[Barbra1818]

i need a list of unsafe foods and safe foods. I am the kind of person who is having a he-- of a time with IBS and will stay on a program if I know it will stop the pain and discomfort.This is one rough dis-ease.Barbra

 

[LNAPE]

Lettuce and tomato sauce in large quanties is a no no.Linda

 

[Arnie W]

Unfortunately, barbra, noone can give you an entirely satisfactory answer. The food intolerances of people on this board are so variable.Rice and chicken seem quite safe for me, but I have read of others who cannot tolerate rice. Likewise, some can maybe tolerate lactose, but not gluten.All I can suggest is that you start by looking at eliminating categories of food (eg lactose, fructose) for a while to determine whether they alleviate your symptoms.

 

[Arnie W]

Just so as not to appear completely negative in my former response you might like to try ../diet Heather there gives lists of trigger foods and safe foods and also has many recipes. She does not recommend coffee, yoghurt, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, carbonated beverages, etc.I hope it will give you suggestions. I don't seem to be able to tolerate some of the food she recommends, but we're all different and they could very well work for you.

 

[crankypants]

Arnie's right. We can only suggest approaches. I think the way I would start is to cut out whatever category is normally most dominant in my diet. (I know that's a bummer.) If you eat a lot of dairy, avoid it completely for two or three weeks, say. If you eat a lot of wheat, cut that out first (and if nothing happens, consider expanding the elimination to all grains). Then slowly reintroduce the foods and see how you do.You might find Dr. Ronald Hoffman's "7 Weeks to a Settled Stomach" helpful. Inexpensive paperback, a quick, straightforward read. Written around 1990--but not much has changed since then, IMO, and his advice still applies. Among other things he talks about how to implement an elimination diet. Hoffman book at Amazon FWIW, I saw your other post about pain going through to the back. I get that on the right side. All kinds of pain are possible in IBS, it seems. Hopefully your GI doc will help you get things sorted out and under control. Hang in!

 

[Kathleen M.]

There is no universal diet (and some people are not diet triggered so which food doesn't matter).The general "rules" tend to be (esp for diarrhea prone types) areAvoid greasy/fried/fatty foods.Limit starchy foods other than rice.Watch fruits for high sorbitol fruits (cooked version are OK) so apples, pears, plums, peaches, cherries, apricots, nectarines.Avoid caffiene and alcohol.Now if you tend to constipation adding fruits with sorbitol may loosen the stools, but can increase gas...so it varies.If you have pain shortly after meals most of the time it may be (like me) that you over-respond to the "hey food's on it's way" signal that the stomach sends to the GI tract whenever you eat.For that smaller volumes sometimes helps.Taking an antispasmodic or taking some peppermint (Tea, Altoids Herbal capsules)20-30 minutes before meals can help calm that down.Antidepressants can also help calm that pain down.The most effective approach for me was a course of Cog. Behav. Therapy that was designed for IBSers. (did it isn 1998 and most of the pain is gone most of the time).K.

 

[Vicky19]

i'm going to see a dietician next week which im reallyexcited about because i need some sort of structure to stick to. i know chocolate for me is a no no and so to is too much milk and cheese and bread or things with wheat in general. however, tomato ketchup has been ok in small amounts and so to has potatoe etc and yohurt

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

need a list of unsafe foods and safe foodsAs has been said there is no such thing, though there are probabilities.Heather's book, advertised here, can help, and a book like this can explain why there is no such thing as a safe food....one mans meat is another's poison and the only 100% efficacious diet is a patient-specific oligoantigenic diet.�FOOD ALLERGIES AND FOOD INTOLERANCE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR IDENTIFICTION AND TREATMENT�, Professor Jonathan Brostoff , M.D.. Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine, Kings� College, London http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6487508-3420903 ...some instructions included for personal dietary intake experimentationIBS: A DOCTORS PLAN FOR CHRONIC DIGESTIVE TROUBLESBy Gerard Guillory, M.D.; Vanessa Ameen, M.D.; Paul Donovan, M.D.; Jack Martin, Ph.D. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/088...3369143-6824157 MNL