Your diet will play an important part in the management of IBS. You may find that there are some food triggers which lead to an onset of bloating or diarrhea.
Some Dietary Aspects To Consider:
Food Allergies
You might find it useful to be tested for food allergies. If you have a food allergy your body will set up a reaction to rid itself of what it sees as a harmful food. Therefore an outbreak of diarrhea might occur within a few hours of eating the offending food.
There are some foods which more prone to developing an allergic reaction than others. These include:
Dairy products
Wheat
Soy
Corn
Food Intolerance
Medically the definition of food intolerance is connected with lactose and gluten. Sometimes this intolerance is mistaken for IBS.
You might want to eliminate each of these food groups from your diet in order to observe how your body reacts.
There are some simple things you can do to help:
Avoid large meals and eat slowly to aid your digestion
Avoid eating for three hours before sleep
Avoid foods which may cause intolerance or an allergic reaction
Avoid sugar as this is a trigger for many people
Reduce the level of fat in your diet. Fat can be a trigger because it stimulates the release of bile from the liver. Bile can be very irritating to the intestines, especially sensitive IBS intestines.
Beware beans! Well known gas creators, however, they are healthy so you may not want to eliminate them altogether from your diet.
Keep your blood sugar level on an even level. A good way to do this is to eat regularly every 3-4 hours.
Avoid spicy foods and processed foods.
What you can eat:
Fresh meats, poultry and fish
Vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Unprocessed oils preferably flax, olive, sunflower and coconut