IBS Trigger Foods

How to Make and Buy Soup for IBS

 

 

It’s officially soup season! So you might be wondering, will soup trigger my digestive issues? If you struggle with gas, bloating, discomfort, diarrhea or constipation related to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBD or other digestive issues you want to know exactly what your IBS trigger foods are – so you can avoid them and feel good!

Whenever someone asks me if they can have a certain food, I always respond back with my own question: “What are your IBS trigger foods?”

There’s no definitive list of foods you can and can not have if you have IBS. Sure there are general guidelines, like generally avoiding high FODMAP foods and including low FODMAP foods, but these lists of foods to avoid and include floating around on the internet are just so general, that I really don’t believe they serve people. That’s why I took mine down.

And it’s why I created the Low FODMAP Diet Getting Started Guide. It’s a short eBook that will help you better understand the Low FODMAP diet so you know what you need to know about FODMAPs and if this diet is right for you. Click here to get a copy emailed to you now.

The low FODMAP diet is effective for IBS, there’s no questioning that! But we need to take a more individualized approach to digestive health and implementing the low FODMAP diet. Some people with IBS may find they can tolerate certain high FODMAP foods, while some low FODMAP foods may still bother them, and this is normal! We are all so unique and different, it only makes sense that a rigid one-size-fits-all diet doesn’t exist for digestive health!

I see so many people who have struggled for so long and who haven’t been able to find relief from their symptoms. They have cut out food after food and before they know it their list of “safe” foods is so small that eating is no longer enjoyable at all, and some even struggle to keep a healthy amount of weight on.

The unfortunate part is that all of these food restrictions aren’t even necessary for you to find relief. To avoid unnecessarily restricting your diet, the key is to work through a program that helps you systematically identify your triggers, so you can avoid only those foods that your body doesn’t tolerate well.

Soup Ingredients to Avoid

Soups can contain many ingredients that could be potential triggers for your IBS symptoms. Here are some common ones along with suggestions for digestive friendly swaps if you’re trying to adjust a recipe at home:

Onions and garlic are common ingredients in almost all homemade and store bought soup and stock options. Not only are they high in FODMAPs, but they are also part of a family of vegetables known as cruciferous or sulphurous vegetables that are known to be gas-causing. Other members of the sulphurous vegetable family that are commonly found in soups are cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Digestive friendly swaps: Instead of onion and garlic, try adding fennel, or using a garlic infused oil. Instead of sulphurous veggies, try including digestive friendly veggies like kale, eggplant, green beans, carrot, and zucchini.

 

Wheat in different forms can also be found in soups. Sometimes flour will be added to a soup as a thickening agent. This is more common in thick and creamy soups, and less common with clear broth-based soups. Other times wheat may be present in the form of noodles.

Digestive friendly swaps: Instead of using wheat flour for thickening, try corn starch or rice flour. Instead of wheat-based noodles, try adding rice, quinoa, gluten-free pasta or quinoa pasta.

 

Dairy is another potential trigger commonly found in soups. Milk, cream, buttermilk, these are all ingredients you will want to be on the lookout for, especially in those cream based soups.

Digestive friendly swaps: Try lactose-free milk, almond milk, canned coconut milk, rice milk or even a little bit of cheese instead!

Onion and Garlic Free Store Bought Stock

Making your own soup stock from scratch can be quite time consuming! So what store bought options do you have? Until recently it was really really hard to find any store bought stocks that didn’t have onion and garlic, but luckily some companies like FODY Foods are starting to recognize our needs and fill the gap!

FODY Foods is a low FODMAP food company that offers powdered soup bases that are gluten, onion, and garlic free. Their product comes in 2 flavours: chicken and vegetable.

 

So there you have it! Some options to help you enjoy the warm, comforting goodness of soup as the cool wintery weather rolls in. If you find yourself in that position I mentioned earlier, where your diet has become extremely restricted, I want to challenge you to question whether or not you have truly identified your triggers. If you’re looking for support from someone who’s been there, and a strategy to get your digestive health back on track, I’m here and more than happy to help.

 

Wishing you much love & wellness,

 

Stephanie