[rosya]

I have only just registered but have been reading the boards here for over 12 months. I suffer from cramps, bloating and huge amounts of Gas, A couple of days ago I came across this book:The IBS Starch-Free Diet by Carol SinclairI am on my third day of following the diet and it is amazing. No bloating, a considerable reduction in gas and no cramps. Basically you cut out anything with starch.....no bread, potatoes, pasta, cooked vegetables, wheat products, rice. Acceptable foods: Eggs and Dairy products, fruit (not bananas) Protein foods (meat and fish), raw vegetables and salad. Most drinks ok including alcohol.I have tried all medication from my GP, Chinese acupuncture, dairy free diets, caffeine free, and this is the only thing that I feel is actually working.I now feel very very positive. It seems a very restrictive diet but there are a lot of recipes in the book and as dairy is allowed I can fill up with a milkshake!! I really wanted to tell other sufferers because I cannot believe I have actually found something that helps. I hope it is of interest to some of you.

 

[Gabriel]

Well it's definitely good you found something that worked. Altering diet can be tricky. I know that drinking a milkshake would cause a major digestive blowout for me, same goes for eggs or high fat foods. I'd give it some more time before you suggest it's a success, in some cases it takes time before your body reacts to a new diet & there is always the placebo effect to take into account.Best of luck though, I hope it does work out for you.

 

[Patman75]

Sounds just like the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I'm glad to hear it is helping you.

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

 

[Kathleen M.]

When people have food triggers it does tend to be a few foods.Lactose in a milk shake isn't a problem if you are fine with lactose.Starch tends to be a more universal issue than something that only some humans can't absorb or digest (like lactose or fructose).There is a portion of most starches that is resistant to being digested by humans. None of us have the enzymes to digest it (like none of us have the enzymes to digest the sugars in beans or the sorbitol in fruits).Anything a human cannot digest will get to the colon and be bacteria food and generate gas. Many IBSers have problems with any volume of gas, even normal volumes so diets that reduce the entire load of bacteria food make some sense. Starch free diets tend to reduce the whole load and if you also happen to have problems with something like lactose you can add that to the avoid list.Low starch/low carb diets have a pretty long track record here of helping people. Not everyone, but enough that it is a reasonable thing to try and even some of the researchers have found low carb (which is usually low starch) diets do seem to help some IBSers.