Augie,
The questions are actually complex and I will try to shed some light on it all for you and remember its just my perceptions and some of my own personal understanding of it all.
First, I am not sure if you know this but I am also a chef. I don't personally eat a lot of wheat because it can bug me and I am not especially found of it anyway. Also, I don't eat a lot of fructose or juices with high acidity. They can sometimes be triggers to the underlying IBS and problems.
I have had IBS for thirty five years now and have been studying it a long time with a lot of help and its a lot to learn. My own IBS, I believe was caused by amoebic dysentery when I was ten in Mexico. It fits pretty "classic IBS" and I alternate. My IBS in the past has been severe for sure and its still important for me to manage it.
Not all IBSers might have a problem with wheat although its probably a pretty good proportion, it maybe individual still. There may also be other reasons besides intolerences or allergic reactions, but how foods are chemical broken down to make chemicals in the body that run the body. For example they know there are issues with serotonin in the gut. These are some examples kindof, but its much deeper then this in regards to foods and the gut.
"L-Tryptophan and Carbohydrates
L-tryptophan may be found in turkey and other dietary proteins, but it's actually a carbohydrate-rich (as opposed to protein-rich) meal that increases the level of this amino acid in the brain and leads to serotonin synthesis. Carbohydrates stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin. When this occurs, some amino acids that compete with tryptophan leave the bloodstream and enter muscle cells. This causes an increase in the relative concentration of tryptophan in the bloodstream. Serotonin is synthesized and you feel that familiar sleepy feeling.
Fats
Fats slow down the digestive system, giving Thanksgiving dinner plenty of time to take effect. Fats also take a lot of energy to digest, so the body will redirect blood to your digestive system to tackle the job. Since you have less bloodflow elsewhere, you will feel less energetic after eating a meal rich in fats."
I asked one of the leading experts on IBS about foods.
"Since I have suffered for thirty years of IBS I wonder what role foods play in IBS. So I asked Dr Douglas Drossman at the UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility disorders and here was his response. This is not a substitute for seeking medical advise from your doctor on any specific conditions you may have, but for educational purposes only.
Dr. Drossman is a Co-director of the Center and Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at UNC-CH. He established a program of research in functional gastrointestinal disorders at UNC more than 15 years ago and has published more than 250 books, articles, and abstracts relating to epidemiology, psychosocial and quality of life assessment, design of treatment trials, and outcomes research in gastrointestinal disorders.
Dr Drossman's comments on foods for IBS Health.
Shawn,
To say that people with IBS may get symptoms from food intolerances is an acceptable possibility, since the gut will over react to stressors of all types including food (high fat or large volumes of food in particular). Futhermore, there can be specific intolerances. So if you have a lactose intolerance for example, it can exacerbate, or even mimic IBS. Other examples of food substances causing diarrhea would be high consumers of caffeine or alcohol which can stimulate intestinal secretion or with the latter, pull water into the bowel (osmotic diarrhea). The same would be true for overdoing certain poorly absorbed sugars that can cause an osmotic type of diarrhea Sorbitol, found in sugarless gum and sugar substituted foods can also produce such an osmotic diarrhea. Even more naturally, people who consume a large amount of fruits, juices or other processed foods enriched with fructose, can get diarrhea because it is not as easily absorbed by the bowel and goes to the colon where it pulls in water. So if you have IBS, all of these food items would make it worse.
However, it is important to separate factors that worsen IBS (e.g., foods as above, stress, hormonal changes, etc.) from the cause or pathophysiology of IBS. Just like stress doesn't cause IBS, (though it can make it worse), foods must be understood as aggravating rather than etiological in nature.
The cause of IBS is yet to be determined. However, modern research understands IBS as a disorder of increased reactivity of the bowel, visceral hypersensitivity and dysfunction of the brain-gut axis. There are subgroups being defined as well, including post-infectious IBS which can lead to IBS symptoms. Other work using brain imaging shows that the pain regulation center of the brain (cingulate cortex) can be impaired, as well as good evidence for there being abnormalities in motility which can at least in part explain the diarrhea and constipation. So finding a specific "cause" of IBS has grown out of general interest in place of understanding physiological subgroups that may become amenable to more specific treatments. Hope that helps.
Doug "
This is also pretty good on:
Food Allergy and Intolerances
By The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
WebMD Public Information from the National Institutes of Health
Food allergies or food intolerances affect nearly everyone at some point. People often have an unpleasant reaction to something they ate and wonder if they have a food allergy. One out of three people either say that they have a food allergy or that they modify the family diet because a family member is suspected of having a food allergy. But only about three percent of children have clinically proven allergic reactions to foods. In adults, the prevalence of food allergy drops to about one percent of the total population.
This difference between the clinically proven prevalence of food allergy and the public perception of the problem is in part due to reactions called "food intolerances" rather than food allergies. A food allergy, or hypersensitivity, is an abnormal response to a food that is triggered by the immune system. The immune system is not responsible for the symptoms of a food intolerance, even though these symptoms can resemble those of a food allergy.
It is extremely important for people who have true food allergies to identify them and prevent allergic reactions to food because these reactions can cause devastating illness and, in some cases, be fatal."
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/5/1680_50303.htm
People can also have more then one condition going on which makes it all even harder to figure out.
Some may have celiac or a wheat sensitvity through an immune reaction or an intolerence.
However, a big part of IBS and eating is the act of eating itself. There are problems with this and the bowel can over react to basically the amount of calories in the meal itself and fat content etc.. Even the schedule a person keeps in eating.
The next thing is something called a mast cell and I will post on that for you next.
so this is possible
"an intolerance for wheat but not necessarily all gluten? "
This is individual.
"Meaning Spelt breads, oats, and barley would be okay? Well, maybe not barley because that was also listed. "
I am not sure what this means, SF and IF?
And I highly respect Heathers information. 
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My website on IBS is www.ibshealth.com
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