Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Sometimes you don't get a nice black and white explanation

for why something hurts (or helps) you. Sometimes it's years down the road before you get a logical answer to an IBS question, and sometimes not even then.

If you KNOW something bothers you, don't eat it. Work around it. Bake, broil, stew, steam your chicken and acknowledge that you just can't sautee it. Give it some time, and try the problem again to see if it still occurs.

What matters is that you know what you can and can't eat. Getting a rational explanation for why is nice, but not truly necessary. Annoying, I know, but sometimes that's how IBS goes.

My own example: I can't eat savory foods (like Thai curries) made with coconut milk. Even if it's very low fat. Even if it's not even real coconut milk, but simply soy or rice milk flavored with coconut extract.

My guess is that having been so violently ill on true (high fat) Thai coconut curries in the past, just that flavor alone is enough to make me sick now. I don't know if this is the real explanation, but I don't have a more logical answer. Coconut milk in small quantities in sweet things, like desserts, doesn't bother me.

In the end I can't dwell on it - I just have to avoid Thai curries. Which is not a problem, as there are lots of other Thai foods I love that don't hurt me.

- H

--------------------
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!

Print Remind Me Notify Moderator