The IBS Elimination Diet and Cookbook: The Proven Low-FODMAP Plan for Eating Well and Feeling Great Paperback – Illustrated, April 11, 2017

I had never heard of FODMAPs before I picked up this book. I find that surprising, considering I have suffered from intense IBS since I was a young teen. Years of canceling plans, anxious car rides, and feeling like my guts are being ripped open from the inside. Colonoscopies, biopsies, allergy tests, more medical visits than I can count, and always back to the doc shrugging his shoulders and telling me I'm out of luck. I always knew it was tied to certain things that I ate - obviously something about processed food - but I couldn't figure out what foods were pulling the trigger. Even when I put effort into cooking a healthy meal, free of processed foods... I still get sick! The pain is immense and I feel it nearly every day. I don't know how I can be in that much pain, and not be gravely ill.Enter Patsy Catsos, who managed to explain an extraordinarily complicated concept in an easy-to-understand, straightforward, responsible manner. I say responsible because the author stays grounded in the science, doesn't make lavish and unrealistic promises, and stays firmly focused on the low-FODMAP diet as a way to manage IBS, not other gastrointestinal disorders. She emphasizes the importance of ruling everything else out first - and is so knowledgeable that she even mentions pelvic floor dysfunction as a possible culprit causing IBS symptoms instead of FODMAPs - many women probably don't think to go to their gynecologist about stomach problems, but yes, pelvic muscle dysfunction can be a cause! I was so impressed that she knew this, as I only learned it recently, after years of seeking treatment.Once she makes all these wonderful disclaimers and reassurances and explanations (with an extensive FAQ), Catsos uses a number of handy lists including the low-FODMAP pantry which is the list of foods you can eat while on the elimination diet. It's not THAT hard to follow, you just have to plan ahead a bit, and definitely don't expect to go to many restaurants during the short period you are on the elimination diet. In addition to a list of safe foods, there are a number of recipes and helpful tips - I particularly liked the grain bowls idea. I found some Fody brand low-FODMAP taco seasoning on Amazon I plan to try out, as well as pure ground chilis. I'm relieved I don't have to give up Tex-Mex to do this.I'm not even into the reintroduction phase yet, I've been just 5 days on the low FODMAP elimination diet and the difference has been instantaneous. I haven't had a single bout of IBS since I made the change. I'm still trying to work out getting enough fiber and figure out exactly what I can eat, but it's weird and miraculous to eat food and not get sick from it. I even had a slice of sourdough bread today, with 1 tbsp of raspberry jam as directed, and it did not make me sick! It's funny that the author cautions upon how nutritionally limited the elimination diet is. It's probably the best nutrition I've gotten in years, as my body isn't instantly rejecting everything I eat, and I'm no longer in a state of apathy eating any fast food crap I can get my hands on because ''it's all going to make me sick anyway.''Be warned - this is not an easy nutrition plan to wrap your head around. You can eat cheese but not milk? Canned chickpeas but not homemade ones? Oranges but not orange juice? Yet it all makes scientific sense, and even better, it makes sense to my life. Suddenly all the pieces are sliding into place, and I understand why I can eat some meals and not others without getting sick. When I look at how beans, onions, garlic and milk have been my dietary staples, and how sometimes even a salad makes me ill - yeah, it's so obviously the FODMAPs. I finally have an explanation that makes sense.Some minor quibbles:Some may find the Kindle version of this book challenging to navigate. I read it on my phone and I've bookmarked the Pantry List at various food groups so I can pull it up easily. I recommend making full use of the in-text links to different pages and bookmarking the ones you'll need to return to. Kindle's page-flip feature comes in really handy here. But it is easier to navigate on my phone than my Voyage. You will be returning time and time again to the same places, rereading and trying to get it all to sink in, and there are so many food lists it's easy to get lost in the book. I still would prefer this to flipping back and forth constantly between actual paper pages, though.Really the main challenge of the book is re-accessing information you need quickly. There are a few print-outs available on the author's website, but I would love if there was a print-out of the low-FODMAP pantry list I could pin to my fridge. I might just have to make one by hand.I suspect once I start reintroducing different types of FODMAPs, I will have to say goodbye to a lot of my regular foods. And I am at peace with that. The prospect of eliminating the pain, anxiety, and stress of IBS is worth spending a little extra time figuring out what to eat. I'll check back in at the end of 30 days.

When my doctor suggested I try the FODMAP diet, I was very skeptical. I believed my decades-long IBS pain was too great for a mere diet to alleviate. I looked for a book that explained FODMAPs because I had never heard of them. I wanted a book that was published recently so it had the latest info, explained the science behind the diet (I doubted there was much), had step-by-step instructions (I don't enjoy diets or making up menus) and had easy recipes (I don't like to cook). How lucky I was to find Patsy Catsos' updated book. It felt like Patsy was in the room talking to me. Her book is frank, friendly, supportive and straightforward. She understands the pain and frustration of IBS, and of seeing doctors and taking pills for years but getting little relief. After I read the introduction, I skipped to the back and read the science section because I wasn't going on a diet unless it made scientific sense. Her explanations here and throughout the book are honest and easy to understand. Feeling somewhat less skeptical, I decided to try her 7-day diet, a detailed and varied list of exactly what to eat every meal of every day, including snacks. So much easier than figuring it all out for myself! After that, I was on my way. I used every tool in her book. She has done all the planning and thinking, so there are grocery lists, simple recipe and meal ideas with photos, forms you fill out to chart your progress (that was the most helpful part for me)...everything you need. I don't know how to tell you how shocked I was when this "elimination diet" worked for me. It took perseverance, but I did it, and the low-FODMAP way of eating literally changed my life. No more pain, no more side effects from pills, no more devastating IBS symptoms. I bought new clothes, clothes without expandable waists for all the IBS bloating. I eat most anything I want now, but with a few tweaks that have made me pain-free. Read and follow this book. You will not regret it. Patsy's words will get you through. I hope you have exactly the same success I did.

While I think this could benefit from some more recipes, there are really a lot of great recipes in here and I appreciate the side by side comparison with a "regular" recipe and how to make it low-fodmap. It both helps to reinforce easy substitutions for me, but also allows me to simultaneously make something a little more normal for my family so they get what they need. I really can't recommend this book enough if you're new to eating this way. I sincerely wish I had this book when I first needed to do the elimination. I'm so glad I have this now for when I have a flare up and need to knock it back down again. It can seem so incredibly overwhelming and I know I'm not the only person who walked into a grocery store and nearly cried because I couldn't eat anything. This guide will help you learn what and how you can eat and the pain can and will subside. Eating doesn't have to hurt and be scary.

Thank you so very much for improving my entire life with this book it has been hard but incredibly helpful.