What is the Low FODMAP Diet?

Usually when I tell people about the low FODMAP diet, they have no idea what I’m talking about. If I say I’m on the Paleo diet, or a gluten free diet, people know what I’m talking about. Not with a low FODMAP diet, which is a pity, because it is an awesome diet!

It is specifically for people who suffer from stomach issues. Since 2014, I’ve been having issues and extreme stomach pain. I had my gallbladder removed after we found it wasn’t working properly. I thought all would be well after that, but 3 months later my symptoms were back.

My doctors had pretty much given up on me. It is probably IBS or from stress. Grr, fine I was on my own.

I then came across this low FODMAP diet, when I was diving into Google on what my problem could be. Anything is worth a try.

Who Developed the Low FODMAP Diet?

The diet was developed by Dr. Sue Shepherd of Australia. In her research, she found that people who suffered from IBS, if they stayed on the diet, 50% had a  improvement of symptoms. Those are my kind of stats!

What Does FODMAP stand for?

FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. Basically they are molecules that are found in certain foods that we eat, that we may have problems digesting. That is why it is called a low FODMAP diet. These are foods we want to avoid as our body doesn’t digest them well.

The low FODMAP diet can help relieve constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas, and stomach pain.

What is the Low FODMAP Diet?

This is when you avoid foods that have a lot of FODMAPs in them. This means there are some fruits and vegetables you have to avoid! Luckily there are some foods you can have that are delicious, and I have some great low FODMAP recipes you can try.

See the chart below to know what you can have and what you should avoid!

low-FODMAP-infographic

Here is another article with more detail about the low FODMAP diet. Have you tried this diet or others to help your stomach pain? If so, let me know in the comments below!

1 thought on “What is the Low FODMAP Diet?”

  1. Hi, my husband uses this with guidance from an NHS dietitian, it is working v. well for him. You have to be careful not to just exclude everything in the chart permenantly, as you can make your diet far more limited than it needs to be. We were advised to exclude all of it for a few weeks until he felt better & then she gave him a prog of challenge testing, she also did fructose & lactose breath tests. He has fructose intolerance but not lactose which makes life much easier. We have been able to reintroduce quite alot of things but is now gluten free,can’t have onions etc at all, & other things you would never suspect. Everyone is different so worth getting some advice. He feels much better on the diet but it is very easy to get caught out, label reading becomes a must! Hope this helps

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