# Nailing down the bad foods



## boltonsbest (Feb 23, 2009)

Hi all,I have had IBS for a few years now (ranging from minor discomfort to doubled over agony) but still at a loss to nail the cause down to a certain foodstuff. Sometimes it seems to be dairy, sometimes fibre, sometimes just eating too 'heavy' a meal. I don't get diarrhea often but cramping often and sit at work prodding my innards to make them deflate.Does anyone with similar symptoms have any food advice? Is chewing gum a possible?ThanksDave


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## Cillian (Dec 17, 2007)

Here is some of the stuff I avoid:1. Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, 2. Sugar Alcohols3. Lactose4. too much Soluble Fiber (insoluble fiber will not ferment and cause gas like soluble does, but will loosen stools)5. Fast Food (minus Subway and some chinese restaraunts)6. Pretty much any food whose ingredient list reads like a novel7. Most gum since they use sugar alcohols in 99% of them (Wrigleys spearmint is okay for me) Thats about all I can think of for the moment.


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## TheInvisableGirl (Dec 21, 2008)

I avoid: - Beef and all cow products including geletin and dairy (cheese, milk, casein ect...)- Anything with over 2 grams of fat per serving- Nearly all nuts and seeds (minus sunflower and sesame) Including oils- Alcohol of any kind- Wheat and gluten- Certain types of soluble fiber (too much painful gas)- White sugar- Eggs- Solid food on an empty stomach- Eating more than a half cup of food or liquid at any given time. Its alot to follow but while i am still bed bound with nausea and pain its alot better than it used to be i can actually watch an hour long television program without having to stop fraom my symptoms. Ive even started being able to read books again (i had a very hard time concentrating due to pain which would lead to fustration which would lead to headaches)! And i usually dont need a wheelchair unless im going shopping (i sometimes used to need one just to go room to room) or will be out for prolonged periods of time where i will be required to eat or drink anything. Like i said its alot but i try to make the best of it as i try new things







. I wish you luck on finding you trigger foods took me at least 2 months to nail down just a few of them! Best wishes XOXONatalia


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

While you do find someone that has one or two trigger foods and are 100% totally good if they avoid those, it is not the norm.Food is not the one and only trigger, and as you noticed sometimes it is more the quality of the meal as a whole rather than one specific ingredient that is the problem. Large, heavy, greasy or fatty meals, or waiting to long to eat a meal will cause there to be a larger gastrocolic reflex (increased colon activity in response to eating every time you eat) than when you have smaller, frequent, light meals.Chewing gum will vary, mostly on how sensitive you are to sugar alcohols if you chew sugar free gum. Humans don't digest them well, but the colon bacteria make gas from them and they can be an osmotic laxative. You don't have that problem with regular sugared gum, so with those it depends on how you react to sugar and if you tend to swallow more air than you can handle while chewing.Sometime people find that when they are having a "bad IBS day" for any non-food reason that certain foods tend to bother them. Even when on a "good IBS day" they can eat that food just fine. Sometimes the IBS has a bad day and it will react to anytime you eat any food.It would be nice if it was just food and no other triggers as diet you can control. Having a bad night's sleep or being stressed out over a tough commute or any of the other physical and mental stresses that can set off the IBS usually aren't as easy to control.


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## nickieAZ (Apr 9, 2009)

Yes I have read before that gum is a cause for gas, so is drinking from a straw, and any bubbly type drinks (sodas, sparkling water, etc.) Of course onions are a big gas food as well, along with garlic YES garlic, although we always hear about how many health benefits that garlic has it is worse than onions when it comes to gas. Personally I still eat garlic, but have GREATLY reduced the amount, since I have reduced the amount of garlic that I add into my food I have noticed a decrease not only in pain and gases from it, but in D as well. Although, I have still not nailed what all could be causing my IBS symptoms. I am a lot like you in that sometimes I can eat a certain food and be okay, and other times not. For example I can eat ice-cream at some shops and be fine and not have to go to the toilet for hours afterwards, and other ice-creams or shops have sent me flying to the toilet as if I can't control my bowel or left me with a lot of diarreah the next day.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

Hi.Does anyone know if Jacket Potatoes are ok to eat, I have IBS-D, or is it a food that should be avoided and why.


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