What we eat has a significant impact on how we feel. And with digestive concerns being so common, many people are searching for ways to relieve their symptoms.
The low-FODMAP diet was created by researchers to help people identify food triggers and improve common digestive issues, like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Below, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the low-FODMAP diet, including how to follow it, what the benefits are, and who it’s suitable for.
What are FODMAPs and what is the low-FODMAP diet?
FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. These are short-chain carbohydrates found in certain foods that can cause digestive issues.
FODMAPs are difficult for the body to digest. Instead of being broken down by friendly gut bacteria in the small intestine and absorbed into the bloodstream, they reach the colon. Here, they’re fermented by bacteria, which can cause discomfort.
Therefore, research has revealed a strong link between FODMAPs and various digestive symptoms like bloating, gas, abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhoea.
While not everyone is sensitive to FODMAPs, people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) often are.
Common FODMAPs include…
- Fructose – a simple sugar found in many fruits and vegetables, table sugar, and most added sugars.
- Lactose – a carbohydrate found in dairy products, such as milk.
- Fructans – found in various foods including grains like wheat, rye, spelt, and barley.
- Galactans – found in a large number of legumes.
- Polyols – sugar alcohols like sorbitol, maltitol, and xylitol, which are found in some fruits and vegetables and are frequently used as sweeteners.
What does following the low-FODMAP diet involve?
The idea of the low-FODMAP diet is to restrict your intake of high-FODMAP foods and slowly reintroduce them one by one to help determine which are causing digestive issues.
Generally speaking, most people will eliminate high-FODMAP foods for a period of two to six weeks and then begin reintroducing them in stages to see which trigger symptoms. Some people find it useful to keep a food diary during this stage to track symptoms and eating habits.
However, it’s important to remember that the low-FODMAP diet isn’t designed to be followed long-term. Following it for too long can present certain health risks – for example, not consuming enough important nutrients.
High-FODMAP foods that are usually avoided during the low-FODMAP diet include…
- Fruit – including apples, apricots, cherries, blackberries, dates, mangoes, peaches, figs, pears, and watermelons.
- Vegetables – like asparagus, broccoli, artichokes, beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, mushrooms, onions, shallots, and peas.
- Dairy products – like milk (from cows, sheep, or goats), yoghurt, ice cream, fresh and soft cheeses (such as ricotta and cottage cheese), and sour cream.
- Legumes – including beans, chickpeas, baked beans, soybeans, lentils, and red kidney beans.
- Sweeteners – like fructose, high fructose corn syrup, sorbitol, maltitol, honey, mannitol, and xylitol.
- Wheat products – including bread, biscuits, crackers, pasta, pancakes, tortillas, and most breakfast cereals.
- Drinks – like beer, fruit juices, fortified wines, soy milk, and soft drinks with high amounts of fructose corn syrup.
On the other hand, low-FODMAP foods that can be eaten as normal include…
- Fruit – like blueberries, unripe bananas, grapefruit, kiwi, lemons, limes, cantaloupes, raspberries, strawberries, and mandarins.
- Vegetables – like bell peppers, carrots, bok choy, cucumbers, aubergines, green beans, kale, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.
- Nuts and seeds – like almonds, macadamia nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, and pine nuts (but not pistachios and cashews, which are high in FODMAPs).
- Sweeteners – including maple syrup, stevia, and molasses.
- Dairy products – that are lactose-free, as well as hard cheeses and softer aged varieties like camembert and brie.
This guide on high-FODMAP and low-FODMAP foods from IBS Diets offers a more in-depth list of which foods to eat and avoid. Or, you might like to check out these 57 low-FODMAP recipes from BBC Good Food for more ideas.
Note: If you’d like to start following a low-FODMAP diet, it’s important to speak to your doctor or a dietician first and carry it out under their guidance. Aside from making sure that you remain healthy throughout, they may also be able to carry out certain tests that’ll help determine which particular FODMAPs you’re most sensitive to.
What are the benefits of the low-FODMAP diet?
The low-FODMAP diet isn’t a quick weight loss fix or the solution for every digestive woe, but research has shown that it can be effective at relieving IBS symptoms.
While it can be challenging, for many people struggling with digestion issues, the pros outweigh the cons.
For example…
1. The low-FODMAP diet can provide relief for people with IBS and other digestive issues
The greatest known benefit of the low-FODMAP diet is the relief it offers for people with IBS and other digestive problems. For example, this study found that 76% of IBS patients reported that their symptoms improved when following a diet that restricted (but didn’t eliminate entirely) intake of high-FODMAP foods.
Research shows that, in many cases, by reducing symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhoea, and constipation, people who benefit from a low-FODMAP diet also experience significant improvement in quality of life.
This is largely because digestive issues are known to cause stress and are linked with conditions like anxiety and depression.
Not only is this because people find themselves worrying about when and where their symptoms could appear, but scientists also believe that the health of our gut biome can have an effect on our mental wellbeing. So, by improving digestive symptoms, the low-FODMAP diet can also offer some mental relief.
2. The low-FODMAP diet may reduce inflammation in people with irritable bowel diseases
There’s currently no cure for irritable bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – also known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, low-FODMAP diet researchers recommend that people with IBD limit their intake of high-FODMAP foods.
However, further research is needed to determine whether or not the low-FODMAP diet is an effective treatment for IBD. This is because IBD can create a wide variety of nutritional needs and experts don’t recommend one single diet for all IBD patients.
As a result, the low-FODMAP diet may help some people with IBD but isn’t guaranteed to offer relief for everyone.
3. The low-FODMAP diet can help to identify dietary triggers
Because the low-FODMAP diet involves gradually reintroducing high-FODMAP foods, some experts refer to it as a diagnostic treatment for dietary triggers.
While the low-FODMAP diet isn’t a permanent solution, it can be argued that it helps people in the long term by allowing them to understand the cause of their symptoms and manage them going forward.
4. People following the low-FODMAP diet have many resources to lean on
While committing to the low-FODMAP diet can be daunting, fortunately, you won’t be short of support, as due to the diet’s popularity there are plenty of resources available.
For example, Melbourne’s Monash University (where the low-FODMAP diet was first created) offers a range of helpful resources designed to support people who are following the low-FODMAP diet.
This includes a FODMAP diet app, which allows you to check FODMAP levels in food, and a written guide covering everything from how to read food labels, advice on eating out, and low-FODMAP recipes.
You can browse more low-FODMAP diet resources and tips on the Fody Foods website.
Note: These resources should only be used in conjunction with, and under the guidance of, a health professional.
What are the downsides of the low-FODMAP diet?
Although the low-FODMAP diet can be beneficial for digestive health, the process of following it isn’t always easy.
For example…
1. The low-FODMAP diet can be restrictive
The main reason the low-FODMAP diet isn’t recommended long-term is because it’s very restrictive. This can raise concerns about not meeting nutritional requirements.
In addition, having to avoid certain food groups can make it tricky to eat out at restaurants or in other social situations.
However, that being said, when followed correctly, the restrictive stage of the diet should only last between two and six weeks before FODMAPs are reintroduced.
2. The low-FODMAP diet isn’t sustainable long-term
While many people experience fewer digestive symptoms during the elimination part of the low-FODMAP diet, this restrictive phase only lasts a few weeks and symptoms are likely to reappear during the reintroduction phase.
Though, this could be argued both ways, as the reintroduction phase can also help people identify their dietary triggers and manage them going forward.
While it can be tempting to continue following the low-FODMAP diet if it relieves your symptoms, in the long-term, experts recommend only reducing your intake of high-FODMAP foods rather than eliminating them entirely – as this can be damaging.
Who’s the low-FODMAP diet suitable for?
The low-FODMAP diet was created with the purpose of improving the symptoms for people with IBS and other digestive issues. It’s not a weight-loss diet and shouldn’t be followed long-term.
While it’s suitable for most people wishing to improve digestive issues, there are a few groups who should take caution.
The low-FODMAP diet isn’t recommended for pregnant women or children because there’s not currently enough research to confirm the safety or effectiveness of the diet for these groups.
The diet can also be problematic for people who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, or those with food allergies, as there’s concern that it could put these individuals at further risk of nutritional deficiencies.
That said, it’s not impossible for these groups to follow the low-FODMAP diet – though, as always, it’s important to do so under the guidance of a health professional.
Final thoughts…
The low-FODMAP diet can be an effective way for people with digestive issues to identify the source of their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
For many, the short-term restrictiveness of the diet is worth the results it can bring in relieving symptoms.
If you’d like more tips and advice, head over to the diet and nutrition section of our website. Here, you’ll find other diet guides and general tips for healthy living.
Have you got any experience with the low-FODMAP diet? Is it something you’re interested in trying? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
