Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I'd have two big problems with your diet: not enough protein and not enough. See if you can slip some protein into your breakfast maybe in the form of a hardboiled egg white. My ideal eating schedule is three real meals a day with three small snacks - mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and just before bed. So I'd also advise being sure to eat lunch and eating a real dinner. For a long time, I started my day with a hot decaf tea and 1/2 cup of applesauce with 1 teaspoon of Acacia stirred in. I found that made my tummy a lot more accepting of breakfast.

My pattern of recovery was that urgency subsided first, then frequency, then feeling "off". My worst symptoms subsided almost immediately but actually feeling good took about 6 months of careful eating and slowly increasing my Acacia dosage. I found that Acacia helped me a lot. I've gotten very sloppy about my Acacia but I felt my best when I was taking 7 teaspoons a day. And it's super important to be sure you're getting lots of fluids.

As for the teas, mix away. The only way I could ever tolerate fennel tea was to mix it with peppermint tea or hide it in a strongly flavored herbal tea. A company called "Traditional Medicinals" makes a tea called "Eaters Digest" that contains peppermint, fennel, and ginger, along with rose hips, papaya leaf, alfalfa leaf, and cinnamon bark. I've tried it and find it quite drinkable.

Remember, though, that the teas have different primary uses. Peppermint is a good anti-spasmodic; ginger is good for nausea; fennel is good for gas. So if gas isn't an issue, don't force yourself to drink fennel. As for ginger, a number of companies make ginger teas. Lipton makes Ginger Twist which is good and Stash makes Lemon Ginger which is yummy. If you want to brew it from the root, you can make your life a little easier by remembering you don't have to peel it and by slicing it when you get it home and storing the slices in the freezer. You can also buy ginger root already sliced or (I think) chopped in jars and I think you can buy dried ginger root powder. And remember you can make stuff like gingerbread, also.

BTW, Lipton also makes a peppermint tea and Tazo makes a tea called "Refresh" which is an insanely good mint tea with a little tarragon.

HTH.

--------------------
[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

Print Remind Me Notify Moderator