LOW FODMAP DIET

[MDipp]

I’m thinking of starting the low fodmap diet and then slowly reintroducing regular foods again so I find out what aggravates my gut. Can you tell me how the process works? If that particular food doesn’t bother me the first day, do I eat it again the 2nd day and so on. Any example you can give is greatly appreciated.

[Luisa22]

Ideally you should be doing this with a dietician for guidance and the ability to spot nutritional pitfalls. But maybe you can't get a referral or would have to wait ages for one? And I imagine the cost privately would be quite a bit...I don't know.

I didn't have a dietician or nutritionist, and managed to do it though. But I really studied all aspects of nutrition and vitamin/ mineral, amino acid...etc contents of foods, etc, like I was studying for an exam.

I did 8 full weeks completely low Fodmap. I found many low foods didn't suit my gut, so my choices were even more limited, but that's just me. During this I also took a good vitamin and mineral A-Z supplement, plus a B complex and liposomal vitamin C.

Then in the 9th week I tried one high Fodmap food I had been dearly missing. Toast! I had one piece (small) of proper ciabatta bread toasted. It was such a treat compared to the affordable gluten-free bread. No bad effects at all. So every day I had that tiny piece of toast and towards the end of the week added an extra piece for a few days. Fine. I concluded that gluten wasn't an issue after a week.

I didn't try out any other high Fodmap food that week.

Next week, I chose another one. Mine happened to be chocolate ! lol Perfect and no issues/

The following week, another food, asparagus......and so on.

So I did that really gradually. First time I tried a high Fodmap veggie, I just started with one small bit, then upped that a bit in the week to come and watched for any bad reactions.

But....it can sometimes be confusing as you can get IBS symptoms for no apparent reason, and not always related to food. So if I had a bit of a flare or just a "down" period with IBS, I wasn't even sure what had caused it. I just stopped the experiment of reintroduction to see if that made any difference, then re-started it when the flare had passed, with only small amounts of what might have been the offending food.

Very often, I found it wasn't the food at all, and that I could safely re-introduce that food as a general thing.

Sorry my answer has turned out to be an essay. There's no shorter way of explaining!!

There's more but I'll shut up for the mo.

[MDipp in reply to Luisa22]

Thank you, it was very we’ll explained. Basically, for 1-week you would reintroduce one food that week to make sure it didn’t aggravate your ibs.

[Andann in reply to Luisa22]

Very good explanation. I found after the whole process and varying my food as much as I could that gradually my gut /bowels became a lot more normal. Became very obvious that fructans(onions, etc) will always be a problem as will pulses, beans, legumes but hard cheeses, nuts and most meats are fine so there is still some balance. Dark chocolate has to be kept to 5 gms otherwise disaster...

[Pajarorose in reply to Andann]

I found that Alpha Galactoidase (generic Beano) helps enormously with digestion of fructans, beans pulses. Try it. I use Bean-Zyme.

[Luisa22 in reply to Pajarorose]

I would love to try this if I can find it in the UK. I adore lentils and haven't been able to eat them for ages. I can eat a few chickpeas sometimes so long as I peel each one of its little skin; But I'm wondering if it's just the insoluble fibre that bothers me rather than the actual bean because if I peel the chickpeas and don't eat too many I'm usually ok Not sure

[Pajarorose in reply to Luisa22]

Amazon.com has it.

[Luisa22 in reply to Pajarorose]

Aha! Thanks. I do have an Amazon.com account as well as my usual UK one. The shipping costs are usually awful but I used it once to get some Benadryl cream (not available in UK) for insect bites. Sadly what was about $4.95 ended up costing more than $20. But it was worth it. The same will probably apply but it would be worth it if I could eat lentils and black eye bean stew again!

[Pajarorose in reply to Luisa22]

I am sure UK has alpha galactosidase supplement. Look for it

[Luisa22 in reply to Pajarorose]

Yes, I will check it in UK.

[Finaldiagnosis2022]

I agree you should have advice. I used an app on my phone which helped tremendously with food planning shopping lists and more. Eliminating everything FODMAP related takes time and effort. I’m finished all my reintroductions as you have to each thing one at a time. For instance you have to be low FODMAP for about 4-6 weeks then at least for one week before reintroduced you pick one item for instance. Lactose might be milk or yogurt. You start on first reintro day smallish amount then log symptoms which by the way you log throughout your journey anyway. Then day two increase dose or portion etc. if you get severe symptoms uncontrollable then you can stop and it would suggest that group lactose for example in my case was something you should remove from diet. Unfortunately I have yet to have my dietician appt due to slow nhs but I will say my symptoms are already remarkable improved and the fact that I kinda know to,stances is helpful. I mean for instance if I eat fish n chips from chip shop I know I’ll suffer a few days following. Not only the fat content but the general unhealthiness. Give a glass of milk to me I’ll never drink it as during reintroduction I was violently sick. So I stick to unsweet oat milk. Hope that helped. My ibs coach was the name of the app.

[MDipp in reply to Finaldiagnosis2022]

is there a specific guide sheet you followed or did you just use notepad to document your food intake and notes?

[Finaldiagnosis2022 in reply to MDipp]

I tracked in the app itself. And I also kept separate notes. I have a PCal app too to track BM and notes function there is great. Subscription reasonable on that too.

[serena-g]

Hi I did this a while ago and don't remember being very systematic but I realised pretty quickly what the triggers are.

The things that make a difference for me is if I'm eating it alone/hungry or combined with other foods - this is because my trigger is fructose which can be balanced with glucose (in other foods) so you don't react as much - if your stomach is empty it just gets the fructose and the reaction is there.

Good luck with this. I did it under the care of a hospital group for guidance. It is absolutely worth doing.

If it turns out to be fructose watch out for any ingredients with 'tose' on the end, and froogliosacharides in probiotics.

[Luisa22 in reply to serena-g]

I found my main enemies seemed to be high fibre foods, whether low or high Fodmap. didn't seem to matter. Even the low Fodmap ones upset my gut if they were high fibre. Thankfully I go through times now when fibre is more tolerable and I can increase it more. Nothing much else seemed to bother me...sugar...lactose (I eat plenty of butter)...or gluten.

[SpasmsIBS]

I’ve found the Monash University Fodmap App very helpful in identifying high and low fodmap foods. Worth the £7.99!!

[LadyFeochan]

i am on my third week of elimination and I think it is helping. Monash app is well worth it, it is kept updated where some others aren’t and it is a one off payment. I still have a way to go yet though

[Steph_W]

ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fo... this is what I followed when I completed my low FODMAP diet and found it really helpful. I printed it off and kept it in the kitchen for quick reference if I wasn’t sure and would even take it shopping while I was still getting used to the do’s and don’ts. All I would say is don’t overwhelm yourself looking for the perfect one as I found quite a few websites differed in the foods you can and can’t. I even bought a recipe book to help me on my second round of this diet and some of the recipes contained things I should have been avoiding but the book said I didn’t. Just be prepared to be hungry as it is a very limited diet x