Approximately 70% of IBS patients will experience significant symptom relief with good compliance and support.
The diet is a bit tricky and will require a commitment on your part to ensure that you are choosing foods consistent with the diet. Therefore you will not want to take on the diet during a time when you will be extra busy or have limited time in your schedule for food prep and packing.
You need to make sure that you are eating a wide variety of foods to get your daily nutritional requirements. It will be helpful to have support as you learn to integrate the diet into your life. They can help you best determine which of the FODMAP types are problematic for you.
A food diary doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You just want to keep track of everything you have eaten, what symptoms you are experiencing, and any other factors that might be affecting how you feel, such as stress, your menstrual cycle, etc.
The low-FODMAP smartphone app from the researchers at Monash University is a must-have. It can also be helpful to purchase some low-FODMAP cookbooks and frequently visit sites that have low-FODMAP recipes. The more food options you have, the more likely you will be to comply with the diet’s guidelines.
Fructans: Found in some fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetablesFructose: Found in some fruitsGOS: Found in beans, chickpeas, and lentilsLactose: Found in some dairy productsPolyols: Found in some fruits, vegetables, and artificial sweeteners
What is left to eat? Plenty of delicious, nutritious things. You can eat anything you want as long as it is low in FODMAPs.
Your dietary professional can help you to figure out what foods you can test your sensitivity on. Plan to test each group for a week before moving on to the next group. Start with small amounts of food so as to not cause severe symptoms.
If you experience no symptoms in response to your challenge foods, you can slowly start to increase the quantity you are eating. If you continue to tolerate the food, then you can conclude that you are not reactive to that particular sub-group and you can continue onto the next group.
If you experience symptoms, you can try to test a different food from within the same sub-group. If you continue to have a reaction, you should go back to the elimination diet for one week before moving on to the next sub-group.
After you have tested all sub-groups and have been relatively symptom-free for some time, you will want to re-test small amounts of the sub-group that you were initially reactive to.
Once you have a good sense of which FODMAPs you are most reactive to, you can organize your diet so as to eat predominantly low-FODMAP, with minimal consumption of high-FODMAP foods. The goal is to keep your exposure to FODMAPs in a range that does not cause you to experience symptoms.
There is some evidence that once you have followed the low-FODMAP diet you will improve your ability to tolerate previously troublesome foods. Therefore, you will want to be sure to keep re-introducing new foods into your diet at regular intervals to see if your sensitivities have changed.
One helpful way is to set a reminder in your day planner or on your smartphone to go through the reintroduction phase again every three months.
Animal-based proteins such as beef, chicken, eggs, and fishButterCertain cheeses, including brie, camembert, mozzarella, and ParmesanDairy alternatives, such as almond milk, coconut milk, and hemp milkFirm or extra firm tofu (but not soybeans)Fruits including avocado, Banaba, blueberry, gramps, cantaloupe, kiwi, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, raspberry, strawberry, and tangeloGluten-free grains like amaranth, brown rice, quinoa, and oatsLactose-free dairyLeafy green vegetablesNuts, including almonds, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, and walnutsOther vegetables, such as bell peppers, carrots, cabbage, eggplant, endive, fennel, green beans, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and zucchiniSweeteners, including sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and artificial sweeteners that do not ent in -ol.
