Remembering all the foods I could eat pre-IBS

...actually before I realised I had IBS

From Alex Findlater and Company

So today I am remembering all the foods I could eat pre-IBS. Or actually, before I realised I had IBS. I knew from a young age that something was a bit off with my stomach. I had an ultrasound exam to check the physical health of my tum tum when I was 14. That came back OK, thank God. But the lovely doctor didn't think to test for allergies, intolerances or anything like that. Instead, her prescription was a skipping rope. Skip and you will poop. Just to explain the hilarious previous sentence, I was constantly constipated even though I had a good diet. Since then, I have learnt that I am milk protein intolerant and have IBS.

What is IBS?

• "Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition that affects the digestive system.
• It causes symptoms like stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. These tend to come and go over time, and can last for days, weeks or months at a time.
• The exact cause is unknown – it's been linked to things like food passing through your gut too quickly or too slowly, oversensitive nerves in your gut, stress and a family history of IBS" (( https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/))

What are the symptoms of IBS?

The main symptoms of IBS are:

• "stomach pain or cramps – usually worse after eating and better after doing a poo
• bloating – your tummy may feel uncomfortably full and swollen
• diarrhoea – you may have watery poo and sometimes need to poo suddenly
• constipation – you may strain when pooing and feel like you cannot empty your bowels fully" (( https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/symptoms/))

Without further ado, join me in remembering all the foods I could eat pre-IBS

Dairy and all it's goodness

• 

  cream cake (victoria sponge with cream)

• 

  cheese cake

• 

  ice cream

• 

  milk

Dairy is the main food I cannot eat. And it is heart breaking. I am sad about this. I would choose dairy over meat anytime. Definitely missing the days when I was vegetarian and blissfully eating lots of cheese and ice cream. My two favourite foods that I cannot have. If I do eat these, I get bloated, gassy, abdominal cramps and constipation.

Coffee

Apart from IBS, I get peptic ulcers from time to time. Especially depending on what I eat. Coffee not only causes me sharp stomach pain, it makes me poop a lot. So I could potentially go from super constipated to diarrhoea and pain. Beautiful. I do miss the smell and flavour of it though (coffee not poop).

I liked my coffee black, no sugar and strong.

P.S Don't make a comparison to "I like my man like I like my coffee". I like my men very sweet

I drink decaf coffee, decaf mocha with plant milk or hot chocolate when my stomach is good.

Too many/much spices and hot food

Now this one is huge. If I have too many spices (lots of different ones in one go) in large quantities I am gone. Painnnnnnnnnn! .

So my favourite seasoning is now indeed salt and pepper and herbs

Too many cocktails

Alcohol plus an easy to upset tummy for me equals stomach cramps, pain, diarrhoea, bloating and gas. Plus if you drink too much, hangover. So I drink cocktails in moderation but now I am trying to switch over to a mocktails. Mocktails though are essentially fruit juice. And that is not ideal.

• 

• 

And many other random things

These include:

• Foods with lots of insoluble fibre like Quinoa
• Some raw foods e.g. sweet peppers
• Garlic
• Milk chocolate. I can have dark chocolate in moderation though

I don't have photos of these so I will let you use your imagination and memories.

Feature of the week

https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3GsGYjXti/

You guys can follow my #foodstagram by following the link above. It turns out I love food and talking about it too. And lately I have been cooking for friends, and I am slowing falling back in love with cooking. Thanks so much for remembering all the foods I could eat pre-IBS. Have a lovely weekend.