Recipes for IBS: Great-Tasting Recipes and Tips Customized for Your Symptoms [Paperback]

Having purchased too many cookbooks that look appealing online, but prove to be most definitely otherwise. I previewed this book from my library.
In the middle of a severe IBS attack that was keeping me nearly housebound, besides feeling bad physically, I was becoming increasingly depressed as the attack refused to subside. This cookbook is a big moral booster from start to finish. The pictures are great, the recipes fantastic, but the coloring coding for symptoms is the best touch. I shop at an organic co-op and have no problems finding ingredients.

What I like about this book is the color-coding. It doesn't just tell you what to eat and not eat, but what foods are helpful for certain symptoms. So you can skim the book for the color that matches your symptoms... or if you are having a really sensitive day, you just look for recipes with a purple dot. There are also suggestions next to the dots on how to modify the recipe for the symptoms (ex. skip the peppers for some types of symptoms).

Some of the ingrediants are rather specific. If you are a regular Whole Foods shopper or someone who is careful about nutrition, you may be familiar with many of the ingrediants. But if you do a lot of conventional cooking, it may feel a bit overwhelming to see some ingrediants that aren't always available at a conventional supermarket. If you are interested in eating less processed foods, it might be worth exploring a few new things and seeing what you like & works for your stomach.

On the whole, the recipes here are pretty simple (shorter lists of ingrediants) which helps with modification/substitution. My only criticism is that while the book acknowledges food sensitivities, there are quite a few recipes with gluten grains, nightshades, etc... which is fine... but given the goal of the book, it would be nice to see some footnotes on how to replace common allergens when they appear in a recipe (ex. if you can't eat oat flour, what are some options to replace it with that would still taste good?).

Overall, it's nice to see a resource that acknowledges the variety of symptoms of IBS and uses knows "helpers" (such as ginger or peppermint) in the recipes to help calm things down... and encourages healthy foods, rather than recommending a diet full of white foods (ex. rice, bread and pasta) as the staple of an IBS diet. If it is possible to get in some good nutrition, it is just as important for us as for the average person (if not more)... and this book could be a good "jumping off" point for developing a personalized diet that caters to individual needs while still getting in some good nutrition... Like many things, diet is something where the same thing doesn't work for everyone, but the beginning of the book and recipes might provide some helpful advice for someone who is still trying to figure out how to start getting things under control...

I would've given this book 5 stars, but felt it wouldn't be completely accurate since I do not suffer from IBS. Nevertheless, I am still a huge fan of a number of these recipes. Ashley uses real ingredients (instead of the processed foods that are on most supermarket shelves) to create real food that benefits both your intestinal system and your taste buds.

To the reviewer who mentioned not being familiar with most of the ingredients (or being able to find them), I would recommend checking out your local Whole Foods or Wild Oats store. If neither one of those has (yet) invaded your hometown, there are plenty of places online that sell these ingredients. It's one of those situations in which a little extra effort (to source these ingredients) pays off big in the long run.

Also, if you do not suffer from IBS, don't let the title scare you away; these recipes are great for everyone - and the plus is that they'll be easier on any system (even if yours is made of steel)!