Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I visit the Silicon Valley area every two months and I've been unable in six years to find any bagels I can tolerate there so I pack a couple dozen and bring them with me from Toronto!

Plain bagels dubbed "parve" made by a good Jewish bakery (which means no milk products), and made from white flour, are usually pretty safe. However, I've tried Izzie's bagels on University Avenue in Palo Alto, but they don't sit well with me even though they don't contain any dairy.

The bagels I buy from the Open Window bakery in Toronto are very digestible. I have the bakery special bake them for me without the corn meal on the underside.

I don't recommend anything other than bagels that are plain. For example, I wouldn't recommend poppy seed bagels.

If you've been diagnosed with diabetes, then all white bread products (bagels included) are a no-no for you because they all contain added sugar. Sugar is needed as part of the baking chemistry for these products. Refined foods in general aren't good for diabetics because they contain a high natural sugar content. Refined foods include most varieties of white rice. (White Basmatic rice isn't too bad for diabetics, but check it out first with your doctor.)

The IBS diet is definitely a challenge for anyone who has diabetes or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). I am hypoglycemic with a long family history of diabetes, which means I am a prime candidate for diabetes. I gave up sugar (except for in my bagels!) about 20 years ago in an effort to stave off diabetes for as long as I can!

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