The Right IBS Diet For Me

Before IBS, my diet wasn’t healthy. I have always loved chocolate way too much. I’ve never liked cooking, so I distinctly remember eating canned tuna and tzatziki sauce for lunch always every day. Store-bought sauces were my ride-or-die for years. As were baked goods, fries, and anything that required minimal preparation. I still wonder how I stayed relatively thin when eating like this – and why my IBS didn’t manifest sooner.

My first IBS diet

After being diagnosed with IBS and finding out about the low FODMAP diet, I started following it religiously. Unfortunately, my life felt overall impossible at that point. Because of this, I was far too scared to do the re-introduction phase at all. In addition, I had no idea how long it took for trigger foods to cause a flare, so wrongly assumed that any food that sent me to the bathroom straight after eating was a trigger. At this point, I cut out food after food. For weeks, then months, then years.

Safe foods on repeat

While I still had a corporate job and needed to be somewhat functional every day, I ate the same things over and over again. Rice, potatoes, fish, chicken, beef, and baked goods. I had figured out that large amounts of gluten were a trigger, so pasta wasn’t an option. Sauces weren’t, either. Almost every day, I fasted until 10 or 11 am, then bought some sort of baked good at the vending machine at work. During lunch, I ate one of my 3 safe meals. In the evening, my partner would cook for himself and I would eat anything that sounded safe to me, mostly plain rice with some sort of meat. Again.

Aspiring to a vegan diet

At the same time, I was trying to utilize weekends to get as many nutrients as possible. My symptoms were a lot milder on weekends, so I was able to eat some vegetables and fruits. But, at that time believing that the vegan diet was the healthiest out there, I always took it too far.

I basically did it all wrong. Not only did I try eating vegetables only – I also tried eating them raw. It was a terrible time for my IBS-D. In addition to that, I convinced myself that buying fake cheese, fake meat and eating lentils, beans, and quinoa would somehow make me healthier. It didn’t. But it did cause many very nasty flares.

Letting it all go

Then came a time of rest. I quit my job, moved to a small town, and started working from home. Suddenly, my IBS wasn’t such an issue anymore. And thus, I started eating whatever I wanted again. My symptoms weren’t that bad because I wasn’t stressed. And I also got pregnant shortly after, which provided me with a much-needed break from IBS.

Starting from scratch

After pregnancy, with a horrible post-partum experience and an incredible amount of anxiety caused by being responsible for a small human, I had to figure out my IBS diet all over again. I was back to square one, eating 3-5 safe foods all the time. Until I finally started getting interested in nutrition, which changed everything.

My IBS diet now

Nowadays, I still have certain foods that I mostly avoid. Milk, yogurt, tomato sauces, caffeine, onions, and garlic don’t sit well with me. I’m now completely gluten-free, without stressing over trace amounts though. Cutting out gluten reduced my symptoms significantly and helped me re-introduce many other foods. I’m now able to eat sour cream and cheese, most vegetables in reasonable amounts, and many fruits.

But most of all, I have finally stopped eating so many processed foods. I mostly cook from scratch now. Even though my meals are still quite simple, they’re a lot more balanced. I no longer eat the same thing every day but try to mix it up so that my body gets all the nutrients it needs. If I want a cake, I’ll make it myself. And I have significantly cut down on anything store-bought. The things I still buy don’t usually contain additives or other nasty ingredients.

The takeaway

Overall, I feel like my diet is the best it has ever been. I no longer fear food as much as I did in the past. Learning how, and how long after eating, my body reacts to foods has helped me figure out the real triggers, and make sure to replace them with equally nutritious options.

The biggest food lessons I learned from my IBS journey were that

1. The right diet for me is the one that makes me feel my best, not the one that’s advertised as being healthy, and
2. Cutting out the right foods allows me to eat a more varied diet overall.

Nowadays, the only time I restrict myself to my super-safe foods (which are still white rice and chicken), is during very stressful times and when I’m flaring.

I’d love to know about your experiences with diet and IBS. Have you found a diet that works for you? Has your diet changed over the years?