Hi 👋 I’ve recently being diagnosed with IBS my trigger foods are onion, garlic, lentils, chicpeas ( any form of bean ), mushrooms and I have an intolerance to wheat.
I’ve lost all love of food, and cooking and I’m eating a very boring diet as onions and garlic are the basis of almost everything tasty.
Does any one have the same issues or do you have any tips or ideas on how I can get back my love for food back/direct me to some recipes that might help.
Hi,I feel as though you literally wrote this post for me! I am exactly at the stage you are at. I have lost all interest in food and particularly as our diet (being an indian) only consists of food with onions and garlic! It is hard to improvise. Tbh i just decided to eat a small portion of this today but i have regretted it since! I had a horrible flare. Any ideas would be a great help for me too.
I love Indian food and it’s certainly a challenge without garlic and onion. You can try using the green (not white) parts of leek and/or spring onion as these are low in FODMAPs. Garlic infused olive oil is also an option. I don’t know if you use asafoetida, but you can use that too for a slightly pungent quality.
I know it’s a bit of a cheat and a wee bit pricey but Bay’s Kitchen does a rather nice jalfrezi sauce in a jar. It’s been an absolute blessing during my low FODMAP experience.
Hi, I’m pleased ( not for us suffering of course but that I find people in the same boat ) I too tried to eat a small amount of a jar tomato and basil sauce on my pasta yesterday and regretted it as it’s full of garlic and onion. Hopefully some of this advice will help.
As an alternative, you could try passata and add in your own basil. There are some passatas with added basil but you’d need to check the ingredients for added onion and garlic.
From your trigger foods, it appears you may have a low FODMAP threshold.
Wheat, onions and garlic all contain fructans; beans contain GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides); mushrooms contain both fructans and mannitol. These are all FODMAPs.
*Please do not attempt to do the dietary regime of eliminating FODMAPs on your own. You would really need the support of a registered dietitian who has had specialist training in the low FODMAP diet. It’s not intended to be a diet for life but a way of working out which FODMAPs you are sensitive to and how much you can tolerate. The reintroduction phase is really important.
I’ve been on the FODMAP protocol since early June and it’s a long slog. It takes a lot of planning and getting used to, adapting your usual recipes etc. It’s also important to eat an adequate and varied diet and to add in as many as the low FODMAP foods as possible. I’ve had problems with wheat too, the wheat challenges resulted in the worst symptoms. I discovered years ago that I was severely lactose intolerant so I already knew my threshold before symptoms start, but not everyone with IBS is lactose intolerant.
Please go through your GP to get a referral to a specialist registered dietitian rather than seek out a backstreet “nutritionist” whose qualifications are about as much use as an expired bus ticket. It’s a minefield out there. You could just about pay anyone to tell you to cut out wheat and dairy and diagnose you with “allergies” you don’t actually have. Make sure anyone you see privately has a degree in nutrition science at the very minimum. Legally anyone can call themselves a “nutritionist” so check they have they have ANutr or RNutr because these are on the professional register. Personally, I wouldn’t trust anyone with my health who didn’t have a thorough education to at least a degree level in dietetics or nutrition. Alternatively there are registered dietitians working privately if you can’t get a referral via your GP. If you are seeing a gastroenterologist, they can refer you as well. Registered Dietitian is a protected title whereas “nutritionist” is not. I’ve seen a lot of people spending a lot of money on bad advice. When it’s some as important as your health you can’t afford to take risks with bad advice from someone who doesn’t really know what they’re talking about.
Also…. your tolerance for FODMAPs can improve over time. If one food group is triggering you now, you may well tolerate it better in the future.
I also recommend the Gut Loving Podcast with Laura and Huelya. Laura is a dietitian and Huelya is an IBS patient. They did a fantastic series on the low FODMAP diet, but they also looked at other IBS management techniques.
Hi Thank you for you reply. It’s been so helpful. I have spoke to the doctor once about doing the FODMAP diet to find my triggers but to be honest I didn’t follow it through for long enough. And I have since just cut out the foods that cause me pains and symptoms. I have and probably shouldn’t have like you said but I have just cut out these high FODMAP foods almost completely and I think this is why my reaction is now more extreme.
I am definitely going to call my GP next week and see if I can get referred to a dietitian. I will listen to
Those podcasts aswell thank you.
I found those podcasts enormously helpful and it was great to have a real-world IBS patient offering her own experiences.
Yes, it’s true that the longer you exclude a food group the more difficult it might be to add back. Plus you don’t want to run the risk of nutritional deficiencies if you’re cutting out healthy foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables. In general, I prefer to add in rather than cut out, and I have found the FODMAP protocol very limiting, especially at first. You might get excellent results. For some people, it’s just a few foods that cause problems and they find they can eat an almost normal diet. For me, I don’t think it’s so much the foods but the transit time that is the underlying issue, which results in excessive fermentation and gas that gets trapped and goes nowhere. Not everyone’s IBS is the same though. What works a miracle for one person can do nothing for another person, and vice versa.
Very sorry to hear this ... years ago, I had significant IBS symptoms, but they have long since resolved. I came across the following link for garlic substitutes for those with IBS: huffpost.com/entry/garlic-a... Also, I don't know if you can tolerate balsamic vinegar (it is a low FODMAP food), but that can make things really tasty without needing garlic, etc., especially a good one (I really love "PC Splendido 4 Leaf Balsamic Vinegar Of Modena" ... it is reasonably priced, is thicker and sweeter than the average balsamic vinegar, and a bottle lasts a good amount of time ... even using gourmet salt (Maldon salt is fantastic, it instantly makes things taste gourmet) can really amp up the flavours. As someone who doesn't like to spend much time cooking, I learned a hack ... sprinkling dried thyme on all kinds of savoury dishes (eggs, stir fry, salads, meats, etc.) is delish. Have heard that dry wines should be okay for people with IBS (low in FODMAP) ... winespectator.com/articles/.... ... so maybe you could try cooking with dry wines in place of regular cooking wine. But to help with underlying IBS, I have heard of people who have used digestive enzymes (I have started to use NOW brand super enzymes) and/or probiotics with success in being able to better tolerate foods. You could try looking at reviews of probiotics on Amazon ... Align was recommended to me by a gastroenterologist when I had IBS (I don't think it really did anything for me then), but some people like non-histamine-inducing probiotics such as ProBiota from Seeking Health. Not sure if Align or Culturelle are histamine producing. Another one that gets great reviews is Jarrow EPS. I used to use Dr. Mercola's probiotics, they are great. You could try joining one of the FB groups on histamine if by chance you have related symptoms. Wishing you well.
Balsamic is a good one! Love it!
I’ve experimented with various probiotics and I even have another one specifically for IBS but I’m leaving it until I have finished the FODMAP reintroductions. I ferment my own kefir so I get a good hit of beneficial microbes every morning as I was spending a small fortune on Symprove and VSL#3 which failed to produce any benefit.
I can certainly relate. I used to enjoy cooking. I have worked many times as a cook but I lost all interest in the subject when I got ibs d. Seeing a cookery book or cookery program on tv would have me in tears. I’m ok ish now because I only cook foreign food. I never touch fresh local produce and I only eat from jars, cans or anything that has been in the fridge for two or three days. The secret seems to be fermentation which changes the chemicals into substances that our intestines crave. Read dr Michael Mosley’s Clever Guts Diet and you will understand. Sauerkraut is disgusting but heated it’s bearable. Kimchi is magic. I have not had an attack for twenty one months and never felt so well in all my life. I wish I’d known this forty years ago. Con amore Bx
Hi thank you for your reply. I’m getting so much information from these posts it’s amazing. I shall look at this diet you have mentioned and see what I can find. I’m just so fed up with it all and very bored of my diet.
It’s great you are feeling good. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Hi running. I was on the point of paying for a poo transplant. Even my former husband said he would help out with a contribution. Then I followed the clever guts diet and within a week I knew something good was happening to my body. Please take some sea kelp tablets before bed as our bowels love them. Don’t forget we came from the sea in the evolution story. Buona fortuna Bx
I understand how desperate you must have felt to consider the transplant option!
I borrowed the Clever Guts book from the library and although it has very good information about the gut microbiome and gut health in general — and I agree 100% on feeding your microbes with good quality plant fibre sources — it does suggest a lot of high FODMAP foods that *some people* with IBS (but not all) may find triggering of their symptoms. Onions/leek/garlic, Jerusalem artichokes and barley might be problematical for some people.
I was including all of these foods in my diet and my daily fibre intake was something like 50-60g, but with slow transit and IBS-C my gut-friendly diet (haha!) resulted in a lot of fermentation and it was waking me up at 4-5pm in extreme discomfort. Bear in mind my gut transit time is 5-7 days, not 24-48 hours like Mr Mosely. Or my husband! Or a “normal” person.
Having said that, it’s still possible to follow the low FODMAP protocol with alternative sources of plant fibre — I have millet, quinoa, brown rice and buckwheat. Oats are also low FODMAP. I’m averaging about 45g fibre per day so I’m still feeding those microbes as best I can. A lot of fruit and veg are off limits but I max out the low FODMAP ones. I can’t stress strongly enough that the supervision of a specialist registered dietitian is important to navigate this, though.
It’s going to be tough reincorporating all the foods I miss because in my case they almost always result in symptoms. The low FODMAP regime isn’t a diet for life and I could happily include many of those foods in the Clever Guts books just because I enjoy eating them. I love raw Jerusalem artichokes sliced thinly in a salad, I love butter bean and barley stew, and I’m really missing biting into to a nice, crisp apple.
We’re all going to be different in our triggers and tolerances. Some people with IBS respond very well to increasing their fibre intake, but it’s not the solution for me. Some people respond well to increasing their fluid intake but I drink +3L per day plus flaxseed with every meal but it hasn’t solved anything (but still worth doing for general gut health). I’ve left no stone unturned in my pursuit, that’s why I’ve volunteered for these microbiome studies. I’ve run out of options!
Reading these posts makes me feel like I've got to the point of no return. I have just found out I have slow transit and I believe ibs with it because I get so much cramping. I started the low fodmap diet last August because I initially thought I had ibs d because one of my main symptoms is diarrhoea and extreme cramping which makes me feel so unwell, after tests I was told the diarrhoea was overflow passing through because my transit is so slow. Because I am so scared of food triggering my overflow I have been stuck on the elimination stage of the diet since and now when I try to reintroduce foods I'm reacting everytime with diarrhoea, it makes me wonder how on earth I'm constipated. I feel like I'm never going to be able to eat more foods and be on a restricted diet for the rest of my life.
The overflow problem isn’t nice at all. That’s why I went to the GP in the first place. It’s very unpleasant living with the unpredictable soiling and it can batter your self esteem too. It doesn’t help that doctors prescribe Macrogol as the go-to constipation prescription but with slow transit, what happens with me, is that the Macrogol draws in water into the colon but with slow transit it can’t actually go anywhere until it eventually seeps down and becomes overflow.
Last October I was due to have a colonoscopy and despite being dosed up on Movicol (an osmotic laxative like Macrogol) to the maximum allowed, I could feel (and hear!) all this liquid sloshing about in my colon but it wasn’t going anywhere. I knew the preparation failed but the hospital asked me to come in anyway. They had to stop not even halfway when they found colon blocked with solid faeces. So they had to abandon it. The overflow started big time that evening and into the following morning. It was just so distressing especially with the colonoscopy having to be stopped. Several weeks later I had a CT colonography but even the preparation for that wasn’t satisfactory because the timing of the opaque substance the day before assumes a normal transit time. Prior to this, I’d had colonoscopies cancelled when the preparation totally failed ie I’d passed absolutely zero despite all the nasty prep, the laxatives, the gallons of water, etc. And the reaction was “are you sure you haven’t passed ANYTHING?” and “this is VERY unusual” etc etc.
For me anyway, I can’t take Macrogol or any other osmotic laxative. It doesn’t increase the frequency and creates a horrible continence problem. Some people get good results but I suspect those are people with normal transit constipation. Slow transit is far more complicated that just taking an OTC laxative or eating more fibre etc.
I don't suffer with incontinence because I know when I'm going to get the diarrhoea, it starts with the gurgling and cramps and I feel it move through until it needs to come out, taking the movicol helps me pass stool everyday but I still get the overflow as well despite this which is what confuses me, if the movicol helps why does my colon still spasm. I feel like I have a tummy bug that never goes away. Strange thing is it seems to happen more in the afternoons after lunch or on my work days where I don't eat for 6 hrs after breakfast because I don't want to flare up at work and then have a light snack once home. If I don't take movicol I have hell to pass stool and can't go for over a week. I actually felt better for a few weeks after my colonoscopy and I was cleared out.
It’s good that the Movicol works for you. It doesn’t for me, but it’s a very individual condition. All that type of laxative does is draw in water into the colon which in theory makes the stool easier to pass but it’s not addressing possible food sensitivities if you have them.
You may well be sensitive to particular FODMAPs but you need to work with a specialist dietitian to work out if you are and which ones. But if you do go down that route, it takes a long time and a lot of motivation and planning. You have to be ready for it in the “be prepared” sense. After my first appointment I took my time to read through the booklets the dietitian sent to me, discussed it with my husband who said he was all-in with it, and worked out what I needed to buy and so on. As I’m plant-based, I already had most of the low FODMAP grains at home, but almost all beans and pulses were off-limits which is probably the most difficult one for me. I’m up for just about any vegetable, but I had to eliminate a lot of the veg I like, such as garlic and mushrooms, and I’ve found the fruit options a bit limiting.
It’s a lot of work and requires a lot of diligence so it might not be a practical option for many people and the required commitment might be too much for some. I was waking up at 4-5am with my symptoms so I was getting distressed and sleep deprived with it all and I’d run out of all the usual options like medication so I thought it was worth a try. The low FODMAP regime has helped me to identify the worse triggers so that’s something useful. In time I would like to add those foods back into my everyday diet, as some people do as their tolerances improve. So I live in hope.
You know its had the complete opposite effect on me. Yup it's been a massive challenge but it's made me rethink what and how I cook. My initial response was this is impossible how can I cook without onions and garlic, but then I thought well other people do it so it can't be impossible.
I've found garlic oil to be really good as you get the flavour and I tend to use extra of the veg I can eat and use more spices and herbs. I'm finding I have to be more inventive and I have to plan meals more but it's spurred me on to eating better and to home cook and not be tempted by ready made meals that are full of fat, salt and sugar.
Just wanted to add one more thing (was responding to another thread, and I remembered this just now) ... I recall my experience long ago with something called diatomaceous earth (must be FOOD GRADE) ... I had IBS-C, but had occasional episodes of running to the bathroom, and this was VERY effective to prevent accidents. If taking the DE long term, should probably take with OptiZinc (DE can deplete copper over time). Heard that DE can eliminate food sensitivities altogether ... it did so for me after I took it for maybe a few weeks, and then for maybe a couple of months I could eat practically anything, it seemed. More recently, came across this testimonial: ibreatheimhungry.com/foodle... Best of luck.
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