What about Almond Butter?
#188018 - 06/21/05 07:35 PM
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The IBS diet says that you shouldn't eat nuts and nut butters. But, where oils are discussed, it says that you can have finely ground nuts. I love raw almond butter and it definitely helped with my cholesterol. According to the IBS diet, I'm doing everything wrong and I need to start over to figure out what's triggering my distress. I eat pure, raw, almond butter with nothing added to it. One question I have is, what's the difference between the pure nut butters and the finely ground nuts?
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To avoid nuts, I mean. Because as far as I know, nuts and nut butters are fine when eaten with care... meaning that (1) you have to be sure to eat them with a soluble fiber base, because they are insoluble, and (2) you have to be *really* careful about how much you consume, because the fat content is so high (and fats, of course, are a major IBS trigger).
If you're just starting the IBS diet, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the guidelines and, yes, start over with "what to eat when you can't eat anything", to break the cycle of attacks... and then add foods back in slowly, to determine what triggers you. Don't think of it as "doing everything wrong" right now. Think of the diet as formatting your system, like you'd wipe out Windows on a computer and reinstall it - just starting over with a clean slate. Everything will run better afterwards, honest. 
(Ok, I'm done with my geeky analogy now.  )
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And they're high fat as well, but you can still eat them, you just have to be careful.
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Nuts and nut butters were listed under "Irritable Bowel Syndrome Danger - High Fat Foods Ahead." I guess it actually says something more towards the idea of eating them with great care. So, I just thought it meant that they would be terribly bothersome, because I do happen to have serious problems with eating nuts in their natural form. I don't think I have a problem with almond butter and it did wonderful things for my cholesterol. I have to start reading again. Oh...nuts were also listed under insoluble fiber and there are all sorts of restrictions on those.
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Nuts are on heather's insoluble fiber list. But chopping them up/pureeing them makes them soluble fiber, right? As for nut butter... that would be finely chopped up nuts, right, so that part would be safe? But still with a high fat content still, I'd imagine, in which case you want to be careful.
I just ran across Heather's recipe for Mexican Cinnamon-Lime Horchata, a drink in which 1 cup of almonds are blended with liquid, strained and the solids thrown away. "The high soluble fiber content of almonds make this a safe drink, particularly because the nuts are so finely ground," the recipe says.
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Woah woah woah... chopping up nuts does NOT make them into SOLUBLE fiber. Nuts have no soluble fiber. Chopping them up makes the INsoluble fiber easier for your body to digest, but you should still treat them like any other insoluble food - carefully, lots of sf etc. And with nuts you have to be especially careful because of the high fat content.
So you're right in saying that nut butters are more digestible than say, eating a handful of (unchopped) nuts. But you still have to be ultra careful with nut butters, and moderation is key. Hope that clears things up!
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....so chopping them finely to minimise the IF makes them pretty safe - apart from the fat content which you have to be careful with.
Can I just reiterate here that IF and fats should still be eaten on this diet! IF should be eaten carefully, but frequently and fats should be eaten carefully and in moderation. But you mustn't cut them out completely! 
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Yeah, you're right that chopping IF up doesn't make them soluble fiber, just easier to handle, my bad. But... almonds must have a lot of soluble in them too, otherwise I hardly think Heather would make them the basis of the drink or put a drink her cookbook that isn't safe.
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In the intro to the Mexican Cinnamon-Lime Horchata, EFI says, Quote:
The high soluble fiber content of almonds makes this a safe drink, particularly because the nuts are so finely ground.
Interesting - I never really read that carefully before. Keep the fat content in mind, though - just about 50% of the drink's calories are from fat. So I'd say when you drink this, take the rest of Heather's advice and Quote:
pour a glass to enjoy after dinner as you sit on your front porch and watch the sun go down.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I kind of wish Heather would get rid of that box "Danger - High Fat Foods Ahead" because I think it mixes apples and oranges. Some of the stuff in there - red meat, dark meat poultry and skin, dairy products, and egg yolks - you should just avoid. Others - like coconuts and coconut milk - you don't really need to eat, but probably can if you're very, very careful. Still others - like nuts - you need to be very, very careful with, but should eat if possible because they're good for you. Reading the text outside the box helps clarify things - and I think the discussion of IF in EFI is clearer still - but the box seems very confusing to me.
I think the point made by the other posters is very important - IF is crucial to your health. You must eat it carefully - but you must eat it for good health.
As for almond butter specifically, you should find it easier to eat than almonds because pulverizing the nuts make the IF easier to digest. You might find almond butter easier than peanut butter because almonds seem to have more SF than other nuts. However, almond butter is still high in fat, so take that into account. According to my rather elderly food count book:
1 Tablespoon of almond butter: 95 calories, 81 of them from fat
2 slices white bread: 130 calories, 18 of them from fat
Total: 225 calories, 99 of them from fat
You're still getting 44% of calories from fat, which is considerably over the 25% maximum Heather recommends. In this example, you'd either have to cut down on the amount of almond butter or eat it with other low-fat, preferably high SF, food to make it fall within the IBS-safe fat guidelines.
And if you like almonds, try the "Bruschetta with white bean and almond dip" from EFI (not on the Website) - it's yummy.
HTH.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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