Video Transcript
The latest IBS research including a 2011 Review in Gastroenterology Clinics of North America, shows that foods and food intolerance play a central role in the pathogenesis of IBS. Pathogenesis is a fancy word meaning the development and perpetuation of an illness. Many patients who cut out foods that commonly cause food intolerance or allergy have a great improvement in their irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. There are also certain foods that are generally irritating to the gut and should also be avoided in IBS. Adhering to an IBS Diet and IBS SAfe Foods, meaning foods and drinks that won’t cause your symptoms to flare, can help control your irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. In this video, I’m gong to talk about what foods are IBS safe foods and how to eat an IBS diet and in the next two videos, I’ll tell you about gut irritating foods and then food intolerances.
The IBS diet helps control symptoms by sticking to good food for ibs and drinks that won’t cause your IBS to flare. It is useful to take a list of these ’safe foods’ items with you when you go grocery shopping so you know what to buy for the IBS diet to make sure you won’t end up with a fridge full of IBS food triggers. Many gluten free cookbooks and recipes are also good for IBS, as they don’t contain any wheat or gluten, 2 common IBS food triggers. When making IBS safe foods and recipes on the IBS diet, also steer clear of spicy sauces, garlic, and dairy as ingredients.
Here is my list of IBS safe foods. This list is not exhaustive, but I’ve tried to include common examples of things you can find at most normal grocery stores. If you are unsure if something is safe to eat, check the lists of IBS food triggers that you can download from the previous 2 IBS food video links:
‘Dairy” Alternatives: rice and nut milks (almond milk, hemp milk), coconut milk, oat milk
For Grains: brown rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, teff, tapioca, oats, potato flour. You can
buy breads or crackers made exclusively with these grains, just make sure there’s no
wheat hiding in the ingredients!
Chicken
White Fish such as cod, haddock, talapia.
Tree Nuts- basically any nuts except peanuts or soy nuts.
Seeds
Some veggies are ok for some people, but may cause bloating and gas for other people–you have to experiement with some of these for yourself to see what works for you. Generally, it is good to avoid cabbage family veggies, brussel sproats and brocolli for everyone. Veggies that are usually safe are lettuce, cucumber, zuchinni, beets, squash, pumkin, sweet bell peppers, potatos, turnips, sweet potatos, yams, asparagus, avocado and jicima,
The following fruits are usually safe: apples, pears, all berries like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, rasberries, salmonberries, etc, grapes, peaches, plums, watermelon, cantelope, melons, pineapple, kiwi, mango, avocado, lychee
Bananas are ok unless you suffer from constipation as a main symptom.
Oil: cold pressed olive, flax, walnut, safflower, grapeseed, sesame, almond, sunflower,
canola, pumpkin and coconut oils
Drinks: filtered water, herbal teas or decaf green tea NO CAFFIENE, seltzer or mineral
water.
Sweeteners: (may use only small amount) Brown rice syrup, agave nectar, stevia, fruit
sweeteners, blackstrap molasses
Condiments: vinegar, salt, pepper, mild spices NOT Chili
Whenever there is a symptom flare possibly related to diet, you can always go back to the IBS Diet until your irritable bowel syndrome symptoms are back under control. You can also use this IBS diet to ‘test’ if other foods not on the ibs safe food list may be making your IBS symptoms worse by eating the potential ibs food trigger item for 3 days and note any changes in your symptoms. During the three days when you are testing that one item, try to stick to eating only items off of the safe food list so that the only potential ibs trigger you are consuming is the one you are testing