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IBS Low Starch Diet
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a bowel disorder of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract resulting in recurring abdominal pain and discomfort, alterations in bowel function, diarrhea, constipation (or a combination of both), usually over long periods (months or years). IBS may affect as many as 20% of people in the UK at some time in their lives, and reportedly 10%-20% in the USA have been diagnosed with IBS. Females represent over 70% of IBS sufferers. Recent findings suggest that the colons of IBS sufferers react to stimuli that do not affect normal colons, and their reactions are far more severe – irregular or increased GI muscle contractions producing lower abdominal pain and cramping (often severe), extreme diarrhea and/or constipation, gas and bloating.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is not the same as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which refers to two chronic diseases causing intestinal inflammation: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, although IBS and IBD have some common features.
Carol Sinclair’s IBS Low Starch Diet
The IBS Low Starch Diet is retails for 17.96.
There are a number of dietary approaches to the management of IBS; Carol Sinclair’s IBS Low Starch Diet differs from most in two respects:
- she herself is an IBS sufferer who has successfully overcome IBS pain through her own efforts to identify foods that contribute to the problem
- the main focus of the diet is the elimination or reduction of starch
Carol Sinclair’s book ‘The IBS Low Starch Diet‘ details her years of struggle with IBS without any answers until she heard a doctor talking about the theory that among other chronic conditions, IBS was caused by food intolerance. It was stated that eliminating wheat flour from the diet could eliminate the symptoms! She promptly gave up wheat in her diet with immediate relief from her symptoms, and for about a year remained totally free from pain and bloating. When the symptoms returned, she set out on the task of identifying problem foods, spending many years researching and refining her diet as a virtual ‘walking laboratory’. Her eventual discovery that starch was the cause of her IBS symptoms has resulted in her book ‘The IBS Starch-Free Diet’, the complete guide to a starch-free lifestyle. There is a chapter on each of these topics:
- Her years of advice from doctors to no avail
- Explanation of irritable bowel syndrome
- Behavior of normal digestion
- What starch is
- Effects of eating starch and the reasons for those effects
- Foods containing starch
- Recognition of starch in food
- Managing the Sinclair Diet System (IBS Starch-free Diet)
- What can be eaten
- Nutritional safety of the diet
- Side-effects of a starch-free diet
- Eating-out guide
- Shopping suggestions
- Over 200 recipes for:
- soups, starters and fish;
- main courses of chicken, rabbit, turkey, pork, beef, lamb;
- everyday meals and salads;
- desserts, baking, sauces, candy, relishes, drinks, snacks.
A sample menu, starch-free of course:
- Starter: Scallops
- Main Course: Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Salad
- Dessert: Pavlova
Validity of starch effects in the diet
Significantly, two recent developments have given impetus to the starch-free, or a low-starch, diet.
- There now appears to be a connection between IBS and the arthritic condition known as Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) – diagnosed in 1 in 200 adults – with the discovery that IBS and AS are often the same autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are chronic degenerative and/or inflammatory conditions resulting from abnormal immune reactions to compounds absorbed from the environment. One of the defence mechanisms of the body is to mount an immune response by launching antibodies against foreign substances in order to protect itself from potential harm. It does this by recognizing what is ’self’ in order to respond to ‘foreign’. In autoimmune diseases there is a failure to recognise some part of self, with the result that antibodies attack the body’s own cells. This destruction may be restricted to a single organ, a localized region or the whole body. The consequences may vary from minimal to catastrophic, depending on the extent to which the body is affected. In the case of AS, it has been found that a particular bacterium normally resident in the digestive tract is the cause of AS in persons uniquely susceptible to the disease. Proliferation of the bacteria cause the immune system to manufacture antibodies, which help destroy the ‘invading’ substance, but appear to also attack body cells. So the bacteria are not the cause of damage to tissue, rather the body’s own defenses become the problem. A diet low in starch reduces the primary food source of this bacterium, lowering the population of the species in the digestive system, with marked beneficial results. The low-starch diet has been extensively and successfully employed in treating AS sufferers at the AS Clinic at London’s Middlesex Hospital.
- An Australian immunologist has discovered a link between starch foods that trigger, in people who have a particular gene (the HLAB27 gene), a range of symptoms such as gut pain, back ache, foot pains, eye pains, acid reflux, stiff back, stiff neck, sciatica, achilles tendinitis and frozen shoulder.
It is possible that a simple blood test can diagnose your symptoms, and that a low-starch or starch-free diet may improve your health.
What about starch foods in other IBS diets?
The apparent paradox – soluble fiber is the single greatest dietary aid for preventing Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms initially, and for relieving them once they occur. Soluble fiber prevents and relieves BOTH diarrhea and constipation, unlike anything else. It dissolves in water (though it is not digested), absorbing excess liquid in the colon and thus preventing diarrhea, or relieving constipation by softening faeces for a smooth transition through the colon. Trouble is, soluble fiber is NOT typically found in foods usually considered to contain fiber, such as bran or raw leafy green vegetables; this is insoluble fiber.
Soluble fiber is found in foods commonly thought of as starches, though soluble fiber itself differs from starch – the chemical bonds joining its individual sugar units cannot be digested by enzymes in the human GI tract. Soluble fiber therefore has no calories because it passes through the body intact.
Insoluble fiber, like fat, is a very powerful GI tract stimulant – not good for IBS sufferers! But you can, and must, eat insoluble fiber foods, though always within the IBS dietary guidelines: never eat insoluble fiber on its own or on an empty stomach, but always with a larger quantity of soluble fiber, ensuring you cook, peel, chop, seed, dice, and/or puree all fruit and vegetables to remove the toughest insoluble fiber and break down the remainder before you eat it.
So what about the starch in insoluble (therefore digested) fiber foods?
Fiber Foods for an IBS Diet
The grain and cereal foods listed first are safer, easier, and the most versatile soluble fiber foundations for meals and snacks, but if you adopt the starch-free diet, check out how to remove starchey insoluble-fiber foods from your menu. Note that the recommended daily soluble fiber consumption for a ‘normal’ person is 5-10 grams.
| Serving | Soluble | Insoluble | |
| Rice (brown) | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.1g | 1.6g |
| Rice (white) | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.0g | 0.2g |
| Pasta and noodles | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.4g | 0.5g |
| Pasta, whole wheat | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.5g | 1.8g |
| Oatmeal | 1.0 cup cooked | 1.8g | 2.0g |
| Barley | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.9g | 3.3g |
| Fresh white breads (except whole wheat/whole grain) | 1 medium slice | 0.4g | 0.3g |
| Rice cereals | 1.0 cup cooked | 0.0g | 0.2g |
| Flour tortillas | 6″ | 0.2g | 1.1g |
| Soybeans | 0.5 cup cooked | 2.3g | 2.8g |
| Corn meal | 1.0 cup cooked | 0.0g | 0.4g |
| Potatoes | 0.5 cup mashed | 0.9g | 0.7g |
| Carrots | 0.5 cup cooked | 1.1g | 1.5g |
| Sweet potatoes | 0.5 cup cooked | 1.4g | 2.4g |
| Turnips | |||
| Rutabagas (Swedes) | |||
| Parsnips | |||
| Beets | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.7g | 0.8g |
| Squash (butternut) | 0.5 cup mashed | 0.7g | 1.0g |
| Pumpkins | 0.5 cup mashed | 0.5g | 3.1g |
| Mushrooms | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.2g | 1.6g |
| Chestnuts | |||
| Avocados (although containing some fat) | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.4g | 0.5g |
| Bananas | 7″ long | 0.7g | 2.1g |
| Applesauce | 0.5 cup cooked | 0.4g | 0.5g |
| Mangoes (medium) | 1.5g | 2.2g | |
| Papayas (and digestive aids for relieving gas and indigestion) |
I’d like to point out that I have seen several doctors for IBS symptoms and several of them have discussed these as part of an autoimmune disorder. Ruth’s entry seems to indicate it as incorrect, but I have seen about ten docs in 20 years time and just about half of them have discussed this as autoimmune based. I was on a starch reduced diet nearly ten years ago, and I did feel more energy, lost 18 lbs without exercise, and saw reduction in pain. I did not see the digestive problems subside, so after four months returned to “regular” diet. Everything also went back to normal, aches, weight gain, low energy. Anxious to read the book, and hope others post their news as they do. Very helpful to hear from other “life researchers” living with similar issues. Good luck one and all.
For AS I cant eat wheat and rice this is the staple diet in india,, can anyone tell me alternate of these two foods ????
hi everyone, i was diagnosed with AS after testing positive with HLA-B27, but i am not sure if i really have this condition, although my back to my neck is stiff, my conditions and symptoms are far away from the testimonies of people with AS all over the internet. How can I know if this is really AS, its been 3 years since i first felt abnormality with my back and it never recovered to normal until now that i have stiffness from low back to neck area, but still i can do almost everything just except sports that include heavy running and jumping, my back is still straight.. Is this just an early stage of AS? To those who still remembers their early years of AS, Please advise me on this before i start a non starch diet.. TIA
I bought Carol’s book, tried the diet and felt relief from the horrible pain that racked my bdy each night, not to mention the IBS-diarrhea. I then went to my doc who did the gene test re my request, but it came back negative, so I went back to eating wheat potato, rice etc, on the docs advice, everything in moderation. The problem was, I was so many food groups I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Now thousnads of dollars later on physiotherapists, chinese acupuncture, chiropractic, I realise I was right to follow Carol’s diet. This followed my trying the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which does not allow grains. I felt better but then the problems returned. But I knew I was on the right track. I got terrible headaches and problems with honey, which is the only source of sugar in the SCD diet. I also wasn’t doing to good on the yoghurt load. So I figured it must be fructose thats the problem. Next a fructose free diet, boy was that a mistake. My back was so bad I had to crawl out of bed and head for a hot shower to straighten up. I knew it was purely inflammation as the pain eased when I moved around. I had the breakthrough when I was cooking biscuits with almond meal and bananas to sweeten them. What a result, an hour later, pain everywhere. STARCH. I had already cut out pumpkin, potata and carrot because I knew they were linked to the pain. Suger does still cause problems, so I minimise this especially lactose and the diarrhea had gone. I think Carol’s blood should be bottled. My question is, that I tested negative to the HLA-B27 gene but do have an enormous level of antibodies in my blood. My ANA is over 1500 and increasing. What does this mean. Are they to the Klebsiella bacterium. How do I find out,or should I stop here and just accept the fact that starch is the problem?
I have just started this diet and the improvement has been amazing! i feel fantastic.. i hope i can sustain this diet..so far so good!
I have never heard of spondylitis. I have been battling IBS-C for 8 years now. Someone up there said IBS is not an auto-immune disease but I disagree. I think it is. Whenever I go through a particularly bad period I get an Iritis flare up. It scares me to death that someday I might lose my eyesight. I was fine for about a year and now for the past two weeks I am back to not ‘going’ at all, very bloated, insomnia is back, and I keep getting flu like symptoms. I am afraid I will wake up one morning with the Iritis. I have no quality of life in this state as I am too sick and bloated to even leave the house. I worry I’ll lose my job. I already know I cannot eat refined sugar and dairy..don’t eat any grains either. Usually. But I crave those things for some reason and give in sometimes.
I am going to buy this book.
I have been on this starch free diet for 6 months and the arthritis in my sacrilliac joint and hips has pretty much completely disapeered. The IBS symptons only flair up if I eat dairy. So I really need to do the no-starch, no-dairy and no- refined sugar, or the Klebsiella bacteria take off again. The problem is will-power because I’m O.K. for a little while (2-3 days) but then they build up and I notice it first with lethargy and mild depression, before my body actually starts feeling pain. The issue seems to be that I need to focus on everything I CAN EAT—rather than the stuff I can’t eat.
Shelly check the kickas site – there is a forum that lists the starch content of most foods. The link is http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=146875&an=0&page=0#146875
I’m starting the low-starch diet. Not good at it yet. Don’t really know what I have. I don’t have the gene HLA-B27. I have constipation. Recurring anteria uveitis. Swollen ankles. Stiff neck. Tender sore heals. Severe back and rib pain mostly at night and lower hip and back pain that feels like it’s out of socket. Those are my only symptoms. Oh and high blood levels of C protien and sediment something. My eye doc says AS. One Rheumy said AS. Two Rhuemys said reactive but I never had food poison that I know of nor clymedia I think it’s called. Nor do I have finger nail problems nor swollen digits. But who knows? So I am trying low starch diet. I have the book. I haven’t bought iodine. But I lable read. I also take plaquinil I think it’s called. I think I am getting better but the other day I had a flare up for no apparent reason. I was doing so well. I’m doing well again. My husband thinks it was some thing I ate that had starch in it a week before and it just hit me. Who knows. I’ll follow it for a year. About how long it will take me to get the diet down pack and see if I get better. I never have time to cook or by speciality ingridents to start the recipes yet. So my diet has been yogurt. Meat. Veggies. and Fruit. That’s it. I have tried to expose my doctors to Carols diet and but these american doc seem to prefer drugs only and will say no diet helps. They are just theories. I don’t believe that. I wish I had some help to ask questions but I have her book. That will have to do. I’ll keep everyone informed.
Oh, same for you Shelly, almonds are almost (if not completely) starch free and walnuts only contain starch in the skin. They make great snacks! Almonds are like chips for me. Try them with dried blueberries, makes a great snack. Actually, dried fruit in general might be a good snack idea for you too. Cashews, chestnuts, and sunflower seeds are high in starch though. And peanuts have starch too, so I guess I should recant the peanut butter recommendation.
Katy, have you tried eating a lot of raw nuts or peanut butter? I’m not particularly active, but I feel great on a diet of nuts, meat, vegetables, and fruit.
Would like to respond to Ruth, March 10th, 2009, re her advice about IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME. Ruth is right – IBS is only a diagnosis of symptoms, not of a disease. And if she read my book she’d find this information. The thing about the HLA-B27 gene is that I didn’t know I had it when I wrote my first book, which was how the Low-Starch Diet had eliminated my symptoms of IBS. I didn’t know that the underlying cause of my IBS symptoms was AS, which causes inflammation all over the body, also in the gut. I was desperate to find some sort of treatment for my IBS, but used to control my arthritic symptoms with cortisone injections and medication. My AS pain was variously diagnosed as repetitive strain injury etc. But the Low-Starch diet eliminated my IBS, and all my arthritic symptoms faded away, and it wasn’t until 1999 that I discovered I actually had AS. I have tested positive for the HLA-B27 gene – members of my family have it – and I had all the other AS symptoms – even iritis – but I have controlled the symptoms for over 25 years with the Low-Starch Diet. Many people who have bought my book for their IBS have had the blood test after reading it and have discovered they also have the HLA-B27 gene. This is particularly true for women – who usually consult a GP for their gut pain and bloating symptoms and are never asked if they also have arthritic pain, and are therefore never sent to a rheumatologist or given a blood test for AS. HOWEVER – even if you do not have the B27 gene, if you have gut pain & bloating which has not been diagnosed as any other recognised gastrointestinal disease, such as ulceritive colitis, it is very likely that it will be caused by bacteria in your gut which lives on starch, causing fermentation and thus the IBS sumptoms. Cutting down on starch will relieve your symptoms. I’ve had many letters from people who have proved negative for the B27 gene test, and who swear that the Low-Starch Diet eliminates their symptoms of pain and bloating. And here’s an exciting piece of new research – SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTRE SAY THEY MAY HAVE FOUND THE CAUSE OF COLIC. THEY BELIEVE IT COULD BE THE RESULT OF INFLAMMATION CAUSED BY A SINGLE BACTERIUM, KLEBSIELLA, IN THE GUT. A study is published in the Journal of Pediatrics. Colic is the medical name for IBS. Babies get it. Horses get it. (They shoot horses, don’t they?) I urge everyone whether you believe in my book or not, if you have symptoms of IBS, IBD (a serious diagnosis) or AS, to try the Low-Starch Diet. Now it’s being tested on people with Crohn’s disease and proving extremely successful, even for people who can’t tolerate any medication. Crohn’s people do not usually have the HLA-B27 gene, but always have anti-bodies to Klebsiella. The Low-Starch Diet is being talked about in recently published books (I can give you a list). All my starch-free recipes are completely Gluten-free, as well. If you’ve found that other low-carb diets leave you feeling hungry, I promise you that my Low-Starch Diet will not do this as long as you have a good breakfast of, say, bacon & eggs which will give you a long, slow energy release (as opposed to carbs which give you rapid energy release and then your blood-sugar levels dip, leaving you craving carbs) You can eat chocolate, ice-cream, meringues, cakes & biscuits made from ground almonds (almond flour) drink tea, coffee, wine, even beer – and many other things. You don’t have to eliminate all carbs – just starch. You have to be inventive, but my 200+ recipes will give you a starter.
One other small comment re the Low-Starch Diet and what foods to eat. My book does give lots of information about this, but the ONLY RELIABLE WAY TO FIND OUT, is to test food samples with Iodine. A drop of iodine onto any food will go dark blue/black if it contains starch. Test bread to see the result. If food contains no starch the iodine drop will remain a dark rusty brown colour, or even paler. If you live in the UK you should be able to get original iodine. Either tincture of iodine or aqueous solution. There is a new type of colourless iodine available in Australia & New Zealand, called Povidine. This is being stocked now by pharmacists because it is more expensive and more profitable. IT DOES NOT WORK AS A TEST FOR STARCH. If you can’t get the original iodine, there’s a cough medicine called BETADINE manufactured by F.H. Faulding & Co. Ltd., which contains original iodine and works as a test for starch.
I also have AS (17 yrs.) to point that I HAVE to try something, no quality of life at 45. I need help with what food I CAN eat, I have spent lots of time on internet and can not find site that just plain tells you what foods have no starch. Can you have some starch? I just need to know snack type of foods, I work at a job that I am walking 10 miles a day, funny hu when I have AS, I cry most nights. I need carbs so that I am not shakey or feel funny at work. HELP!!!!!!!!
Hey there
I am going to try the low starch diet, but as a personal trainer and very active person I get very hungry on low carb diets and can never sustain them. is this a problem for anyone else? how can i eat enough carbs to satisfy my appetite with a low starch diet?
thank you
Can anyone tell me where I can purchase regular iodine in order to test for starch in foods? My regular pharmacy does not carry iodine solution.
I might be speaking too soon, but I’ve been on the no-starch diet for two weeks – and for the first time in 19 years I have spent three pain-free days. I have been diagnosed with AS – and the advice I am following is to test EVERY food you eat with Iodine solution. It’s either a coincidence or that the starch-free diet is working – though I’m trying to research the side-effects of a starch-free diet as it is listed as a major and important food product. Watch this space.
Thanks for the update Carolyn, we’ll fix that.
I am the author of The IBS Low-Starch diet, and am dismayed to discover that the information above is only partly true. While the info. about the diet is correct, my book is not out of print and is presently available through Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com and also through bookshops. The information about soluble fibre and grain and cereal foods is not from my book, which includes over 200 recipes and ideas for a diet that does not include any grains or starchy vegetables. All recipes are also gluten-free. Many are lactose-free.
I too have suffered with IBS for over 20 years.I am also lactose intolerant but was disappointed to still have pain and bloating, lethargy and depression even after giving up dairy. I’ve played with various depletion diets (wheat, gluten etc but never considered starch as the culprit. For 3 weeks now I’ve been starch free and BOY what a difference?! I feel like a new person – no gut pain, no bloating, energetic and a happy peaceful positive frame of mind. Thank you – I think I have finally sussed it! I’d love to share with fellow sufferers.
I am very interested to read this book. I have suffered with IBS for almost 20 years and only recently (in the past year) started to realize it might be related to starch. As there is no clear test for this like gluten, lactose, bacteria (of which I have tested negative for all)…its been hard for me to figure out. So I am pleased to see a reference to guide through food consumption.
IBS stands for IRRITABLE bowel SYNDROME. That means that it is diagnosed by symptoms alone. It is not an autoimmune disease and is not suspected of being an autoimmune disorder at all.
It is VERY different from IBD and AS both of which are autoimmune diseases.
The HLA-B27 phenotype referenced is common to patients with autoimmune diseases such as IBD and spondyloarthropothies (like AS,), and Ueveitis. There is NO blood test for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, only for elimination of diseases such as IBD or infection.
So I’m confused about whether this diet is recommended for IBD or IBS – two vastly different diagnoses. Coincidentally, I have tried the no starch/low starch diet with a soluble fibre additive for Crohn’s Disease (IBD), to no avail.
I have started the no starch diet and its been about a week now. How long till I start to feel some real change.
I suffer fron A.S. and really battle at night with back pain.Is this one of the things that will start getting better.
Please advise and if you have any other tips I gladly welcome them.
I have been on a no starch diet for Ankylosing Spondylitis and it does work….. the only downside is that I’m 5′9″ cant get my weight above 140 lbs because my diet doesnt have many calories
I am on a starch free diet for ankylosing spondylitis and have found i got worse when i went off the starch but then its gets better within a few weeks to the point where I feel like new! I also find if I don’t excersize each day like my doctor advised I feel worse. I also started losing weight straight away which I had heaps of trouble doing, I lost a dress size in 3 weeks!
wondered if anyone can help. my mother is on starchfree diet for 4 weeks now and no improvement. We are hoping this diet will help for Ankylosing spondylitis, we have heard it should. wondering why its not helping as heard normally after a few days should be improvement. my mother is rather dispondant as very uncomfortable and in pain with no movement hardly.shes still quite young too. I would appreciate any experiences of others on this. many thanks.
Answer to “Mags” question
I also have ankylosing spondylitis, and a starch free, lactose free and refined sugar free diet works. I’ve been on the diet for 4 weeks and i can notice a great improvement. Best of luck. There’s a book out there for AS. If you just look up ankylosing Spondylitis diet you can find this guys website. It’s only $34 and worth it. Gives you the basics and then you can do your own research and add food to it. A fantastic alternative to flour(starchy) is “Almond ground” or “almond flour”
would like to know if this starch free diet has worked for anyone with spondylitis?i have suffered for 5years and have just been diagnosed,ill try anything and if anyone has any other information that helped them.thanks.x
Sounds very similar to my condition, ie. Celiac Disease. another autoimmune disorder. Im curious is there any of your relatives diagnosed with a similar condition to yours? These tend to be genetically linked.
I love this diet, I suffered really badly with all the symptoms of IBS and suffered with sickness to the point were I didn’t work for two years. I tried this diet and within 3 days I was feeling fresh and well rested and my skin completely cleared of all breakouts and spots, I couldn’t beleive it. I was like a different person. ^_^