ibs food diary
A food diary can be useful if you suspect that certain foods may be triggering your IBS attacks. By keeping a record of everything you eat and drink, as well as any supplements or medications you are taking, you can see if there is any correlation between certain foods and your symptoms.
The food diary that I have prepared is a very simple way to keep this record - basically, it is a table in which you can record what you ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as any snacks and supplements, and then record your symptoms alongside your food intake.
Download the food diary
You can either download the food diary as a Microsoft Word file, or a PDF file. Both files will work on most computers, but if you want to fill in your diary on your computer, rather than printing it out, then choose the Word file.
All you need to download the diary is right click on the file and choose 'Save target as'. The files are very small and should download pretty much instantly, even on a slow internet connection.
Download IBS food diary as a Word file
Download IBS food diary as a PDF file
Tips on using the food diary
- Remember to write down EVERYTHING you eat - it is surprising how
sensitive IBS stomachs can be to even small amounts of food.
- Include all drinks - coffee and tea can often cause problems, as can
alcoholic drinks, and some soft drinks can contain sweeteners which may
cause symptoms.
- When looking for patterns in your symptoms, remember that it may not
be individual foods which are causing your problems. Instead, you may see
a correlation between symptoms and all gluten-containing foods, or all
fatty/fried foods.
- Symptoms may not appear immediately after eating, or even the
following day - it might be two or three days before you feel the full
effects of a food trigger.
- If in doubt, it's always a good idea to consult a nutritionist or dietician - and your food diary will help them to help you.