I was referred to a health coach for shoulder ache. They asked me what I eat and I said due to IBS i tend to stick to "safe foods" as that way I can manage IBS as I know there is no cure. Firstly they said the people they had worked with in London had cured IBS and it is curable. I needed to up my fibre with chia seeds and porridge, I told her I cannot eat a lot of fibre as it sets off my IBS.
It annoyed me that they never asked what IBS I had D or C. I am D mainly. I have had IBS for over 30yrs and have never found a cure. Also they had never heard of Symprove and asked why I took it.
I am nervous about eating new foods and it was suggested that I had Porridge ( a tablespoon every other day) Sour Dough Bread and chia seeds all in small amounts. Does anyone have these foods with IBS?
I am grateful for the referral but it would have been nice if they had spent the first session just talking to me and asking questions about my health and lifestyle before offering advice. I just got a feeling that they were trained in nutrition and everyone is the same.
Written by
Sparrow58
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Hi. I have had IBS for seven years now and since being diagnosed l have continued pretty much the same things I have always done including eating Porridge, chia seeds and other seeds as well as nuts.
I also eat lots of veg and fruit. I probably vary IBS-C and D but tend not to get bothered by my BM as I know I eat well and make sure l get all of the right vitamins.
Sometimes l get things wrong and when l eat too late at night and have to go first thing in the morning but l have come to accept the situation as best as l can and that l will have IBS for the rest of my life. I make most of each day by doing things that l love.
Yes, many people don't understand IBS and how it affects YOU.
The usual litany nowadays is that fibre cures everything, No it doesn't.
That we should all be eating pulses, beans, nuts, seeds, a rainbow of fruits and vegetables.
Where do they get this from? That diet does NOT suit all people!!
Sourdough bread is very good. Personally I can't eat it as it upsets my gut (I have IBS D too.)
I can happily eat ciabatta or panini or chapattis. I am not gluten intolerant.
Chia seeds might be at least worth trying to see if you have good results. But don't hold your breath. You could experiment and see.
I know I couldn't handle those either.
When I go through a "good phase" with my IBS, I can just about tolerate a spoonful of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds for a few days. If I'm lucky.
But all this high fibre food doesn't suit all of us, and even if it suits some sometimes, that's not necessarily every day.
Oats and I do not get on for some reason. I was never into porridge (yuck) but used to love oatcakes, and flapjacks. Now they act like a strong laxative!
You are right. Everyone isn't the same, and these trends nowadays for "what's good for everybody" doesn't always fit well with an individual IBS sufferer.
It's strange indeed that they had never heard of Symprove!
That's something I wondered about and read up on it. But no, I haven't been checked for histamine intolerance. I think that's a urine test is it? I can't imagine my GP running that for me.... but I never asked. (hard to get to speak to a doctor, as everything gets intercepted by receptionists these days.
As an experiment I tried high histamine foods such as spinach, chocolate, tinned fish etc and often didn't have reactions to them at all. But HIT can often depend on whether histamine has been overloaded in the body, not always from eating some high histamine foods sometimes (so I heard) I did once try really loading the "histamine foods" on, but nothing worse happened.
It was part of my usual blood tests at my gastroenterologist. I don't have true histamine intolerance, but my DAO emzymes aren't at the level they should be, and I have trouble with a lot of fermented food and other food with high histamine levels, while being able to eat other things that someone with a true HI wouldn't be able to tolerate. I recently started taking DAOsin (super expensive) with most of my meals and feel better.
Thanks 711debbie, I also can tolerate high histamine foods most of the time, but have no idea if I'm producing enough DAO. I wish there was a trustworthy test I could do at home for that. I wish you the best of luck with the DAO supplements and it's great they seem to be helping you!
I did tell them that I can not tolerate porridge. They said it is because I am not soaking it and as mentioned they said start with a tablespoon of soaked oats every other day.
They do not seem to understand that if I eat something that upsets me I cannot get out to work, so will only try this if in for a couple of days after.
IBS has to be treated with an individualistic approach as some foods suit some and not others, nothing is written in stone. I personally wouldn't live without Chia Seeds, and various other seeds, eg pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, walnuts, Oats are brilliant but these foods aren't for everyone. If you could eat them though, they are packed with nutrition and can only do good. Sourdough bread though doesn't suit me, but it may suit you. It's a case of trying different foods to see what suits. With IBS, it can be scary trying different foods, I was years ago for a long long time just living on a bland diet every day. I wasn't feeling well at all and I realized I'd have to start plucking up a bit more courage and try other foods. I've had some failures and suffered the consequences but I've also had a lot of successes which have proved to be very good for my digestion.
Fibre is a must for me and for anyone else who can tolerate it. It doesn't have to be a lot, but some each day will help your bowels. There's different kinds of fibre and soluble Fibre is best for IBS. Oats are Soluble fibre but wholemeal bread for instance is Insoluble fibre so not digested as good and so I never eat wholemeal bread. There's a lot of choice though in fibre that can be digested easier and I have felt the benefits since I've been eating it regularly. If you introduce it slowly, after a while you will feel better. Trying fibre foods one at a time is the best way of knowing if it will suit you.
That sounds rather like the way I handle things, Miss Pomfrey. I do get some fibre from daily vegetables, but sometimes can't take much more than that, and on some days I can. On some days I can happily eat brown rice for example as well as the veggies. I just "feel my way through" day to day and that technique does seem to work for me.
But I do like to experiment with vegetables I'd shunned because they seemed to upset me before. I've had a bit of a win recently with capsicum peppers. I had an idea, and that was to shave off the skin, and it has appeared to work! It seems if I do that I can eat them again! So far I just tried 1/4 of a pepper at once, and no bad reaction. I love their flavour.
Yes, that's all we can do really is keep trying. I'm always experimenting because I'm afraid I might be cutting something out that's not doing me any harm. Capsicum peppers for example, I've been eating for years but I've always suspected that they might be dodgy. I don't eat them often nowerdays, but I did have them about 3 days ago and my bowels have been disrupted for want of a better word for the last couple of days. Is it the peppers I ask? I don't know. I've never tried to peel them but I will nows you've mentioned it. Skins always have bothered me. I know I should stick to what I know to be safe, but as is often the case, I can eat a certain food for ages and it will be fine, then suddenly it decides it's going to do it's worst 😐 I just think we shouldn't give up though and try again when things settle down. Especially if it's a food we particularly like.
Believe it or not, I absolutely love baked beans and I try them now and then, just a couple of spoons on a baked potato. I'll get away with it if I'm feeling good, but if I'm not, I face the consequences, so I leave them alone for a few months. I think after all these years I've learned not to be afraid of trying the odd different thing, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I've also learned that if I'm going to experiment, it's best when I'm feeling in a good state of mind and not when I'm stressed or anxious or worrying about anything. Take care ☺️
Yes, I get that too with foods. I also love lentils, chickpeas and baked beans etc! I wait until I'm going through a more "normal" phase re: IBS and morning "ablutions" etc, and I grasp the opportunity to try a bit of food I'd shunned when I wasn't so great.
And guess what? At those times I get away with it! Yet try them again a week or whatever later and they have a bad effect. But skins on things...I always have to peel stuff. I can eat asparagus happily so long as I peel the stems.
I just have a more dramatic reaction to fibre. That's the heart of my food issue I think, as whether low or high Fodmap it doesn't seem to matter, so long as I peel it!
My only mystery is potatoes. Even peeled and boiled, baked or mashed just plain with no milk or butter they act as a laxative for my belly.
Oh thanks for that tip. BabsyWabsy! I will try doing them that way. I honestly thought I could no longer eat peppers, and thought that for some time now as every time I tried some it was like whoops next morning. Then I got the idea to peel the skin. Obviously it was just the fibre in the skin that made my belly too frisky and not the peppers!
I have tried a piece raw and it was fine, and some steamed and it was OK.
It makes me wonder if there are other people who think a food doesn't suit them and shun it, when with a tweak here or there they might be able to happily tolerate that food?
Of course, it's a nuisance when eating out or eating at a friend's house etc, but fine for when I cook my own food.
Unfortunately, these health coaches or nutritionists are not recognised by the NHS, since they don't have the expected rigorous training. I have had a terrible experience with these people since they really don't know what they are doing - particularly with areas that are still under exploration like IBS. I would ignore anything they tell you. If you need dietary advice you could ask to be referred to a dietitian by your GP. Although some may be better than others.
I suffer with IBS-C. I eat cooked oat bran, but I find porridge oats constipating. All oats of any form should ideally be cooked, since in the dry form they may be difficult to break down, though some people may be tolerant to dry oats (i.e. as in muesli). I also eat chia seeds and mix this in with my mixed oat bran/all bran porridge and let it sit for 15 minutes for the chia seeds to form a gel prior to consuming. I find sourdough too acidic and it gives me pain.
The thing about IBS is what one person can eat and what another person can eat can be entirely different - this is within the spectrum of FODMAPs and without FODMAPs. This means that what I can tolerate should have no bearing on whether you will be OK with a certain food or not.
The only thing a person can do with new foods is to do an introduction trial whilst also only eating foods that you know that you can tolerate. Then keep a food diary and wait 2-4 days for symptoms depending on your turnaround time. Start with 1/4 to 1/3 or a normal portion size each day for 2-4 days; if OK, after that, increment by another 1/4 to 1/3 and monitor for 2-4 days and so on. If you start to experience symptoms you can cut back to the previous amount for longer and try again. You may find a limit to the quantity that you can eat. Though its best to have as many different foods as you can, even if you have to stick to smaller amounts of some. This is better for your microbiome, your gut and overall health, than to eliminate large ranges of foods entirely.
Thanks for your helpful reply. I was referred to the coach by my NHS GP. I think they do an exam in nutrition. On paper it's a great idea, but in real life with people it's different.
If "...everyone is the same" is not your typo, a good, qualified Nutritional Therapist (NT) would not consider all as the same but as an individual using a holistic approach. That's unlike medics, likely dieticians (as part of medical authority/NHS) and maybe some nutritionists. wpa.org.uk/hw-pdf/WPA-Nutri...
Despite what you may have been mistakenly advised, qualified NTs are indeed trained, regulated professionals - always use a BANT -approved one. See link below and also definition of an NT.
I've suffered for 50 years with IBS-C. The only time it let up was when I went on a vegan diet - it was actually Carol Vordeman's detox, popular about 30 years ago. Otherwise nothing else has helped. I am no longer vegan as I don't believe it supplies everything you need. However, I do follow a 'Mediterranean' style diet (see M Mosley). Adding more fibre makes mine worse, not better - I can eat all the chia seeds in a jar and it makes no difference. Fibre is definitely not always the answer. I tried carnivore for about a week and, strangely, my digestion worked much better, but I didn't really feel I wanted to keep that up as it excluded all plant food. If anyone ever finds the answer I'd love to hear!
I just found I had to invent my own way through all the diets and healthy eating advice we receive from all quarters. To be fair though I did give the low Fodmap diet a fair strict trial for 8 weeks, though it made no difference to me, and at that time I ended up cutting out lots of high Fodmap stuff which I soon found out was fine for me and always had been.
There are so many variables and quirks with IBS people and to a great extent we have to find out ourselves, what suits us/peeled or not peeled/in what quantities/ etc
I honestly don't feel that anyone, trained or not in nutrition can know what we can tolerate or not. I guess it's a lot of trial and error, or trial and small wins! But different foods are definitely worth continuing to try. I keep on trying, starting with small amounts and see what happens.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Has your IBS/mental health affected your relationship?
Fiber? Or something else?
Our Overall Health 
Health Anxiety IBS
