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The Water Closet

An Alternative Dietary Approach for IBS

1/25/2018

2 Comments

 
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For some people, avoiding high-FODMAP foods doesn't provide complete relief of IBS symptoms. That's understandable, since IBS isn't yet curable and tends to be cyclic, with periods of greater stability and calm interspersed with flare-ups and times of symptom exacerbation. There often isn't any explanation for why the condition gets better or worse if a person's diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits haven't changed. It appears to just be the nature of the beast.

​If a low-FODMAP vegan diet hasn't helped to resolve your IBS symptoms as significantly as you'd like, you could try an adjunct or alternative approach: a vegan diet high in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves easily in water, forming a gel-like substance that slows digestion, softens stools, and helps to improve elimination. Conversely, insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water but instead passes directly through the digestive tract essentially intact. Insoluble fiber increases stool bulk, which helps to keep bowel movements regular and prevent constipation. We need both soluble and insoluble fiber in our diets, and most whole plant foods contain both in varying proportions. The aim of a remedial approach for IBS that emphasizes soluble fiber is to center the diet around foods that provide more soluble fiber than insoluble fiber and make them the foundation of every meal.

Be aware that such a diet typically isn't gluten-free and generally contains some high-FODMAP foods. But if these specific foods aren't problematic for you and don't trigger your symptoms, they might actually help calm your irritable gut.

Foods high in soluble fiber are particularly welcome when we're craving something soft and soothing. Please be aware that many people with IBS also feel better when they consume mostly cooked foods (rather than raw vegetables, raw fruits, and salads), as these are often easier to digest and create less gas and fewer symptoms. A high-soluble-fiber diet is based primarily on foods that are naturally soft and somewhat gelatinous when cooked (such as oatmeal and barley) and not visibly fibrous. It excludes foods with skins that can't be removed (such as grapes and legumes) and minimizes raw, fibrous, and hard, tough foods (such as stringy vegetables and fruits, whole grains and bran, nuts, and seeds).  

The following lists feature items that are high in soluble fiber and/or those that are naturally soft and comforting. As long as these foods don't trigger your symptoms, you might want to experiment with gradually adding more of them to your diet. (Note that "HF" indicates a high-FODMAP food, "LF" indicates a low-FODMAP food when limited to certain portion sizes, and "G" indicates a food that contains gluten.)

Cooked Vegetables
  • Beets (for LF limit to 2 slices)
  • Carrots
  • Chestnuts
  • Eggplant
  • Okra
  • Mushrooms (HF)
  • Parsnips
  • Potatoes, without skin
  • Rutabagas
  • Squash, summer
  • Squash, winter
  • Sweet potatoes, without skin
  • Turnips
  • Yams, without skin

Cooked Grains
  • Barley (HF; G)
  • Oatmeal
  • Polenta
  • Quinoa
  • Rice, white (basmati, jasmine, long-grain)
  • Rice cereal, cooked

Breads and Pasta
  • Flour tortillas (HF; G)
  • French bread (HF; G) 
  • Rice pasta
  • Semolina pasta (G)
  • Sourdough white bread (G)

Fruits
  • Applesauce (HF)
  • Avocados (for LF limit to 1/8 avocado)
  • Bananas, ripe (for LF limit to 1/3 medium)
  • Mangoes (HF)
  • Papayas

*****
I love hearing from you! Please post your thoughts in the comments section below.

2 Comments
Claire Welch
11/5/2020 08:25:23 pm

Hi Jo, this looks interesting. I've been having so much trouble with the low fodmap diet and feel trying your approach might be right for me. The list looks quite small though, this can't be the entire diet, is it?

thanks
Claire

Reply
Jo Stepaniak
11/6/2020 10:23:30 am

Hi, Claire. The list of foods here are simply ones that are high in soluble fiber. These foods should be gradually added to your diet, as tolerated, so that you are consuming more of them and can eventually make them the centerpiece of your meals. However, they should not comprise your entire diet. It's important to eat a wide variety of foods, including colorful fruits and berries and leafy green vegetables, neither of which are included in this list. The goal is to eat smaller amounts of those foods along with larger amounts of foods high in soluble fiber. And example of this might be a meal with a baked sweet potato topped with applesauce and a side of steamed kale. Another example is mushroom-barley soup with well-cooked carrots and spinach. And yet another example is cooked oatmeal topped with sliced banana. Just because a food isn't listed here doesn't mean you shouldn't have it but that you should have it along with a large helping of one or more of these foods. If you ate only the foods in this list, your diet would be unnecessarily restricted and nutritionally deficient.

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    Vegan author Jo Stepaniak, MSEd, has endured IBS for decades. She understands firsthand the challenges of living with dietary restrictions as well as chronic pain and illness.
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