Diet Sheets For IBS? - Very Useful!

At IBS-Life, we are quite often emailed by readers who have questions about diet sheets for IBS.

What is a Diet Sheet?
There seems to be a couple of perceptions about what diet sheets for IBS are; some people actually want a list of foods to avoid with IBS. This is not really possible, since a food that affects one person negatively, not affect some-one else. We could certainly give a list of foods that we personally avoid, but every IBS sufferer is unique.
I have to avoid all peppers, cruciferous vegetables (Broccoli and Cauliflower) and some (but not all) nuts, as all of those will trigger a truly agonizing spasm of IBS which may last for days. The pain is truly dreadful.
It did take me years, however, to isolate what I eating that was causing it, and there are probably IBS sufferers reading this who are thinking that they can eat those foods without any problem whatsoever.

Food Diary
Soon after I was diagnosed, my doctor suggested that I keep a food diary to note what I ate, and slowly determine what particular foods were exacerbating the problem. Once I had established those foods, I could then note them down on a permanent diet sheet for future reference.

These are the type of diet sheets for IBS which are most useful, but it is up to the sufferer to keep a basic food diary day by day and it takes time.
If one eats a meal containing broccoli, peppers, rice or beans one of those may be triggering IBS, but the only way to find out which one, is to take one of the foods out.

Also, stress may affect how badly one is affected by a certain food. I have found myself that food-triggered IBS will come on very soon after eating, whereas stress-triggered IBS (that is IBS which is caused by one specific stressful event, such as an argument, a funeral, fear for some-one, or shock) tends to hit me after 24 to 36 hours.
I have never known why stress-IBS (as I will call it) manifests itself more slowly, but for the last fifteen years it is something which I have noticed.

Establishing your trigger foods from a food diary where one makes a note of everything eaten or drunk, can be long, and frankly dull process, but it is definitely worth it. If there is one or two foods which are eaten regularly and are not realized to be the cause of one's IBS, they can be eliminated through this method.
I was told this was about the only way for an individual to find out what foods might affect their IBS.

Stress-IBS is another thing altogether. We can leave certain foods out of our diet, but stress over family, financial worries or IBS itself is not so easy.

Now that I have identified foods that cause IBS, I tackle the problem from the stress-related angle.

Your Personalised diet sheet for IBS
(Click the symbol to download)

Once you have established which foods you need to avoid, then it's time to create your personalised diet sheet for diverticulitis.

We have included a simple printable A4 sheet (.doc format) below, which also lists some of the more commonly known trigger foods and safer to eat foods. Simply print out the sheet, write in your own foods and stick it on your fridge.

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