# Where's the Beef?



## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

Ever since my IBS-C nightmare began, my worst reaction to food has been surprisingly to chicken, turkey, any meat. Even chicken soup is an awful trigger. I immediately begin to bloat, burp without end, my stomach gurgles loudly and I feel lower abdominal pain and as though my intestines are endlessly moving around. These symptoms last at least 24 hours!As a result I have become vegetarian ever since. Can still eat white fish.Any ideas on why I can't tolerate any animal product besides fish?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

May have to do with fat content of the meat.A lot of IBSers react badly to fats, and meats tend to have more fat than other foods.Now that may not be the case with you if you can have as much olive oil as you want and can load up your vegetarian dishes with cheese.White fish tends to be extremely lean, so that may be why it is the one protein you tolerate well. There is also the possibility of conditioned response. If your brain has been conditioned that some food makes you sick it will cause the GI tract to be upset when it knows you ate the "bad food". I used to vomit every time I ate raisins. So it can be very specific. I could eat all other dried fruit, even ones loaded with the same preservatives and I could eat grapes. I got a GI virus the first time I had Raisin Bran cereal (I still can't bring myself to eat that, plain bran cereal is fine) and I think that started it. The problem is every time you react it increases the conditioning. A few years of avoiding raisins completely and now I can have a few in things without getting sick. Still not brave enough to try eating a box of them. Some people can be allergic to some meats so that can also be an issue if even a few drops of chicken broth always make you sick.


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

It can't be a conditioned response because I never thought meat would be a problem until it suddenly was.It can't be the fat since even when I skim the fat off the chicken soup it poses a problem or turkey soup which is low fat.maybe the hormones in meat?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I wouldn't think hormones in the meat as you have most of those same hormones in your body. Sometimes it is a food additive (you could try an organic version to see). But I doubt it is a problem.The thing with conditioned responses is like for me it only took once. The reason I was sick wasn't the food (something else triggered the problem) but the food was an innocent bystander at just the wrong time and the pattern got locked in. It only takes one event sometimes, and like I said it can be that something else flared up the IBS that particular day. Food is not the only thing that can cause IBS symptoms at any given time.Some people do seem to have problems with meat for no reason we really can figure out. If it really makes you sick than just avoid it (as you can eat healthy as a vegetarian and I'm not sure the why is that important to figure out and you may never know). I might try the avoid it completely for a year or so and then reintroduce a couple of bites in one meal and see if you still react, just in case whatever is the problem has faded over time.


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