Food diary for better bowel management

Benefits of a food diary

If you live with bowel dysfunction, you may notice that what you eat can directly influence how you feel and impact how successfully you can manage your bowel afterwards. Keeping a food diary can be a powerful tool to help you better manage your bowel and develop a deeper sense of how your body reacts to different foods.

How to keep a food diary

The simplest solution is often the best, so download and print the food diary to easily record your daily diet.

1. Complete the columns throughout the day. After each meal, record the different foods you ate and the time. Keep track of the time of your bowel movements, any medications, and your satisfaction with the day's diet. You can also add additional notes, like whether you ate at home or were eating out, or if you consumed more fiber.
2. Look for patterns. After you complete your food diary, look at what you consumed and your body's reaction. Are there any trigger foods? Was an irrigation particularly successful after eating certain foods? Was there trouble after eating a particular meal?
3. Try an elimination diet. Your food diary may indicate that a particular meal or food might cause more problems with bowel emptying. Once you have identified a possible problematic food, consider trying to and eliminate it from your diet for a period and see how your bowel reacts. During the test period of time, assess whether or not the elimination has a positive effect on your symptoms or improves irrigations. Always consult your healthcare provider before implementing a new diet.

How can a food diary help?

A food diary is a simple and effective tool to help you better manage your bowel while using TAI. The food diary helps you document how your bowel responds to different foods and can help you get a better picture of how diet impacts bowel movements and irrigation outcomes. It may also help you identify trigger foods that cause unwanted symptoms or complicate irrigations.