There is only so much Pepto-Bismol can do; where a person reaches a point, when they have had enough searching for a cure to their digestive problems. If it seems like every time you eat, you feel digestive discomfort, you might have IBS. IBS is an acronym for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This syndrome affects your digestion and makes it extremely difficult to eat certain foods. People diagnosed with IBS will eat certain foods and then often feel immediate pain or discomfort, such as gas or diarrhea afterwards. The symptoms of IBS can vary from patient-to-patient and can range in intensity. People with IBS will react to food with symptoms of:

• Gas 

• Cramping

• Diarherra

• Constipation

• Abdominal Pain

• Changes in Bowel Movement

Any one of these symptoms can be exceptionally disruptive to a full and busy life. You shouldn’t have to put your life on pause just because of the things you eat. Luckily, there are ways to treat IBS— however, it is not curable.
An unfortunate fact of IBS is that it can develop over time and can be triggered by the onset of stress or hormones. Women are typically victims of this syndrome, especially when they get older. You can also be predisposed to IBS if the syndrome is prevalent in your genetic make up.
Though IBS can be extremely disruptive, there are ways to treat, or lessen the symptoms. For example, diet is an extremely important tool to regulate your digestion. When you adopt a low FODMAP diet, you are making it easier on your stomach to digest your food. Though there are many foods with high FODMAP concentrations, there are also shortcuts where you can eat low FODMAP foods and still get the nutrition you need to function.
FODMAPs are impossible to cut out of your life completely. Much of our nutrition comes from the breaking up of sugars in our food. However, it is possible to live a healthy life with low levels of FODMAPs for a period of time.
FODMAP means:

• Fermentable

• Oligosaccharides

• Disaccharides

• Monosaccharides

And

• Polyols
All of these scientific names stand for molecules that are made up of either single-sugar or double-sugar structures. Although certain sugars are essential for our nutrition and health, these sugars are difficult to digest for certain people. When someone has IBS, your intestines are too weak to break down these molecules. Because of the extra strain on your stomach, the body reacts with pain and discomfort.

Using diet as a tool to help ease IBS symptoms can improve your standard of living. By adhering to a list of low FODMAP or IBS foods, you could severely reduce the amount, or severity, of your IBS symptoms. The key for a low FODMAP diet is to stay with it for only 3-8 weeks. In this time, the stomach bacteria in your intestines should regulate, “fixing” your digestive system. Only after the process of cutting out certain FODMAPS is completed, can you slowly reintroduce your stomach to FODMAPS.
Unfortunately, there is no real way to tell for sure what food are low FODMAP, unless you were a scientist or nutritionist, that knew the molecular make ups of all food. Luckily for you, certain online sites exist that show you specifically what foods are good to eat for IBS patients. They even go a step further by educating patients, offer cookbooks, and sell specific low FODMAP diet recipes online. Such sites like Casa de Sante, make life living with IBS easier and more convenient. If you are currently suffering from IBS, or some of these symptoms are sounding a little too familiar, consider going to Casa de Sante and see what a low FODMAP diet can do for you.