Foods for IBS – There are many types of foods out there and not all of them are compatible with your body. Know which ones to avoid and the ones that are okay for you, to consume on a regular basis.
* Your diet forms the utmost importance in how you feel during the day and night. Try to reserve time for yourself so that you can investigate and identify foods that are best suited to you. *
We Are Not All Equal
As we all know, foods for IBS that may be compatible with one Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) sufferer, may not be all that well responded to by another IBS sufferer. Each and every person inflicted with IBS show some slight or major variations in their symptoms and what they are susceptible to.
We are all born different from one another. Even identical twins have some very slight differences that can allow one to tell them apart just by looking at them. This is the same case for people inflicted with the IBS condition.
In fact, there are two specific types of IBS, one where a sufferer experiences predominant diarrhea and the other with constipation. There are also those who suffer from both types, where their symptoms vary from diarrhea to constipation.
With that in mind, we know there is a need to be able to identify foods for IBS that are not compatible with yourself. Try to not look towards another person with IBS to determine what is compatible for you. It will not work this way and you will know this very soon even if you ever tried.
Identify the Trigger Foods
First, it is important for you to create a journal or a calendar that allows you to write down not only what foods you eat throughout the day, but also the symptoms that you experience as well.
This list should include everything right down to the ingredients, well at least for the first month. Try to keep your consumption to only home cooked meals. Those with IBS know the fear of eating out because you never know what you may be eating because you do not know what ingredient has been added.
Once you have compiled the past month’s journal of foods consumed for the month, as well as your symptoms experienced, it is time to review it. You should have at least a month’s worth of foods and symptoms noted on your journal/calendar.
Review the symptoms that you had experienced and where you can identify the most significant concerns. Also review the foods that you had consumed that day, up to a week previous to that day. Often there are patterns that you can identify. For example, if you drank milk and it seems to have caused you stomach grief an hour later or even a day later, you know that milk is likely a culprit.
Types of Reactions
Know that there are two different types of reactions that can take place in the body after eating incompatible foods. One of them is an IgE response which means that you will immediately feel symptoms of an allergic reaction.
The other kind is IgG which triggers an immune response a few days to a week later. These reactions are the most difficult to identify. That is exactly why it is important to note down your symptoms and the foods you had consumed for at least the past month.
Look through your notes carefully and make sure that you identify the foods that most likely caused you a problem. If you are not sure, try consuming a minute amount of that food again and see if your body reacts to it. If it does then you know it is one of the foods you can happily avoid.
Understand that sometimes the foods that you eat can create symptoms which may not be that obvious. Some foods do not make you run to the washroom or create constipation, but they make you feel lethargic. You feel very run-down, tired, and easily irritated. These are also symptoms that you want to pay particular attention to.
For example, if you were to eat cheese, it can cause you to feel very tired in the mornings when you wake up and makes your stomach feel very vulnerable. These are legitimate symptoms that you must make a note of because it may indicate an allergic reaction.
Foods to Avoid
Once you have gone through and made a list of the ingredients/foods that cause your body grief, make sure to avoid them whenever possible. This not only helps you to feel better during the day and night, but also allows your immune system to take a rest.
When you immune system is at rest, it has extra energy to work on healing your body instead of working to defend your body from the foods you had consumed. It is not easy to avoid the foods that you are incompatible with, but the “sure-fire” easiest way to do this, is to prepare your own meals right from your very own kitchen.
If you are not a cook by any means, then have your food preparer understand the foods that you need to be staying away from and ensure that they know how important it means to you to stick to this regime.
Foods for IBS
Let us know talk about foods that are compatible with your body. Often times, the majority of IBS sufferers find that leafy greens are not a problem for their body. Know that if certain foods do not digest fully in your body and they come out undigested, it does not mean you are allergic to it. It just means your digestive system is fatigued, over-worked, and/or not functioning optimally.
When you have the list of foods for IBS that you know you are compatible with, make sure you include these into your diet and try to find the most freshest of products available. The fresher the product, the more valuable minerals and vitamins that they will carry.
From your monthly food journal/calendar, you should be able to highlight all the foods for IBS that are very compatible with your body. You can consume as much as you want of these foods for IBS without suffering any consequences. These are the foods for IBS that you want to keep on your grocery shopping list.
Make these foods for IBS part of your regular diet and make sure you switch amongst them so that you are not consuming them on a daily basis. You need to cycle your foods for IBS around so that you are consuming them in moderation and not gorging on them just because you can.
Tips Provided
If you want a head start with your diet before even embarking on your diet journal/calendar entries, know that certain foods are often not compatiable with many IBS sufferers. As noted before, not all IBS sufferers are the same so there can be some slight variations here as to whether it will cause you grief to consume.
Here are a list of foods that often cause IBS sufferers grief by quickly flaring up symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, head fog, tiredness, gut noise, stomach pain, dizziness, nausea, etc:
Diary products (eggs, milk, cheese)
Gluten and wheat (baked goods, breads)
Peanuts
Fermented goods (yogurt, mushrooms, miso)
Refined sugars (candy, baked goods, pop)
Shell fishes (lobster, shrimps)
You will find that most of the foods that IBS sufferers are commonly susceptible to, are grains and milk products. These foods should be avoided to help out with your symptom recovery.
Foods that most IBS sufferers are likely to be compatible with are as follows:
Most vegetables (Especially leafy greens)
Most fruits (avoid exotic fruits*)
Most meats (reduce to one serving maximum per meal)
IBS sufferers often find themselves very compatible with the latter list of foods and this is great news because they are the most beneficial to the body anyways. If you feel that you are lacking from the other food groups, it may be a wise decision to take a vitamin once a day (or as instructed) to keep your bodily reserves replenished.
The types of exotic fruits* that you are to avoid, are mainly melons such as watermelons, cantaloupes and honeydew. Other high sugar fruits should be reduced as well, such as pineapples and bananas.
When it comes to meats, this food group is highly acidic when they are digested in the body. That is why it is important to reduce your helpings of meat to the size of your hand at the very most. It is recommended that you include meat into your meal once per day. That is really all you need in order to keep your protein levels at bay.
Your body functions best when it is not too acidic and not too basic. This means that you want to eat foods that are as neutral as possible. When your pH levels are kept at a neutral level, it helps your body to function optimally.
You may notice that as we age, our body becomes more and more acidic. When the body becomes very acidic, it causes an environment in the body that encourages infections and other bacterias that are very much unwanted.
An interesting fact is that, when a person ages and hits their senior years, it can be possible for a specific body smell to be present. You may not be able to accurately describe this smell, but it actually comes from older folks who are well in their senior years (70-90’s).
This is because their body has become so acidic that the body starts to emit a specific smell. If you eat foods for IBS that are basic, it can help to bring your acidity levels down but you will need the care and attention of a practitioner to do this correctly.
It takes time to correct the pH levels of the body and a quick diet change for a short period of time, will not make this happen. A test that you can do to test your pH level is to urinate onto a pH strip in the mornings when you wake up.
Make sure that you urinate onto the strip using your mid-stream urine and not as soon as you urinate. Also, it is best to conduct this test between 7:00-9:00 AM in the morning because the pH of your urine can change as it gets later into the day.
You want to be able to achieve a pH closer to 7. If you are much lower than this, your body is too acidic and if you are much higher than a 7, your body is too basic.
As always, try to first work on your symptoms through your diet. It is the single most important change that will help with your IBS plus all the symptoms that go with it and it is the quickest way to experience relief. Foods for IBS is one of the favorite solutions for IBS sufferers around the world because it is within their control and helps with their symptoms on a daily basis.
Once you make the compatible foods for IBS a regular habit with your diet regime, you will stand proud. Not only will you be proud of yourself and your perseverance, but you will also be enjoying your much reduced symptoms!
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