I had suspected that my mother had IBS for quite some time; however, with her world recently turned upside down, I was convinced of this, and while I talked to her about it and to my delight, she was all about making the changes needed. She completely changed the way she ate and allowed me to prepare her meals, and so for the past three days, I’ve prepared all her IBS/FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) meals, and <drum rolls> her IBS symptoms have been reduced significantly. During our chat, I advised her to nix any processed food and focus on whole foods recommended for IBS. I also told her to try and see her doctor.
Earlier today, I prepared quinoa, baked (cubed) sweet potatoes, and green beans with a spritz of freshly squeezed orange. According to her, she’s not experiencing any of the explosive symptoms that plagued her for the past few weeks, and her bowel function is returning to normal. She stated that the food tasted different; however, she said it was good. I told her it was because she’s eating whole foods.
Towards the end of last week, I sent my mom a few links about IBS/FODMAP friendly foods, and earlier today, I purchased two FODMAP/IBS friendly recipe books for her from Amazon, and both books should arrive tomorrow. I read numerous reviews and chose the two listed below based on the positive comments.
Low FODMAP and Vegan: What to Eat When You Can’t Eat Anything by Jo Stepaniak, MSEd. I’m familiar with her, and I believe I owned one of her books at some point.
And I bought The 28-Day Plan for IBS Relief by Audrey Inouye BSc RD and Lauren Renlund BASc MPH RD. Both authors are new two me. Both books should arrive tomorrow! Hooray, you’ve got to love Amazon’s quick service for Prime members! I’m curious to see what my mother thinks of the books, especially when preparing her meals.
Moving forward, I’ll believe that I’ll prepare all of her meals for some time, and I’m OK with that. I love meal prep, and I can easily make her meals and seal them using my VacMaster 215. I’ve already started doing using my vacuum sealer for her meals. Since I’m preparing her meals, it means that’s one less thing that she needs to think about, and it also guarantees that the meals she eats are nutritious and delicious, giving her time to relax when possible. I’m very aware that caring for someone utterly dependent on others for everything is a lot of work. My dad continues to improve, and I believe he will have physical therapy tomorrow.
Glad she’s doing better! Eventho I was vegetarian for 18+ years I was still eating dairy. I’m pretty sure I was IBS/C and when I got at an all time BAD I decided to go dairy free and within DAYS I was much, much better and I haven’t looked back since! Those books look interesting…might have to check them out for my ever growing vegan cookbook library!
I’ll let you know what I think about the books. I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to look at her books this weekend.
Tell her I said hello and that I’m thinking of you all!
I did that, and thank you. She knows who you are. I’ve mentioned you’re the blogging pal I’ve known the longest. Not too many people that I knew back then still blog. I think we discovered each other when my daughter was about four or five years old. She’s now 18! Wowzers! 🙂
I know it! So cool we have kept in touch all these years. I soooooo wish we were able to meet up when I was over in Towson but totally understand about other commitments, too! That was a jam-packed couple of days! HUGS to you and your family!
I think I have that same problem too though it may be one of the side effects of one or more of the doctor’s prescriptions I am taking. Sometimes, it is perfectly all right depending on what I eat – it seems that lots of roughage is good. Hope your effort in helping your mum works and glad to hear that your dad is improving.
I’m not sure which state you’re in, hope you’re all fine there. Saw the news about the tornadoes in some states such as Kentucky and Tennessee, so horrifying. Take care, all. God bless.
Roughage can be helpful. I do know my mom is restricted to the type of fiber/roughage she can eat since some of the food will have a reaction.
I’m not in Kentucky or Tennessee; however, at least one co-worker lives in that area. She was talking about the power outages on Monday.
Yes, we’re thrilled that dad is making progress.
[…] recipe book, The 28-Day Plan for IBS Relief by Audrey Inouye BSC RD and Lauren Renlund BASC MPH, that I’d gifted to her and found a recipe for no-bake peanut butter balls. As I reviewed the recipe, I realized it was […]
[…] mother has been reading books that I’d bought for her about FODMAP and IBS. Today when I talked to her, she told me that she would purchase Salmon from the store. I watched my […]