With IBS, be good to your gut

You knew that cup of coffee might be bad idea, but you were craving a morning caffeine boost. Now you’re suffering from painful cramps due to your irritable bowel syndrome, and you worry diarrhea will follow.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common and chronic disorder that affects the intestines. Though the precise cause of IBS is not known, the condition causes your digestive system to function erratically.

One factor that may play a role in IBS is the contraction of your intestines. The walls of the intestines are lined with layers of muscle that contract and relax as they move food through the digestive tract. When you have IBS, those contractions may be stronger and push food through the intestines too hastily, leading to signs and symptoms such as diarrhea and pain.

Although pain is the hallmark symptom of IBS, the condition may also result in constipation or alternating diarrhea and constipation. Bloating and gas also are common. These signs and symptoms may flare up or temporarily improve and even disappear, but there is no cure for IBS.

It may take some trial and error to establish a diet that works best for your symptoms. Talk to a dietitian before making drastic changes to your diet. Keeping a food diary — to track what and when you eat, as well as how your body reacts — can be helpful.

You may want to consider avoiding:

• Caffeine, fatty foods and high-gas foods — Because caffeine intake stimulates gut motility, reducing caffeine intake may be recommended. Fatty foods such as rich sauces, high-fat meats, deep-fried foods and pastries also may lead to IBS symptoms. If you experience bloating or gas, you might avoid high-gas foods such as carbonated and alcoholic beverages, beans, cauliflower and broccoli.
• Gluten — Some people with IBS report improvement in diarrhea symptoms when they stop eating gluten (wheat, barley and rye) even if they don’t have celiac disease.
• FODMAPs — Some people are sensitive to certain carbohydrates known as FODMAPs — fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. FODMAPs include lactose, sorbitol and fructans and are found in specific grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Your IBS symptoms might ease if you follow a strict low-FODMAPs diet and then reintroduce food groups one at a time. Because so many foods contain FODMAPs, it can be difficult to create such a diet on your own. Finding a dietitian familiar with IBS or a reliable resource online can help.

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