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Losing weight with IBS?

Need to gain weight but afraid to eat because of a flare. Waiting on a dietitian appt next week to help.


  1. Hi I am sorry you are unable to eat much at the moment during the flare. I empathise.
    Is it IBS-D? Or constipation?
    If it's "D", then there are some foods you might be able to tolerate which may help to keep weight on you, but (in my own experience anyway) are light on my gut and can even help calm a flare. They are my go-to safe foods for bad bad times.
    Nope, they don't sound very healthy, but who cares when flaring? You can hopefully make up for it later when your gut starts to settle?
    I eat boil in the bag white rice, peeled boiled white potatoes cooked with some salt in the boiling water, hard boiled eggs, plain white fish grilled or steamed, or plain grilled chicken breast cooked thoroughly. In my case I can tolerate a small portion of green (French) beans and a few sweet Gem lettuce leaves (a type of small Cos) I use NO seasonings except a little salt. Sea salt in a grinder with no additives.
    Some really plain cake like madeira cake (nothing fancy....the plainest light cake you can get) also does me no harm, and plain cookies. The cheap kind!


    If it's IBS-C, then I am sorry because with a few rare exceptions I don't get that, and the foods you could take would be different.
    But if you can handle any form of "low residue" or low fibre foods right now, eat whatever you can, even if you can't manage the veggies. In the above which I mentioned, there isn't high nutritional value, but there are lots of carbs for energy, and there are plenty of calories.
    I'll add that I also take a low dose B complex daily, and an A-Z multivitamin/mineral, which will help if your diet is restricted at all.
    Good luck with your dietitician

    1. Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I'm sure it will be very helpful for others experiencing the same issues. Even though our safe foods can differ, a bland diet seems to work for many of us with IBS-D.
      All the best, Karina (team member)

  2. I feel you! I've had a couple of bad periods with one flare after the other where I've lost weight as well. Similar to the comment above, I always rely on plain foods and carbs (like white rice and chicken) when my IBS-D is acting up.
    Have you tried some sort of bland diet yet?
    Hopefully, the dietitian will be able to help you and make sure that you get all the nutrients that you need. Please keep us updated!
    All the best, Karina (team member)

    1. My safe go to "food" when I am flaring is Milk. specifically lactose free cows milk. even though I do not have a gluten tolerance the gluten free milk just tastes better, and seems to calm the tummy.



      Get the full fat milk if you want to gain some weight.


      But your safe food may be different.

      1. This is a great reminder that each person's "safe" foods list may look different. Glad you've found some foods that work for you. Best, Kelly, Irritablebowelsyndrome.net Team Member

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