How to Do an Elimination Diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, you probably already know that certain foods can trigger the symptoms of diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and bloating often experienced with this disorder. Unfortunately, it can often be difficult to determine which foods, if any, make the symptoms worse. Studies suggest that up to sixty percent of people who experience symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome have worsening of their symptoms when they eat certain foods.

One way to identify which foods trigger the symptoms of irritable bowels syndrome is to do an elimination diet. An elimination diet is a way to determine which foods or group of foods cause worsening of intestinal symptoms. It’s fairly simple to do an elimination diet although it can take several months to complete and there’s no guarantee that a particular food will be identified that actually triggers your symptoms. On the other hand, if you can identify the foods you need to avoid, your symptoms may improve significantly.

To do an elimination diet, you’ll need to keep a diary of the foods you eat and the drinks you drink on a daily basis for an entire week. Once you have these foods written down, group them together into types, for example, soy based foods, dairy foods, and wheat based foods. Start by selecting a single group of foods to eliminate from your diet for a period of two weeks. During the two week period, keep a diary of your symptoms on a daily basis. At the end of two week period, reassess and ask yourself if your symptoms improved. If not, eliminate a second group of foods and continue recording your symptoms. Keep doing this until you’ve been through all the food types you normally eat. This may take several months to complete.

What happens if you do an elimination diet and your symptoms fail to improve regardless of what foods you eliminate? This means you probably don’t have an identifiable food trigger and at least you know you can continue to eat what you want without affecting your symptoms. If you do identify a diet trigger, the particular food can be eliminated or the quantity significantly reduced in your diet.

When you do an elimination diet, you can learn a great deal about how your body reacts to certain foods. Keeping a journal of your daily symptoms gives you an objective way of determining how your body responds to the presence of absence of particular foods. If you have irritable bowel syndrome, an elimination diet may very helpful in helping you optimize your diet to relieve symptoms.