This week we’re discussing the low-FODMAP diet. It can be frustrating to see patients handed a low-FODMAP food list with literally no other information or guidance. What many people don’t understand, is that the low-FODMAP diet is meant to be treated as an elimination diet to elicit healing and identify a person’s unique food triggers. I’ve seen a lot of different ways to apply the low-FODMAP diet but the underlying similarity is that the low-FODMAP diet is meant to be temporary.

The low-FODMAP diet is a dietary approach primarily used to manage symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other gastrointestinal conditions such as dysbiosis or bacteria overgrowth and small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO). FODMAP is an acronym that stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. These are types of carbohydrates and sugar alcohols that can be poorly absorbed in the small intestine, leading to gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and other digestive symptoms in some individuals. Since these carbohydrates are poorly absorbed, they arrive in the colon still intact and they are fermented by bacteria, resulting in gas. FODMAPs may also have an osmotic effect, which means they draw water into the digestive tract. These actions in the gut can cause symptoms of diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating, and/or cramping for some individuals. Some foods can be high or low-FODMAP depending on certain characteristics, such as processing or the amount or part of a food. 

Tune in to learn what foods to avoid and what foods are allowed on the low-FODMAP diet among other guidance regarding the removal and reintroduction of foods.

*in the beginning of this video I use the term irritable bowel disease but for the purposes of this topic I meant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

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