Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Here's a recent thread that should help. As you'll see from reading this, who tolerates what varies widely. I believe you'd find the same wide variance if you polled people who do not have IBS.

As far as I know, there are NO herbs and spices that Heather has put on the IBS avoid list, other than MSG.

There is some discussion in the thread I reference above about "capsicum". I finally did some research on this and capsicum, capsicain, capsicin, capsaicin are all references to chili peppers or the part of chili peppers that makes them "hot". Since these include cayenne and chipotle pepper, both of which are used in Heather's recipes in EFI, I have to assume they're safe for IBS. You only need to avoid the capsicain family if you also suffer from GERD or acid reflux.

(While digging around, I found a neat Web Page about peppers and how hot is hot. Entertainment only, nothing to do with IBS.)

As for stuff like mustard and, I assume ketchup, mayonnaise, A1, etc., you have to check the ingredients to be sure they don't contain any triggers. The most likely triggers to find in condiments are MSG, dairy derivatives, and HFCS.

Here's what I know about the big three of the condiment world:
Mustard - the ones I have don't contain any triggers, so it's safe
Ketchup - often has HFCS, but Heinz makes an organic one that doesn't. You can Search on "Heinz organic"; don't use the quotes, no time limit.
Mayonnaise - way high in fat and contains egg yolks. Hellmann's makes a variety of non-fat and low-fat ones, with varying amounts of egg yolks. You can Search on "mayonnaise"; don't use the quotes, no time limit. I suggest searching in the Diet board only to avoid getting hits on recipes that call for mayonnaise.

Sorry, answer got kind of long and wandered rather far afield.

I hope some of it helps.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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