Thursday, December 24, 2009

Top Foods to Avoid If You Have Irritable Bowel Syndrome

When you have a condition like Irritable Bowel Syndrome then you better brace yourself. Your doctor will definitely recommend you to take a specific diet in order to cope with this right away. Maintaining a diet is probably the hardest part when it comes to the palliative care of patients with IBS because it takes away one of the most significant aspects of their life which is eating good food.

For a person with IBS, there are certain types of food that should be avoided or taken in very limited amount at all cost. The consequences are dire if ever these requirements are not met and they would usually be in excessive bouts of diarrhea or constipation, severe abdominal pain, and nausea & vomiting. If you are not willing to undergo any of these symptoms of an IBS attack, it is highly recommended that you follow the diet recommended for you. Here are some foods that you must avoid when it comes to dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

The first thing you should do is to remove and avoid the fat content in your usual meals. Most people do not realize this but it takes 2-3 times more effort on the body to digest and emulsify fat as compared to digesting and emulsifying other elements of the food. This is because more acids and juices are needed to break down the fat in order for it to be used up by our bodies as effectively as possible. This is precisely why even a small amount of fat can cause you to have moderate to severe attacks of IBS. The lesser fat you ingest the lesser fat will be accumulated in your body. Aside from that there is a lesser chance that you will have IBS attacks as well.

The next item to avoid would be dairy products. The concept of this is based on a condition called lactose intolerance wherein a person\'s digestive system cannot adequately process the lactose. This leads to severe bouts of diarrhea. Since the signs and symptoms, the nature, and triggers of IBS is similar to that of lactose intolerance, common sense would dictate that lactose rich foods should also be avoided.

Another thing that you should avoid and probably the toughest one to give up on the list is red meat. You must avoid having them as much as possible. Red meat must be avoided because of its fat content which causes an irritation in the digestive system. There is no need to worry though because you will not be completely deprived of these kinds of meaty sustenance since there are still alternatives that you can choose from. One of which is poultry without the skin on. The skin has a high fat content but the white meat from the poultry is pure protein. Avoid dark colored poultry though.

Small frequent feedings are also preferred compared to three large meals in a day because this will give your digestive system ample strength to digest all the food you ingested.