
What the evidence says
What actually eases IBS.
Here are five things people try. Decide what you think of each one before the verdict shows. Some score better than expected and some worse.
Tap a promise from the label or the ad:
Pick a claim, make your call, then see what the trials actually found.
Verdicts summarize the cited research and will change if the research changes. This is coaching context, not a prescription, and it is not a replacement for a diagnosis.
Know your subtype
IBS is grouped by stool pattern.
IBS is grouped into four types based on your usual stool pattern. Tap each type to see what it looks like and which habits help it. Post-infectious IBS is not a fifth type. It just means your IBS started after a gut infection, and it can look like any of the four.
Tap a tab to open it. The detail lands here.
The four subtypes follow the Rome IV stool-based classification (C, D, M and U). Post-infectious onset can land in any of them, and many people shift subtype over the years, so the plan shifts too.
The gut-brain loop
Why one flare makes the next more likely.
Click through the four stages of the cycle. The callout below explains how to interrupt it.
Tap a step to open it. Each one carries the detail.
The loop can be interrupted
Regular meals and sleep steady the gut's rhythm. A daily relaxation practice calms the loop itself, and gut-directed relaxation has real trial support. Structured food trials with a planned reintroduction replace cutting foods out of fear.
Now the part you control
Build a steady routine first.
First-line care for IBS is simple, steady work on meal rhythm, sleep, stress and movement, followed by targeted food work. Toggle what you'd genuinely do.
Your total score
7/ 36
Start with rhythm. Eating and sleeping at consistent times gives a reactive gut fewer sudden changes to respond to.
The score is for illustration, not a clinical measure. The low-FODMAP diet has good evidence for IBS, but as a structured, short-term elimination with planned reintroduction, ideally guided by a dietitian. It is not a permanent diet, and we do not run it as one.