diet

Diet can play a huge part in irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. Many sufferers find that they have a particularly bad attack when they eat one of their trigger foods, and if they can identify these foods and avoid them they can greatly increase their quality of life. Some of the most common trigger foods include wheat and/or gluten, caffeine-containing products such as coffee and tea, artificial sweeteners such as sorbitol and aspartame, and citrus fruits.

It may be worth keeping a food diary to note down your symptoms on any given day alongside what you have eaten. A qualified nutritionist or dietician can help you with this. They may also suggest trying an exclusion diet, where different foods are cut from the diet for short periods of time to see if symptoms improve.

Diet plans

Eating for IBS diet
Heather Van Vorous' diet plan, which is based on soluble fiber. The diet is explained in detail in her book Eating for IBS.

Exclusion diets

General exclusion diet
Cutting out different foods or groups of foods to try to identify triggers.

Dairy-free diet
Avoiding all dairy products such as milk, cheese and cream.

Gluten-free diet
Cutting out all gluten, which is found in wheat, oats, barley and rye. Remember that gluten-free ALSO means wheat-free.

Starch-free diet
Cutting out all starch-containing foods, such as potatoes, rice, wheat and corn.

Wheat-free diet
Cutting out all wheat-containing products such as bread and pasta. Remember that wheat-free does NOT mean gluten-free.