The "Best" Diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is a highly chronic condition which involves problems with your gastrointestinal tract. A number of symptoms are commonplace to the condition, such as indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, and gas.

Most information about IBS will tell you that a proper diet is key for curing any of the syndromes involving inflammation of the intestines. However, you do not need to be on some extreme diet like the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or any other type of diet for the rest of your life. IBS, IBD, colitis, Crohn's, etc. is not about food at all. It's about the use of antibiotics that have damaged the lining of your intestines over the years. Your diet and the food you eat have little to do with the causes and cures of these syndromes.

Just to be clear: there is NO diet that will heal or cure any form of IBS, nor is there one that will cause it. IBS can be cured by rebuilding the GI tract's mucosal tissue. However, in the meantime, you can manage the symptoms of your condition by not eating foods that will aggravate it.

As you think about your diet and what you eat, keep in mind these two rules for diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

1. General diet: The rule is simple here -- eat low fiber foods that won’t aggravate the already inflamed intestinal tissue. Makes sense, right? Why would you want to choose a high fiber diet that would further inflame your intestines? That means no raw fruit; no raw vegetables; no nuts, seeds, or corn until you get your IBS fixed.

If you persist in eating these high fiber foods, you will exacerbate you condition, which will manifest itself with symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain, mucus and bloody stools, all of which make your condition worse.

You will want to change to a low fiber diet as an initial step in curing your IBS, even before taking any supplements. By doing so, you can more accurately evaluate your treatment needs.

2. Use common sense: If any other food bothers you when you eat it, just stop eating it for the time being. Once you have decided to move forward with healing your IBS, you can return to eating whatever you want after that point. When you have IBS, colitis or Crohn's Disease, the best way to know if there is a problem with a particular food is if you become bloated and get diarrhea when you eat that food. If this happens, simply stop eating that food.

You cannot heal any Inflammatory Bowel Disease with any kind of diet -- you can only slow down the destruction of your GI tract. Irritable Bowel Syndrome doesn't have to be a lifelong condition that reduces your ability to work, attend social events and travel. Proper diagnosis and treatment is essential. Do yourself a favor - forget everything else you have read about diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and just follow these two simple rules to help you manage your IBS and then seek out a permanent cure.