Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Haven't been around for a bit..question about fat

Welcome back,

Here is a link to the Mayo Clinic site with a short description of stool color and fat. It doesn't sound like you have loss your ability to digest fat

If you did loss the ability to digest fat you would notice many more symptoms than just a change in stool color. Light brown is a good color

I don't know why physicians tell you that fats aren't proven to worsen IBS when it is common knowledge in the medical community that high fat meals can make IBS symptoms worse. For example in section 7.1.3 of the reference below prepared by the UK Gastroenterology society on the management of IBS it says "It is also worth remembering that IBS patients often show fat intolerance and it has been shown that lipid [fat] can induce greater gas retention and increase visceral hypersensitivity in patients with IBS than in healthy controls." You can find dozens of references to the effect of fat on IBS if you do a Google search. However, it is important to note that most reference talk about 'high fat' meals such as fried foods. Most IBS experts suggest keeping daily fat intake to a FDA recommended daily intake of 25-30 percent of calories. For some your age who should eat about 2,500 calories per day then the daily intake should be 625-750 calories from fat or 70-85 grams of fat per day (using 9 calories per gram of fat). For IBSers it is best to keep the fat content of each meal to 25-30% of calories which is still a considerable amount of fat.

Reference
Spiller, R., Q. Aziz, F. Creed, A. Emmanuel, L. Houghton, P. Hungin, R. Jones, D. Kumar, G. Rubin, N. Trudgill, and P. Whorwell, 2007: Guidelines on the irritable bowel syndrome: mechanisms and practical management Gut, 56, 1770-1798.

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