Restaraunt Guide To Eating Out Safely For IBS
#232376 - 12/18/05 10:33 AM
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scuba
Reged: 12/10/05
Posts: 16
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For various reasons, I eat out a siginifcant amount of the time.
I would say 3-4 times a week for dinner I eat out, and anywhere from 1-4 times for lunch.
Breakfast is always eaten at home.
I have read and have a least an elementary understanding of the IBS guidelines, them being
-Low fat, no dairy, no redmeat, soluable fiber in larger quanties before insoluable fiber, caution with acid foods.
This has helped me cut down and clarify to a large extent what I should be searching for when preparing my own and purchasing food.
For instance, I now know when going to a Chinese restaurant, the General Tso Chicken is an obvious no.
However, there are several other tasty selections that are rather ambiguous.
Many times, I do not know if something is high in fat, or has dairy.
While I will list some questions, I think the best I could ask, and the best answer I could receive is one on if there is a good book out there I could buy to provide me with the knowledge and resources to answers these question myself.
Eating out enjoyably and safely for IBS is a major issue for me, and I could spend a lot of time on here asking questions, a lot of time when ordering deliberating over what to get, but all this will do is cause confusion for me, and aggitation for others.
It would be ideal if there was a book out there which would be able to provide knowledge on how to eat out safely and enjoyable for IBS.
Consuming chicken all the time is boring, and would make following a diet hard.
At the same time, spening a half hour reviewing a menu, and still getting it wrong, also is rather unpleasant.
I understand Heather has a book, Eating for IBS, but I was not sure if this book's focal point is eating out.
I understand there is a segment on eating out, but because this is such an area of importance and confusion for me, I did not know if her book went in depth sufficent enough to provide me with the resources to solve this issue myself.
Help me help myself.
Teach a man to fish, don't give him a fish.
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To give you a general idea of the types of issues, questions I have, thereby perhaps helping you recommened the book of best fit:
Since it will be at best a few days before I buy and read the book, please feel free to help out and answer these queations if you can, with the understanding I intend and wish to get a book to deal with these as the needs to ask similar questions arises again in the future.
For lunch, I enjoy having wraps at BOLCO or another sandwich shop.
1) One of the things I have considered eating is the Chinese saled.
The question mark comes in because this is served with dressing called Chinese.
I did a web search, and the only questionable ingredient in there was vinegar.
Nonetheless, I wanted to verify if this food selection was indeed safe?
2) Similarly, and likewise, a sandwich I like to eat comes with Russian dressing.
I did a search on the web, which came back safe, but I wanted to verify again.
3) Cream sauce. Many enteries I see have this, I normally would assume this indicates cheese or dairy, however when I saw Creamy Russian Dressing, this came only with mayonnaise. I do not want to unnecessarily rule out safe food, so I wanted to know if when something is in a cream sauce, if this is safe?
4) Tomatoes and Vinegar. I like to eat Italian food, which comes with Tomatoe Sauce. I also like to make Chicken, obviously with flavor, and use various hot and barbeque sauces. Most of these sauces have a good amount of vinegar in them, and I wanted to know how I can to proceed with them.
When I have pasta with tomatoe sauce, is this safe, or too big an amount of tomatoes, what is the safe limit?
Similalry, when preparing Chicken, what is a safe limit for vinegar based sauces?
I do not want to put myself at risk.
As far as what places I like to eat, they are Chinese, Italian, American, Indian, and Mexican.
1) Italian. General rule of thumb and safe selections?
1) I love linguini with clam sauce. I know Dr. Dahlman has stated butter is not bad. (fat, butter?)
2) Shrimp Scampi? (fat, butter?)
3) Gnocchi? (fat, dairy?)
4) Diavolo Tomatoe Sauce? (tomatoes, butter?)
2) Chinese
I was told this would be safe, but I have read Chinese is high in fat, and cooked with oil? Do you have any general advice?
Here are some of my favorite foods, which again, I am ambiguous on if they are safe, could you help clarify them?
1) Lobster sauce (fat?)
2) Oyster Sauce (fat?)
3) Seafood (fat?)
4) Chicken (fat?)
3) Thai. Same questions
Here are some of my favorite foods, are these safe?
1) Pad Thai (fat?)
2) Rice noodles (fat?)
3) Stir fired rice noodles (fat?)
4) Chili sauce (fat, spicey?)
4) Mexican, safe? What choices?
5) Indian, safe? What choices?
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As far as I know, there's nothing unsafe about vinegar unless you have acid reflux issues to contend with. It actually adds alot of flavour WITHOUT fat.
Kate, IBS-D.
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Of your servers, at a restaurant, I mean. That's part of their job: to interpret the menu and ask questions of the cooks if need be. So ask! Ask how something is prepared, if it contains dairy, if it's cooked with oil. Ask for sauces on the side, in case they end up containing questionable ingredients. Ask, ask, ask. You don't need a guide or a book, you need to learn how to ask for what you need.
If the server is rude, take your business elsewhere. But honestly, most servers I've encountered in 10+ years of eating a modified diet are very accomodating. As a former waitress, I can say that we're not dumb - we know that doing what a customer asks equals a good tip. So be polite about it, and tip well, and you'll have no problems eating out.
Now, some restaurants, you're just going to have a harder time than others. I don't eat chinese, mexican, or italian anymore, because I can never find things that I like that are safe. Other Asian cuisines are a little more forgiving, as are Indian and any chain-restaurant-type-place, like Applebee's, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. I've even found diners to be very accomodating.
Unfortunately, none of this changes the basic tenets of the diet. You still can't have red meat. You are limited to chicken, turkey, and seafood, safely prepared. Depending on what kind of restaurants you're eating in, that could limit your options significantly. That's just something you have to learn to live with, like the rest of us have, no ifs ands or buts. There are a myriad ways these things can be prepared, and vegetarian food that doesn't contain dairy is still an option as well - there's no need for diet boredom at all.
Good luck!
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I seemed to have found an answer for dinging out. Order whatever you want as long as it's accompanied by a large order of common sense! Good luck in you quest for the perfect dining out experience.
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First of all, there's nothing unsafe about vinegar.
1. Chinese dressing - if there's no dairy and it's low fat, it's safe.
2. Russian dressing - UNSAFE because of the fat
3. Cream sauce - UNSAFE. Cream sauces are typically made with milk or cream, butter, and flour as a base. Cream, milk and butter are all UNSAFE.
4. As I mentioned, vinegar is safe. Tomatoes are safe as well. Be sure they're cooked well, if your sauce is starting from fresh tomatoes.
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1. Italian - this is hard for me because in a restaurant, everything is made with oil and cheese. I've had good luck with chicken cacciatore. That's about it.
1) Once and for all, BUTTER IS BAD. Period. Linguini with clam sauce is UNSAFE if it contains butter.
2) Shrimp scampi - UNSAFE.
3) Gnocchi - depends on how it's made. You can make gnocchi without dairy. Ask.
4) Diavolo tomato sauce - again, ask what the sauce contains. Tomatoes are safe. Butter and excessive oil are not.
2. Chinese - I can't help you with any of those sauces specifically, but I can tell you that they're typically relatively high in fat. Hopefully someone else can give you specifics.
3. Thai
1) Pad thai - NOT safe. Too high in fat unless you make it yourself.
2) Plain rice noodles are safe. Once you start adding sauces, obviously, it depends on the sauce.
3) Stir fried noodles - at home, safe, but in a restaurant, I'd steer clear.
4) Chili sauce - I'm not sure about the fat content, but I'm leaning towards saying that it's safe.
4. Mexican - Fajitas, with no cheese, no sour cream, no refried beans. That's all I've ever found.
5. Indian - I loooooove Indian. Unfortunately, in restaurants, the same problems apply that did for Chinese. Indian food uses a lot of ghee, which is clarified butter, which is fat and dairy - no good. Stay away from anything with sauces. Tandoori chicken and chicken tikka (or tikki) are the safest choices, as they're marinated chicken that's then dry-cooked. Basmati rice is safe, of course. Chapathis are usually a plain bread without dairy products, but definitely ask - my local restaurant used to make naan without dairy, but now they soak it with butter. 
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I don't know of any books to recommend, other than Heather's. I honestly haven't read anything *anywhere* that's helped with eating out. I've always relied on my own common sense to get me by. *shrug*
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It's my general rule that books about IBS that are NOT by Heather are NOT helpful 
But there's a small section in EFI about eating out and The First Year has a chapter on it I believe.
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Heather mentions in her insoluable fiber section to proceed with caution when it comes to acid food, such as vinegar and tomatoes, because "they can cause both upper and lower level GI distress."
I have noticed when I have eaten lean pork chops with a sauce which had vinegar as it's first ingredient, and last night, when I had Dafalo Tomatoe sauce, I felt abodominal bloating, no heartburn, cramping, or acid reflex.
I was under the impression that Thai restaraunts were healthy, IBS safe places.
I don't understand how Pad Thai would be unhealthy, this is stir fried noodles, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables.
I was told by a dietician stire fried was good, especially if they use a light sauce.
I'm disappointed there really is no book, I know Heather has a section on eating out, and a whole book on eating, I hope this suffices.
Really, I need to be able to answer these question on my own, instead of worrying the whole night that I ate something bad, or be frustrated at having the same bland choice.
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Case in point with vinegar, tonight.
For dinner, I made Chicken Breast, squash, and spinach.
The Chicken Breast was marinated overnight with Hot Sauce, which contained as the second ingredient vinegar.
After having this for dinner, I felt a high rise in bloating for all areas of my stomach, much similar to how it is when I have a heavy amount of tomatoe sauce, or when I had a vinegar based soup.
This also happens when I use other sauces that have a high amount of vinegar.
Does anybody else experience a similar phenonoum?
Mind you, the Chicken Breast could have been marinated with excess Hot Sauce, and subsequently excess vinegar.
I did not measure tablespoons, I simply poured on a ton of sauce.
Now, I being a firm believer in the need to figure things out on my own, will postulate that I have a sensitivity to acid foods, and should have them in moderation.
I suppose this means, when using a vinegar sauce, measure, and use only a few tablespoons?
When you make chicken, and marinate it, how much sauce do you use per slice? Thanks.
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