If you’re an IBS sufferer, then you’ll be more than familiar with the symptoms, including regular bouts of abdominal pain and changes to your bowel habits (read: diarrhoea and/or constipation), which may be accompanied by bloating and gas. It’s a syndrome that can be as unpredictable as it is unpleasant. Many sufferers can have their day derailed by an attack or live in a state of almost permanent discomfort. The flow-on effects of this can add up to days off work, mental health issues and difficulty enjoying life (is it any wonder?).

What makes IBS so tricky to treat is that the cause of the development of the condition isn’t well understood, and likely stems from multiple factors, including genes, lifestyle, and the environment. For example, in some people, a nasty bout of gastroenteritis can kick off the symptoms of IBS (termed ‘post-infectious’ IBS), whereas others have been dealing with their IBS for as long as they can remember.

Currently those suffering from IBS are advised to try and identify their triggers, which can mean identifying certain foods, being aware of hormonal changes and monitoring their stress levels - all factors that can feed into an IBS attack. This advice is to be heeded by sufferers who want to keep their attacks to a minimum or lower their discomfort level.

But what if there were additional ways to improve IBS? Biome IBS Probiotic contains two of the most extensively clinically trialled probiotic strains shown to relieve the symptoms of IBS: Lactobacillus plantarum 299v and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. Both strains have been shown to be effective in reducing abdominal pain and bloating, which is good news for IBS sufferers, but bad news for bloating!