IBS – What to eat, when you can’t eat anything.
When you are having a flare up of IBS symptoms, and can’t eat anything, what the heck CAN you eat that won’t make your symptoms worse? Here is an example of safe foods I go to in the midst of an all out IBS flare.
- plain banana
- plain broth
- light green tea with lemon
- fennel tea (helps with gas pain and flare ups – so soothing)
- peppermint tea
- Homemade chicken soup (or made with Fody Food chicken base). Add white rice and tiny ground chicken meatballs.
- White rice with a little vegan butter and salt.
- Rice cereal with safe milk, sugar and cinnamon or vegan butter and salt
- Applesauce with a splash of almond milk
- GF Udi’s white bread toast with vegan butter and safe jam
- poached egg on sour dough bread or GF bread
- GF pasta with a little vegan butter, parmesan cheese and pasta water
- sliced chicken sandwich on GF bread or sourdough bread with a little mayo and mustard
- a bowl of corn or rice chex with a sliced banana and rice or almond milk
I avoid vegetables except for carrots until my tummy is calmed down for a few days and I am no longer in the clutches of il bagno. I don’t drink or use milk, not even Lactose-free at that time.
Why? Insoluble fiber foods cause flareups, so I just can’t tolerate them.Now is not the time to load up on broccoli, salad greens, spinach or any other insoluble fiber veggies. Keep away from onion or garlic which are high in fodmap chemicals and can cause stomach distress. Get the Monash University Fodmap App that lists the foods that contain fodmap chemicals. Now might be a good time to follow the fodmap diet which the App explains in detail.
What else do I eat while struggling through an IBS flare-up?
- scrambled eggs cooked in a bit of vegan butter, with GF toast or sourdough toast
- ground chicken breast or ground turkey breast burger made with salt and pepper and grilled in a pan. Breast meat is low in fat and therefore more tolerable for a sensitive gut.
- oatmeal with alternative milk, sugar and cinnamon
- polenta with vegan butter, salt and pepper and a teaspoon of parmesan cheese.
- And anything else I can think of that is simple, free of onion, garlic or harsh spices, and easy to make.
Avoid packaged processed foods that contain unknown ingredients. Processed foods have chemicals, loads of whey, insoluble fiber such as inulin that cause the colon to spasm and worsen your already compromised colon.
I discovered Citrucel powder which is fiber that does not ferment in the gut like psylium fiber does and is therefore soothing, but more importantly, it controls the colon spasms whether you have IBS C or D. I take 1 and 1/2 Tbs every day alont with Philips COlon probiotic. All these measures have helped me control my IBS most of the time. If I am getting sick, my IBS will flareup and if I am under a lot of stress, it will flare up. At those times I drink fennel or peppermint tea, sit with a heating pad, take Gas X and eat the comforting foods listed above until I have my IBS under control.
If you have a favorite go to on those days when you are recovering from an IBS attack, put it in the comment area. I am always looking for ideas that are safe and delicious.For info on fodmaps on this website: https://ibskitchn.com/fodmap/
(Here are two resources for IBS safe foods: helpforibs.com has a cheat sheet of safe and unsafe foods and the Monash University FODMAP app is a guide to fodmaps in food.)
