Why Use an Elimination Diet for IBS?
An elimination diet can be a helpful strategy to learn more about your IBS.
IBS and celiac disease share many symptoms.
lostinbids / Getty Images
stress level, menstrual cycle) that may be contributing to your symptoms.
Think of this phase as a cleanse.
During the first phase of the diet, it is important to chart your symptoms in your food diary.
If you notice a significant reduction in symptoms, it means the elimination diet is working.
Charting your symptoms, or lack thereof, helps you compare how different you feel during this time.
This diet is intended to be temporary.
Many of the foods you will exclude are an important part of a healthy diet.
Elimination diets are very restrictive.
Talk to your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian about getting the vitamins and minerals your body needs.
Everyone attempting an elimination diet should work with a licensed dietitian to check that they aren’t harming themselves.
If you are on the low-FODMAP diet, you could introduce foods oneFODMAP typeat a time.
On the first day, eat a small amount of the food or FODMAP pop in in question.
If no symptoms occur, eat twice as much of the same food the next day.
Pay close attention to any symptoms and document them in your food diary.
After eating a trigger food, it can take up to three days for symptoms to appear.
If you haven’t experienced symptoms, that food is probably safe.
This will ensure that you are maximizing your intake of essential nutrients.
2021;116(1):17-44. doi:10.14309/ajg.0000000000001036
Spiller R.Impact of diet on symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome.Nutrients.
2021;13(2):575. doi:10.3390/nu13020575
Arscott, SA.
University of Wisconsin Integrative Health.Elimination diet.
Michigan Medicine.The low FODMAP diet: A ‘liberating’ route to IBS relief.
