[miranda]

Hi Everyone,I've been wanting to start a food diary for a while to figure out if there are certain foods that trigger my D. I have been feeling really good for about a week, no anxiety, regular fairly formed BM's etc... This morning I woke up feeling just fine, had a non urgent BM then got 'the feeling'. The feeling like the dam is going to burst and what's coming is not pretty!This leads me to wonder if it was something I ate in previous days...Writing down what I eat each day seems fairly straightforward and simple, but how do you interpret and relate the foods to what's happening to your bowels? How does a food diary help you find your triggers?Thanks...

 

[21438]

Hi miranda,If you could do this with the help of a nutritionist or GI they can help you. Different foods take different times to react. If you write down the time along with what you eat, then the time you get your symptoms. When i was testing foods I'd eat only 'good foods'(things that never made me sick, like soya milk, rice and chicken) and then I'd test a particular food (i.e onions) twice a day for two days. If i had a bad reaction then I'd know it was because of that particular food. I'd then go back on 'good' foods for 2 days to clear the tested food out then move on to a new one. THe only exception was wheat which I had to test for 7 days and a 7 day rest afterwards if i reacted badly to it. This was under the supervision of a nutritionist and it needs to be because if something makes you really sick then you've someone to advice you. This was how I found out what I can and cant eat. It takes a while but its really worth it. Find a good nutritionist, and tell him/her you want to try the Exclusion Diet. If you book an appointment, start keeping your diary now so you can show them what your patterns are. This way they can treat you appropriatly.

 

[thegirlleastlikely]

i keep a food diary. and to be honest, it's not as helpful as doctors lead you to think. i have found maybe 2 foods that always set off D everytime. but, i'll eat fries 1 day and be fine. a week later, i get a full episode from them.

 

[JudithB]

kymberliIf you look on www....com you will find a whole site full of good advice including diet recommendations. If you look at the "Triggers" list, that may help you to compare your food diary with the foods which are known to be triggers, then if you keep on getting problems following certain foods, or fats, spices, etc. you can gradually learn which foods to avoid.Above all, be patient and I mean very patient.Judith

 

[JudithB]

MIRANDASorry folks, I meant my comments for Miaranda (blame the hormones!! I usually do)Judith

 

[miranda]

thanks everyone for your replies. i think a food diary is best done in conjunction with the elimination diet. i eat probably 25-50+ different food ingredients each day and at different times of the day, there's no way i could tell what is causing what problems...

 

[bushja1]

I have found, and my GI agrees with me, that diet has very little to do with IBS. He tells me just to avoid obvious things like greasy foods. Believe me, every time I think I've found something that doesn't bother me the next time it will.