IBS trigger foods: one size doesn't fit all

Searching the web for IBS trigger foods will lead you to a number of sites that provide lists of foods that commonly cause trouble for people with irritable bowel syndrome. These common trigger foods are valuable in that they can give you ideas for what foods to be careful of, but it seems like there are a couple of risks in this approach.

First, there's an inclination to focus on the items that are on these lists, and perhaps not pay enough attention to other foods that might be your trigger foods. For people new to IBS, this might stem from not realizing that IBS varies quite a bit from person to person. IBS is certainly a complex disease, that may have both genetic and environment causes, and the fact that it's so poorly understood gives further evidence that it's tricky to figure out.

The other problem with a one size fits all approach to trigger food lists is that they could keep you from eating things which, although problematic for others, have no adverse effects whatsoever on you. In fact, some of the lists are so extensive that I wonder what's left that a person could actually eat after eliminating all the items.

So what better approach can I offer? Well, it's nothing new since doctors advise this all the time, but taking the effort to keep a food diary with what you've eaten and when your IBS symptoms manifest themselves is one method. For those interested in a more advanced approach to keeping a food diary, take a look at www.triggerfood.com.