I was diagnosed with ibs, hiatus hernia and gallstone last year.
My ibs at first was the usual one, but now I am bad with constipation,someone suggested chia seeds and then I read flaxseed, which is the best.
What foods are best for ibs, so I can get at least back to some normality with my stomach.
Thankyou.
Kiwis are good and help with constipation
I have had the same for years apart from the gallstones…constipated all the time…but I started having a mixture of seeds including chia and flax in the morning with my yogurt and its been a game changer…I go regularly now and although I still get abit of bloating its nothing compared to what it was! Hope this helps 👍🤓
Hi - Thankyou for your reply, its not nice is it, but I have ordered some chia seed and eating plenty of probiotic yoghurt in the hope that it gets some normality back. I am so pleased you managed to get it sorted, and good luck with it all.
Sorry to bother you again, but the chia/flax seed arrived today, do you soak yours overnight then have it with your yoghurt, or just put the seeds whole on it. Thanks.
look up fibre soluble and insoluble, you will find the ones that’s best for you. Soluble soaks up liquid in the colon insoluble don’t.
Thankyou, so kind to answer will do - trying all sorts just to get some ease. Good luck hope you keep well.
Have you tried senakot at night, look up michelle Kenway on you tube she goes through how to help with constipation and how to help keep it away, she goes into detail on the fibres showing how they work in out guts
Thankyou I certainly will how kind, its getting advice like this that helps. Keep well.
What is your fibre intake like? To improve constipation in the short term you can try ground flaxseed on your breakfast, starting at 1 teaspoon and increasing at 1 teaspoon every 2-3 days - you'll need to consume extra water with it.
These foods are also high fibre:
8-9 Prunes
2 tablespoon chia seeds (soaked for 10-15 mins in milk or non dairy milk with cereal or water)
Shredded wheat (or if GF: Nutribrex)
60g Quinoa
Wholewheat bread
75g Whole grain pastas (if GF: Buckwheat)
2 Hard pears
5 Dried apricots
90g Raspberries
1 orange (contain a natural laxative)
2 kiwi.
I find that I need to have 1 orange or 2 kiwi a day and then another high fibre fruit later in the day to help with BMs. Introduce new foods and any fibre increases slowly, starting with one new thing at a time, waiting for 2-3 days for a response and keep a food diary. You may not need to consume as much fibre as I do.
For breakfast I make a porridge of 4 tablespoon of oat bran and 4 tablespoon all bran (wheat bran), 2.5 small cups of water and microwave for 10 mins. I then mix in 2 tablespoon of chia seeds and 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and leave to stand for 15-20 mins since the chia seeds need to form a gel. On top of that I place 8 prunes and eat. The best thing to do is to start with normal oats in similar quantities and, if needed, replace one of the tablespoons of oats with oat bran for a couple of days, carrying on doing this every couple of days until you get to 4 tablespoon of oat bran and 4 tablespoon of oats. Then start replacing with wheat bran in the same manner. You can then add the other ingredients one at a time. You might find you do not need the complete 'recipe' to have a BM. All these individual components are down to tolerance e.g. you may not tolerate wheat (see later about Alflorex), so it is best to keep a food diary (I do this on a spreadsheet) recording symptoms for up to 2-3 days after each change.
I also take 30 drops of ginger extract before bedtime to aid motility. You may need to work up the dose to say 7 drop increments each night.
Exercise can help with BMs. The government recommends 150 mins of moderate exercise (e.g. walking as if you are late for an appointment) or 75 of intense exercise (e.g. jogging) per week. I also have a bit of a walk around straight after breakfast to get things moving.
You need to ensure that you are drinking enough fluids (2 litres of fluid per day).
There is some good advice about constipation here:
theibsnetwork.org/constipat...
theibsnetwork.org/constipat...
There are also medications that help IBS-C (constipation dominant IBS). I suffer from IBS-C and have been prescribed Linaclotide for it. I also take Alflorex probiotic which has made me more tolerant to taking in the extra fibre I need for a BM.
Failing dietary measures, you can try Optifibre, which needs to be worked up to a dose according to instructions. You may not need the full dose - watch out for gas and increment to a level that is acceptable for you.
Some people are more prone to constipation due to their intestinal anatomy. Through colonoscopies I have been told that I have a long loopy (redundant) colon. This means that food takes longer to pass through and in the mean time the intestines have more time to suck out water from the stool, drying them out and causing constipation. I have found that I need to consume much more fibre than other people to have regular BMs.
I have also found useful having most of my food at meal times, leaving 4-5 hours of not eating between meals, eating my fruit snack before a meal. This means that your digestive system has time to process each meal. It also allows something called the MMC (migrating motor complex) to run which sweeps food waste from your small intestine into your large intestine. This only happens when you have an empty stomach. When people snack regularly, it prevents the MMC from working properly. I also find the larger meals help to push things along better than drip feeding through snacking.
Thankyou so much for this, really helpful, have ordered chia seeds and plenty of yoghurts, and taking fibrogel, but would like to have natural body movements if this is possible.
Will do everything you mention, and see how it goes, once again good luck hope you stay ok.
I was told, little and often with food, but not had much of an appetite.
Advice needed please
Any ideas how to deal with changes in ibs?
Colofac
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