Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Cyndy - there is a difference between what naturopaths, holistic doctors (et al) call acid-forming and alkaline-forming foods and acidic foods. Acid forming foods include meat, fish, poultry, most dairy, white breads and other grains, most nuts and legumes and soy... while alkalizing foods are those such as most vegetables, totally whole grains (i.e. rolled oats, quinoa etc.), most fruits etc.

Most naturopaths argue that as a (Western) society we eat a diet that is too acidifying, relying so much on dairy, meat and refined grains, etc. But that doesn't mean that acidifying or alkalizing foods are healthy or not healthy - you just have to have a balance. Both groups contain lots of healthy foods.

All this is largely inconsequential to the IBS diet, though, because it doesn't have much to do with digestion and is not consistent with fiber - i.e. you get IF and SF on both sides. What matters to most IBSers is whether a food is ACIDIC on it's own, not the chemical processes it causes in your body (the acid/alkaline thing is not really about the gut, but rather about chemical processes in all the body's systems). So, that includes citrus fruits/juices, cooked tomatoes, vinegars etc. But then, this is a pretty individualized trigger. Some people are ok with acidic stuff while others are not.

Hope that clears things up a bit

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