I'm confounded by nuts and dried fruits
#203040 - 08/05/05 08:21 PM
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Digby
Reged: 07/31/04
Posts: 453
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If finely ground nuts are safe to eat, but not whole or chopped...does that mean we're just not chewing our food enough? And if ground nuts are safe, then why not peanut butter which is just peanuts and salt (I don't buy the stuff with added anything). Isn't it just incredibly finely ground nuts? What's the diff?
And what's the deal with dried fruits...are they gassy foods or not? I've been eating trail mix that I make myself (cashews, raisins, dried cranberries), thinking great, I'm getting some protein, healthy fat and hey, I might gain a pound or two. I only eat a handful or two a day. Then I add some dried apricot and it's "hold on to your hats boys, I'm gonna blow!"
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The general idea is that insoluble fiber foods are easier for the system to handle if they're broken down into the smallest bits possible. Whole and chopped nuts are just as safe as ground ones in terms of the food itself, but ground nuts would tend to be easier to digest. I chew my food well, and I use chopped nuts in recipes without any problems.
Peanut butter isn't "bad" either - it's just something to be careful of because of the fat content. Fat is a MAJOR trigger for IBS, and even "good fat" foods can cause problems. You can have peanut butter, but eat it sparingly. A lot of us do. Incidentally, nuts would have the same fat-content issue whether they're ground, chopped, or whole, so eat those carefully as well.
Dried fruits, in my mind at least, are insoluble fiber. I even treat soluble-fiber fruits like mango as IF once they're dried, because the moisture is gone and all that's left is the fibrous part - makes sense to me! Whether you're adding apricots to your trail mix or not, that trail mix needs to be eaten as insoluble fiber, with a good base of soluble fiber foods FIRST. If you're not doing that, that could be a reason why the apricots are having that effect on you. If you ARE, then it's possible that apricots are just too much fiber for your system to handle right now.
Hope that helps a bit!
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Have a blessed day!...Rachel
stable and sooooooo thankful!
I have IBS but it doesn't have me!
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oh no! in a moment of weakness, i just ate a TON of dried strawberries...i'm already feeling the spasms  why can't i control myself...
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.:IBS.:.C:...:pain.bloating.gas:.
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Have a blessed day!...Rachel
stable and sooooooo thankful!
I have IBS but it doesn't have me!
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Dried apricots have sulfur I have heard people say here and that is probably why they bother you. Dried fruit is bext done in baked foods or in hot cereal. I used to live on trail mix before the diet and what a bad food for me to consume! Now I eat fruits, nuts and PB in a safer way and am fine.
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IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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It's not so much the IF in dried fruits as it is the fructose levels. And if you think about it one dried apricot which seems SO small is actually about 1/2 an apricot so it's very easy to over do it with dried fruit. That's just me though, plenty of people aren't sensitive to fructose but if a mango sends you straight to the loo it's something to consider. HTH and hope you feel better soon 
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Amy
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that dry fruit has very high amounts of fructose which can cause problems for people, especially those with IBS. That's why I avoid them.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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