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My husband has Crohn’s, not IBS, but we’ve found high fiber/fresh veggies trigger severe flares. If he eats broccoli, for example, he can end up spending a week in bed, but he can eat dairy with absolutely no impact. Caffeine is iffy (sometimes yes, sometimes no).
No one seems to have the exact same dietary triggers with these diseases in our experience. That’s one of the major hurdles to finding if not a cure, at least a management plan.
Depending on the medications you have to take (if any), they can also impact how you interact with certain foods.
I think Jennifer’s idea is the best one. Try eliminating potential problem groups and see if things improve and then add items back in slowly until you have a good picture of what causes issues. Then stay away from the triggers. 🙂
I was diagnosed with ibs 2 yrs ago. Everyone does have different triggers, so start with an elimination diet as jenn described and slowly reintroduce foods to figure yours out. It much like the diet toddlers just learning to eat solid foods go on and for the same reasons. Note; food allergies and intolerances are almost always triggers even if its an item not on the standing list of common triggers/hard to digest foods. I think klimk and the others pretty much gave you the complete list of what common food triggers are, though I will add that marbled meats high in fat like most beef products tend to be, are worse than lean meats and those without marbling.
Also, the pure peppermint pills, teas, and extract you can buy at most health food and some general stores really do work! They help to err, flush the system and keep the constipation down. Make sure to drink a matching amount of water though to avoid dehydration from the diarrhea, and help the colon function properly.
On big note, if your mother is having issues with foods she commonly consumed in the past with no real matching change in lifestyle, she needs to talk to her doctor about getting her gallbladder checked. Gallbladder issues, especially stones, is extremely common in women. Gallbladder surgery is in fact one of the most common in women period. Symptoms of gallstones or poor gb function are very similar to ibs and can often be misdiagnosed. If your mothers symptoms aren’t the classic constipation followed by essentially explosive diarrhea, then constipation, repeated, then it may not actually be ibs. It could be the gallbladder instead.
My ibs ended up being severe gall stones and gb inflammation that required emergency surgery about 2 months ago. I had actually been having gb attacks, some quite severe, for the last several years but the dr didn’t suspect and order the ultrasound to confirm until the pain was in multiple areas, including directly over the gb, and the pain was constant all day, every day for a month. Few dr test gb if you aren’t having pain directly in that area, but the symptoms aren’t that straight forward, back pain and general abdominal pain and symptoms akin to ibs are also pretty common. Since gb attacks can also be controlled or avoided by diet changes, she won’t know its truly ibs until they rule out uti, ultrasound gb, kidneys, bladder, my allergy dr did a blood test to rule out some enzyme deficiencies and do an upper gi scope w biopsy to rule out chrones & other possibilities. If all else is negative, then prob ibs.
If it is ibs and she is unable to control the symptoms with diet changes, there are some prescription meds like dyclomine they can put her on which help.
Wish your mom good luck! I hope she is successful in identifying her triggers and its nothing too unpleasant. 🙂
I get IBS brought on by stress – a few years back when I was living in Vancouver I went searching for a cure because I had IBS something terrible. I was hungry constantly (I believe my guts were having trouble absorbing nutrients on top of them being irritable because I had had food poisoning recently) and my twinging guts weren’t helping either. I believe my IBS was caused by improper diet in university (Mr. Noodle and spaghetti: not the healthiest things) and of course, my guts just not fully recuperating from food poisoning. (Plus, I was hella stressed.) Today I’m a lot happier and I believe recovered but when I stress out hardcore my IBS comes back to haunt me. I should note that I have always been a vegetarian (ovo-lacto) – even us vegetarians can get screwed up! My dad (also vegetarian) had a heart attack last year and people say that he’s the healthiest person they know. So, it doesn’t matter what diet you eat, you’ll be just as prone to problems as anyone if you’re stressy, which my father was. (Tip #1: do all you can to eliminate stress. Seriously!)
It’s my belief that almost all bodily problems such as cancer and whatnot are brought on by poor diet. (The digestive tract fuels the body after all and like so often quoted, ‘you are what you eat.’ The things which helped me most in getting rid of my IBS as much as I could, were:
1. Eliminating all animal protein (at least at first) – (okay, this is going to be controversial but -) even yogourt. You can skip the dairy in yogourt and still get the benefit of a probiotic by taking a strong probiotic pill instead, which will culture better in the digestive tract than yogourt anyway (because there’s more beneficial bacteria in it.) Most bacteria cultures in yogourt, while it can be temporarily beneficial, don’t actually survive very well in the gut long term. For months I took the strongest probiotic pills that I could find – 50 billion bacterial cultures and I feel a lot better now. (Basically, bomb your digestive tract with probiotics.) The primary reason people should eliminate animal protein is that it’s acidic and our bodies work best when kept alkaline. (The exact opposite of obligate carnivorous species like cats, which need their bodies to be extremely acidic which comes from eating meat.) I haven’t done too much research on the alkaline/acidic thing, but so I would learn more about it. From what I have learned, looking at the digestion of humans/herbivorous animals versus carnivorous ones is that cholesterol seems to come from the body consuming fats of the wrong PH. Whereas we get cholesterol heavily from red meat, to a sled dog that red meat is like Nitrous Oxide in the nutrition it provides while the grain in kibble can make him fat. Humans run on cholesterol and protein, Carnivora (like dogs and cats) run on fats and protein. Animal fat = bad for us, good for them. Plant fat = good for us, bad for them. You shouldn’t put diesel in a gas engine. (Of course this is getting off topic though.)
Also, milk has a temporarily paralyzing effect on the muscles of the stomach and digestive tract which means that the stomach takes longer to empty, meaning that that acidic milk just sits in your guts for ages which can cause problems like acid reflux. (Why dairy isn’t really advisable for people with gut problems.) The thing that helps me personally to put the milk thing into prospective: humans are the ONLY species to drink milk after infancy and lactose tolerance is actually a mutation. While the existence of this mutation means that we have evolved to consume milk, it doesn’t mean that we should. I believe the only milk we should consume (if we consume it at all) is the good stuff – the stuff a calf of goat kid would drink direct from its healthy, happy mother who eats only lush pasture grass, who gets carrots for treats on Christmas. Goat milk is said to be easier on the stomach than cow’s milk. I personally drink almond milk and I do eat cheese – it’s my one not-so-healthy addiction – but you can use smoked tofu or other things as alternatives to cheese. Nutritional yeast (the yellow stuff) has a lovely cheesy flavour to it. I also still eat eggs, just because eggs are in practically everything but I only eat them in moderation. (Unless they are in baked goods and I can’t taste that metallic, coppery this-came-from-an-animal-iron-mineral/blood flavour. Yep, I’m a weirdo who can taste that and I don’t see how other people can stand that taste, which must be far more concentrated in red meat like steak.) If I’m working particularly hard on a given day, sometimes I’ll indulge in a hard boiled egg as a quick fix for keeping my energy levels up.
I know the eliminating ‘all animal protein’ seems a bit extreme and I know many people don’t agree with it, but my take on animal protein for humans is this: it should only be a ‘once in a while’ or ‘once in a blue moon’ thing. (Think of it as a treat.) You can get protein from other sources which are a lot better for your body and many Olympic athletes (their protein requirements being vastly higher than ours) don’t eat meat at all. I say eat legumes like beans, but don’t eat ONLY beans. Everything in moderation! Less meat, more plant protein. The best sources of meat, eggs and dairy are organic non-GMO local farms that treat their animals with respect but beware that even organic meat can be contaminated with salmonella and other pathogens. Really, the best source is right from the farm!
2. Whole fruits are better for you than juices. There’s a book I read when my IBS was really bad (which unfortunately I cannot find right now because I borrowed it to my dad) which said that something happens to the juice when it is juiced which makes it more acidic than the original fruit. I’m not too clear about what this is, but I stopped buying juice after I read this and I believe it helped. If you blend the juice with fruit in a smoothie, I think it might be negated. Besides – juice has no fibre in it!
3. Avoid refined and unnatural sweeteners like sucralose and xylatol which are made from chemicals. (The fact that they’re made from chemicals alone should clue you in to the fact that they are not healthy.) If you eat yogourt, beware: these sweeteners are common additions to yogourt, especially in ‘fat free’ products. I personally think honey, dark brown sugar or maple syrup are the best sweeteners out there.
4. Avoid coffee and alcohol! I know lots of people love coffee but it really has no health benefit at all. Drink green and herbal teas like peppermint tea instead. Do NOT place green tea in boiling water – it destroys the antioxidants and nutritional benefit.
5. If your guts hurt, swallow a peppermint pill with a healthy snack to wash it down. The peppermint relaxes the walls of the digestive tract, allowing its contents to pass more easily. (Less ouch!) I’d take a peppermint pill daily with breakfast if your IBS is bad.
6. Jump start the liver and wake it up with bitter foods like daikon radish. A soup I was told to make which is used for treating cancer patients is: chopped daikon, carrots, shitaki mushrooms and dulse sea weed in miso broth. (Miso is a probiotic as it is fermented soy bean paste.) Dandelion tea is also great for putting your liver back into gear and I would consider liver cleansing in general, though you might not want to try a severe cleanse. Very mild cleansing with dandelion tea and daikon added to the diet should help. (Plus, dandelion tea – at least to me – tastes a bit like coffee.)
7. Like someone already mentioned, avoid GMO as much as possible.
8. FIBRE, FIBRE, FIBRE! – but you might have to find the right kind for your personal situation. (Elimination diets help with this.) Avoid processed grain like white flour and rice – their nutritional and fibre benefits have been stripped during processing. Other grains/seeds you can try: buckwheat (kasha), amaranth, rye, oats, brown rice, barley and quinoa. (Please buy Fair Trade.) Please note that quinoa is not actually a grain, but a seed. It’s a great source of protein as well as magnesium. Buckwheat, despite its name is also not a grain. Try rice pasta instead of wheat pasta – sometimes you can’t tell the difference! I personally like to vary what grains I consume and I try not to eat the same one from night to night. If I eat amaranth one day, I eat a different grain (seed) like buckwheat the next. Variation in your diet keeps things interesting for both your mind and your body! If you really, really love white rice (I know I do) try making it healthier by mixing in something else like quinoa. Works great for me and they cook the same! (I use one cup rice and one cup quinoa. Plus, for visual interest you can get different colours of quinoa – bonus!)
9. Remember to drink lots of clean water. Try filtering your water instead of buying bottled spring water as bottled water is hideously unfriendly to the environment due to the emissions emitted in transporting it.
10. Take a B12 tablet (hold it under the tongue to dissolve it – don’t swallow. Dissolving it under the tongue means greater absorption of the B12 and greater benefit, benefit which will be lost if swallowed.) B12 helps with blood flow and more blood flow to your aching bowels can only be a good thing! When my IBS was particularly bad I was taking 2,000 mg of B12 a day.
11. Rebuild the intestional tract! There are naturopathic holistic medicines that you can take for doing this. I took one (cannot currently remember the name) and I believe it worked (I had had food poisoning earlier in the year, which definitely did not help with how I felt.) If you can’t talk to a naturopath (they are expensive) go to your health food store(s) and ask around for what can help. Legwork pays off!
12. Visit your doctor – make sure it isn’t something else, like parasites or that gall bladder thing. Also try getting a second opinion (I strongly recommend this) and (again) visiting a naturopath if you can afford to.
13. Research! Decide what’s what for yourself and try that elimination diet.
Anyway, those are my two cents – the best anyone can do is to read as much as they can/watch documentaries on the subject, ask LOTS of questions, decide things for themselves after absorbing evidence/opinions presented to them and and then try to get those poor guts working happily absorbing nutrients again! Food is good! 🙂
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Excellent!
Wow guys, I REALLY appreciate all of your insight, and all the time that you took to type up these lengthy responses for me! I’m going to have a chat with mom and see if we can get her problem sorted out. I’m sure stress is a factor in it, but since that is work related (and she’s not going to be retiring or switching jobs anytime soon) we’re just going to have to work around it and hope for the best.
And if anyone else has anything to add feel free. I’ll keep checking back just in case.
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