Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Sorry, Heather, I must dissent...

Hi Shanna - I know some folks are exceptions here, but they really are few and far between. Out of the thousands of people I've heard from (I'm guessing 9,000 - 10,000 at this point) maybe two or three of them have said they can tolerate a bit of lean red meat. The rest just cannot eat it, so I don't want anyone reading the board who's having problems to think they can keep red meat in their diet when they likely can't. At the very least people need to eliminate it from their diet first, get stable, and then try a small amount to see how they do with it. Even then, because red meat is indisputably linked to higher heart disease and colon cancer rates (among other diseases), it's really hard for me to say that anyone is better off with it than without it.

I also want the boards to be consistent along the basic Eating for IBS dietary guidelines, so new people aren't reading wildly different things from post to post, as that doesn't help folks make the basic diet changes they need. If you've spent time on any other IBS internet boards, and seen the total chaos and inconsistencies in posts about diet (it ain't pretty), you'll know what I mean. Everyone will eventually learn their own specific idiosyncrasies when it comes to diet, but they've got to take the same fundamental steps and make the big adjustments first (no triggers, high soluble fiber, careful but regular incorporation of insoluble fiber, low fat), before they'll be able to reach that point. I'm trying to keep the waters from being muddied here - there are many, many people who just read the boards but never post, so the more clear and consistent information they receive the better. I hope this is making sense...

You can get plenty of iron from skinless chicken breasts and seafood and be a lot safer for IBS. Oatmeal and leafy greens are also good sources, especially if you eat them with foods containing vitamin C to help with absorption.

I have trouble absorbing iron properly even when I eat enough of it - the funny thing is all the women in my family have this problem (and except for me, they all eat red meat). I asked my family doc about this once and she said she sees a lot of women who have this problem, though she didn't know why. I take an iron supplement (always with food) fairly regularly to keep this problem in check. I'd much rather see someone else with IBS who has this problem look to any source but red meat for a solution.

But I'm glad to hear you do okay with the occasional burger.

- H

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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!

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