Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Down with an attack today-could use help!

Hi - You can find a balance between the whole foods, raw foods ideal you're striving for and staying stable with IBS. You just need to find foods for a soluble fiber basis that are acceptable to you (perhaps brown rice, quinoa, barley, or oatmeal instead of white breads). You'll have to see your individual tolerances for these whole foods, but they tend to be okay for most (not all though) IBS folks. Add your raw foods carefully around them. Find a soluble fiber supplement you like and rely heavily on it. But get yourself stable first - and then start to gradually make adjustments. Sticking to whole grains and raw veggies while you're trying to stabilize can be self-defeating - after you're back on track it will be much easier to try and gradually incorporate these foods.

And in many ways your ideals and the IBS diet mesh perfectly - no red meat, no dairy, avoiding additives and preservatives, organic foods preferably, etc.

Just remind yourself that the "ideal diet" for overall health may take some modifications for you. If you have IBS, you do not have a normally functioning gut, and it's not fair to beat yourself up over this. You just simply may not be able to eat the pure raw foods/whole foods diet that someone without IBS could handle. And eating in a manner that constantly triggers IBS attacks is definitely not doing your overall health any favors. You'll find a good balance, just trust your own body and how you actually feel. If you feel healthy and strong and happy, that's what counts!

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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