What You Need to Know About Bread and IBS

When you have IBS you are often advised to become “gluten-free” and bread is the first thing to go from your diet. I love a good whole grain bread and I’m here to tell you (or remind you if you already know) that a low FODMAP diet is not intended to be gluten free! As discussed in my previous article, Gluten vs Fructans Who’s the Culprit the FODMAP trigger in bread is the Fructan, not the gluten. That’s not to say some of us with IBS aren’t also sensitive to gluten itself—but that’s a separate issue.

There’s more to bread than meets the eye, especially for those of us with IBS, and this article (written by my amazing sister, Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP for her Game Changer Program) is going to help you understand how and why your body responds differently to different types of bread so you can steer your eating towards the best bread choices for you.

Did you know, when you eat a piece of regular white bread, or regular whole wheat bread, you are converting the starches in that bread immediately to sugar (glucose)? And, when you do that, your blood sugar rises higher and faster than if you just ate a piece of candy?! What happens next? You get a drop in your blood sugar which leads to feeling tired and low energy. Then, you might reach for a cup of caffeinated coffee—which in turn triggers your gut. It’s a classic combination that leads IBS sufferers into a self-induced flare-up or an afternoon of exhaustion.

But, lucky for us, there are amazing breads that have a much less powerful effect on our blood sugar and on our gut!