When you have IBS you spend a long time reading ingredient labels and saying, “woah, hold the cheese please” when you eat out. You also spend a long time dreaming about all the delectable dishes you feel you’re missing out on. Damn you gut. You have one job! These are the foods that I miss the most…
Pizza
Why? Who can resist pillowy dough topped with herby tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, Parma ham, black olives and basil. My mouth is watering (read drooling) as I type this. I’ve attempted cauliflower bases and they’re good but they’re not the same. Kudos to Pizza Express, who make a delicious gluten-free type. And kudos to Prezzo who do TAKEAWAY GLUTEN FREE! Hell yeah! Thumbs down to Domino’s, which I made the mistake of ordering when I was alone, feeling lazy and had no food in the house. It was like eating cardboard. But worse.
Lasagne
Lasagne is a funny one for me because I haven’t eaten it in so long that I’ve forgotten what it tastes like. I’m imagining layers of mince, cheese, tomato and bechamel sauce. Let’s just throw in garlic bread too while we’re at it.
Chocolate
Chocolate and I have a love hate relationship, in that I LOVE chocolate but my body, not so much. In the past I’ve pushed my luck and now am more accepting of my limits. A couple of squares of Dairy Milk, fine. Half a chocolate orange, killer. I’m trying to wean myself off (which is pretty hard when the boyf has a sweet tooth nearly as bad as mine) and move to dark chocolate where I know I can’t eat more than one square per sitting.
Sherbet
A recent addition to the list. I’m a sucker for a 90s sweet; Sherbet Fountains, Dib Dabs, Refreshers and Flying Saucers. Unfortunately, after eating one ginormous pot of Flying Saucers it felt like my stomach was about to explode. I could literally feel the sherbet hitting my stomach and fizzing up a storm. It wasn’t nice and I won’t let it happen again.
Spaghetti Carbonara
In my teens this was my go-to Italian dish. A rich, creamy sauce mixed with spaghetti and bits of crispy bacon. It was heaven. Until I could no longer eat cheese. And then that Italian romance fizzled out.
Desserts
Like all of them. Every single dessert you could ever imagine.
Cheesecakes – I haven’t had one of those in over 10 years. A tart au citron. A chocolate tart. Apple pie. Anything chocolatey. Especially molten cakes with slated caramel ice cream. Now that is the dream. My current dessert options revolves around sorbet – which luckily I like – and fruit. But then the fruit has to be FODMAP friendly. Which makes everything more difficult.
Suffer from IBS? I want to know what foods you miss the most…
Read More About My Struggle with IBS:
6 Things To Do When You Need Some Time Out
IBS Update: 7 Weeks into My Symprove Trial
My IBS Update: Back on Symprove
What to Do When an IBS Attack Strikes
Everything You Wanted to Know About IBS But Didn’t Want to Ask
How to Make the Best Tasting Water Kefir Probiotic
The Reality of Making Your Own Probiotic
Making My Own Probiotics: The Brew Factor
IBS Then and Now: My 12 Week Symprove Review
IBS: A Quarter of the Way Through My Symprove Trial and Feeling Tickety Boo
How I Deal with My IBS on a Daily Basis
8 Reasons Why Living with IBS Sucks Big Time
3 IBS-Friendly Breakfast Recipes to Try This Weekend
Read More in the Living With IBS Series:
Living with IBS: Laura’s Story