If you have irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, your doctor should help you customize a bland diet to minimize flare-ups of digestive symptoms. Bland foods such as some dairy products, for example, may relieve other health conditions but irritate your digestive tract with their natural sugars. Trial and error, based on suggestions from your health care provider, will help you discover which foods are less likely to increase problems with bloating, gas, cramping, constipation and diarrhea.
Balanced Nutrition
Because IBS is a chronic disease, your bland diet must provide balanced nutrition to sustain your metabolism and health over time. Choose a variety of healthy foods from every food group on a regular basis, such as low-fat meats, fish and dairy products, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. When your symptoms return, make nutritional concessions to prevent abdominal pain and restore regular bowel movements. If you can't achieve the recommended intakes of an essential nutrient, such as calcium due to lactose intolerance, turn to doctor-prescribed vitamin and mineral supplements.
Foods to Address Pain
Some foods can make abdominal gas and cramping worse. When you have these problems, avoid beans, cabbage, cucumbers and green peppers, which can create gas. Choose soft-cooked vegetables such as green beans and carrots or puree cooked potatoes or squash. Low-fat chicken without skin and whitefish such as sole or cod are easy to digest. Refined grains with less fiber, such as white rice and egg noodles, and canned fruits that have no skin or seeds, such as peaches and applesauce, may curb your abdominal pain. Smaller, more frequent meals may also decrease pain.
Foods to Address Constipation
When your colon is irritated, you muscles might not move digesting food through your system properly. You can address this constipation by gradually increasing the fiber in your diet. Unless you have a grain intolerance, switch from white to brown rice, and eat a high-fiber cereal with a milk substitute. Blueberries, spinach, raisins and plain popcorn are good fiber sources. For protein, try soft-cooked lentils or creamy peanut butter.
Foods to Address Diarrhea
When you have diarrhea, be sure to drink at least six glasses of water daily. You may tolerate low-fiber refined grains, protein sources such as eggs and fish, and juices without pulp well. Yogurt, which contains "friendly" bacteria that help you digest lactose, provides protein and calcium. Add mashed bananas or canned fruit for broader vitamin and mineral nutrition.
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