[14652]

I've seen conflicting advice on what diet is best for IBS--one school of thought says eat mostly meat and fat, and another says not to eat meat and to eat lots of soluble fiber like white rice and white flour products. So far the first school of thought seems to be working best for me as I get diarrhea and stomach cramps if I eat any rice, potato, or other grains or starches.Anyhow, I'm just wondering what foods/what diet others have found to work best for controlling their symptoms.

 

[14048]

I follow Linda's calcium regime and I always for the cheat sheet on ...com as this lists the soluble, insoluble and trigger foods. To begin with, all I ate was the BRAT diet until after I had been doing the calcium for awhile. You need to keep a list of what you eat so you can figure out your own triggers as everybody is not the same. Have you been told by a doctor that you have IBS? I am IBSd so I do things to keep the diarrhea under control. Keep searching the boards and you will find someone that is like you. These boards are really helpful and everybody makes you feel at home here. Good luck on your journey. GadJett

 

[overitnow]

Just out of curiosity, might you be a type O blood type? There is a book out called Eating 4 Your Blood Type which specifies different diets for different blood types. I had pretty severe D for 10 years, where I often flailed about with my diet, trying to lock out triggers. For me this did not work well. Currently I supplement with a flavonoid blend and eat anything; but last summer we began experimenting with the Blood Type diet. Because I am O, meat was OK but a number of grains--especially wheat--and the nightshades and fungals--eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms--were off limits. The same for white potatoes, although sweets were fine. Really, the last remaining problem with my bowels is gassiness. With the use of this diet, fart frequency dropped dramatically (my only ready indicator of success). You might want to give that book a quick look as it may suggest reasons why some reccommended foods don't work for you and others, which are off the list, do fine.Mark

 

[14048]

overitnow, nice theory about type O but I am type O and have not been able to eat meat, except for poultry and fish for many, many years; long before I wound up with IBS. I am also a type A personality and that seems to affect my IBS. You know, I wish there were a magic potion and we could all be healed after taking it. Your flavonoid works for you and right now the calcium works for me. Welcome back from your trip...GadJett

 

[Kathleen M.]

There is conflicting information because there IS NO SINGLE diet that is best for all IBSers.Food isn't the cause of IBS.The same food effects IBSers in differently even when it is a problematic food for some IBSers. Even if you limit it to IBS-D or IBS-C. After all a food that loosens stool may be good for some and not others.Some people don't do fat well, some people don't do starch well. There is no set answer to the diet and IBS issue.For me every single food caused the exact same reaction because I had problems with the way the GI system normally reacts to the ACT of eating.Keeping a journal may be helpful in determining which foods, or classes of foods you have problems with.K.

 

[overitnow]

Well, I think the best we can do here, GadJett is to relate what has worked for us, to increase the number of approaches others can take.You are always supposed to say how glad you are to be home; but I would have loved to poke around London for a week or so and then over the Alps to Italy. Even in spite of the damage I did to my poor bladder in Munich, I would still love to be sitting in another German sidewalk cafe/beer garden, rather than burning root balls in my back yard. (And then there are some great bike/barge trips in Burgundy, with all of those wines to sample.) Having never been so near to all of those places, I really wasn't ready to fly home.Sigh.Mark

 

[14048]

I totally agree with what the both of you have said. IBS has a mind of its own and no two of us are the same. All we can do is share what does or does not work for us and maybe someone can learn from us. I know I have learned so much just reading these boards and having the opportunity to voice my opinion and to read yours. Thanks for sharing. GadJett

 

[Kathleen M.]

Food IS NOT the only trigger for IBS.The reason you are having symptoms is something else is triggering the IBS and the food you are eating is the innocent bystander getting all the blame.A lot of people find that when the IBS is bad any food they eat bothers them.When my IBS was bad every meal I ate every single day upset the IBS. Every person's colon gets more active after you eat. In IBSers this normal, natural, increase in activity can set off the IBS symptoms.The usual way to deal with symptoms right after a meal that is triggered by eating (not the food, the actual mechanism of eating) is to take something BEFORE the meal that will slow down/calm down the colon so it can't react as much. Antispasmodic drugs, peppermint oil (tea from real peppermint or I've used Altoids which have a lot of peppermint oil in them) or a small dose of Imodium can all block this over reaction. K.

 

[21723]

I eat nothing from waking till after 1:00 in the afternoon and this is the time my IBS-D is at it's worse. Mine seems to be time related more than food.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Morning time (usually around the time you wake up) is the time when the colon is most active in everyone.Some IBSers are more bothered by the morning thing, others by the after meal thing.K.

 

[sazzy]

HeyaWell it varies from person to personI'm mostly ok, two things i avoid like the plague though are1. black pepper, runs straight through me in less than half an hour and gives me the squits for about 12 hours2. I avoid take out pizza and pizza joints, it seems a lot of places have a secret 'ingredient' which is mainly some sort of spice and that'll run through me in a couple of hours, and blow the toilet apart when it finally decides to rear it's ugly head.

 

[16963]

quote:Originally posted by pooman:Mine seems to be time related more than food.

Same here. Although certain foods I definitely can't eat (like spicy things, I never eat Mexican, Ethiopian, or Indian food). And sometimes if I use too much Imodium or pepto the day before, I'll have mild C in the morning. I know that if I drink tea, within 30 minutes that C will be gone and I'll be running for the bathroom. But if I drink tea in the afternoon, it usually doesn't make much of a difference. I'll know when I'm having "off" days and need to eat a blander diet, but no one food does it for me all the time.

 

[19040]

Sazzy,The secret ingrediant might be garlic powder (onion powder is pretty much the same thing and is used interchangeably in alot of foods). If I eat something that has garlic powder in it, I just pick out a couple goods books to put next to the toilet. I absolutely cannot eat at Olive Garden, and pizza is like playing Russian roulette.Jason

 

[21857]

I find it hard to figure what are my trigger foods, most times I can eat something and be fine and other times I will eat it and be really sick. I know alot of people when they are having a rough time they stick to blander foods like, potatoes, rice ect... but I DO find im worse on those foods. But still I get sick when I eat things like pizza, to much cheese ect... It's so annoying and frustrating when you cant find something that works for you, best of luck to you!

 

[14985]

i've recently looked inot food intolerance testing through ALlergy Uk. was really interested to find the service at York test(.com) offering comprehensive testing. obviously this all comes at a price but i think it might be worth doing. particularly as they are endorsed by allergy uk. what do you all think?

 

[Kathleen M.]

Some IBSers do not do well on the bland all starch all the time diet.All the starchy foods have some "resistant starch" that feeds the colon bacteria and not you. Rice has the least resistant starchs.Fatty foods (and pizza can be pretty fatty with the cheese) also tend to set of symptoms.However, sometimes the food gets the blame when something else is triggering the IBS. If the same food bothers you sometimes and not others it probably isn't the food that is the problem. Remember just eating any food can trigger IBS symptoms as it naturally triggers an increase in colon activity in every human.K.

 

[conrad]

I have been eating Sushi lately the salmon&cream cheese one... and it's been okay for me... has anybody tired it? I know if I eat pasta with just the tomatoe sauce...I get hardly any pain.. but if I mix in grated cheese.... it always gets me... It's funny how different foods can be eaten alone with no problems but when mixed... make for one volatile combination.

 

[beff]

For me, I know that insoluble fiber is a big problem, especially concentrated like in dried fruit - raisins, for example. Grapes and cherries are hard for me to tolerate, and now I'm experimenting with peeling my fruit (not grapes; that would be silly) like apples and pears.I am sensitive to gluten, especially first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and caffeine. I gave up caffeine, but I will eat gluten foods later in the day when there's food in my stomach already.I don't tolerate garlic and onions, although when cooked, they're slightly less offensive. I use leeks in cooking now because they don't affect me the way onions do.And I don't tolerate beer or red wine well (and by beer, I mean the good dark stuff, which is what I drink).Forgot to mention spicy foods, especially Indian. And popcorn, which is my worst weakness (although I've discovered it's also a matter of quantity). Sometimes we go to a movie and I have popcorn and then we go out for Indian food, and I SO suffer the next day.I find that dairy ISN'T a problem for me.Interestingly, I'm on day 9 of a 10-day detox/cleanse diet where I've eaten no sweeteners, dairy, soy, gluten, corn, peanut products, vinegar, alcohol, caffeine, etc. Meat is also not allowed, but I'm vegetarian so don't eat it anyway. I can only eat low-carb fruits and vegetables, beans, whole gluten-free grains, and a little oil and salt (thank goodness). And I'm drinking a shake twice a day and taking probiotics, extra fiber (benefiber) and supplements that are part of the cleanse. My digestion has not improved one fraction (I also have GERD). I thought that maybe by eating really clean for ten days that I might notice an improvement. Everything is exactly the same. Huh.