Think about the last time you had to run to the toilet shortly following a snack or meal. Clearly the food was involved, but what exactly was it that caused the urgency, who knows? This post will aim to shed some light over the first action plan to take place if you think you may be suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or simply a strong bowel reaction to some foods. There is a lot of depth, which I will go into in another post around foods that can really trigger digestive problems, however when starting out with dietary changes these 5 food groups should be your first plan of attack:

1. Spicy foods
2. High fatty foods- could be in the form of fried foods or simply high fat sauces and meats used in cooking
3. High Fibre (insoluble e.g. bran fibre) foods
4. Caffeine- mostly coming from beverages
5. Alcohol

The 6th culprit is not actually food involved, it relates to stress. As people often know, when they are stressed their bodies can behave differently, with appetite dropping, weight dropping off, and often digestive processes fastening up.. Some food simply travels quickly through the digestive tract and makes its way to the bowel at a faster pace than usual.

It is important to note that the load of food or food substance will make a big difference too,  so if you have a large high fat and spicy meal or strong tall take away coffee, you are likely to see stronger affects, compared to a small spicy soup, or morning instant coffee.

With all this in mind, think about your last indian meal, fast food attack, strong coffee break, or stressful period in your life, and trace back as to whether these caused you to have to leave a meeting urgently to run to the bathroom.

Might be worth changing over that double strength coffee to an instant coffee for a while and noting the differences.