↑
reminder: In addition to using the following probiotic, I also follow a diet free of known triggers for IBS (except caffeine in small amounts), exercise, and especially important, take 20 grams/day of Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™ and another 20-25 grams of fiber/day, most of it soluble fiber. This fiber is “prebiotic”–it supplies a suitable growing medium for the “probiotic” that is the subject of this report.
Second Week on Digestive Advantage-IBS
During the second week on Digestive Advantage-IBS, I got adventurous. As you may recall, I had had an upset stomach late one day in the first week, and discovered that if I took another DA-IBS caplet, I soon felt fine–translated into IBS-speak, that means my tummy was soon mellow.
So in the second week, because I felt more control over symptoms, I tried adding more fruit to my diet. That is, more than the ever-present bananas. Kiwis worked well; I came a cropper on a new fruit called “pluot,” a cross between a plum and an apricot. I skinned it, and sliced the fruit into bits that were a cross between a slice and a chunk. Pluot pie might be interesting, but the raw fruit–not so much. That was also a night I took a second caplet of DA-IBS. I don’t know for sure that my body wouldn’t have handled the pluot by morning, but I really did not want to wake up with an aching gut. Other fruits that worked: watermelon, raspberries, and seedless grapes!
Third Week on Digestive Advantage-IBS
The second week on Digestive Advantage-IBS had gone well in exploring fruits, basically. For the third week on DA-IBS I decided to try more vegetables. The problem with vegetables is, often, that I buy them fresh and then don’t want to take the time to prepare them. So they go bad and have to be thrown away. But this week I got enough that there was always something I could fix.
The vegetables that were easy successes were summer squash and tiny tiny carrots, both steamed. I also steamed broccoli florets, right in the bag, and they were soft and delicious and great! I steamed carrot chips (Bolthouse Farms); a big bag gave me enough for several days of carrot snacks and carrot side dishes. With carrots, be sure to chew thoroughly any carrot pieces or tiny carrots that are still pretty firm, not almost mushy.
Coming Up Next
I have not yet done the packaging, delivery, and convenience kinds of commentary for Digestive Advantage-IBS that I did in the reviews for Align. So one of the next posts will be a review of that aspect of the Digestive Advantage-IBS experience.
Also, look for me to switch, and spend the second 32 day period reviewing a slightly different DA-IBS product, the chewable tablets that are what you would frequently find on the shelves of your friendly neighborhood large chain drugstore, like CVS or Walgreens.
Comments Wanted
And, just below this post, there’s a link to a comment form, if you would like to tell us about your experience with DA-IBS. Click on the “No Comments” part of the tags to be the first to add your comment. If someone else is weighing in, the tag will say “1 comment” or “2 comments” and so forth. Shall we try for “5 comments” on this post?
October 9th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Digestive Advantage - IBS |
3 comments
Is there any kind of pizza that a person with IBS can have?
I can answer this, I think, but you have to read to the end of the post. These are the suggested rules for pizza:
- I don’t believe you can eat the whole thing. Eat pizza only when you are sharing it with someone else.
- Order a pizza without cheese.
- Most pizza makers are used to such order, from people who keep kosher, and from people who are lactose intolerant, so it’s unlikely that they’ll question your order.
- Pizza is not for breakfast
- Pizza is for one day a week, not four, five, or seven!
- Mushrooms are a safe topping; if you must, order a vegetarian pizza and pick and choose your toppings.
So you *can* have pizza, within limits.
Bottom Line
Order a mushroom pizza without cheese, and with extra mushrooms.
September 28th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food |
no comments
For some time there has been a Page Title — in the upper right hand corner of the header menu — called “Window Shopping.” If you clicked on it, you would see a browser window that goes directly to the Best Life International website, and their “Soy Amazing” ™ Meal Replacement shake.
That was it. No blurb, no explanation, just the browser window.
I have now added several more browser windows, for products mentioned here that are not available at Amazon.com. The full list of products:
Two soy shakes mentioned here:
-
Soy Amazing Meal Replacement Shake, ™ from BestLife International–high soluble fiber content, high protein
- Revival Soy ™ Chocolate Daydream Shake — no fiber content, high protein.
Two probiotics for IBS reviewed here–windows to their web sites.
- Ganeden Digestive Advantage - IBS ™: currently serializing a review.
- Align. ™ Series of reviews, completed.
Use the Google site search, or the Category listings, for more information.
September 25th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Breakfast, fiber, Chocolate, Revival Soy, Probiotics, Food for IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food, Align, Soy Products, Soy Amazing, Online sources, BestLifeInternational, Digestive Advantage - IBS, IBS Diet |
2 comments
Hummus: What is it?
Hummus is a food of Near Eastern origin that is traditionally used in a filling “sandwich” of pita bread, falafel balls, shredded lettuce and perhaps other vegetables. Hummus has the function of holding all these elements together, or at least flavoring them. The thicker the hummus the more it holds together; the thinner the hummus, the more it flavors–and drips.
It is made of mashed or ground chickpeas (=garbanzo beans), often with ground sesame seeds (tahini); in general, hummus serves as a dip for pita bread or vegetables. It may contain lemon juice or garlic flavoring, so reading labels is advised.
Where to find it?
The best hummus I have had recently came from a small neighborhood Near Eastern store. In the very varied neighborhood in which I live, hummus can be found in the two big grocery stores, also. I would think that Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods chains would carry it. It comes in cans and in dip containers. You could also find it in Hispanic-themed groceries, or make it yourself from canned garbanzo beans (=chickpeas).
Why is it good for IBS?
The packaged hummus without lemon juice or citric acid is good for building alternative meals for (us) people with IBS. You can use it directly as a substitute for mayonnaise–no eggs, no oil. I use it with a 3 oz. can of tuna as a quick lunch, or put it on rice cakes to moisten the dry chew.
How would you use it?
Let me know how you do use, or would use, hummus. No reward this time, except that sending a comment will count toward “top commenter” recognition for September.
September 9th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, IBS food, IBS Diet |
no comments
In addition to the sporadic items in the category I have called “IBS Food” on For My Tummy, there are some other sources for food recipes. Heather’s Newsletters at HelpforIBS.com offer a large selection, as does her book Eating for IBS. I have just added an appetizing website with recipes for people with food intolerances–gluten as well as others–http://surefoodsliving.com/
August 30th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food, IBS Diet |
no comments
FMT featured in DHSB
For My Tummy was featured in the August 1st issue of Digestive Health Smart Brief, a newsletter that is distributed to the offices of Gastroenterologists for their patients, including those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It is also available in electronic form, by subscription. You can either email a particular issue to yourself, or subscribe, just below the header.
Locating FMT in DHSB
The place to find the For My Tummy reference is down the right hand side below the fold, in the colored box with the title Patient Perspectives. They excerpted my recent post of the recipe for tuna melt.
The Feature
That feature in the colored box, Patient Perspectives, is not just about irritable bowel syndrome (ibs). The feature editor finds various blogs, and perhaps forum posts, on a number of different Gastroenterological problems, so, no, I’m not going to appear every week/month. Ah well.
August 6th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Digesting Information |
no comments
Read the following in conjunction with the Page on this blog called IBS Triggers.
I’ve just added the blog “Confessions of a Bathroom Dweller” to the list of links. The author has a post on not going the extra mile, “Sprite is an Essential Food Group!”
In part, she says:
Someone found my little corner of the blog word by typing in:
“is sprite bad for people with IBS”
ahhh….someone after my own heart. You see, I know carbonation is “bad” for people with IBS. My brain knows that it is not smart to intentionally consume something that will add air to my system. But of everything I have had to give up or modify to deal with my IBS, Sprite is the ONE thing I REFUSE to give up.
For me, it’s coffee–well, at least some coffee. Not very much. About 1/4 of a cup, mixed with mocha soy, but some.
OK. We all do it, we all pay a price.
What we could do:
- Cut down the amount - just one Sprite, ™ less than one cup of coffee spread throughout the day
- Diminish the effect - let the Sprite ™ go flat before you drink it, mix the coffee with non-coffee compatibles
- Share it so you eat or drink less
- Make it with substitutes - soymilk instead of milk,
- Chew it carefully (pecans, almonds) or grind it up
- Use it in powdered form - powdered cocoa, not chocolate, not even dark chocolate with no dairy and no sweetener
- Give it up for IBS control?
What’s your favorite dodge on the “essential food groups” plaint?
August 5th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
coffee, Chocolate, humor, Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS Triggers, IBS food, IBS Diet |
2 comments
There is this line that sits above my writing window that has three never-finished posts nagging me to complete them. One says “Recipe: Tuna Melt.” It is time for the recipe to come to light!
For an individual serving:
One slice of an acceptable bread - I used spelt bread (no wheat)
One 3 oz. can of tuna fish
1/2 cup Veggie Shreds ™, loosely packed
(With spelt bread, which is pretty dry, I pretreat it a little. I put a small amount of Earth Balance ™ margarine in the center of the slice, and spread it out the edges. Then, I dampen the crust and just inside the crust, all around the slice.)
Open the can of tuna, arrange it on top of the bread slice, cover with the Veggie Shreds ™, and put in the microwave for about 1 and 1/2 minutes.
Enjoy!
July 26th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food |
no comments
I can think of more exciting headlines, but that about covers what this post is all about.
When my doctor and I were talking–all to briefly, of course–about what to eat for IBS, she asked me, “Well, what do you eat?” There wasn’t time to tell her, so ultimately I decided to work out exactly what I do eat, and the calorie count.
What is helpful to the rest of the world, I think, is that in the process I discovered www.calorie-count.com, a FREE site recently purchased and maintained by the About.com people. At calorie-count.com there is a good database of foods already listed with calories and other nutritional values. Once you sign up, you get access to the “community” or forums, of course. You also get tools
June 10th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food, IBS Diet |
no comments
i have mentioned that while I generally agree with the Heather Van Vorous website
Heather has recently endorsed the old understanding of the food pyramid promulgated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is the pyramid that was widely taught in schools, and pictured on cereal boxes, and otherwise used to promote particular food choice.
Indeed, this is the pyramid that posters in my doctor’s office advertise.
Here is a picture of the old, outdate USDA pyramid. It tells you to eat lots of servings of carbohydrates every day, and very few servings of fats–the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, in other words. Twenty years of religiously following that diet put me at high risk for heart disease, and it did not save me from IBS.
The clearest criticism of both the old USDA, and the new web-based USDA pyramid, comes from an article by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). They say, to begin with:
April 23rd, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Medical, Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food, IBS Diet |
no comments
I don’t endorse enthusiastically the “Help for IBS” Website and newsletter, for a couple of reasons.
First, the diet she endorses is very high in carbohydrates, with limited attention to protein intake. That’s possibly good and necessary if you are thin, with IBS-D. It is not the healthy diet currently recommended, and she/her staff incorrectly states that it is.
Second, she seems confused about soluble fiber, and endorses foods like rice that actually do not have a lot of any kind of fiber, but are high in starch (=carbs). There is definitely a place for starch, and both starch and soluble fiber tame the gastrocolic reflex, so they work alike in that fashion. The problem lies in the idea that eating rice is eating fiber. It isn’t.
I can, however, recommend the current issue of the “Help for IBS” Newsletter.
Everything in this issue it is okay. A nice letter about going off Zelnorm and seeing results with dietary control. A doctor’s article about The 7 Myths about IBS. And, if it applies, a bit of knowledge about what celiac disease is/is like.
April 18th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Gastrocolic Reflex, fiber, Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS Triggers, IBS food |
no comments
I fell silent on this blog, though not on others. I had to take amoxicillin for long-term dental problems and dental work, and consequently had what is coyly known as “d”. It’s a known effect of Amoxicillin. As a result, my diet grew heavy on rice and rice noodles, and bananas and banana chips. And I did not grow light.
That’s the problem. I actually loved eating rice noodles in the form of Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Bowl. The easiest to swallow is the mushroom flavor, but roasted garlic is also good. I started out blithely eating these packaged rice noodles as a whole bowl. It turns out that one bowl is two servings. Now once it’s fixed, there’s no easy way to save and reheat half a bowl, so I kept on eating the whole bowl. For 240 calories, and 46 gms of carbs. Plus some protein; usually vegetarian hot dogs.
But there is a variation on the “eat smaller portions” approach to dieting, that I could use with the Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Bowls. That is to take out some of the rice noodles before cooking the rest. I just tried it; I took only a small amount, that would rest on the palm of one hand. Probably not significant at this stage. It was more painful than I thought, to do it. Yet the results were just as good, just as satisfying.
As we worked out at work, one day, it’s not as if throwing food away contributes a lot to global warming. So, no guilt. If it contributes to global warming, guilt.
April 16th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS food |
no comments
