Click here if this email does not appear properly formatted.

In this Issue...

Food & Diet

Special Events

Rx News & Research

Ask Heather

About Us

Eating for IBS

Eating for IBS is the
life changing cookbook for good digestive health. Discover the delicious diet that controls IBS!

Tell a friend about
the IBS newsletter!

Your friend's email:

First Year: IBS

First Year: IBS is an essential guide that covers the core issues of
IBS symptom prevention on a daily basis.

Need help?
Have questions?

Come join the IBS Message Boards!

Did you miss the latest
IBS newsletter and Sloppy Joe recipe?

Past issues
are posted here!

May 8, 2003

It's Tea Time!
Honey Oatmeal Muffins

14 Muffins

1 C quick cooking oats, uncooked
1-1/2 C white flour
1 T baking powder
1/8 t salt
2 egg whites
3 T honey
2 T canola oil or applesauce
1 C soy or rice milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine first four ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly, then make a well in center of mixture and set aside.

Combine egg whites, honey, oil, soy milk and whisk well. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients stirring just until just moist. Spoon into muffin pans lightly coated with cooking oil spray, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on rack.

Thanks Sharon!

For more recipes, click here for the IBS Recipe Board!

Hello to everyone -

This is a fantastic recipe courtesy of Sharon Mello and the IBS Recipe Exchange Board! If you haven't checked the boards yet for a wonderfully wide variety of delicious recipes, all of them IBS safe, click here to come visit us. Have a favorite recipe you'd like to modify but don't know how? The board is the place to get answers to all your IBS kitchen questions.

These delectable honey oat muffins take just two mixing bowls and ten minutes to make. All of the ingredients are kitchen staples, and clean up is minimal. Like most muffin recipes, these freeze beautifully, so you can bake a double batch and then freeze extras. Just pull out a muffin for breakfast or a snack all week long.

These muffins have no sugar at all, and just a little bit of honey, so they're less sweet than many baked goods. They're also dairy free and very low fat. The oatmeal provides a hearty goodness and a great soluble fiber basis as well. As a result, these muffins are a wonderful way to maintain digestive stability while enjoying a fabulous fresh-baked treat. So pour yourself a nice hot cup of herbal tea (peppermint and fennel are especially helpful for IBS), sit down to relax, and savor a delicious honey oatmeal muffin!

Best Wishes,
Heather Van Vorous

Visit the New Hypnotherapy for IBS Message Board Community
We now have an IBS message board just for hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis! The board is in full swing with great information, links to research articles, feedback from folks with IBS who have tried hypnotherapy, and more. If you've been considering hypnotherapy treatment for your IBS symptoms, please come by and ask any questions you have. The board is moderated and offers a supportive and informative environment specifically focused on hypnotherapy as a clinically researched and medically established means of treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We look forward to welcoming you there!

NOTE: For all article links, please refresh your browser page if the article does not appear when you click on the link. For Medscape articles you may have to register in order to view articles (registration is free).

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Worse During Menstrual Periods
Women who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome often experience a worsening in symptoms during their periods, suggesting that fluctuations in sex hormones may play a role in the condition, British researchers report. The findings may help explain why more women than men are afflicted with irritable bowel syndrome. Click here for more information...

The Economic Consequences of Irritable Bowel Syndrome -
A US Employer Perspective
The objective of this study was to measure the direct costs of treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)and the indirect costs in the workplace. This was accomplished through retrospective analysis of administrative claims data from a national Fortune 100 manufacturer, which includes all medical, pharmaceutical, and disability claims for the company's employees, spouses/dependents, and retirees. The conclusion reached was that irritable bowel syndrome is a significant financial burden on the employer that arises from an increase in direct and indirect costs compared with the control group. Click here for more information...

Lotronex Back on the US Market as a Result of Big Money Pressure?
A doctor consulting for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the controversial irritable bowel syndrome pill Lotronex claims the pressure of big money prompted the agency to let the drug back on the market after it was initially withdrawn over safety fears. Dr. Paul Stolley, a retired professor from the University of Maryland, says he believes the FDA is too close to the drug companies it regulates. Under a 1992 law, pharmaceutical firms actually help pay the bill for regulators to review product applications. His experience with the bowel drug Lotronex, or alosetron, "is a perfect example" of how tightly industry and the agency are now linked, and how companies can use fiscal muscle to have their way over sound science. Click here for more information...

Is There a Magic Weight Loss Carb?
Just as we've been hearing more and more about good and bad fats, diet gurus are starting to talk more about good and bad carbohydrates. But are there really such things? All carbohydrates are broken down into sugar, or glucose, which is the body's fuel. Carbohydrates with little fiber break down quickly. Those foods with carbohydrates trapped in fiber take longer to break down. The rate at which this happens can be represented on what nutritionists call the glycemic index. But is the glycemic index useful? And what about the notion that glucose from high-index foods is more likely to be stored as body fat? Click here for more information...

Scar Tissue Surgery Doesn't Seem to Help Chronic Abdominal Pain
A new study shows that a common surgery for chronic abdominal pain doesn't actually seem to relieve the pain. Scar tissue in the abdomen is thought to be a common cause of chronic abdominal pain. But researchers say that doctors shouldn't recommend this surgery because the risks outweigh the benefits. Click here for more information...

Clinical Trials for IBS?
"I'd like to participate in IBS research trials. How do I do that?" - Angela Maltan

There has been a recent wave of new research into IBS, and as a result there are actually quite a few different clinical trials taking place across America. The best source for tracking and learning about IBS research trials is CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service. Studies are organized by state, and a brief description of each clinical trial is provided, as well as full contact information for the study center. Most (but not all) of the studies are for investigational drugs, and some of them are symptom-specific (diarrhea, constipation, etc.). If you would like to be notified via email of any new trial listings you can subscribe to CenterWatch's notification service. Even if you're not personally interested in participating in a trial, it's quite interesting to check the direction of research in the IBS field, and it's good to be aware of the various approaches that are being taken by medical professionals.

Heather & Company is dedicated to serving people with IBS. Our mission is to offer education, services, and products that allow people with IBS to successfully manage their symptoms through lifestyle modifications. We currently offer the books
Eating for IBS and First Year IBS, web site resources, seminars and classes, and Heather Cooks!, a healthy cooking show on the internet and television. We also host the only patient-expert moderated IBS Bulletin & Message Board on the internet with forums for diet, recipes, hypnotherapy, and yoga. We will soon have other IBS services available. Heather Van Vorous, an IBS sufferer since age 9, is the company founder and president.

Our websites receive over 500,000 unique visitors each year, and our newsletter is sent to over 13,000 people twice monthly. Every month over one thousand new people join our mailing list. Heather & Company and Heather Van Vorous offer the following...

The world's best-selling and best-reviewed books for IBS

The internet's largest IBS newsletter

The only full-length cooking show on television and the internet with a specific focus on good digestive health

Developed the first and only comprehensive IBS dietary guidelines and recipes

Excerpts and recipes from Eating for IBS licensed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Included in 4th edition of Marquis Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare

Clinical research study based on Eating for IBS diet underway in the private gastroenterology practice of Dr. Noel Hershfield in Calgary, Canada

Dietary information used by the Radiology Department of the Cancer Centre in Birmingham, England, for treatment of radiation enteritis

Dietary information featured in Today's Dietitian 2003 cover story, "IBS: Suffering in Silence"

Information requested by gastroenterologists, family physicians, and dietitians across the USA, Canada, UK, and Australia for IBS patient distribution

The "Authorized Expert" for Diet & Nutrition at the IBS Association and IBS Self Help Group forums

Finalist for an IACP Julia Child Cookbook Award 2001 - Eating for IBS

#17 on the Library Journal's Cookbook Bestseller list for 2000 - Eating for IBS

Work with corporate HR departments to offer employee IBS education programs.

Nominated for a Woman of Strength Award by Oxygen.com

Over 4,000 personal thank you letters received from readers worldwide for IBS dietary information

Exhibitor at Digestive Disease Week and American Dietetic Association conferences

Foremost patient-expert on IBS in America

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the websites and this newsletter for companies and/or products that have been legitimately established as helpful for digestive disorders. Please click here to contact us for information.

You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in IBS news and information.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER - This email is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a doctor-patient relationship. Any application of the recommendations in this email is at the reader's discretion. Heather Van Vorous and Heather & Company are not liable for any direct or indirect claim, loss or damage resulting from use of this email and/or any web site(s) linked to/from it. Readers should consult their own physicians concerning the recommendations in this email.