Vegan with PCOS and IBS (FOOD HELP!)

[fuzlo]

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice on what to eat on a vegan diet when you have PCOS *and* IBS.

I want to make sure I'm getting all the nutrients I need whilst managing both of these conditions as best as I can. I'm struggling with how the required diets contradict each other.

For example, I need to follow a high protein diet to manage my PCOS. Being vegan this would mean eating soy and a lot of beans, pulses, legumes etc. However, soy seems largely forbidden in the PCOS world and beans, pulses and legumes are known to trigger IBS. It's also important to eat high fibre for PCOS so this means consuming a lot of certain types of veggies that will likely trigger IBS.

I personally have IBS-C (IBS with constipation). My symptoms have massively improved since cutting dairy years ago. For years I would get crippling stomach spasms with vomiting and diarrhoea and I thankfully no longer experience these symptoms since going dairy-free. (Not sure whether this is an IBS related or lactose intolerance!) However, I do still suffer with bloating, gas and constipation.

I know all about the FODMAP diet, my mum has Crohn's Disease and is vegan too and her diet is based on it (and other things that her tummy allows). However, she relies quite a lot on soy. She loves tofu and all of the meat-free substitutes are made from soy and gluten which I'm not supposed to consume with PCOS.

I'd love some help trying to write a list of safe foods and recipes that are amazing for PCOS that don't trigger IBS.

Thanks in advance

[Agoodenough]

Hi and welcome. I am away from home at the moment so sorry for the brief reply. See link below and we have lots of lovely recipes posted so they may inspire you. Any questions ask away!

thekindlife.com/blog/2013/0...

nutritionstudies.org/cleare...

🌱🙂 Ali

ps I generally avoid soy and that’s really not an issue for me at all unless you eat processed vegan foods which do tend to have soy but not all, so I wouldn’t let that put you off 🙂👍