How to Find the Food Causing Your IBS Symptoms and Stop Gut Pain
My daughter has Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She has a hyper-sensitive gut, specifically the colon. It causes you to have pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, or both. Before we got the right help for her, she spent most of her childhood in pain or restricting what she ate to what definitely would not hurt her stomach. The pickier she got with her food the smaller she became. I wanted to find the right medicine to “fix” her tummy, but that is not how IBS works.
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Can IBS be cured with a diet?
No. There is no cure for IBS. So there is not a specific diet or magic pill to make it go away, although I looked hard for one. However, what you eat makes a huge difference in your symptoms or lack thereof—tracking what food made my daughter’s symptoms worse told us her triggers. These are the foods she avoids and feels much better.
Below, I will give you a starting point with categories of food that generally cause symptoms. Avoiding these kinds of foods may provide you with the relief you need! Then you will find the best diet for IBS sufferers who still don’t see improvement. Everyone is different. Your triggers are going to be unique to you!!
The Foods to Avoid
Many foods better avoided when you have IBS are foods everyone should avoid for healthy living. So your loved ones will also benefit from eating with you!
Remove one category at a time for a week and see how it affects you. Keeping a diary of what you eat and how you feel afterward will help you in this process. The food categories below are known to cause IBS symptoms. These symptoms can be gas, bloating, cramps, constipation, or diarrhea.
- Fried Foods
- Food that is fried is hard to digest, causing symptoms. An alternative we use is baking or using an air fryer.
- Beans and Legumes
- Soaking these overnight before cooking may help with symptoms.
- Drinks that are caffeinated, alcoholic, or carbonated
- Caffeine stimulates the colon and can cause diarrhea.
- Alcohol may slow food digestion, causing nausea, and also stimulating the intestines.
- Carbonated beverages cause bloating and gas.
- Processed foods
- These foods often have more salt, sugar, and fat in them. Additives and preservatives added to maintain freshness also may be triggers for symptoms.
- Dairy
- The higher fat content in dairy products can be a trigger for some. Try plant-based dairy alternatives.
- Gluten
- Gluten intolerance or sensitivity causes IBS symptoms. Many can cut gluten from their diet and find relief.
- Sugar-free sweeteners
- Stevia and Monkfruit extract are safe to use in our house. Other sugar alternatives cause symptoms.
- Garlic and onions
- Spicy food
What about fiber?
Soluble fiber is better for people with IBS. It is dissolvable in water, making the stool softer. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve well in water, making stool bulky. Insoluble fiber is in vegetables, wheat bran, and whole grains.
It is good to get between 20-30 mg of soluble fiber each day. Here is a list of food containing soluble fiber.
- Avocados
- Blueberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries
- Bananas – Eat less of these if you are constipated.
- Carrots
- Chickpeas
- Oatmeal
- Kiwi
- Oranges
- Potato and Sweet Potato – Peel the skin off to reduce insoluble fiber.
- Peanuts and Sunflower Seeds
- Summer Squash and Zucchini
The FODMAP Diet
When you have worked through the foods to avoid and still suffer, turn to the FODMAP Diet. This diet was created for IBS patients by Monash University in Australia. The diet determines whether FODMAPs trigger your IBS symptoms. A fourth of IBS patients do not respond to FODMAPs. If you suffer symptoms from eating FODMAPs, the next step is to determine which high FODMAP foods you can tolerate.
What does FODMAP stand for?
FODMAPs are Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. These are short-chain carbohydrates that our bodies do not absorb well in the small intestine. They will ferment in the large intestine, causing gas and bloating. For many, this is not an issue. For those with sensitive guts, this causes a lot of discomforts.
How the FODMAP Diet works
The FODMAP Diet is a three-step process.
- Low FODMAP Diet – This step lasts 2-6 weeks. You will substitute high FODMAP foods with low FODMAP alternatives. If your symptoms improve you will move on to the next step. Stop at this stage if you are still experiencing IBS symptoms because you may not be sensitive to FODMAPs. See your doctor for other therapies or medication.
- FODMAP Reintroduction – This step can last 8-12 weeks as you reintroduce one FODMAP at a time. You are still following the Low FODMAP Diet as you try individual foods to see if it triggers your IBS symptoms. Try a high FODMAP food for 3 days, increasing the amount eaten each day. Pay attention to how you are feeling to determine your tolerance for that food.
- FODMAP Personalization – This step is a lifelong journey. You will reintroduce the food you can tolerate back into your diet. Any food that triggered your symptoms you will limit. Over time you can test a limited food to see if your tolerance level has changed by repeating step two.
For more information on the FODMAP Diet go to Monashfodmap.com
The last thing you need to know
You are not alone in this journey. IBS is more common than you think. Start with a food diary if you suffer from pain, gas, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea. Learn which food to avoid so you feel your best! The FODMAP Diet finds what foods are triggers. Removing or limiting those trigger foods will give you relief from your symptoms. Getting to the comfort you deserve may be a process, but it is worth it!
