Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Question for you all who struggle with IBS

I think one problem is that you can tend to overdo Heather's diet almost to the point that it is no longer really Heather's diet.

I know I tend to do that sometimes, especially when I feel more insecure or have experienced some bowel problems. Then you can suddenly find yourself on a very restricted and boring diet and if you then look back and read through Heather's advice then you'll realize that your diet - probably being strict with basing the meals on SF foods and avoiding triggers - is lacking some of the variation that Heather makes clear is necessary for good health. Some people, especially D:ers, can find it very hard to add veggies and fruit either because of IF content or fructose content et.c. but it's important to add as much as possible.

When you feel like you're missing out on certain foods - what is it that you're missing and what can you substitute it with in an IBS safe way? If you're craving chocolate dessert then make one of the cakes from the EFI book for example. It may take a little more effort compared with just grabbing something at the store, but it can be done. Also, if you do stick with the diet strictly for a while you might find that your taste buds actually get weaned off the fatty foods or whatever it is you are craving. I used to eat candy almost every day before I went on Heather's diet - bags of salty, sour and chocolate candy - and I thought it would be really hard to stay away from it. But I decided that I would do whatever I could to keep my bowels as calm as possible - plus I realized that it wasn't very healthy to eat as much candy as I was eating before - and after a few weeks I really didn't miss it anymore.

Heather makes it clear that you should:
*Eat small servings frequently, calmly and leisurely.
*Base every meal on SF food.
*Let SF food be the first thing you eat on an empty stomach.
*Avoid triggers, including high fat foods.
*Add in as much IF veggies and fruit and berries as you can tolerate, but never in large quantities in one sitting and never on an empty stomach and always with SF food.
*Not think deprivation but rather substitution.

I think there is a risk you can get stuck on the first 4 of these "rules" forgetting the last 2, at least when you are feeling insecure and your bowels are acting up a bit. Of course if you are having bad attacks frequently you should do the BTC diet for a couple of days but then you should aim to get back to the "normal" EFI diet as soon as you can without going too fast. And for the "normal" EFI diet, the last two "rules" are really important.

Hope this helps.

/Ulrika, IBS-D

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