Irritating FODMAPs
The term FODMAP is an acronym for four groups of substances that cause digestive symptoms in people who are sensitive to them, who are often diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
But the most irritating thing about FODMAPs is that knowing the term and what it means does little to help you manage your symptoms. These substances are found in a range of foods in differing concentrations and combinations, they affect sensitive foodies (IBS or not) differently and they're not the only substances to cause problems. So, to me the FODMAP categorisation is largely academic.
As bestie keeps insisting when I want quick fixes, there are no straightforward rules of thumb when it comes to love, food or other.
It has to be personal.
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But why??
The FODMAP categorisation helps us understand why certain foods cause sensitivities, which quantities might cause problems and which sister or cousin foods might also be an issue. We've done the dirty work, looking beyond FODMAPs, and divided our findings into dairy, grains, fruit & veg issues and full personalisation. But if you're like me, you may still want to know why these things hate you so much!
1. Fermentable
The two common and problematic features of all FODMAPs are that they can be fermented by bacteria and that they are difficult to digest, for some more than for others. If they're not digested, FODMAPs continue through the digestive tract to the large intestine where most of our gut bacteria live. Those critters have a field day feeding and essentially farting up a storm - the hydrogen they produce during fermentation is what causes painful bloating. The large intestine is also responsible for absorbing water from stool but the presence of these substances can draw water into the intestine causing diarrhoea.
2. Oligosaccharides
This is the group that fructans (of grain and gluten fame) belong to. And that's about all the technical gibberish you need to know. The key takeout is the range of foods that are likely to cause problems if you're sensitive to this group.
AVOID:
3. Disaccharides
Lactose, found in dairy is the main culprit here. Keep in mind that 'dairy' means any mammalian milk. Yes, goat milk contains lactose too (mistake I learnt from). Liquid milk products have the highest lactose content, then yoghurts, soft cheeses and creams. Much to our delight, full fat products contain less lactose than low/no fat. Fats have historically gotten a bad rap healthwise but recent evidence tells us that they were framed! So we ask for loving, bloat-free, burp-free full fat cream whenever possible.
4. Monosaccharides
This one is pretty simple. Fructose is the sugar found in fruits and if you're sensitive to it you'll find that most fruits cause problems. This is bestie's nightmare but once she got over the fruit-shaming and identified as a non-fruit person, she actually found a couple of options that do love her, albeit in moderation
TRY:
- Up to 10 strawberries or rasberries
- 1 mandarin or orange
- A handful of grapes
- Up to 20 blueberries
- 1/2 cup of cantaloupe or paw paw
- 1/3 large ripe banana (less ripe bananas are better tolerated)
- 2 small kiwis
- A cup of chopped pineapple
- The pulp of 1 passion fruit.
And
To make the acronym work.
6. Polyols
These are the natural sugar replacements: sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol. They're found in a range of fruits.
AVOID:
- Apples, pears and peaches
- Avocados
- Honey
- Artificial sweeteners
- Sugar-free gum or mints.