I’ve mentioned before on IBS Diet Plan that, when I first began experiencing symptoms, I went gluten-free for many months. A gluten-free diet did help me significantly – I’d estimate that it eliminated ~70% of my symptoms. That, however, wasn’t enough for me to live happily ever after.
Research shows that gluten intolerance – distinct from Celiac disease – is a very real condition1. However, if going gluten-free has significantly helped you, but hasn’t quite cured your IBS, it could be because you’ve eliminated all wheat from you diet and wheat not only contains gluten but also fructans (one of the fructose polymers that a low-FODMAPs diet attempts to avoid). In other words, it’s possible you have an issue not with the protein in wheat but with the carbohydrate2.
Alternatively, you may have an intolerance to both.
Part of the reason it took ~6 months for me to finally try a low-FODMAPs diet is that I was – on some level – quite pleased with the results I saw going gluten-free. On another level, I was depressed because I felt unfix-able, and destined to “suffer” – while less than previously – for the rest of my life. After all, what else can one try besides going gluten-free? The low-FODMAP diet is still highly unpublicized.
Luckily, you’ve read this. Give it a shot and see if it’s right for you.
