Below is a list of IBS foods we recommend you avoid to reduce IBS symptoms. They are commonly known as "trigger foods".
"IBS" is the shortened description of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Although it is recognised as a term used to describe a common discomfort of the gut and bowels, in short, Irritable Bowel syndrome can not be explained away in a few simple words. The answer is a lot bigger than the question!
- Alcohol is a gastrointestinal irritant and often triggers IBS
attacks, especially on an empty stomach. Small amounts of alcohol in
cooking are fine
- Artificial fats, such as Olestra, can cause abdominal cramping and diarrhea in people who don’t even have IBS
- Artificial sweeteners, such as sorbitol, can trigger pain, cramps, gas, bloating, and diarrhea
- Battered and deep-fried food
- Biscuits
- Caffeine is a gastrointestinal stimulant and should be avoided, especially in higher doses
- Carbonation in soda pop and mineral water can cause bloating and cramps
- Coffee: regular and decaf coffee contain an enzyme that is a powerful irritant of the gastrointestinal tract
- Croissants, pastries, biscuits, scones, and doughnuts
- Dairy products such as cheese, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, milk, cream, ice cream, whipped cream, yogurt, frozen yogurt
- Dried bananas – they are often deep fried in oil
- Egg yolks (whites are fine, do try to buy organic)
- Mashed potatoes which have butter / milk
- MSG used a lot in Chinese food. MSG has been implicated as a cause or trigger of various digestive issues
- Potato chips – unless they are baked
- Poultry dark meat and skin. Skinless chicken white meat is fine
- Red meat, such as ground beef, hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, roast
beef, pastrami, salami, bologna, pepperoni, corned beef, ham, bacon,
sausage, pork chops, and any other meat that comes from cows, pigs,
sheep, goats, deer, etc
- Skillet-fried food that is cooked in fat or oil
- Solid carob – but carob powder is OK
- Solid chocolate – but baking cocoa powder is OK
- Wheat, rye, barley or other foods containing gluten
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Digestive system disorders happen when there is a faulty function during the process of digestion which prevents some part of the digestive system from working as it should do. There are a wide number of common digestive system disorders.
The function of the digestive system is to take the food and liquids that we put into our mouths and then either turn these foods and liquids into nutrients or energy needed by the cells of our body, or alternatively turn them into waste products that are then expelled by our body as bowel movements.
When something goes wrong with this every day process and some part of the process doesn’t work properly, the end result is one kind or another of a digestive system disorders. There are many common digestive system disorders.
Common Digestive System Disorders
Colon and Rectal Cancer
Colon and Rectal cancer is also referred to as colorectal cancer.This type of cancer is a malignant cell that is found in the colon or rectum region of the body. The large intestine is made up of the colon and the rectum. Colon and rectal cancers share so many common features that they are referred to as the same cancer which is how the name colorectal cancer came about.
Colorectal cancer is a disease in which cells in the colon or rectum become abnormal and divide without control, forming a mass called a tumor
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death by cancer in the U.S.A. The number of new cases of colorectal cancer has decreased because in large part, the sigmoidoscopic screening and polyp removal procedures initiated by the medical community.
Stomach Cancer
Stomach cancer is also called, gastric cancer. This cancer affected approximately 21,700 Americans during 2001. The majority of those individuals were in their 60s and 70s. The risk factors for developing stomach cancer are Helicobacter pylori infection and a diet that consists of the following: eating large amounts of smoked foods, salted fish and meat, foods that are high in starch and low in fiber, pickled vegetables, and foods and beverages that contain nitrates and nitrites.
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver. Stomach cancer causes about 800,000 deaths worldwide per year.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea is watery stool, or an increased frequency in stool, or both as compared to the normal amount of stool passed by the individual. Diarrhea can be short-term or it can be related to a bacterial or viral infection, or it can be long-term which is usually related to a functional disorder or intestinal disease.
Osmotic diarrhea means that something in the bowel is drawing water from the body into the bowel. A common example of this is "dietetic candy" or "chewing gum" diarrhea, in which a sugar substitute, such as sorbitol, is not absorbed by the body but draws water from the body into the bowel, resulting in diarrhea.
Diverticular Disease
This disease occurs in small pouches that bulge out in the colon. It is an inflammation or infection in the pouches.
These are more common in the sigmoid colon, which is a common place for increased pressure. This is uncommon before the age of 40, and increases in incidence after that age. This is very uncommon but highly dangerous. The diverticulae may bleed, either rapidly (causing bleeding through the rectum) or slowly (causing anaemia). The diverticulae can become infected and develop abscesses, or even perforate.
Gas in the Digestive Tract.
You get gas in your digestive tract by swallowing air or during the breakdown process of certain foods by the bacteria that is present in the colon. Everyone has gas. It can be uncomfortable and certainly embarrassing to pass the gas. The average person produces 1 to 3 pints of gas a day and pass gas through their rectums about 14 times each day.
Heartburn
Heartburn is what most of us get from time to time. Chronic heartburn is a digestive disorder called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD is caused by gastric acid that flows from the stomach and into the esophagus.
Heartburn, also known as pyrosis or acid indigestion is a burning sensation in the chest, just behind the breastbone or in the epigastrium. The pain often rises in the chest and may radiate to the neck, throat, or angle of the jaw.
Heartburn is usually associated with regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) which is the major symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).[5] It however may also be a symptom of ischemic heart disease so concluding that it is gastroesophageal reflux disease prematurely may lead to misdiagnosis.
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can result in liver cell damage. There are two types of hepatitis – acute and chronic and six main types of the hepatitis virus.
Hepatitis may occur with limited or no symptoms, but often leads to jaundice, anorexia (poor appetite) and malaise. Hepatitis is acute when it lasts less than six months and chronic when it persists longer.
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
There are several different diseases that fall under this category all of which require a doctor for treatment. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are two of these diseases.
The main difference between Crohn's disease and UC is the location and nature of the inflammatory changes. Crohn's can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from mouth to anus (skip lesions), although a majority of the cases start in the terminal ileum. Ulcerative colitis, in contrast, is restricted to the colon and the rectum.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome – more commonly referred to as IBS – is an intestinal disorder that causes cramping, gassiness, bloating and changes in the bowel habits of the individual with the disorder.
IBS may begin after an infection (post-infectious, IBS-PI), a stressful life event, or onset of maturity without any other medical indicators.
Lactose Intolerance
People with lactose intolerance lack an enzyme that is called lactase. This enzyme is needed by the body to digest lactose. Lactose is a sugar found in milk products. Adults and children are affected by this intolerance. Digestive diseases or injuries to the small intestine cause this intolerance. The symptoms will worsen when larger portions of milk products are consumed.
Stomach and Duodenal Ulcers
Ulcers are open sores or lesions. They are found in the skin or mucous membranes of areas of the body. A stomach ulcer is called a gastric ulcer and an ulcer in the duodenum is called a duodenal ulcer. Lifestyle, stress and diet used to be thought to cause ulcers. Scientists now know that ulcers are caused by hydrochloric acid and pepsin that are contained in our stomach and duodenal parts of our digestive system and that these acids contribute to ulcer formation.
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Definition of Irritable bowel syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome represents a functional disease, characterized by transit disorders, generally constipation alternating with diarrhea, diffuse abdominal pain, sometimes mucus emission.
Clinical features
- diffuse abdominal pain, or located along the colon. They may be smothered, but often have a cramp character, duration of seconds to minutes. Other times the patient feels only an abdominal discomfort. The most often symptoms disappear in the relaxing periods, holiday etc.
- transit disorders are frequent, characteristic being the alternation constipation-diarrhea. The stool emission is often hard, fragmented, covered with mucus.
- mucus emission accompanies the hard stool. Blood does not appear in stool in the irritable bowel syndrome, but the hard, rough stools may create anal fissures that may bleed.
- bloading
Diagnosis
Manning criteria:
- abdominal pain that disappear after stool emission
- stool becoming more frequent and soft in the presence of pain
- bloating, flatulence
- sensation of incomplete evacuation of the rectum
- elimination of mucus in stools
- imperious character of defecation
Clinical data of the irritable bowel syndrome diagnosis
- elevated ESR
- leukocytosis
- pus, blood or fat in the stools
- more than 200g of stool per day
- persistent diarrhea
- hipokaliemia
- no spastic response to rectal distension during manometry
Paraclinic diagnosis
- anoscopy, rectoscopy, colonoscopy (sometimes barium enema), to evidence the organic pathology of colon;
- gastroscopy, to show the possible gastric lesions;
- abdominal and pelvic ultrasonography, to show the gallbladder, pancreas and genital organs;
- radiologic evaluation of intestine (enteroclysis or barium examination) or enteroscopy for small bowel pathology.
Differential diagnosis
- ano-rectal and colon neoplasm
- inflammatory bowel disease(ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease)
- colonic diverticulosis and diverticulitis
- lactase deficit
- functional dyspepsia
Evolution
The irritable colon evolution is favorable, since there are no complications.
In general, the disease evolves for a long time, with periods of silence or with exacerbations, usually related to stress.
Treatment of irritable colon
1. Diet. When the constipation predominates, the diet will be rich in alimentary fibers. If the diet is not sufficient, constipation will be controlled with laxatives type Forlax (that increase the stool volume). The patients should avoid consuming certain food that induces symptoms.
2. Medication. The therapy consists in:
- antidiarrheic drugs - Smecta(smectitis) or Imodium(loperamid)
- antispastic - Spasmomen
-Debridat
-Dicetel
-No-Spa
-the medication is given only when needed
- sedatives - Hidroxizin
-Rudotel
