Eating is quite a challenge when suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). You would need to be aware of what foods help ease the symptoms and learn what triggers the situation. No book can help you answer these questions. What you need to do is test your reaction to different meals in a systematic manner to get the best results. One of the ways to do that is to get onto what is known as an elimination diet. This is one of the best dietary tips for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Where do you start?
This type of diet is a four-step process and takes about 12 weeks to study and analyze the reaction of the foods that you consume.

Here is the four-step process:

• Start by listing down all the foods that cause the symptoms of IBS to worsen. To begin, add chocolates, nuts, coffee, and insoluble fibers to the list if you are unsure.
• You need to begin by eliminating one food at a time and give it 12 weeks to show actual results.
• If the food that you eat does not affect your system within the 12-week frame, you can continue to eat it. But, if it is the opposite reaction, you have spotted the troublemaker on your diet.
• The best place to start the elimination diet is with fiber-rich foods.

Why does this elimination diet work?
There are two types of fiber: soluble fibers and insoluble fibers. Soluble fiber is usually found in fruits and vegetables while insoluble is contained in cereals and such. When you test an ingredient, starting with cereal fibers (the content found in bread, cereal bars, and cereals) can prove to be helpful.

The reaction to fiber is not the same for everyone diagnosed with IBS. On the contrary, some people find cereal consumption as a plus for IBS symptoms management. You would need to move across all food categories or ingredients every 12 weeks to see how the body reacts. Unless you follow a systematic process, you will never be able to find the culprit in your diet.

When you test ingredients, you need to measure the quantity and its effects on your system. Sometimes, large quantities may not affect your system. A good example is caffeine. Some people are affected by coffee but tea does not damage their system.

Dietary tips for irritable bowel syndrome can prove to be helpful if you follow the elimination requisites appropriately. It would help you identify what the problem foods are if you start paying close attention to what you eat. On the whole, if the whole process hasn’t helped you out, you need to have another approach with a different strategy to ensure that you eat only the right foods for IBS.