Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Worries about IBS diet

Hi, and welcome! You got good info from Linz, so I'll just add a few things:

1. The basis of the diet is soluble fiber - what foods you get that from are your choice. Brown rice and oatmeal are tolerable whole grains for many. Soluble fiber will help constipation, not hurt it. The two healthiest dietary cultures worldwide (Japan and the Mediterranean) have soluble fiber staples as their foundation (white rice, pasta/breads, polenta/cornmeal).

2. The diet is low fat, not very low fat. Big difference here. You're going to get between 20-30% of your calories from fat, which is a very healthy range. More importantly, your fats will be heart-healthy choices like avocados, olive and canola oils, fatty fish, ground nuts, flax oil, etc. You should definitely not be eating so low fat that you're prone to depression, or any other health problems. You shouldn't see your hair or skin become dry from too little oil in your diet, either. There's a huge difference between a healthy low fat diet and an extremely low fat diet, and there is no need with IBS to cross that line. Soluble fiber will allow you to add small amounts of healthy oils to all your meals.

3. Grains are not at all comparable to meat/dairy in terms of the acidification of the blood (which then requires the body to leach alkaline minerals, including calcium, from the bones). This does NOT happen from plant proteins, only from animal proteins. And this is actually a separate health issue from IBS. Meat and dairy are avoided in IBS because they are high fat and their proteins are very difficult to digest. They also have zero fiber. Grains are not high fat, their proteins are not difficult to digest, and they're terrific sources of soluble fiber (and, if whole grains, insoluble fiber as well) which will normalize gut function.

4. Wheat is a concern for IBS if it is WHOLE wheat, not refined wheat (as in white flour and white bread). Whole wheat contains bran, which is insoluble fiber, which can trigger attacks unless you eat it very carefully. If you're wheat allergic or intolerant, this is totally different from IBS, as is a gluten intolerance like celiac. If you haven't been tested for celiac, make sure that you are. If you know that you're not allergic to wheat, try adding plain fresh white bread or plain pasta into your diet. That will be IBS safe, so if you have problems that would point to wheat, period, as a food intolerance for you. You can also have BOTH food allergies, and/or celiac, and/or IBS. But they're different disorders.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Heather

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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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