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Soluble Versus Insoluble Fibre

IBS sufferers need to avoid foods that over-stimulate the colon while eating ones that soothe and regulate it. This is best achieved by limiting your intake of fat, eating soluble fibre and restricting your intake of insoluble fibre.

Soluble fibre contains substances that can be easily dissolved in water and are, therefore, easily digested.

Insoluble fibre contains substances that are rough and do not dissolve and passes intact through the intestines.

Examples of insoluble fibre that can pose serious challenges for IBS sufferers are:

• raw fruits
• raw vegetables, greens, raw sprouts
• seeds
• whole wheat and whole bran
• whole nuts
• popcorn
• brown rice
• garlic
• onions, leaks
• broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels spouts (also high in sulfur compounds which pose problems)

You may also need to avoid:

• fresh fruit juices
• citrus juice and cooked tomatoes
• rhubarb, prunes, figs, licorice

Examples of foods that are high in soluble fibre include:

• oatmeal (rolled oats are the best)
• white flour pasta
• white rice
• potatoes (skin removed)
• yams (skin removed)
• white, French or sourdough bread
• soy
• barley

What Can I Eat?

An IBS diet is not as simple as avoiding trigger foods and sticking to safer foods.

In fact, it involves a number of important factors. These factors can be bewildering for someone new to the diet. They include such issues as your food supply, how to prepare food, frequency of meals, portion sizes, what combination of foods to eat and what to look for when buying prepared foods.

The ideal way to eat for IBS is to prepare your own food from scratch. When you prepare your own food, you have the best control over the ingredients

Buying prepared foods can be a risky business because you don't have any control over ingredients and it can be difficult to ascertain what triggered an attack if you get sick. Sometimes it may be just one ingredient that didn't agree with you. IBS can be very finicky when it comes to ingredients -- even the smallest of ingredients can trigger an attack.

It should be noted that food sensitivities can vary from person to person. So, while trigger foods are universal, some of the lesser triggers, if taken in smaller quantities, may not bother some people while some “safe” foods may pose problems.

For example, Belinda (founder and organizer of IBS Info and Support Toronto) can tolerate some lemon juice if she eats it with other food. Normally an IBS sufferer would have great difficulty tolerating lemon juice. On the other hand, Belinda has problems with most varieties of white rice, which would generally be safe for an IBS person.

So, you may need to try out some foods to determine what you can and cannot tolerate.

However, if you do, please keep in mind the following:

• Testing new foods is not recommended if your IBS is unstable
• The following major trigger foods -- red meat, dark skin poultry, fried foods, coconut milk, oils, solid chocolate, coffee and caffeine, alcohol, carbonated beverages, artificial sweeteners and glucose-fructose – should be avoided under all circumstances
• Your ability to tolerate other foods may depend in part on the severity of your condition and your body's own particular chemistry.