An estimated 15-20% of all Americans have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and it's a devastating (not to mention incurable) condition. If you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you are NOT alone.
If you need to learn how Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms (pain, diarrhea, constipation, bloating) can be controlled through diet and eating IBS recipes, you're in the right place.
Despite the fact that diet plays a direct role in gut function (which is instinctively obvious to IBS sufferers, who are desperate for a reliable diet as they know this will help them), many doctors fail to give their patients any dietary guidelines for Irritable Bowel Syndrome treatment at all.
Worse still, much dietary information available for Irritable Bowel Syndrome is outdated and useless - or likely to trigger symptoms (have you been told to eat wheat bran? lots of raw veggies for fiber? this is wrong!).
The proper Irritable Bowel Syndrome diet (and yes, there is one - IBS is not so highly individualized that no accurate generalizations can be made) makes a world of difference for almost everyone with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
For many, the IBS diet makes the difference between living a normal, happy, outgoing life versus spending every single day stuck in the bathroom enduring blinding pain, bowel dysfunction, bloating, and other Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms.
I would bet you already know from personal experience that some foods nearly always cause IBS problems, while others never seem to bother you. On the other hand, you've also probably noticed that sometimes a specific food will trigger an Irritable Bowel Syndrome attack, while at other times you can eat the exact same thing without difficulty. Odds are it doesn't seem like there's any rhyme or reason to this. Odds are also that you've been wracking your brain to figure out why.
There are, in fact, very clear dietary guidelines to follow for how to eat safely for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, based on the well-established effects certain categories of foods have on the GI tract. The key word here is categories – most people with IBS drive themselves bonkers trying to find that one specific food that is triggering their Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
The problem is, it isn't a single food that causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms.It's ANY food that is high in fat, insoluble fiber, caffeine, coffee (even decaf), carbonation, or alcohol. Why? Because all of these food categories are either GI stimulants or irritants, and can cause violent reactions of your gastrocolic reflex. This directly affects the muscles in your colon and can lead to pain, constipation AND diarrhea, gas, and bloating.
In fact, the happy truth is that eating safely for Irritable Bowel Syndrome does not mean deprivation, never going to restaurants, bland food, or an unhealthily limited diet.
Nor does it mean living on "rabbit food" available exclusively at health food stores, or following brutal elimination diets, or keeping endless food diaries for the rest of your life.
It does mean learning to eat safely by realizing how different foods physically affect the GI tract, and how the same foods can help or hurt both Irritable Bowel Syndrome diarrhea AND constipation, as well as bloating, gas, nausea, and painful abdominal cramps. Following the Irritable Bowel Syndrome diet simply means learning how foods can prevent or trigger a spastic colon.
It's important to note that the same dietary guidelines that are crucial for managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome can also be very helpful for inflammatory bowel disease symptoms, diverticulosis, and diverticulitis.
Take immediate control of your IBS symptoms with the IBS Diet Kit.
