Diet To Heal IBS

Diet isn’t the only thing to address when healing your digestive and gut issues, however it’s a necessary (and one of the most important) parts of the healing process!

With IBS, we typical see an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria, sluggish digestion, and damage to the gut which manifests as symptoms like bloating, gas, abdominal pain and cramps, constipation and/or diarrhea, acid reflux, food sensitivities, candida overgrowth, and low appetite.

Therefore if you truly want to heal your IBS for good, it’s crucial that your diet takes these factors into account! In this article I’m going to do just that and share 5 things that are essential in a IBS healing diet.

1) Limit Your Plant Intake-

Grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds contain many plant toxins like lectins that can damage your gut lining if consumed in excess!

Since your gut lining is already damaged in IBS, you want to take extra care to keep your consumption of these foods very limited (in some cases you may want to fully eliminate them) and any that you do consume, prepare properly (soak, sprout, ferment) to reduce the anti-nutrients and make them more digestible.

On top of that, fiber in plants feeds your gut bacteria, when you have excess pathogenic bacteria, fiber is feeding the bad guys too! This leads to excess gas production, bloating, pain, constipation, and/or diarrhea! So that means go easy on the veggies too!

2) Eliminate Processed Foods, Seed Oils, And Your Trigger Foods-

It probably goes without saying that you should eliminate unhealthy foods like processed foods and seed oils, but there’s a few more things you should probably eliminate/limit.

And that’s your trigger foods, these exact foods will vary for everyone so the best way to identify what they are is to keep a log of your food and symptoms. If you notice certain foods seem to be causing symptoms it’s typically best to limit or eliminate these foods temporarily.

3) Center Your Diet Around High Quality Animal Foods And Include Lots Of Collagen-

As you probably already know, animal foods are the most nutritious foods and they are also very kind to our digestive system! Collagen rich foods (like bone broth, bone marrow, oxtail, shank, bone-in skin-on poultry, slow cooked tough cuts of meat, and pork rinds) in particular are very healing! They decrease inflammation and help repair the gut lining!

4) Get All Your Nutrients In And In The Right Portions-

Nutrients are key for making enzymes and stomach acid for proper digestion, healing your gut, and so many other things! Eating nose to tail is one of the best ways to maximize your nutrient intake, so make sure you eat those organs!

Another tip here: if you can’t tolerate dairy at the moment (which is relatively common in people with gut issues) get plenty of seafood, especially good quality shellfish! Seafood and dairy are rich in similar nutrients, so this will help you to balance your nutrient intake!

5) Prioritize Warm, Soft, Easy To Digest Foods-

Things like soups, eggs, slow cooked meats, tea, a mug of warm bone broth, and roasted root veggies will be much easier to digest! On the flip side I recommend you avoid raw, cold, and heavy foods.

* If you want more info on exactly how to overcome your gut and digestive issues step by step (whether that’s bloating and gas, constipation, diarrhea, digestive cramps and pain, food intolerance/sensitivities, low appetite, skin issues, hormonal issues, or other symptoms) then click here to book a free discovery call with me! Helping people heal their gut and optimize their health is something I’m very passionate about since my own 10 year struggle with chronic constipation and IBS is what got me into the health and nutrition realm in the first place. I was able to fully overcame my gut issues and I’ve helped dozens of other too as well so I know you can too!