Exploring Saponin Sensitivity as a Potential IBS Trigger
Hello everyone,
I've been managing IBS and GERD symptoms and discovered that certain foods high in saponins—natural compounds found in various plants—can exacerbate my symptoms. Foods like legumes, nightshades (e.g., tomatoes, potatoes), oats, and quinoa are rich in saponins. As I eliminate foods with saponins I am gradually improving.
Eliminating these foods has significantly improved my condition. If you've tried other dietary adjustments without success, it might be worth exploring saponin sensitivity.
Has anyone else looked into this or found similar relief?
Monroe
Hi! It seems like you inadvertently wandered into a low FODMOP like diet, which is a common things that IBS sufferers use to help curtail the symptoms of their illnesses as you can see here is an example https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/food/vegetarian-protein-sources-low-fodmap-diet If you like, we also have a recipe section that has some good tasting meals submitted by our community and some follow the low FODMOP plan. https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/recipes Finally, just for general info on what low FODMOP is, you can check it out here: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/ibs-diet Hopefully this helps supplement what you are already doing! Let us know if there's anything we can do to help and remember - you are not alone! Keep on keepin' on, DPM Thanks for the kind message! I appreciate the resources on low FODMAP, and I do see some overlap with my current diet. However, my main focus has been on identifying and eliminating saponins, as they seem to be a major trigger for my symptoms. Many common IBS-friendly foods, including some low-FODMAP ones, contain saponins, which makes this approach a bit different.
I'm hoping to raise awareness that saponins could be an overlooked issue for some IBS sufferers. Have you come across any discussions on saponins in the IBS community?"
Thank you so much for sharing your insights, I'm glad you were able to pinpoint that saponins cause symptoms for you.
How did you notice that the issue was saponins specifically?
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any discussion about them in our community, but hopefully, other community members will reply to your forum soon!
All the best, Karina (team member)
Here are some of the clues:
The low FODMAP diet didn't result in any improvement in my symptoms.
I eat cabbage, onions, apples, cantaloupe, and mangoes without any problems.
My symptoms are all about systemic inflammation (brain fog, bradycardia, long GI transit time, sore muscles, poor sleep, and need to sleep as much as 12 hours per day).
I had a cup of the bean broth from cooking beans while in Honduras and my GI tract was very uncomfortable in the hours afterward.
I discovered that rinsing beans after cooking was critical for being able to eat beans.
I ate some organic string beans and reacted strongly.
My reactions to beans led me to realize that it was something in the skin of the beans that was causing my problems and that led me to investigate saponins. I discovered that I had developed a low saponin diet by trial and error and gradually realized that the remaining foods in my restricted diet that were causing problems all had higher levels of saponins.I'm still figuring this out. But given the known connection between saponins and leaky gut I've wondered if there might be others in the IBS community who are struggling to find a diet that works and might find that the problem could be saponins.
Thank you for sharing this. It is definitely enlightening. When I did FODMAP I had to tweak it for me individually. Some foods that were allowed to be eaten caused to me to flare. I think overall, using a diet for guidance is great. But we all have to individualize our menus from there. How have you been feeling lately? Kindly, Elizabeth (team member)
