My dad has a sweet tooth and he’s been going on at my mum for ages to make gingerbread men, of all things! So, as it’s his birthday today, I’m making a giant gingerberad man for him as a surprise.

I decided to try making a gluten-free version, so I can indulge my sweet tooth too!

One effect I am experiencing from IBS is poor absorption of vitamins and minerals. I am not one of those people who regularly takes vitamin supplements, a) because I never remember to take them and b) because I’d rather try to get them into my diet in the most natural way possible - by eating them!

So I’m trying to find recipes high in vitamins to try to compensate and for this reason amongst others, I began a series of Vitamin Rich posts a couple of weeks ago. Each week I am focusing on a different vitamin or mineral and describing the best way to get them into your diet, including recipes along the way. I know for some IBS sufferers, some of the recipes won’t be suitable because we have those certain ingredients which trigger IBS in us, so I’m looking for alternative ingredients as well.

Welcome to the second post in a series on IBS & special diets (for first post, click Diagnosis - IBS).

As well as being diagnosed with IBS, I also have an intolerance to gluten. So, in my quest to try new foods which don’t trigger the IBS, I thought gluten-free and gluten substitutes were a good place to start.

There are a variety of alternative flours, that do not contain gluten, which can be used in bread-making, baking, sauce-making, soup-making and sweet-making.

About 18 months ago, I began loosing weight inexplicably, without dieting and without increased exercise, coupled with ever increasingly aggresive episodes of.. er I think I’ll call them ‘digestive disruptions’ to keep this post in good taste.

A year and a half on, following numerous visits to my GP and refferals for every test the bowel doctors could think of…I was left nearly 10Kg lighter and none-the-wiser. Apart from a bit of a gluten intollerance, there was nothing to report. So, my doctor diagnosed me with IBS and told me to try not to get too stressed and to keep a food diary, oh and to maybe buy a book about it. He kindly printed me an NHS info sheet and sent me packing.

Mmmm. Not exactly bad news, but not exactly good news either. At least I could call it something, but what did IBS mean and what should I do? I got a book!

‘Eat to Beat IBS’ by Dr Sarah Brewer & Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, opened my eyes to the facts about IBS - what it is, the causes and the symptoms.