IBS: The First Year by Heather Van Vorous

Having suffered from IBS since she was nine years old, Heather Van Vorous has learned many ways to cope with the disorder. In this book she gives information on dietary recommendations, recipes, coping strategies, stress management, and helping friends and family understand IBS.
The book also includes a section on what IBS is and how to get a diagnosis, which is great for those new to the disorder.

The book also emphasizes preventing symptoms through a healthy lifestyle rather than relying solely on coping with bouts of IBS. By proactively researching and altering your lifestyle you will feel more in control of your IBS. Exercise, time and stress management, alternative therapies (ex. acupuncture, massage, colon hydrotherapy, etc.), and diet are all factors that affect IBS symptoms. This book has a wealth of information that the author has culled from her roughly twenty years of firsthand experience with IBS.

The book contains invaluable lists of foods that generally trigger IBS symptoms and explains why they are trigger foods. Also provided are lists of foods that are well tolerated by people with IBS.

Since the author suffered IBS throughout most of her childhood, I feel this book is a great selection for parents of kids with IBS.
The author weaves her personal experiences, along with the advice of professionals, and helpful ideas to help parents make sense of how to deal with their child's problems. This is great since many kids have difficulty expressing how they feel when they are sick (it'll also help shut up adults who think the kid with IBS is just a whiner).

I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs help controlling their IBS symptoms. The diet and stress advice are invaluable. I'll admit that I don't always stick to the diet, but that's because I have lousy will power sometimes. However, when I do stick with it my IBS doesn't bother me much.

Heather Van Vorous has also written a recipe book for IBS sufferers, called Eating for IBS: 175 Delicious, Nutritious, Low-Fat, Low Residue Recipes to Stabilize the Touchiest Tummy. It is a great resource for when you are first starting out and trying to discover your IBS trigger foods. It includes alternate ingredients for recipes, lots of vegetarian dishes, and even has drink recipes.

She is also the author of IBS (Patient-Expert Guides) and has a cooking show DVD, Heather Cooks: An IBS Cooking Show.