Eggs. Eggs digest easily and are a safe choice for people with IBS. Eggs can be enjoyed hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, or poached. Omelets and frittatas can be your meal of choice for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and make a great option when eating out in a restaurant.
Certain sweeteners: Any sweeteners ending with “-ol,” for example, products containing sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, or maltitol. Wheat and rye products: These include bread, pasta, crackers. Honey and foods with high-fructose corn syrup: Such as candies, sugary drinks, and other sweetened foods.
Choose easier-to-digest proteins, such as eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, extra-firm tofu, and plain lactose-free greek yogurt. Lower-fat cooking methods, such as baking, roasting, steaming, boiling, and sautéing, can also help you avoid uncomfortable symptoms.
YES, there are grains and starches that are Low FODMAP friendly. As you likely read in our IBS Foods to Avoid write-up, steer clear of corn and beans. Instead, rice, quinoa, oats, and sweet potatoes are great low FODMAP starches to fuel your body with needed carbohydrates.
Even though dairy products are the major culprits of discomfort for some IBS sufferers, yogurt proves to be an exception. The live cultures in the yogurt break down the lactose, so it's less likely to cause gassy symptoms.
Grains: Quinoa, white rice, corn flour, oats, gluten-free pasta. Protein: Lean meat and tofu, including beef, pork, chicken, fish, and eggs. Fruits: Strawberries, bananas, citrus fruits, blueberries. Vegetables: Carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, olives, potatoes, and turnips.
Standard white bread (made of wheat) has been tested by Monash and is low in FODMAPs for one slice (24g). Even though it contains wheat, it has been processed and does not contain enough fructans to cause symptoms for most people with IBS.
Tips for an IBS-Friendly Diet
Try eating smaller meals, more often, spread throughout your day. Instead of 3 meals, try 5 or 6 regularly scheduled small meals. Slow down; don't rush through meals. Avoid meals that over-stimulate everyone's gut, like large meals or high-fat foods.
“If your symptoms lend toward abdominal pain and constipation, eggs can worsen IBS. Eggs are packed with proteins, which can exacerbate constipation,” Dr. Lee explains.
Don't Skip Meals
People who have IBS-D commonly skip meals, thinking that an empty stomach will result in an empty bowel. That is a mistake. If you think of the intestines as a conveyor belt, you would want it to operate with a light, continuous load, so as to help it operate more smoothly.
Don't eat late at night
This means that if you eat before sleeping, you're more likely to experience IBS symptoms because your digestive system is less able to cope with food. So, try to avoid food after 8pm and see if this helps your symptoms.
Foods To Avoid With Irritable Bowel Syndrome
High-fiber products, found in cereals, grains, pastas and processed foods. Gas-producing foods, like beans, lentils, carbonated beverages and cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower. Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and many processed foods.
Insoluble fiber may make IBS symptoms worse.
Nuts. Beans. Vegetables like cauliflower, green beans, and potatoes.
According to both Monash University and FODMAP Friendly, cherry tomatoes are low FODMAP and you can safely enjoy them 45g (3 tomato) serves (1 4). Just keep an eye on portion sizes as they do contain moderate amounts of fructans in 60g serves (1).
Dairy products, including milk, yogurt, and cheese, can trigger IBS flare-ups. If you find that dairy doesn't agree well with your stomach, consider switching to dairy-free products such as: Coconut milk or almond milk.
What to eat instead: Vegetables that are good to eat include eggplant, green beans, celery, carrots, spinach, sweet potato, yam, zucchini and squash. You can enhance flavors of these veggies with herbs.
#1. Psyllium Husk Fiber. This fiber retains water and provides bulky, easy-to-pass soft stools. Psyllium has been shown to be more effective than stool softeners for those with chronic idiopathic constipation and is also touted as one of the “go to” fiber source for IBS.
Lemon water for your digestion
Lemon contains citric acid, which has shown to increase gastric acid secretion in the stomach, and these fluids help your body break down and digest what you eat. However, drinking citrus-based drinks may not be suitable if you suffer from digestive issues like IBS.