The Low FODMAP Diet is one of the trendy new diets doing the rounds, but it's not like the rest. The Low FODMAP Diet isn't about losing weight or gaining muscles: it's directed at those who suffer from persistent gastric problems like IBS. An unhappy gut can seriously impact your quality of life, limiting your social activities and frequently leaving you in pain and discomfort.
This groundbreaking new diet is really very simple: cut out all foods that might be causing the problem and then reintroduce them one by one to find the real culprit! It's the best way to improve your gut health without having to randomly cut out whole food groups from your diet long term. Click through the following gallery to get into the details, and possibly change your life!
FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols.
That's a bit of a mouthful! Basically, they are a group of fermentable carbohydrates found in many foods and are notorious for triggering digestive issues such as bloating, gas, and abdominal pains.
A low FODMAP diet is rather restrictive, so it's easier to list the foods you can eat rather than the ones you can't!
Devastatingly, garlic and onions are both very high in FODMAPs. Some low FODMAP alternatives to keep your meals flavorful include chives, chili, fenugreek, ginger, lemongrass, mustard seeds, saffron, and turmeric.
Carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, spinach, and kale get the green light.
Carnivores will be pleased to learn that unprocessed meats and fish are FODMAP free!
The vegetarians and vegans out there will have a harder time finding protein sources as most beans, chickpeas, and lentils are high in FODMAPs. Luckily, tofu, nuts, and seeds are generally safe.
Matured cheeses tend to lose their lactose, so they're a safer bet. Cheddar, feta, and Parmesan cheese are all low FODMAP.
Once you've determined which foods are high FODMAP and which ones are low FODMAP, it's a good idea to plan out what you're going to eat while on the Low FODMAP Diet.
The first step is to cut out all high FODMAP foods for 3-8 weeks, depending on how long it takes for your digestive system to recover and your symptoms to disappear.
Reintroduce one specific high FODMAP food to your diet for three days. It should be an individual product like milk, white bread, or onions.
Make note of whether that food caused digestive problems or not. After the three days, return to your low FODMAP diet and continue testing one food at a time.
Once you've tried all of the high FODMAP foods you wanted to reintroduce to your diet, you should have a list of the foods that cause problems and the foods that don't. Now you can begin building your new diet based on the foods that work for you!
Hopefully your digestive discomfort will be a thing of the past.
See also: How your lifestyle maybe be harming your gut.
A beginner's guide to the Low FODMAP Diet
The amazing diet that relieves a wide range of digestive problems
HEALTH Food
The Low FODMAP Diet is one of the trendy new diets doing the rounds, but it's not like the rest. The Low FODMAP Diet isn't about losing weight or gaining muscles: it's directed at those who suffer from persistent gastric problems like IBS. An unhappy gut can seriously impact your quality of life, limiting your social activities and frequently leaving you in pain and discomfort.
This groundbreaking new diet is really very simple: cut out all foods that might be causing the problem and then reintroduce them one by one to find the real culprit! It's the best way to improve your gut health without having to randomly cut out whole food groups from your diet long term. Click through the following gallery to get into the details, and possibly change your life!