No one wants to be stuck fighting their body. That goes double when it comes to something as potentially crippling as IBS. If you’re living with IBS it’s paramount that you learn how to adjust your IBS diet accordingly. Sound impossible? It’s as simple as following the right advice from those in the know. Like us.
About the IBS Diet
To adapt your life around your IBS (because the opposite just isn’t possible) it’s best to start by scaling back your food and focus on what the triggers are for your IBS flare-ups. Everybody is different, so identifying what foods are specific to you and your body is important in keeping you healthy. Here’s what you’ll want to keep in mind.
• Identify your trigger foods: Some problem foods will cause a worse reaction than others, depending on your body’s responses. We can still use common trigger foods as a starting point though. These include; fruits, spicy foods, caffeine and fried foods. You’ll want to keep those triggers in mind and try to limit them in your new IBS diet.
• Eat small meals and chew plenty: With your newly approved IBS diet, it’s best that you keep your meals small and frequent, and chew plenty to give your stomach a fighting chance. This will make digesting an easier task for your stomach since it’ll be working with smaller clumps of food rather than half-chewed, half-whole chicken pieces.
• Keep a food diary: Keep track of any symptoms that sneak up on you with a food diary. You can’t expect things to be perfect right away, you may find that an unusual food causes flare-ups. This is where monitoring what you eat and when reactions occur will help. You’ll find it much easier to identify any patterns of problem foods if it’s all tracked. Put everything in there and keep it up for a few months, regularly reviewing for any trigger foods.
• Stay hydrated: Finally, staying hydrated should be at the forefront of anyone looking to maximise their health. For IBS sufferers, you’ll find it much harder to stay regular with your bowels if you’re dehydrated.
Example foods:
So, which foods are part of the ideal IBS diet? The variety may shock you. Some of the best meals you can enjoy and still avoid IBS symptoms include:
• Barley or rice-based porridge and fruit
• Chicken stir-fry with basmati rice and mushrooms
• Protein shakes with soya, oat milk and protein
• Whitefish with ratatouille and sweet potato
These are just a handful of the many options available for a nutritious and gut-happy diet. Living with IBS doesn’t mean you have to miss out on delicious meals or that you’re sentenced to bland meals for life. The perfect IBS diet will differ from person to person, but no one living with IBS is excluded from having tasty meals and a healthy lifestyle. It just takes a little compromise.
