Dietary and stomach update

[andrewducker]

So, I've been doing the FODMAPs diet for IBS for about 16 months now. (Good explanation here from a friend of mine who was recently put on it by his doctor

Comments

[druidsass]

Glad it's working for you! What does and doesn't work with my IBS only seems to correlate quite weakly with FODMAPs (not that the variation in triggers is at all surprising in a condition that has three distinct types and probably doesn't have a single cause; I have IBS-A associated with ME/CFS). Caffeine, salmon and meat are my worst triggers, pulses and yogurt are actually helpful, all fruits are completely fine, but dark green leafy veg can be a problem, especially dark lettuce. When I was first diagnosed, I had problems with onions and cabbage, but also with capsicums; I was able to reintroduce all of those once I'd given my insides a bit of a break, though. Anything triggery is more tolerable if I first chop it into tiny pieces and then fry it to death. Non-sourdough wheat products can definitely be a bit problematic, and I'm still trying to figure out whether A1 vs A2 dairy makes a difference, having only recently learned that that's a thing. While I was on citalopram I was actually able to eat pretty much anything except meat, but now that I'm coming off it I'm having to be stricter again.

Oh, and that site is right about asafetida making a great onion substitute! Also known as hing, available from Indian online retailers. Might be useful for days when you don't want to risk actual alliums.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, giving my insides a break really does help.

I forgot apples - I can't eat apples without my stomach swelling :-(

[sashajwolf]

Apples are kind of weird for me. Most of the time they're fine, and if I'm having a diarrhea-type episode they sometimes even stop it, but if I eat them on an empty stomach they make me feel nauseous. It feels like low blood-sugar nausea, as if my body's expecting food and not getting it - so I suspect that they're fine as a bulking agent, but I'm not actually digesting them efficiently enough to get much nutrition from them.