Just two quick pointers on protein:<br><br><br><br>
If you're not allergic to nuts, peanut butter (or other nut butters) are an easy way to get some extra protein into your diet. Good old-fashioned peanut butter on celery is a staple in my diet. Or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for snack. Substitute other nut butters according to taste.<br><br><br><br>
If you want to add beans to your diet, I suggest starting with the lentil. I have a history of IBS (although it has not been an issue for a while), and I find lentils to be the easiest bean to digest. A few pointers: if you buy lentils in a can (to throw on a salad or something), make sure you rinse them thoroughly. (This goes for all beans in cans). As you rinse them, you will notice bubbles forming on them - keep rinsing until the bubbles go away. What you're doing is rinsing away a lot of the excess-gas-causing stuff. The remaining beans-sans-bubbles will cause a lot less gas. Rinse, rinse, rinse!<br><br><br><br>
Some people will argue that canned beans are not the best choice (some people prefer 'fresher' foods) but I think they're great for people who have trouble digesting beans. The beans have been 'digesting' a bit as they've been sitting in the liquids in the can, and you can rinse that stuff away, so it doesn't end up in your tummy.<br><br><br><br>
If you cook your own lentils, get them to a good rolling boil, and you will notice foam forming on the top of the water. Skim that off. (This will take several skimmings.) Keep 'em boiling, and keep skimming. Again, that's a lot of the gas being released from the beans, and if you get that out of the pot, it won't end up in your tummy. Just one word of advice - don't add lots of herbs and spices until after you skim, since they tend to float, and you'll end up skimming them right out of the pot too. Of course, you don't have to get every last bit of foam, but you'll be able to remove a good deal of it, which should make the beans cause less gas.<br><br><br><br>
If you have the time, an even better step is to then rinse your beans after you cook them (just like with the canned beans.) The more of the bubbly stuff you get rid of, the better. So, for instance, if you're making soup, make the brothy stuff in one pot, and cook the lentils in another. Skim the lentils, rinse them, and then throw them in the soup.<br><br><br><br>
And now I take all that back - because I usually don't do all of that for my lentils. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="
"> I've built up a tolerance to them over time, and I find I don't need to skim and rinse like I used too. But if I were going to use any bean from a can (including lentils) or cook any bean (except lentils), I would certainly go through all of that to get them as gas-free as possible.<br><br><br><br>
What to do with lentils anyway? Look up some basic dal recipes, and you'll get the idea. They don't have to be anything fancy. You could even warm up some lentils (from a can, rinsed as above), and dump salsa on them or something really easy like that. Or saute some onions, add your rinsed can lentils, and heat them up, mixed with curry powder. My personal favorite is to eat them mixed in with rice as a hearty meal. I cook a batch of lentil soup, and then add enough rice to soak up most of the broth, and I end up with a nice 'rice dish' sort of thing - I freeze it in single-serve containers and take it for lunch to work.<br><br><br><br>
There are also red lentils, green lentils, and these funny looking itty-bitty orange lentils to try. Then there are recipes for lentil 'meat'loaf and other things like that, which you can probably find in veggie cookbooks or by searching the net.<br><br><br><br>
I would recommend that, at first, you limit yourself to one or two servings of lentils (and/or other gas-causing foods) per day to start, so you don't end up with a really bad flare-up of IBS. You might be able to gradually increase your servings per day. Then again, you might hit a wall where you say that, e.g., three servings is your daily limit. Just 'follow your gut' on that.<br><br><br><br>
Also, as you probably know, certain veggies like onions, mushrooms, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc., create more gas than other veggies. So be careful about how much of those you eat at a sitting too. I love onions, for example, and I know that if I have sauteed onions with a meal, then I better not eat anything else that's highly likely to cause gas. Give your digestive system a break.<br><br><br><br>
Also, as mentioned above, be wary of soy. Try a bit here and there, but don't go overboard. I still can't tolerate much soy - that's one thing that can cause serious digestive distress for me.<br><br><br><br>
I hope all of that helps - and let us know if you have any questions or need more info - we'll try our best to point you in the right direction. When I was first diagnosed with IBS about 1.5 years ago, my doc gave me a list of foods to 'avoid', and it basically listed all veggies. I said to heck with that, and went vegan about a week later. Now all I eat is plants and plant-based foods. Now, mine is probably not a typical case, because I didn't have really bad IBS, but it was annoying, I can tell you that much. My point is, you might be able to alter your diet over time. Just take it slow, and pay attention to how your body reacts to certain things. Good luck.
