# flax oil too?



## Meg04 (Mar 9, 2003)

Hi Heather,I was just looking at your list of high fat foods and noticed that "all oils" were listed on it as foods to avoid.Is flax oil included in this?I just bought a bottle of organic flax oil, as well as a flax/psyllium/oat bran supplement (both to mix in with smoothies). Nuts were on the list (to my dissapoinment!!), but I know they can be hard to digest. I often mix peanut butter/banana/soy milk for a smoothie.. is this acceptable?I suffer from severe constipation (bm every week or so).As a vegetarian, missing out on beans/lentils/nuts is difficult.Any advice would be appreciated!!Thanks!-meg


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## Heather Van Vorous (Oct 2, 2001)

Hi Meg - Actually, all of the foods that you're asking about can definitely be eaten safely for IBS. It's just a matter of recognizing if they're triggers (high fat, insoluble fiber) and then treating them carefully.Flax oil is a great health food. It is a fat, and all fats are GI tract stimulants and can thus trigger attacks, but you can't eat a fat free diet. It needs to be low fat, and those fats should be monounsaturated or have omega3 fatty acids. Flax oil is perfect here. So eat it carefully - in small quantities, and combined with soluble fiber (drizzled over pasta or rice or oatmeal, for example).The flax/psyllium/oat bran supplement sounds good, but be careful with psyllium. It can cause bloating and gas for some (but not all) folks.Nuts are also high fat, but again they're very healthy fats. Treat like the flax oil, and eat a little bit of them, with soluble fiber. Finely grinding them into breads works well, and your smoothie sounds great. Bananas are really high in soluble fiber, and the soy is a great replacement for dairy.You can also still have beans and lentils. They have lots of soluble fiber but their skins are insoluble, and they do have raffinose, a sugar that can cause gas. If you cook them very well, blend them till creamy (as soups, sauces, dips) and eat with soluble fiber, you should be okay. Beano can help here too. Start slowly with these foods and gradually increase, and you should tolerate them.If you don't do okay with the psyllium, try a soluble fiber supplement like Citrucel or Fibercon or Equalactin instead. You want to work up to 2T twice daily of the supplements - plus lots of water! That will really help the constipation.You might want to check the IBS recipe boards at http://www.ibsboards.com. There are lots of great ideas there for working in healthy foods safely.Best,Heather


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