# Healthy eating on low fiber diet



## quarky (Jun 15, 2011)

Background: I have IBS-D (diarrhea, cramps, bloating, never C). I take mebeverine (antispasmodic) 3x daily and 2mg loperamide once every 2-3 days as needed, on the advice of my doctor, and 800 mg calcium carbonate 3x daily. Low FODMAPS diet did not work for me as it eliminated one of my safest foods, white bread.

I've noticed that I feel much better when eating a low-fiber diet. If I stick to a diet of white bread, white rice, chicken, fish, fortified rice milk, cooked bananas and ketchup for a few days, I don't even need the loperamide to get solid stools. (For me, that's incredible - I haven't had a solid stool in years without using loperamide).

However, this diet goes against all healthy eating advice I've ever heard. I worry that the lack of fruit and veg will lead to vitamin deficiencies in the future.

How can I include fruit and veg in my diet without triggering my IBS-D? Is it healthier to eat fruit and veg and take loperamide every other day, or cut my loperamide use down to rare occasions but leave the fruit and veg out of my diet?

Also, does anyone have any low-fiber vegetarian meal suggestions? My partner is a vegetarian and we eat together every day, so the high-meat diet that helps my IBS is difficult to stick to. High-fat foods often trigger diarrhea for me. I don't currently eat dairy but am considering trying to add it back in again.


----------



## Goldfinch (Sep 9, 2012)

lf you do some research on high fiber diets you will discover what fruits and veggies are highest in fibre and you could avoid some of them to see if that helps. Also you might take into account insoluble vs soluble fibre, which can make a difference for some IBS sufferers.

I always used to think that low fibre foods were good for curing run of the mill diarrhea, but after experiencing the effects of the low fodmaps diet I would question that as a rule.


----------



## quarky (Jun 15, 2011)

Good point, I do seem to be able to tolerate soluble fiber better than insoluble fiber, so perhaps I could just stick to well-cooked bananas, potatoes and root vegetables. I do miss salad, broccoli, beans, etc, but it's such a terrible idea for me to eat them


----------



## quarky (Jun 15, 2011)

This is what I've come up with so far. It seems to be helping but we'll see how it holds up as more days pass since my last imodium dosing. I'm definitely not allergic to wheat (been tested); people who are would need to make a lot of substitutions.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs (no added fat) on white toast OR rice cooked to mush with syrup and soy yogurt. Drink: smooth fruit juice or rice milk

(I used to have oatmeal and have been trying to find a low-fiber alternative. Can you get cream of wheat in the UK? I've tried making hot breakfasty mush from potato starch (farina) but it turns into a substance a lot like gelatin, which isn't really what I was going for).

Lunch: chicken or fish cooked in tomato juice (smooth, no seeds) with small amount of cooked spinach, white rice or pasta

Dinner: spinach omelette OR gnocchi/pasta with sauce made from tomato juice and corn starch OR noodle soup with tofu and well-cooked carrots and mushrooms

(dinner has to be a vegetarian meal in our household)

It's really hard. If I just eat whatever I want I naturally consume about 35 g of fiber per day, way above the recommended amount. But reducing fiber to well below the RDA does seem to be helping. I'm managing to get breakfast inside me before the urge to go comes on, and I'm not constantly running to the bathroom through the rest of the day.


----------

