Please verify your email address to receive email notifications.

Enter your email address

We have sent you a verification email. Please check your inbox and spam folder.

Unable to send verification, please refresh and try again later.

  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    What foods are bad for IBS?

    Related Topics
    Digestive Health Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Nutrition
    I find when i have certain vegetables like cabbage my IBS flares up. What foods should i be avoiding?
    answer this question

  • Find a professional to answer your question

  • 2

    Thanks

    Jessica Biesiekierski

    Nutritionist

    Jessica is in the final year of her PhD through Monash University and is based at the Department of Gastroenterology at Eastern Health Clinical School, … View Profile

    Ensure you have other serious gastrointestinal diseases (coeliac disease) ruled out before changing your diet.
    Although patients often blame high intakes of fatty foods, alcohol or caffeine for their gut symptoms, our research group has substantiated a large group of short-chain carboydrates which can be poorly absorbed and rapidly fermented, which can contribute to common IBS symptoms. We have grouped these specific carbohydrates as FODMAPs and are found in a range of foods:
    - fructose (certain fruits including pears, apples and honey)
    - lactose (milk)
    - sorbitol and mannitol (stone fruits and added as an artificial seetwener)
    - fructans (in large amounts of wheat, rye and in onion and garlic)
    - GOS (legumes)
    Please see a specicialised dietitian to ensure you retain a nutritionally balalnced diet whilst following the low FODMAP diet. The dietitian or breath testing will also help refine your diet, as people vary in their tolerance levels and to which FODMAP they are sensitive to.

    Reply to this post
     · 
    Report
    Reply to this post

    You must be a Health Professional to reply to this post. to your account or now (it's free).

  • Samantha Ling

    Dietitian, Nutritionist

    Samantha is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD), consultant and food and nutrition enthusiast. Samantha works in a private practice on the Central Coast, NSW, Rostant … View Profile

    The cause of IBS is complex and often multifactorial, and will differentiate amongst individuals - causes may include one or more of the following:

    * Abnormal nerve stimulation in the gut - often associated with stress, anxiety and depression
    * Gut micro-flora imbalance (the ‘good’ bacteria)
    * Personal sensitivity to normal gut motions such as bowel noises, movement, flatulence etc which
       are described as uncomfortable
    * and as Jessica pointed out - an inability to absorb fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides,
       monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPS) properly

    Nutrition intervention involves defining the problem clearly and managing the IBS symptoms (eg. diarrhoea, constipation etc) using the following steps:
    1. Normalising eating behaviours
    2. Increasing dietary fibre intake OR decreasing dietary fibre intake depending on the symptom
    3. Including a daily probiotic
    4. Avoidance of ‘windy’ foods and known gut irritators (It is interesting that you found cabbage to
        set off your IBS, as it is known for its ‘windy’ characteristics)
        It may be best to remove or limit these foods in your diet:
         - Vegetables such as brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower
         - Legumes such as baked beans, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas etc
         - FODMAPS (as Jessica as nicely explained above), especially lactose and sorbitol
         - Artificial sweeteners
         - Caffeine
         - Spices
         - Alcohol
    5. Following a low fat diet
    6. Normalising toileting behaviours
    7. Elimination of food sensitivities (under professional guidance)
    8. Emotional support

    An Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) can help you implement the following steps into your lifestyle without compromising your diet nutritionally. Go to www.daa.asn.au to find an APD in your area.

    Good luck!

    Samantha Ling
    Rostant Nutrition
    (Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RostantNutrition )

    Reply to this post
     · 
    Report
    Reply to this post

    You must be a Health Professional to reply to this post. to your account or now (it's free).

answer this question

You must be a Health Professional to answer this question. Log in or Sign up .

You may also like these related questions

Related Fact Sheets
Related Questions

Empowering Australians to make better health choices