IBS Trigger Foods in Heather's Recipes
#37042 - 01/12/04 08:00 PM
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belinda
Reged: 10/09/03
Posts: 474
Loc: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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I have referred a number of IBS people to this website. All of them have had the same confused reaction.
They have read Heather's list of IBS trigger foods and diet information. However, they have been totally confused by Heather's recipes, which, they said, in many cases, contained the very foods that Heather had indicated can trigger IBS.
In particular, one person, who I recently referred to this website, said she initially dismissed this website because she found the recipes to be at odds with the list of trigger foods. This person told me there was no way she could tolerate most of Heather's recipes because of the trigger foods in them and she felt these recipes destroyed Heather's credibility. It took quite a bit of persuasion on my part to get this person to reconsider this site because I knew she would greatly benefit from it. This person later commented that it would be much more helpful if Heather's recipes contained no trigger foods.
I must admit I have also wondered why many (if not most) of Heather's recipes seem to contain IBS trigger foods. I know I would not be able to tolerate most of the recipes because of these ingredients. It would help a lot if someone could explain this to me. For example, wouldn't it be better if the recipes steered clear of these ingredients?
Please note I am not posting this out of disrespect for Heather. I think the work she is doing is incredible and I have the highest regard for her since her IBS diet has helped me immensely. In fact, I believe Heather is the only IBS authority anywhere in the world who has come up with the correct diet for IBS people.
However, the recipe issue has perplexed me for quite awhile and I am at a loss to explain to people why the recipes contain IBS trigger foods.
Please don't throw me off this message board for asking about this!
Belinda
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Can you give us an example of what you consider to be a trigger food that is listed in Heather's recipe book or posted by her? As far as I can tell, there are none used. There must be some confusion somewhere.
Edited by Karin (01/12/04 09:11 PM)
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Without being specific, I don't see how this post can be responded to.
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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If you mean that a recipe might contain a small amount of fat (oil) or a little bit of insoluble fibre - because these are trigger foods - then you are misunderstanding the diet. The important thing is to TAKE CARE with a lot of trigger foods - not to completely eliminate them. Some trigger foods (fats and insoluble fibre) MUST be eaten (but not on an empty stomach or first in a meal) in order to maintain a healthy balanced diet. A diet with absolutely NO FAT or insoluble fibre will ultimately not be balanced or healthy in the long term.
As far as I can see, Heather's diet teaches how to eat the maximum variation of foods that you possibly can handle, in the safest way to ensure optimum health. It is not a total avoidance or elimination diet.
Which specific foods were you thinking of???
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Okay, for example, take a look at the recipes at the following link: http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/heathercooks/heather_cooks_recipes.asp
The Blueberry Pecan French Toast contains nuts, blueberries and oil. The Garden Veggie Nachos contains baked corn chips, tomato, onions, black beans, chili powder and soy/rice cheese (which contains casein -- milk product). The club sandwich contains mayonnaise, oil, lemon juice, tomatoe and lettuce. The Grilled Tuna Melt contains mayonnaise, lemon juice, raw onion, raw celery, celery seed, pepper, tomato slices and soy cheese (which contains casein). The Lemon Herb Whitefish with Brown Rice and Mesclun Salad contains garlic, pepper, oil, lemon, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mustard, honey and brown rice.
I know for a fact I cannot tolerate most of those ingredients (no matter how small the quantity may be) and nor can the people who I have referred to this website. Some of these ingredients seem to be blatant trigger foods such as, for example, brown rice. One of the people I referred to the site was specifically shocked to see corn chips because they contain corn and additives.
This is why we are confused.
Belinda
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I think this is where context comes in. I am still new to all this -- I've only been at it for a couple months -- but i know that cooking those blueberries (usually until they burst - or chopping them up), chopping up the nuts and cooking them, snall amounts of good oils etc. are safe - and NEEDED for a balanced diet. It is all covered in her book too. I bet it's somewhere on this site too -- if we looked long enough. It's covered in the recipes in her book too - with the reasons why. Baked corn chips are one of my fav safe snack foods. I eat that with homemade salsa - made with fresh raw tomatoes and onions - lime juice & cilantro. It doesn't bother my tummy a bit. The raw tomatoes are safe -- they don't have the acidity that they do when they are cooked.
I don't think brown rice is listed as a trigger in her book. Of course - different people may have different triggers. It's listed as one of the many wonderful kinds of rice that may be used actually. It's hard to eliminated everything that may be a problem for everyone - since the things that cause problems for one person may not for so many others.
A lot of times the form the food is in matters greatly -- it's a matter of science. Perhaps if you could get a copy of her book?
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Hi, just wanted to say that different foods bother different people. A little bit of fat/oil and fruit does not bother me. But soy products do, even soy sauce, and plenty of the recipes are full of soy products--but that's just me. Also, we need to do our best to eat a balanced diet, this is so important; we cannot only eat white bread and white rice every day, we do need to have some fats and our fruits and veggies. I know, it's a constant struggle, we just have to do our best.... Cheers
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K-Mom!
I am just amazed at what you can tolerate to eat! For example, I would have to be taken to the hospital if I ate salsa! (I would be in total agony!) I also can't have any baked corn or potato chips. If store-bought, they usually contain a ton of chemicals/additives, which would trigger IBS pain and make me very ill.
Brown rice is a problem because it is too much insoluble fibre for me. I had my last terrible painful IBS attack just over a year ago after taking just a few bites from an organic brown rice cake that I bought at a health food store.
On the bright side, I can tolerate blueberries if it's in babyfood form (bought in babyfood jars).
Yes, I have a copy of both of Heather's books and I will buy any others she writes.
Belinda
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I can't eat store bought salsa -- but Heather's salsa I can. It amazed me too.  If I eat salsa off the shelves I'll get sick too. I haven't had any brown rice since I found out about the diet -- so I don't know about how that would effect me.
I can say that at first I avoided all the trigger foods totally. I did avoid all attacks -- but I also went from IBS-D - to IBS-C and I was not eating healthfully. We have to think about the long term health risks of our eating too.
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I think the biggest thing to remember while using Heather's diet is that everyone is different. You will learn you triggers which can be totally different from someone else.
For example: I am sure there is someone on here who mentioned they can handle yogurt...not many of us can...but it doesn't mean that person is wrong...their system is different from ours.
Also - all the "triggers" we take out of our diet need to be implemented back in slowly and in small quantities. It's just the way they are prepared (chopped, pureed etc)
Have trust in the diet. And learn what your body can and can't handle...it will be different from everyone elses. Also remember that just because you have a reaction to that meal once...you may not again. Sometimes stress, over eating etc will cause attacks and the meal itself has little to do with it!
Good luck 
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Lana_Marie
Proud Mommy to Bentley Taylor
Born May 12, 2004 9lbs, 3oz
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I think Lana summed it up nicely. I just wanted to add that I've seen Heather post on here that out of all the whole grains, MOST of us can handle brown rice and oatmeal. But of course there are exceptions.
You have to have fat & insolubles to have a well-balanced diet. Did you know that for insolubles, the more you eat, the more you build up a tolerance? I've seen Heather say that also. Of course, it's still done safely with your soluble base and pureed/chopped/cooked/etc.
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Thank you to everyone who replied! This is helpful! I am going to pass on your responses to those who have asked me why the recipes contain trigger foods.
Belinda
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Hi Belinda - I think Shells Bells answered this well. It's not a question of avoiding all possible triggers (such as insoluble fiber and fats), it's a question of eating them carefully so that you can incorporate them into your diet for overall good health.
I actually think of triggers as foods that should be totally avoided - red meat, dairy, fried foods, egg yolks, coffee, soda pop. These are foods I never include in recipes, nor do I ever eat them.
But fats and insoluble fiber foods MUST be eaten for good nutrition, even though they can potentially be trigger foods. Eating them with soluble fiber, the fats in just small quantities, and the insoluble fiber foods cooked/diced/pureed makes them much, much more tolerable.
The blueberry pecan french toast is a good example. It has a high soluble fiber foundation from the bread. The blueberries and nuts are finely chopped, and then cooked, to minimize their insoluble fiber. The canola oil is added in a very small quantity - it's a heart-healthy fat, and you need to safely add these. The soluble fiber makes the addition possible. If you were eliminate the "triggers" in this recipe you'd eliminate the fruit and nuts and canola - you need these foods for nutrition. I'd never give a recipe for, say, fruit and nut trail mix where you just eat out of hand raw blueberries and whole nuts. That's super high insoluble fiber, and would likely cause problems. But treating the ingredients carefully, and especially having that soluble fiber foundation, makes a world of difference.
It's the same thing for the other recipes. They are very low fat - even if they have a bit of added oil, their total fat content is low. And remember - you have to have a low fat diet, but you cannot go fat free. Your body needs healthy fats.
The veggies added to the sandwiches are in thin slices, and with a soluble fiber foundation. Same for the whitefish - that has brown rice as it's soluble fiber staple.
If you know that a specific ingredient is completely intolerable to you, substitute for it. Use white rice instead of brown.
Corn chips should not be a problem. Baked corn chips are very low fat, and the brands I see locally (Tostitos and Guiltess Gourmet) don't have any additives at all. Corn is not an IBS trigger if it's finely ground, but whole kernel corn is. Corn is a common food allergen, but that's different from IBS.
It sounds like you have a really, really long list of healthy foods that you cannot tolerate in any amount. This is actually not typical for IBS. Most healthy foods (especially fruits and veggies) can be safely added when cooked, diced/pureed, and combined with soluble fiber.
What's also important to note is that if you completely avoid all insoluble fiber foods and fats, your body will become even less adept at dealing with them. This is really a vicious cycle to get into. Folks with IBS can end up on real deprivation diets where they're afraid to eat so many foods that they don't eat much anything, or they only eat chicken and rice, etc. This is just not healthy for your body. If you can carefully, slowly, gradually add in a bit of fruits and veggies, you'll actually increase your ability to tolerate them. The more fiber your gut is used to, the better. So avoiding insoluble fiber and fat isn't the answer. You need to find ways to carefully add in whatever varieties you can tolerate, try to expand that variety, and try to gradually increase the quantity. Your body will gradually adapt to the increase and become better at handling insoluble fiber and fats overall, especially when you give it a soluble fiber foundation for stability.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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Heather:
Thank you so much for your very comprehensive reply to my question! It's very helpful to understand your approach in developing IBS-safe recipes. I'm going to forward your reply to one person in particular who has been asking me about this recipe issue.
It is true that I subsist on a very restricted diet. Well, I guess after suffering countless debilitating IBS attacks for 45 years, and only finally finding out last year that I had IBS and how to control it, I am pretty fearful of trying new foods. On the other hand, I do manage to include a variety of organic fruit and vegetables in my diet.
However, I suppose I need to muster up the courage to try some of your recipes. It's just that it's such a relief to be almost completely pain-free since discovering your website that the thought of trying a new food that could make me ill is so unappetizing! Up until now my desire to remain pain-free has outweighed my desire to risk trying new foods. It has been such a dilemma. But I realize I need to take the plunge.
Anyway, thank you so much again. As always your knowledge and information is amazing.
By the way, I wonder if additive-free baked potato chips are available here in Canada. When I checked out Lays baked potato chips in our local supermarket, they contained a lot of additives. Perhaps the Lays chips in the U.S. don't contain the same ingredients. I'll have to check this out when I'm in the U.S. next month. As for corn chips, it is possible I may be allergic to them. I have a number of allergies and the allergist recommended I not have corn products.
Belinda
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Belinda
I have to admit that since your original post I've been thinking about your comments. Not so much because, like some others, I disagree with you, because in some respects I don't. For me personally, Heather's First Year book was and remains the best yet, and the one I recommend. When I got the recipe book, I went through it making mental notes on what I knew I could and could not try. There are STILL a lot I don't think I'd try because I haven't yet proven to myself I can tolerate a particular food it calls for. I may be able to down the road, I may not.
What is important here is THE BIG PICTURE …..that is, in an IBS diet, ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL, but guess what? This one is just about as good as it gets!!! I don't know of anyone who hasn't benefited by Heather's "breaking the cycle" rules. It got me out of trouble, and I know many, many others. When it comes to the recipes it's all about individual compromise and adaptation. (After all, isn't that what everything in life is all about…..compromise and adaptation?) Heather herself admits there are foods in her recipes that may be a trigger for some people and if that's the case, leave it out or substitute……….again, compromise and adapt……………Nothing is written in stone! I'd go so far as to say I suspect there isn't one person active on this board that can tolerate EVERYTHING in the Eating for IBS book and to expect it would be ludicrous. No one person can be expected to have all the answers for all people. In a way, we all individually have to WRITE OUR OWN BOOK based on what we know is working for us at THIS point in time, what we can tolerate and what we can't. Does this mean in a year from now, if we take baby steps right now, we'll be able to tolerate a currently dreaded food? Maybe, maybe not, but how, I ask you, will we ever know unless we try? You've indicated that willingness to try, and that's all any of us can ask of ourselves. I applaud you for your courage and respect you for willingness to keep trying to improve your quality of life through board communication and inquiry!!!
We all here care!!!!
Kandee
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