Current national guidelines about IBS include the following points about diet which may help to minimise symptoms:

  • Have regular meals and take time to eat at a leisurely pace.
  • Avoid missing meals or leaving long gaps between eating.
  • Drink at least eight cups of fluid per day, especially water or other non-caffeinated drinks such as herbal teas. This helps to keep the faeces (stools) soft and easy to pass along the gut.
  • Restrict tea and coffee to three cups per day (as caffeine may be a factor in some people).
  • Restrict the amount of fizzy drinks to a minimum (in my view this is 0).
  • Don’t drink too much alcohol. (Some people report an improvement in symptoms when they cut down from drinking a lot of alcohol, or stop smoking if they smoke.)
  • Consider limiting intake of high-fibre food  but psyllium husk is a good fibre to use – you can buy this from health food shops
  • Limit fresh fruit to three portions (of 80 g each) per day.
  • If you have diarrhoea, avoid sorbitol, an artificial sweetener found in sugar-free sweets (including chewing gum) and drinks, and in some diabetic and slimming products.
  • If you have a lot of wind and bloating consider increasing intake of oats (for example, oat-based breakfast cereal or porridge) and linseeds (up to one tablespoon per day). You can buy linseeds from healthfood shops or Asian supermarkets).
  • Try hypnosis to get control of your gut. Your mind can control your voluntary muscles as you know. But it can also control your involuntary muscles too. Professor Peter Whorwell of Manchester University is the world expert of gut-focused hypnotherapy, and I follow his treatment protocol. Surgeons who use hypnosis find that their patients can limit the amount of blood flowing through the veins and capillaries and thus reduce the level of post-operative bleeding. Your mind is a wonderful tool!
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