# food substitutes



## mich2002 (Jan 14, 2002)

hi Heather, I need some advice with food substitutes am reading the Brostoff book on food intolerances and noted that eating too much of the same food can cause a sensitivity that wasnt there before my question is two fold:1) I have cut out so much that my diet is very restrictive (am lactose, and need to restrict wheat) alot of things I haven't tested ie red meat/ green veggies it just seemed sensible with IBS-D that this would affect me - what should I do to increase the amount of food Im eating - cannot undertake a full elimination diet at this time and cant work out what is triggering this off everything seems to affect me and I cant use Ensure either (makes me sick).2) for the last year I have eaten Rice (& rice cakes), Potatoes, bannanas, butternut every single day and often twice a day - I can't just cut any single one out as weight is an issue for me and Im running out of things to eat! my symtoms haven't improved in a year I have periods when they are much better but doesnt last for long so think one of these things may be contributing and would like to give my body a break from them but need substitutes for each - any suggestions?


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## Heather Van Vorous (Oct 2, 2001)

Hi Saffie - I don't know that I would agree with the idea that simply eating the same food for a period of time would lead to a sensitivity to that food. It's true that a full-fledged food allergy can only happen if you've had previous exposure to this food (your body has to develop the immune response to the food through the prior exposure, so you'll never react on first contact), but this doesn't necessarily mean that eating a food regularly will lead to your body becoming sensitized to it. If anything, the body tends to become desensitized to things it is repeatedly exposed to.If you are doing fine with rice, potatoes, and bananas, there isn't any reason to now avoid them. These are all nutritious foods with a lot of soluble fiber, which is helpful for IBS. If you simply want some variety you could try rice noodles, quinoa, oatmeal, applesauce, sweet potatoes or yams, barley, and soba (buckwheat noodles). They're all nutritious and high soluble fiber too. Are you eating JUST these foods every day, and nothing else?I'm not a huge fan of elimination diets for IBS as it's such a strenuous thing to go through, and the vast majority of time people will find their sensitivities are highly predictable and common to most everyone with IBS. The triggers are typically red meats, dairy, egg yolks, coffee, alcohol, soda pop, fried foods, and anything high fat. Fats as a category are pretty much all triggers. Insoluble fiber foods are another entire category that are usually triggers, but you can't just eliminate them from your diet. They have to be eaten, but carefully.How do you do with things like a low fat fried rice dish that incorporates lots of diced and well-cooked veggies? Or pasta with a cooked and pureed veggie sauce? Can you drink fresh fruit smoothies with soy/rice milk? What about baking fruit/veggie breads, such as banana, pumpkin, zucchini, etc.? These can all get you extra nutrition and variety but are still safe staples.Can you incorporate seafood, skinless chicken breasts, egg whites, or soy? Can you tolerate well-cooked beans and lentils if they're pureed and added to high soluble fiber base like rice?Often, if you've been going through a constant cycle of attacks it can get to the point where just about anything sets you off. This is when it may take a few days of just plain soluble fiber foods, supplements, and the helpful herbal teas (peppermint, fennel, chamomile, ginger, anise) to stabilize. Diarrhea usually responds pretty quickly. After that, you can carefully and gradually start expanding your diet with the insoluble fiber foods and safe proteins and still remain stable.Hope this helps a bit.Best,Heather


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## mich2002 (Jan 14, 2002)

thanks, Heather am toying with the idea that I may have a food intolerance rather than IBS - its all so confusing to sort out. I tried last night introducing some more foods had pasta,tuna, puree tomatoes and mushrooms could only handle a small bowl before the rumbling started but nothing happened and this morning had some oatmeal and had an almost normal BM (even though it was about 10 min after Id eaten) so am going to try more foods was mainly eating the foods I asked about above and think Im lacking in nutrients which is why I feel so tired etc..another question what is polenta? and how do you cook it? saw it in a healthfood store and thought it may make a nice alternative? also what nice things can I do with sweet potatoes like them but they get a bit sickly sweet on their own. (have your banana bread recipe so am going to try it used to love banana bread if I want to limit my wheat intake can I substitue other flour ie rice/ potatoe and how do I substitute it re quantities?Also know this should probably be directed at a doctor but do you know anything about stool colour especially when stool is very yellow or pale was told its because of lack of meat is this true??


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## Heather Van Vorous (Oct 2, 2001)

Hi Saffie - I'm glad you're adding some new foods. Hope they work well for you and enjoy the variety but stay stable too.Polenta is just a sort of corn meal mush made by cooking corn meal with water until it thickens. You then pour the polenta into a pan and let it set until firm. You can slice the cooked polenta and grill it, or you can eat it freshly cooked. It's a good IBS staple because it's got lots of soluble fiber and the insoluble fiber of the corn husks has been so finely ground. You can try polenta in place of rice, bread, or pasta, topped with a sauce, or with some diced fresh fruit for breakfast, or just plain.Sweet potatoes are great too, and pretty versatile. You can roast them with other root veggies with a bit of olive oil and fresh herbs, you can cook and puree them into soups (there's a recipe in Eating for IBS), you can cook and chill them and make a vinegar dressing for a sweet potato salad, and they're really good cubed and steamed until tender then added to seasoned rice to make a veggie burrito. For baking, you can't substitute other flours for white wheat flour without taking a lot of food chemistry into consideration. Your best best here is to get a gluten-free cookbook and see how they make breads. Wheat flour is very high gluten, and rice/potato flours are not, and a straight substitution will seriously compromise your bread results. There is a series of gluten-free cookbooks by Betty Hagman that should give you some ideas. Just watch out for the fat content, as a lot of gluten-free bread recipes I've seen are very high fat.Very pale stools should be checked by a doctor, as they can indicate a liver disorder. Here's a link with some basic info for you http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003129.htm. Pale stools are not caused by a lack of meat in your diet.Best,Heather


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