Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Abby:

You don't need to live this way! I, too, had a food phobia and for years I had a limited diet, but I am much better now that I fully understand what is safe and what is not safe to eat.

What is very key is understanding that even an "unsafe" food can sometimes be made safe -- provided it is prepared and eaten in a "safe way." For example, peeling and pureeing veggies can help and eating less safe foods with soluble fibre can also help.

From seeing your list, I think you need to make major changes to your diet. The bananas, cereal, muffins, donuts, waffles, bread and gravy are all potentially problematic and are possibly aggravating your condition so that you are unable to branch out to other foods.

To start with, you need to follow Heather's diet rules (not her recipes). In addition, I would recommend taking a natural approach -- by that I mean not eating any store-prepared food or anything that contains additives or chemicals.

You should be able to tolerate turkey and chicken if you stick to white meat without the skin, as Heather recommends. If it still bothers you, then you could try organic or kosher poultry. It seems to be much safer.

I will warn you, though, there is no easy way to deal with IBS. It basically boils down to strictly following the diet and employing some of Heather's lifestyle suggestions such as fitness, yoga, etc.

I will also warn you that if you cheat on just one small thing, you can potentially provoke an IBS attack (depending on your level of sensitivity). I find my IBS is so sensitive that just cheating on one tiny ingredient can put me in misery for up to two weeks so I have to be very careful. For me, those "tiny ingredients" can include the chemicals and additives used in prepared foods and the harmones and antibiotics used in rearing poultry. You also have to be wary of the source for poultry. For example, Butterball turkey may be injected with an IBS-unsafe substance to make it juicier.

Belinda

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