# What CAN I eat?!



## Guest (Aug 17, 2000)

I am so frustrated! It seems as if every food that I eat happens to be bad for IBS. So far, I've read that you shouldn't eat red meat, chocolate, spicy foods, greasy foods, dairy products, anything with caffeine, etc. I am the world's pickiest (sp?) eater! If I didn't eat anything on the above list, I would never eat! Can anyone tell me some foods that I can eat, and/or are good for IBS?


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2000)

Have hope! You will find out what you will be able to eat. I found it frustrating at first and now it soooo good to know what works for my body. Some good starter foods are baked potatos, white and brown rice, plain pasta, plain baked or grilled chicken, pork chops, plain fish (non-oily types of course, try steaming veggies like carrots, green beans, yellow beans. Thought there isn't much nutritional value in canned fruit it just tastes good. I also find that most breads are ok for IBS. You will probably find that some spices really act up with IBS. Anything Tomato base really bothers me. The only "spice" I use is salt. There is the Brummel and Brown spread which is yogurt based to put on your veggies and rice. Remember that this is just the starter or base of your diet. You can add some fun foods a little at a time. Just don't overwhelm your system with hard to digest foods. You will get into a good rythm. Hope this helps somewhat.


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2000)

juliemom3,Thank you so much for answering my question! I will definently try out some of those foods!


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## FoodAllergyMom (Apr 16, 2001)

Are there any other good starter foods? What about beverages? I can't drink coffee, tea with caffeine, milk, any juice at all... mostly I drink Coke (I know, that's really bad)... but it's all I can tolerate.


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

If you can't tolerate fruit juice at all, you could be having a problem with the fructose in it. Are you sure you can have coke since it is laden with high fructose corn syrup? People who can't tolerate fructose have D or/and G. You might want to try all the diet beverages.


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## FoodAllergyMom (Apr 16, 2001)

Bonnie: Thank you so much for answering. I am in such a bad spot right now... and I sincerely appreciate the help.I cannot tolerate any fruit juice at all. I get very sick (D), and even more than a sip will cause severe problems. All I drink anymore is Coke... and to be honest, I'm not sure that I can tolerate it. I'm sick quite a bit, and rarely leave the house (at least not anywhere very far away.)How can I tell if it is a fructose intolerance? What should I do if it is? You mentioned a problem with D and G. I know I have the D problem, but I don't know what G is.Thank you SOOO much.


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

G is gas. Hydrogen breath test is done for fructose malabsorption. It is called the Fructose Intolerance test. I know atleast three places which do it- Cedars Sinai, Chapel Hill and Iowa City hosp. In the absence of the test, you could just try and a diet without fructose for 1 month and see if it helps.For a diet without fructose I would check http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/019587.html However most people on this board try a chicken, rice and bottled water diet for 1 week to exclude most intolerances and slowly introduce 1 new food into their diet every 3 days according to their tolerance.[This message has been edited by bonniei (edited 04-17-2001).]


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## Guest (Jun 14, 2001)

I went to an allergist and found out that I was allergic to several foods. What an amazing difference it made with my IBS when I didn't eat those foods. Have you thought about seeing an allergist to make sure you don't have food allergies as well?


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2001)

You might try a decaffinated tea (I put 2 tea bags in one cup) and add a little fresh ginger when brewing and maybe a little fresh mint. Also, I had cold green tea which was made with green tea powder and a little sugar and it was great. You can buy this on the website TenRen.com. With coke having a pH of 2 I would imagine it may be causing you more problems then helping.


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## harmonize (Sep 10, 2001)

Have you tried the specific carbohydrate diet? It works well for many people with I.B.D. Perhaps you could try PURE apple cider if you can get it/ It should be available in your supermarket. Some apple juice has sugar in it even though it is not listed on the label. I can drink the cider but not too many other juices. Welch's grape juice is usually tolerable since it, too, is a pure juice.There is a beverage section in the Harmonize Your Eating and Feel Fit as a Fiddle cookbook for I.B.D. with ten recipes in that section. All recipes are for the scd diet.


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## kinetic (Oct 19, 2001)

I don't know if it will help anyone, but it can't hurt... I did some searching online awhile back and found a link for a book called Eating for IBS. (www.eatingforibs.com) there's a lot of information in there on foods to avoid and what to eat when you're having problems... granted I'm stubborn and refuse to give up some things, but at least this way I've learned a little more about what types of foods tend to be a problem, and what's usually good... there's a lot of the information on the website, and the book has a ton of recipes in it that are all supposed to be safe (as long as you aren't allergic to certain foods anyway)... I'm such a picky eater too... coke and pizza are the 2 things i won't give up







sometimes i pay the price, but it's worth it


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2001)

I can't stop Coffee, it keeps me going on a daily basis. What's this I heard the caffine is bad for IBS can this be true? PLease say NO, I'm not a tea drinker or soda, well just diet/caffine free soda, and only if it's a hot day out. Can anyone reply. I new to IBS and am running around for answers to help me feel normal again, or what is normal. I forgot. My IBS just happened approx 4 months ago for no reason. It's been hell for my wife, son and myself. I'm lost in this world of pain and discomfort. Please any help with diet would be appriciated. I'm a working father and supported for my family, they need me and so far I've lost a lot of time from work, with the pains and other things. I can't keep using my vacation,sick,comp days forever. I have responsibility and cant let this totally control my life much longer.....


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## MALI (Jul 8, 2001)

rdoddio, you say you have pain and discompford.if you have diarrhea also, IBS-D, cut out the coffee NOW. it is not just the caffine but also the acid in coffee that is one of the worst red flag foods for D. replace the coffee with camomile tea.camomile is calming to the gastro system. watch the diet drinks. Sorbitol in some cases is also bad for IBS-D sufferers. give it a shot. good luck! MALI


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## bwburt (May 13, 2000)

My Forbidden Foods seem to come from a different direction. If I eat any one food too much, it could join my forbidden list. For example, my IBS was triggered from a sugar free chocolate cheesecake I made for my mid-afternoon snacks -- I have hypoglycemia. It was very good, I could make up a batch of it and keep it in the fridge and eat it whenever I wanted. So I did. And I wanted it every afternoon for a lot of months. I didn't relate my sudden gaseous state to my over indulgence. Eventually the diarrhea set in. I was diagnosed with IBS, and unable to eat either chocolate or cottage cheese -- the main ingredients -- ever again. Down the years a lot of foods have been added, mostly from eating them too often in a short space of time. Now the list is very long. I eat mainly chicken and fish, cooked vegetable and cooked fruit. Recently wheat has been added to the list, and a whole lot of my favorite foods. I hope this helps. Betty B.


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## kyestar (Nov 26, 2001)

Hi Betty B,I was wondering if you have ever spoken to a doctor about food intolerance?? The reason that I ask is that continually eating the same types of food can cause a build-up in the body of the natural chemicals in the foods, which means that they make you sick. Eating lots of one particular type of food, even if it isn't exactly the same one can also have the same effect. I'm just curious because I have food intolerances to EVERYTHING and I know that when I do find something that I can eat, I eat it a lot and end up getting sick again!! What you said sounded familiar.... oh yeah, and about the sugar-free chocolate cake - could it have been the artificial sweetners that upset you? I'm hypoglacemic too, and thought for ages that I was being so good avoiding sugar... but I couldn't tolerate the artifical sweetners!! Sorry to blabber on...


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## harmonize (Sep 10, 2001)

Usually with I.B.D. pure honey and saccharin are the only sweeteners that are tolerated as they are the only simple sugars that do not need a lot of digesting in the gut. I weaken my coffee by using half coffee and half hot water. If you can stand that, it might help if you just can't leave coffee alone! Check out the site for an I.B.D. cookbook- www.crohns_ibd.homestead.com


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## Just Jane (Mar 6, 2002)

All I can say is the books Eating for IBS and the first Year IBS, a patient-expert walks you through. I have been trying some of her snack ideas and they seem to be helping. I loved the book, she goes through your first year with you and she helps it make alot more sense. She suggests that you eat rice, pasta and noodles, barley, fresh white breads and sourdough, I love french bread. Rice cereals, flour tortillas, carrots, bananas, mangoes, papayas(relieves gas and indigestion). Make sure your veggies are eaten with a soluable fibre and you can pretty much enjoy a wide range of foods. I hope this helps. Oh ya, she also recommends for snacks Honey Combs, Corn Pops, pretzels, lots of peppermint tea, or other herbal teas, Lays baked chips, Tostitos baked.


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## Josep Mondas (Feb 26, 2002)

My diet after 5 month, and feeling already better:Breakfast- Oats boil with milk and water, honey and stew fruit.Lunch- Fish (white-fish) boil for 4 min. over chopped onions, spinach and garlic. Chicken (stew) or grilled, and beef Stew-(root vegetables)Dinner- Cheese and ham sandwich on wholemeal bread with lettuce on the side , also tuna or oily fish.IBS is called a syndrome rather than a disease because it is comprised of a group of symptoms and there are no specific blood tests, endoscopic findings or biopsy results that are diagnostic for IBS. A syndrome may feel like a disease but you cannot die from IBS like you can from a disease. The symptoms of IBS can be so oppressive that it can severely impact one’s life. My main point is found out what cause you the IBS, in most cases is stress related, so the diet is important for the moment, to make live much easier with pain, but for the long term, one must change the way of live in other to feel better on your stomac, so relach as much as posible, and live alone all this stressfull things(jobs, affairs,sports,etc.)untill you get better.


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