Probably the first area to become concerned about if you are diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome is how to change your diet to lessen your symptoms. Now that you know you have a sensitive gastrointestinal tract, you can’t eat absentmindedly.
Your healthcare practitioner most likely will have lots of good advice to start you off, but from there, you might find that it takes a lot of trial and error to determine which foods and beverages set off your symptoms and which don’t.
As you read up on various IBS diets, be sure you have pinpointed which kind of IBS you have. Is it diarrhea-predominant, constipation-predominant or a combination of these two conditions?
Here are a few general observations on IBS diets, courtesy of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Self Help and Support Group (IBSGroup.org):
-- Be cautious with fried and fatty foods, caffeinated beverages and alcohol, as they all seem either to make you gassy or to overstimulate your gut.
-- See if ingesting sugar is a problem. The sugars lactose and fructose sometimes don’t get absorbed by the gut and then fall prey to bacteria that set off cramps, bloating and diarrhea. Fructose- or lactose-restricted diets, however, don’t show a great benefit toward reducing IBS symptoms, IBSGroup said on its website.
-- There are a number of foods that are commonly linked to above-average episodes of gas, bloating and abdominal pain among IBS sufferers. You might have to cut down on beans, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, peas, soybeans, onions and bagels, the IBSGroup site said.
-- The jury is still out on fiber in constipation-predominant IBS. It would seem that fiber would help with bowel movements and make you feel better, but too much fiber can worsen IBS symptoms, IBSGroup found in its research.
-- Ask your doctor or nutritionist about possible food allergies and food intolerances; they might be the actual culprits in your IBS-like symptoms.
The self-help group also suggests learning about the FODMAP diet, a name that comes from the acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. The idea is to keep your diet low in these particular complex sugars because, in moving through the digestive tract, they can attract the kind of bacteria that prompt IBS symptoms.
Another idea for controlling IBS is to print out a Personal Symptom Journal from the website or create your own food diary. It can help you analyze how your gut reacts to various foods in various situations.
Also helpful is a Q and A article from WebMD’s Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Health Center, which explains that it’s not just food but also stress and anxiety that play roles in IBS. WebMD suggests relaxed environments for eating and slowing down at mealtime. It also points out that beyond diet, the causes of IBS might well lie in the way that intestinal muscles move or the way the brain sends signals to the digestive tract whenever you eat.
Because IBS is one of the most common gastrointestinal tract disorders (15 percent of Americans report receiving an IBS diagnosis, according to IBSGroup.org), scientists are hard at work researching its causes.
Sources:
“IBS Diet.” Irritable Bowel Syndrome Self Help and Support Group. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
http://www.ibsgroup.org/ibs-diet
“Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Controlling Symptoms With Diet.” WebMD Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Health Center. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. http://www.webmd.com/ibs/guide/controlling-irritable-bowel-syndrome-with-diet?ecd=wnl_gid_081811#
Reviewed November 17, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith