Raw Food for Digestive Health: Managing IBS
Sometimes running to the ‘loo’, other times sitting there wishing it was so urgent? Embarrassed (but secretly relieved) by wind and distracted with pain, bloating and sometimes even nausea?
You may be one of the 20% of the population who suffer from these symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Did you know that the brain and the gut develop from the same part of the human embryo? This could explain why IBS symptoms are worse during times of stress or in anxious types (the “brain-gut connection”).
So stress less! And rest assured that help for IBS is no farther away than your kitchen bench.
Two First-Steps for Everyone with IBS:
- Clear your kitchen of any foods that cause reactions, these will likely be: dairy, high fat/processed, spicy or citrus foods.
- Start your day with a tall glass of H2O: it’s a flusher, a transporter and a mixer of nice, soft and easy-to-pass stools. You need to remain consistently hydrated so sip water all day long.
Fibre to treat symptoms of IBS:
Fibre is found in all plant foods, nuts and seeds and it’s a valuable part of diet therapy for treatment of IBS.
Soluble fibre turns gelatinous in liquid, ferments in the bowel, feeds good bacteria and makes health-promoting short chain fatty acids.
Food sources of soluble fibre include:
- Oats
- Rye
- Chia
- Psyllium husks
- Slippery elm bark powder
- Barley
- Lentils
- Beans
- Dried Peas
- Peeled Fruit & Veg (peel contains insoluble fibre):
- Apples
- Bananas
Berries - Pears
- Plums
- Prunes and prune juice
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Tubers and root veg
Insoluble fibre attracts water, making stools softer and easier to pass. It may also exacerbate bloating, wind and diarrhoea in those who suffer mostly from these symptoms of IBS.
Food sources insoluble fibre include:
- Whole grains
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Skins of Fruit &Veg
- Lentils
- Beans
- Dried peas
Six diet fixes for IBS:
- Soak a tablespoon of chia seeds in water overnight (this activates them making them more readily bio-available) and stir
through muesli, soups, purees and smoothies. - Grind a week’s worth of flaxseeds to store in the fridge (the oils are volatile at warm temperatures) then sprinkle on breakfasts, salads, fruit salads, add to juices and smoothies.
- Mix a teaspoon of psyllium husks or slippery elm bark powder to gel with a little water, then top up with more water, stir and drink before meals. This also slows the rate of digestion, which increases feelings of fullness (a tip for weight loss).
- Put a ¼ cup of raw, rolled oats to the blender and pulse into a meal. Proceed to make your morning green smoothie, which will now have extra soluble fibre!
- Avocados are a trusty staple in the raw diet and they are flexible: the base of yummy chocolate mousse or satisfying soups. They are a great source of fibre and have the scrumptious mouth-feel we enjoy with fatty foods but their fat is the good, unsaturated kind.
- Inflammation underlies all symptoms of IBS; so add ginger and turmeric to your juices, teas, soups and salads. Both possess anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting compounds.
In a fibre-rich nutshell…
- Identify stressors and practice stress management
- Remove offending foods
- Drink at least 2L water per day
- Include fibre with every meal and supplement with powders and seeds
It’s worth noting that to alleviate constipation you’ll want to eat more insoluble fibre to attract water and soften stools and conversely if it’s diarrhoea that sends you sprinting to the bathroom you’ll want to eat more soluble fibre to form gelatinous bulk.
So bottoms up to fibre and bottoms down on the “loo”!