IBS Diet Articles

Step by Step / Updated 03-10-2017

When you have IBS, sometimes you flare and sometimes you’re flying. Whatever end of the spectrum you’re on, the last thing you want to do is make your IBS worse. Following are a list of the top foods you may have heard that people with IBS steer clear of if they want the closest thing to a happy-stomach guarantee. But, everyone is different, and you may not be the one these foods are going to attack.

Article / Updated 03-09-2017

You've probably been told that coffee, strong tea, sodas, and alcohol aren't so great for IBS, but they aren't the only drinks in the world. A smoothie is defined as a blended fruit drink, but it can be so much more. A smoothie meets the needs of people who are in a rush, and in the case of IBS, it's a concentrated food source in only a few ounces. Smoothies are also great to have any time of the day. Just make sure you sip them slowly. In fact, try chewing 'em. Swish a smoothie around in your mouth to get your salivary enzymes activated so they can help digest your smoothie before it even hits your stomach And only drink a few ounces at a time. Then put your drink in the fridge or keep it in a thermos at work and sip it throughout the day. That way you're giving your intestines enough time to digest it and extract the goodness, ensuring you get the most nourishment possible from your smoothie. Most people think of bananas when they hear the word smoothie. Bananas are high in potassium and help reduce hypertension, but you may have heard mixed stories about the benefits of bananas for the bowels. Unripe bananas that are still about one-third green are more lubricating for the intestines than ripe bananas and can be used to treat constipation. When they're ripe, with some brown spots forming, they can treat diarrhea. (Browning of a fruit just means the fruit is fermenting, so it's already starting to digest itself and causes less stress on a weak digestive system.) So bananas are really like a bowel cure-all. Try them either ripe or unripe and see how your body responds. Nutty Breakfast Smoothie This recipe is tasty and smooth way for IBS sufferers to start their day. It features the all-powerful banana as well as spinach and almond butter. Bananas offer many IBS benefits; raw spinach is high in soluble fiber when you blend it. Almond butter in its creamy state doesn't irritate the intestines. Preparation time: 5 minutes Cook time: None Yield: 2 servings 2 bananas 2 cups spinach 1 cup water 1 tablespoon almond butter Cut up the bananas and spinach. Put all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth and enjoy. Per serving: Calories 163; Fat 5.2 g (Saturated 1 g); Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 61 mg; Carbohydrate 29.7 g (Fiber 4 g); Protein 3.3 g; Sugar 14.9 g. Safe and Soothing Smoothie Making a meal doesn't have to be a big deal. You don't have to turn the kitchen upside down and get out all of your pots and pans to make breakfast, but you do need breakfast. This Safe and Soothing Smoothie helps keep your blood sugar up while soothing your stomach. You can experiment with two to three of the ingredients in this recipe, and later, with the help of your food diary, you can substitute different ingredients that are on your safe list. With all the mixing and matching possibilities, you have a dozen recipes at your fingertips. Keep it simple, though. Don't make an "everything but the kitchen sink" smoothie that can cause some intestinal distress. Stick with a few ingredients and keep a record of what your body likes and dislikes. As you experiment, you can also adjust the amount of liquid to reach your desired consistency. Tools: High-speed blender (optional) Preparation time: 5 minutes Cook time: None Yield: 1 serving 1 small, ripe banana 1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen 2 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds (no soaking required) 1 to 2 tablespoons pea powder protein (such as Provide) 1 cup liquid (water, coconut juice, or half coconut juice and half coconut milk) Natural sweetener (such as agave, stevia, or Just Like Sugar) to taste (optional) Put the banana, strawberries, hemp seeds, and pea powder in a high-speed blender or a food processor. Add the liquid, making sure all the ingredients are covered, and blend well. Taste the blended mixture and add sweetener to taste (if desired). Give the mixture another quick blend to incorporate any sweetener. Per serving: Calories 361; Fat 11.3 g (Saturated 1 g); Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 13 mg; Carbohydrate 46.7 g (Fiber 7.9 g) Protein 23 g; Sugar 22.9 g. Banana and Greens Delight Smoothie Like bananas, apples are a food that can swing both ways in treating IBS. Raw apples are high in pectin and fiber and can help bring fluids into the bowel and treat IBS-C. Apples in applesauce form treat IBS-D, according to the well-known BRATTY diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, tea, and yogurt). Credit: ©billnoll, 2012This Banana and Greens Delight Smoothie is packed with nutrients Tools: Hand blender (optional) Preparation time: 5 minutes Cook time: None Yield: 4 servings 1 banana, cut up 2 cups baby spinach, chopped 1 apple, cored, peeled, and cut up 1 pear, cored, peeled, and cut up 2 cups water Put all the ingredients in a blender or use a strong hand blender. Blend until smooth and enjoy. Per serving: Calories 75; Fat 3 g (Saturated 0 g); Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 13 mg; Carbohydrate 19.3 g (Fiber 3 g); Protein 4.1 g; Sugar 12.9 g.

Step by Step / Updated 02-17-2017

Living with irritable bowel syndrome doesn't mean boring foods! Try these quick and easy IBS-friendly recipes for breakfast and snacks. An IBS diet can be full of flavorful and varied foods that are good for your health.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016

If you think you may have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you'll want to find a doctor who's been successful at helping people manage the condition. Chart your symptoms before you confer with your doctor about irritable bowel syndrome the first time, and reduce or eliminate common foods and other factors that often trigger the onset of IBS.

Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016

Even those with IBS have to eat to survive, even when the only available food may result in a trip to the bathroom or a bout of cramps and gas. Here are some tips to increase the odds of you eating a decent meal even under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Checking ingredient lists on food labels for everything you buy and eat is crucial to controlling IBS; the label can help identify possible IBS trigger foods. Look for simple ingredient lists — the fewer ingredients, the better. Keep an eye out for the items on the following list that may trigger your IBS. Be especially careful of ingredients that appear in brackets; they usually contain sub-ingredients that you want to examine, too. Any specific item you know triggers your symptoms: IBS is an individual disease, so ingredients that may be benign to others can set off alarm bells for you. Chemicals such as propylene glycol alginate, artificial coloring, BVO, BHT, BHA, artificial flavoring, mycoprotein (processed mold), neotame, olestra, and sulfites: Each of these chemicals and concoctions has potential bowel-irritating and allergic side effects that can affect different people in different ways. MSG, or glutamate, yeast, and textured protein, which may also contain MSG: MSG is a neurotoxin; if you have an irritated gut, it may absorb MSG faster. Artificial sweeteners: Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame (Equal and NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda), saccharin (Sweet’N Low), and sorbitol can cause such wide variety of side effects that all of them can’t be listed here. Note that items labeled “sugar-free” usually contain artificial sweeteners. Trans fats: Trans fats can cause diarrhea and high cholesterol. Items labeled “low-fat” are often high in sugar to make up for the flavor lost from the reduced fat content and therefore feed intestinal yeast and bacteria leading to gas and bloating. High fructose corn syrup: It feeds yeast in the gut adding to gas and bloating. Any sugar in the –ose family (such as fructose, sucrose, maltose, and glucose): These, too, feed yeast causing gas and bloating.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Finding IBS-friendly substitutions for favorite foods that trigger your symptoms is often a high priority when you’re eating with IBS. Never fear: The following list helps you substitute some of the most common IBS triggers with alternatives that are less likely to cause your symptoms to flare: Milk: Substitute with rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk, and soy milk that hasn’t been genetically modified Cheese: Substitute with goat cheese and soy cheese, rice cheese Sugar: Substitute with stevia, Just Like Sugar, agave, honey, maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, and brown rice syrup Wheat: Substitute with rice, kamut, millet, quinoa, amaranth

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Some foods can provide relief from IBS-C and IBS-D attacks. Use your intuition and what you know about your personal condition to decide which of the following food remedies make the most sense to try. In a pinch, just remember the acronym BRATTY (bread, rice, apples, toast, tea, and yogurt). These foods are all currently recommended by doctors for soothing the symptoms of an IBS-D. Peppermint tea: Relieves painful cramps and diarrhea. Apple cider vinegar: 1 teaspoon in water before meals three times a day relieves diarrhea. Fennel tea: Relieves gas and bloating. Ginger tea: Relieves nausea and indigestion. Prune juice: Relieves constipation. Licorice tea: Relieves indigestion. Carob powder: 1 teaspoon dissolved in a cup of warm water relieves diarrhea. Ripe bananas: Relieve diarrhea. Unripe bananas: Relieve constipation. Cooked carrots: Relieve diarrhea, nausea, and digestive upset. Peaches (with or without the skin depending on your sensitivity): Relieve constipation.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Having IBS often means you’re doing more cooking — but some days you just want some fuss-free food. Keep your pantry well-stocked with IBS-friendly staples — basic ingredients for cooking and ready-to-go timesavers that may be a little safer for your system than the versions you’re used to: Safer flours: Brown rice, almond, coconut, millet, and potato flour Safer (non-wheat) grains: Buckwheat, millet, quinoa, and amaranth Safer snacks: Rice cakes, baked organic corn chips, baked potato chips, soaked nuts (cashews, almonds, pecans, and macadamia nuts), and fruit (especially applesauce and bananas) Safer drinks: Homemade smoothies, and broths (chicken, vegetable, and beef) Safer breakfast cereals: Oats and oatmeal, rice puffs, millet puffs and kamut puffs Safer lunch items: Gluten- and dairy-free frozen meals and low-mercury canned (in water) or pouched (without added oil) tuna Safer dinner options: Home-cooked dishes that include protein (lean ground beef and turkey, chicken breasts, canned salmon, tofu, and fish) and carbohydrates from your safe food list (grains, beans, and vegetables such as peas and carrots)

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Living with irritable bowel syndrome means finding a caring doctor with a history of working with IBS patients. How do you do that? When you meet a new doctor for the first time, take this list of questions along with you. Do you have patients with IBS? This may be the only question you need to ask. Keep in mind that up to 20 percent of the population suffers from IBS. If a doctor says that she doesn't have patients with IBS, she may have selective vision. What do you think causes IBS? Lots of theories exist about what causes IBS. Ideally, you want a doctor to admit that the medical community hasn't identified a single cause, but many triggers (such as diet and stress) play a role. If he claims to know what causes IBS 100 percent of the time, ask for clarification, and be prepared to walk away. How do you diagnose IBS? If your doctor mentions something called the Rome II criteria, that's a great sign. You also want to hear that she runs tests to rule out other bowel conditions, as well as to rule out conditions with similar symptoms. What role does diet play in IBS? Most people with IBS are very aware that what they eat can trigger symptoms. You want your doctor to know that connection exists as well and to be aware that food allergies and intolerances can masquerade as IBS. How do you treat IBS? You want to hear a doctor say that a variety of treatment options exist, and the right treatment plan is one that you and he create together. He should mention the importance of improving your diet, getting regular exercise, and reducing stress. He may also mention medications or dietary supplements. An answer focused solely on medications should raise a flag: While drugs help some people with IBS, they don't cure the condition, and they don't work for everyone.