Do you suffer from IBS? Then you need to try this natural daily food supplement

After suffering for years with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Zoe Salmon-Corrie found relief by taking over-the-counter probiotics. 

IT’S not everyone who will speak about the workings of their bowels but former Miss Northern Ireland Zoe Salmon-Corrie does so with humour and refreshing honesty because she’s on a mission to bring Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) out into the light of day.

She has suffered from the debilitating collection of symptoms since she was a teenager and now that she’s found relief, aged 36, she wants to tell the world about it.

But more than that, the former Blue Peter presenter wants to share her story so that others will know they are not alone.

“A lot of people suffer in silence, but some people don’t even realise they might be suffering from IBS,” she says.

“When I was a teenager [growing up in Northern Ireland], there were no stories about IBS and nobody was talking about it. I want other people to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

For the TV presenter, that light has come in the form of Alflorex, an over-the-counter probiotic developed by Alimentary Health in Cork, which won Best GI Product at the Irish Pharmacy News Awards in 2016.

She can’t say enough about the natural daily food supplement that has kept her symptom-free for three months.

She is now an Alflorex ambassador and urges others to try it, though she does acknowledge that IBS can be a “minefield of confusion”.

The first time she got an attack, aged 16, she found it bewildering and frightening. She was studying for her A levels and working in a shop during her spare time.

After her shift one day, she collapsed.

“I remember thinking, ‘What is wrong with my body?’ Up to then, I only ever had a cold but I broke out into a cold sweat and collapsed.”

Her GP thought it was probably something she ate.

A month later, she got another bout of excruciating abdominal pain after a meal and that was the start of two decades of experimentation with diet, supplements, and all kinds of probiotics in an attempt to get the condition under control.

“Nothing worked,” she says, recalling times when she was in such agony that she could not stand.

“Once, I was at a friend’s dinner party when I got an attack. I had to lock myself in the bathroom. They were calling me but I couldn’t even speak, it was so bad.

“With IBS, you get terrible cramps which are caused by a complete blockage; this means you can also get bloating, diarrhoea, and constipation,” she explains.

At times, the bloating was so prominent, the press asked her if she was pregnant.

She learned to live with it and went on to identify certain dietary triggers, such as ice cream and sauces, yet she believes that IBS is very complex and can’t be explained wholly by diet or by stress.

She followed a gluten-free diet and cut out dairy, but she still had attacks.

“Putting food in my mouth was like playing Russian roulette; you were never sure what might happen.”

Others have found relief from IBS by following the Fodmaps diet, a diet limiting foods high in certain molecules (fructose, lactose, fructans, galactans, and polyols) that are poorly absorbed in people with IBS.

Mindful eating can also bring relief and there have been several studies showing that probiotics help, but researchers have found only some of them aid digestion.

Alflorex, however, was one of the few that has been clinically proven to work — VSL#3 and water-based drink Symprove also rated well in independent tests.

It has certainly worked for Zoe Salmon-Corrie who had her last attack in Amsterdam airport four months ago after filming Island Challenge, which airs this autumn.

“If you’d paid me £1m, I couldn’t have crawled on to that plane,” she says.

She was really worried IBS would destroy her big day last April when she married William Corrie in Barbados.

But, before the wedding, Alflorex got in touch and asked her to try its product. She hasn’t had an attack since and is now a brand ambassador: “I just want people to know that there is an option out there they can try but, most of all, I want IBS sufferers to know they are not alone.”

Electric spiraliser

WE’RE committed spiralisers here at Feelgood but know the pain of trying to reduce a butternut squash or sweet potato to ribbons.

Enter Kenwood’s electric spiraliser (€69.99), the first electric version on the Irish market. It’s designed to take all the hard work out of turning fruit and veg — even the hard and woody ones — into spirals, noodles or ribbons.

It comes with a choice of cutting attachments. The pappardelle cutting cone creates thick ribbons, while the spaghetti cutting cone makes thin vegetable-style noodles.

It’s available from www.kenwoodworld.ie and retailers nationwide.

Budget organics

IF you fancy the idea of going organic but are put off by the price tag, check out Lidl’s organic food sale, which runs nationwide from August 1.

The sale will feature up to 30 organic products and will continue while stocks last.

Before the promotion kicks off, Roz Purcell, author of Natural Born Feeder,

has teamed up with the supermarket chain to create a series of simple, no-fuss organic recipes.

Roz has developed a range of energy-giving breakfasts, nourishing lunches and dinners and guilt-free treats such as coconut cashew bars and honey pears with orange and vanilla cashew cream.

There are also paleo and vegetarian options — all on a budget.

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Spot of bother?

EAT your way to clear skin by stocking up on orange-coloured foods, such as carrots, sweet potatoes and butternut squash, which all contain betacarotene.

Nutritionist and author of The Natural Health Bible for Women, Dr Marilyn Glenville, says betacarotene is a precursor to vitamin A, an essential skin nutrient.

“Vitamin A is specifically beneficial for treating acne as it protects your skin from free radicals,” she said.

Oily fish, selenium (found in seeds, wholegrains, Brazil nuts and shellfish) and anti-oxidants, such as pomegranate, also nourish the skin.

Making memories

FOOD company Unilever Food Solution has come up with an idea that uses happy memories to improve the health of people in nursing homes.

Life Stories, a resource pack for Irish nursing homes, aims to help promote, monitor, and maintain cognitive health by helping people in residential care to document and share their life memories through a series of activities.

To find out more and order a pack, see www.unileverfoodsolutions.ie