Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Laurel

Pleeeeeeeeeeease don't give up on chicken soup! It's one of my "comfort foods" and I turn to it whenever I've had a bad IBS attack.

The thing is I can't have canned chicken soup, which is what it sounds like you ate. Standard canned chicken has no organic ingredients and has lots of additives, which is bad for IBS.

I have to make chicken soup from scratch using only organic ingredients, including chicken (with skin and fat removed) potatoes, carrots, parsley and whatever else can be tolerated. I add only salt and water -- no boullion cubes!!! Once the soup is cooked, I put it in the fridge overnight and skim all the fat off in the morning.

The trouble is, if you have a bad cold, you probably wouldn't have the energy to make soup. In my case, as soon as I feel a cold coming on, I try and dash out (if I can) and get the ingredients and make the soup before I get too ill. If this isn't possible, I have to ask someone to make it for me.

I find IBS is very challenging when I get sick because of the fact I can't eat canned soup and I also can't drink fruit juice to recover. I dread the day I will come down with the flu and I won't be able to get out of bed to make soup or find anyone to make a batch for me. I guess I'll just be having bread and boiled water (prison diet!) when that happens.

I would just like to add...when you have an IBS attack and you think you've stuck 100 per cent to the diet so you can't figure out what caused the attack, you sometimes need to take a closer look at the food source. By that I mean if the diet says, for example, you can have potatoes -- you have to consider whether they are organic or conventional. If they are conventional, then it may have been the pesticides, etc. on the potatoes that caused you to have an attack, not the potato itself. The same goes for canned food, etc. Not only can it be an issue whether the product is organic, but also whether there are additives.

Of course, you can do everything right diet-wise and still get an attack. That's the way it sometimes is with IBS.

I hope you feel better verrrrrrrry soon. Please don't feel bad about eating the wrong thing. It takes quite awhile (and many attacks) to adapt to the IBS diet and to learn to scrutinize everything you eat to the Nth degree.

I'm not a huggy person, but I do send my absolute best wishes to you!

Belinda

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