Rating: 
Summary: Uplifting, this book gave me back my life!!
Review: Thanks to the Digestive Health magazine my husband brought home from his doctor's office, I found out about the Eating For IBS book and immediately raced to the bookstore to purchase it. I was diagnosed with IBS 5 years ago and all the doctors would say was eat a high fiber diet. Everything on that diet was mainly insoluble fiber. After reading this book I now know why that diet didn't help me. No one ever explained that soluble fiber is much easier on your system. Now that I've been following the special diet recommended in this book I am 80% better after only 3 weeks. My husband is exstatic!! Prior to this I usually had 2 bad weeks every month! Not only do I feel better physically but also mentally. This past week I purchased her other book "The First Year IBS" and have already begun to learn how to continue living with my IBS and keeping it under control. "Eating For IBS" is the greatest book I've read in years! Heather Van Vorous is my hero!
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Summary: Thank God for this book!
Review: This book's description of IBS fit me exactly. I do not personally know anyone else who has IBS or who understands what it is really like, so reading this book made me feel a lot less alone. The diet is not difficult but it is a great change, but I hit it running and I feel better already. I'm only one week into it but I see a huge difference in my constipation and cramping. And the other reviewers are right - the recipes are completely delicious. I had just been diagnosed with IBS, and this book was the first help I found. It is wonderful. I must have had IBS for years without realizing what it was, but it has definitely increased in intensity in the last year or so. This diet has validated many of the strategies that I came upon by trial and error and I could tell within the first day that it was in tune with my body. I have been given so much help from this book to help me deal with IBS. Thank you.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much anectodal and paronia based thinking
Review: While many people suffer from IBS and this book has many good recipes that don't make you run to the can. The advice about changing diet is good but too extreme. Most people will not need to go to the extreme diet elimination that the author suggests. Unfortuntately, the advice on medications and dietary supplements is based for the most part on annectodal experience rather than scientific evidence. While the author has her IBS under control...most people will be able to get their IBS under control with a less drastic measures ie. elminating alcohol, soft drinks, high fat foods and dairy. It is unlikely that most people will need to follow the author's footsteps and take peppermint tea 4 times a day, high dose calcium three times a day, and metamucil 3 times a day to become regular. In fact many of the suspect nutrional supplemnts can have adverse long term health effects and should only be tried with medical supervision.
Rating: 
Summary: Has really made a difference for me!!!
Review: This has really made a difference for me. Over the last 2 months I have been so much more comfortable, productive, and happy. I had more the constipated type, so don't be so quick to conclude this advice won't work for that type. The diet seems to stop the cramping so that everything can get back to normal. I haven't literally pulled it out and cooked any of the recipes, and I'm still crazy about the book. I keep my cookbooks in the kitchen, and what can I say, I just don't want to see this title on the shelf in there. However, since I am a pretty good and adventurous cook I am just adapting her recipes, or looking out for ones in my regular cookbooks that are similar to hers. Another plus, I have lost an entire clothes size. I actually exercised less, and am eating as much as I want of this very low fat diet. That is, I'm not passing up food like a dieter, but just from passing up the fat that I know will make me sick I have lost inches. Honestly, I thought I ate a low fat diet before, but this really pointed out to me that my goal should be practically no fat to keep my stomach happy. Thank you for writing this book!
Rating:
Summary: Good recipes, but incomplete
Review: The recipes and advice in this book look great, and I'm eager to try them, especially since they are low fat. However, the author seems to be writing only for IBS people who suffer from diarrhea, and has ignored those of us who suffer from chronic constipation. Much of the author's advice -- heavy emphasis on soluble fibers like bread, rice, pasta etc. -- risk exacerbating constipation symptoms. I wish she would have addressed this more, as constipation causes just as severe cramping and discomfort as diarrhea. Also, based on my experience, the author's assertion that ALL oils are equally harmful for digestion is simply wrong. I urge other people to try olive oil in moderation -- it definitely is easier on the stomach than butter and other oils. I also question her advice to avoid all dairy products. In my experience, yogurt is very soothing on the stomach.
Rating:
Summary: Very Helpful - with delicious recipes!
Review: I stumbled onto this book after years of painful trial and error! Some of those lessons yielded things I could have learned more quickly if I'd known about this book, such as eliminating artificial sweeteners and carbonated beverages. The author has done a fine job of describing the frustrations involved in dealing with a woefully undereducated medical community that is insensitive to the misery IBS people experience. The recipes included are easy, fun, and delicious -- and one can even satisfy that chocolate craving! My only possible complaint is that the additional disorders listed on the cover, (I have Crohn's Disease, for which this diet also applies,) receive only token mention in the book. However, I found it so helpful overall that I urged my daughters to read it. It appears that they've inherited our family's IBS problems, as well.
Rating:
Summary: Life is Back to Normal - Thanks Heather
Review: This was the 4th book on IBS I read. After suffering with IBS (diarrhea form) on and off for almost 30 years...I was finally diagnosed in March 2000 when it became debilitating. The doctors quickly diagnosed IBS and did all the not so fun scope type tests. The doctors prescribed different drugs, including Lotronex. Yep, even though I am male...they prescribed Lotronex...which was eventually recalled. I have kept diaries of my food in the past but all I was doing is creating a list of what I couldn't eat but didn't know why. After I visited my NEW doctor he suggested this book in stating "All my patients who read this book find relief". I sped to the book store and read it w/o putting it down. By following the diary suggestion with the books background info into the different foods and the water soluble fiber suggestion and many other tips in the book I found relief in the first week and am now 8 weeks free of IBS symptoms. I have slowly added back certain foods and have been please to expand my diet (yeah...beer, coffee). Sure, if I fall off the wagon and have a bowl of cereal or a juicy steak...I pay later...but that is my choice. Thanks again Heather for writing this book...I just bought your newly released book. THANKS..."No more frantically searching for restrooms..."!!
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Summary: This book has helped me so much!
Review: I have made so many recipes from this book, I thought it was time to write a review. Smoky Black Bean Dip--LOVED IT and so did my family.
Honey glazed snack mix.--LOVED IT
Will's Dreamy lemon rice pudding.--Well, I'll have to give this
another try.
Used too small of a pan ( I know she cautioned about this but I didn't think I'd need the LARGE one) and then had to dump it all into the large pan and it just didn't go from there. I didn't throw it out though and my hubby ate most of it. He thought it was good but I didn't like the texture.
Blueberry, brown sugar Scottish oatmeal.--It was fun to watch the blueberries POP! and it was good too!
Pumpkin Apple Spice Bread--It is as she says--EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE!
Chocolate Applesauce Cake--Just pulled two loaves out of the oven and this is what prompted me to write. I just LOVE this!! So fun to be able to eat chocolate and raisins are good for iron. (I'm low iron) Italian lemon tuna sandwiches--OH MY! I felt like I was at a
Victorian tea.
Really great stuff with the basil and lemon!
Simple Whitefish with lemon and herbs--Went over well with everyone in my family.
I have rarely cooked fish in the past but this will be a once a week feature.
Pizza with fresh basil and chicken, garlic, and sundried tomatoes--SO YUMMY!!
I marinated some chicken breasts a while back with one of the recipes and it
was a huge hit as well.
PEPPERMINT FUDGE CAKE!!!--The Best!! She is gracious to share it on her website. This has become our featured birthday cake. (Three birthdays in October) I also made it with the almond flavoring and received many positive comments from my non_IBS friends. Yes, it's true that this book is a little on the gourmet side but I think the intent was that we could enjoy our food and not just eat the simpler things all the time to keep the attacks at bay. I would have been afraid to try any of these yummy recipes after I was diagnosed with IBS because I thought that it would hurt me. It has only helped and gotten me stabilized TWICE in the last two months. I am IBS-C/D and it is a diet that works great for me!
Rating:
Summary: Immediate results !!!!
Review: I've suffered with IBS for approx. 5 years, my physician offered little help, and it was time to get results---somehow, somewhere.
After reviewing MANY books offered (...) for IBS related topics, this book seemed to stand out from the crowd--due to it's very positive reviews. I also noted that the author had a website (...) which I visited, and it too revealed MANY positive responses. Although there are various books available to become educated on the topic---I WANTED RESULTS, plain and simple. And this book DID deliver!!
I wanted to wait (4) full weeks before writing this review, to hopefully give to you a more valid, convincing perspective. And, I can honestly tell you, I've had NO IBS symptoms during the past 4 weeks by using the advice and recipes in Heather's book. I keep a diary of my symptoms, and it's the first time (in more than a year) that I went this long with NO symptoms.
Heather did an EXCEPTIONAL job--not only writing the book in a very professional manner, but with an AMAZING degree of research, which she clearly footnotes. The book is mainly recipes, but it is packed with MANY, INFORMATIVE bits of necessary information one needs when coping with IBS.
I can go on and on, but I will summarize by saying simply this;
if you want relief from IBS, you've found "THE book". If you visit Heather's website, you'll become even more convinced.
Good Luck, and I sincerely hope this helps!!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Resource
Review: This is the first book I bought when I was diagnosed with IBS several months ago. Though I would have liked to see more tips on nutrition and how to cope with IBS, the recipes are awesome! It is mainly a cookbook with a bit of nutritional/coping advice for sufferers of IBS. I have tried many of the recipes, even cooked them for my family and friends, and they have all been very flavorful and yummy. (And none of them have provoked any symptoms!) My only complaint is that they are quite gourmet which isn't always convenient when you just want something the equivalent of mac and cheese. Overall though, a great book.
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