Hi, if you're new here, my name is Nisha,
and today I'm talking about IBS, or
irritable bowel syndrome. I know this can
be an uncomfortable topic for a lot of
people. for some of us it's a daily
battle with our digestive systems and
for others it's dealing with the
occasional but severe flare-up when
we're really stressed. whatever your
experience is, today I'm sharing tips for
healing your IBS and vegan meal ideas
that are IBS friendly.
I have IBS. Like millions of other people,
including possibly yourself. and while my
symptoms have ebbed and flowed over the last 10 years they have definitely gotten so
much better since I became vegan a few
years ago. but my body's not perfect so I
do still have symptoms from time to time,
and these strategies in this video as
well as the meal ideas have helped me
feel better when I have those symptoms,
so I hope they can help you as well.
One of the major triggers for IBS
symptoms is stress. I know that
firsthand because I first developed IBS
about ten years ago when I was studying
for my first semester of law school
finals, and yes I was a little more than
stressed. but snapping out of a stressed
out phase can be difficult, so here are
some techniques that I use to help ease
the stress, and I hope they can help you
as well. one of these strategies is
meditation. and if the idea of sitting
silently and thinking about nothing
sounds overwhelming or boring, then don't
worry because meditation is actually
quite the opposite. it asks you to be
fully present and to just experience
everything that you're feeling and
you're thinking, whether it's your
stomach growling or your heart beating
really quickly. I notice that after just
a few days of regular meditation, even if
it's just for five minutes every morning,
really reduces my overall anxiety levels
and helps me feel a lot calmer. if the
idea of a formal meditation sounds
boring or something you're not
interested in, you can still incorporate
meditation into your life in other ways.
I really like to enjoy a meditative cup
of tea. I take the time to prepare a
really nice cup of tea and then I go
find somewhere quiet to enjoy it. before
I drink the tea, I inhale the aroma, I
observe the quality and color of the tea,
and I give thanks to the cup of tea in
front of me. and when I do drink the tea,
I savor each sip, really focusing on what
it feels like to have the warm liquid
against my mouth, as it goes down my
throat, and finally settles into my belly.
taking this time to enjoy the tea for
myself and to be fully present with the
tea is an easy but effective way that
helps me feel a lot less stressed, and I
really encourage you to try it out.
Another instant de-stresser for me is to
spend a little time outside in nature.
being in nature reminds me that there's
a whole entire world outside of
whatever's going on in my
head at the moment, and that gives me
perspective, which instantly makes me
feel calmer.
Even if you live in a big city like I do
in New York City you can always find a
little patch of greenery or even some
indoor houseplants that will make you
feel instantly happier.
One of the strategies that has really helped my IBS
symptoms is taking a daily probiotic
supplement. of course I also recommend
eating a diet that's rich in probiotic
foods such as fermented foods, and I have
a whole video on vegan foods that are
rich in probiotics. but when our
digestive systems are in distress,
sometimes our bodies really need a
highly concentrated source of probiotics
taken on a regular basis. I also find
that when I take a regular probiotic, I'm
more regular in my movements, so there's
also an added benefit. but if you are
vegan, you do want to make sure that you
read the labels on the probiotic
supplements you buy because a lot of
probiotics are derived from dairy so
they're not vegan. I've included a few
links to vegan probiotic supplements in
the description box below if you're interested.
For some people, specific foods can
trigger IBS symptoms. for me, before
becoming vegan, it was dairy products. 
specifically ice cream, which I loved, and
it's no surprise because I'm highly
lactose intolerant. if you want to know
which foods trigger your symptoms, I
recommend keeping a food diary for at
least a week. write down everything you
eat - every meal, every snack, every nibble.
and write down the time at which you eat
it and also record any symptoms you have
throughout the day, including the time as
well after a few days, you'll be able to
start identifying foods that trigger the
symptoms and you can gradually eliminate
them from your diet and see how you feel.
now if you're wondering "what if my
trigger food is chocolate and chocolate
happens to be my favorite food am I
supposed to just live my entire life
without it?" No, you don't have to do that.
Once you've eliminated the triggering
food or foods from your diet, after a few
weeks, you can experiment with gradually
incorporating them back into your diet,
one by one. And you might learn something about your body. It might be that
chocolate triggers your symptoms but
only if it's milk chocolate, or only when
you're really stressed out, or only when
you're on your monthly cycle. So you can
still enjoy your favorite foods but be
smart about it.
One of the reasons you might be
experiencing IBS symptoms is that you're
not eating enough dietary fiber. Fiber is
what keeps our digestive tracts in
regular working order, but unfortunately
most Americans do not eat enough fiber
on a daily basis. One thing to keep in
mind is that the type of fiber you might
need to add to your diet may depend on
the type of IBS symptoms you have. There
are two types of fibe: soluble fiber and
insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber slows
things down in your digestive tract so
it's a great solution to your diet if
you experience--everyone's favorite word--
diarrhea.
Sorry.
My favorite sources of
soluble fiber are oats, 
butternut squash, and chia seeds.
Insoluble fiber, which is found in
vegetables, legumes and beans, and whole
grains, helps to quicken things up in the
digestive tract so it is a great
addition to your diet if you are
constipated. In either case, if you
currently aren't eating a lot of fiber, I
recommend to add the fiber into your
diet gradually and slowly because if
you're eating like 15 grams right now
and then you suddenly go up to 45 grams
of fiber per day, you're going to have a
hard time adapting and you're probably
going to have a lot of gas and bloating and
cramping which is obviously what you
want to avoid in the first place.
My final tip for healing your IBS is to
experiment with a low FODMAP diet.
FODMAPs is an acronym for four types of
short-chain carbohydrates that are too
long to pronounce in this video, but you
can google it afterwards.
And these carbohydrates are found in all
kinds of foods, including a lot of
nutritious foods. But they can make those
foods harder to digest, which then causes
those uncomfortable symptoms, like gas
and bloating and worse. A typical low
FODMAP diet will eliminate all FODMAP
foods for a certain period of time and
then you gradually reintroduce these
categories of foods, one by one. There are
tons of resources on the internet about
low FODMAP diets and which foods to eat
and which to avoid. I've included a few
resources in the description box below.
But a lot of these diets call for meat
and eggs, which are low in FODMAPs, so I
wanted to give you some vegan low FODMAP meal ideas. And the full instructions for
all of these recipes can be found on my
blog, which is linked below. First let's
talk about breakfast because there are
certain things you might need to adjust
in your diet. There are a fair number of
fruits as well as most wheat containing
grains that are high in FODMAPs so
you'll want to swap out apples and
mangoes, for instance, which are high in
FODMAPs, with berries and certain citrus
fruits, which are low in FODMAPs. You can easily replace wheat containing grains
with oats, quinoa, millet and other types
of pseudo grains that don't contain
gluten. Now for some lunch and dinner
ideas. First I'm making a tempeh rice
bowl. Tempeh is made from fermented
soybeans and is a low FODMAP food, but
certain other soy products, including soy
beans and soy milk, are high in FODMAPs.
The science behind the difference is a
little confusing, but just keep in mind
that tempeh and firm varieties of tofu
are low in FODMAPs and good for an IBS
diet. For this tempeh rice bowl, start by
marinating
the tempeh. This marinade is packed with
delicious, flavorful ingredients that
I'm sure you will love. I do steam the
tempeh for about 10 minutes before
marinating because it helps remove some
of the characteristic bitter taste.
You'll marinate the tempeh pieces for
two hours or up to overnight, and after
marinating the tempeh, you'll bake
it in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit
for 12 to 15 minutes. Now for the veggie
slaw in this rice bowl. I'm using a
combination of low FODMAP vegetables but if you want to customize it to your
taste or whatever you have on hand, be
sure to consult a low FODMAP food list,
and you can find one of those in the
description box below.
To dress the slaw I made a tahini-sesame
dressing that really complements the
flavors of the tempeh marinade. and for
an extra crunch factor, I'm finishing it
with a small handful of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. Seeds are a great low
FODMAP food, but you just don't want to
overdo it. To serve, mix together some
cooked brown rice with the vegetable slaw and serve the tempeh on top.
This final dish is for a stuffed acorn squash. Luckily most types of winter squash are
low in FODMAPs, and this one makes a
really satisfying dinner. you'll start by
slicing an acorn squash in half. This can
be a bit difficult so I've included a
link in the description box below on how
to easily and safely cut an acorn squash.
To impart some flavor and get the squash nice and browned, I've brushed the
flesh of the squash with olive oil
along with salt, pepper and fresh thyme.
You'll bake the squash in the oven, flesh
side down, for 40 minutes or until tender.
for the stuffing I'm using a base of
quinoa, which is low in FODMAPs. and for
a bit more protein, I'm using some canned
brown lentils. most legumes are actually
high in FODMAPs, but following a low
FODMAP diet doesn't mean that you can't
ever have any legumes. Certain legumes
such as lentils are lower in FODMAPs
than others, such as kidney beans which
are really high in FODMAPs, and you can
have these lower FODMAP legumes in
small quantities, like a quarter cup. Also
canned lentils and beans have lower FODMAP values than the dried and cooked variety.
To flavor the quinoa and lentils, 
I'm adding some low FODMAP ingredients,
including olives, pine nuts, spices, herbs,
lemon juice and tahini.
Alright those are my tips for healing
IBS and vegan low FODMAP meal ideas. If
you enjoyed the video or found it useful,
go ahead and give it a thumbs up, as well
as hitting that like button. and if you
have IBS and certain strategies have
worked for you, please leave me a comment below to let me know what they are. I'm
sure other people would appreciate it as
well. Thanks so much for watching and
I'll see you in the next video.
