Those suffering with serious digestive health issues know how hard it can be to constantly regulate which types of foods they consume. A long list of foods—including dairy products, some fruits and vegetables, wheat, rye, corn syrup and artificial sweeteners—can potentially create such problems in susceptible people. To help patients better navigate through their food choices, our physicians have created a “ low FODMAP diet” which in many cases creates a relief of harsh symptoms within the GI tract. FODMAP foods are a natural part of the good carb foods that include– fruit; vegetables; dried beans, chickpeas, lentils and whole grains.
Collectively, FODMAPS stands for:
Fermentable
Oligosaccharides
Disaccharides
Monosaccharaides
Polyols
The low-FODMAP’s diet recommends eliminating various fruits, vegetables and beans from one’s diet for six to eight weeks, and then gradually adding back one group after another to identify which cause the most trouble. Eventually, many IBS sufferers find they can tolerate many foods on the list as long as they keep the total amount of FODMAPS under a certain level.
Things to Consider
1.Many of these substances are common in many prepared and healthy foods. The elimination of FODMAPS food should not be total or strict beyond several months because too many healthy foods would be eliminated. Therefore a short enough period of strict FODMAPS reduction should always be followed by cautious re-introduction of small amounts of foods that are healthy or missed the most. If the reduced symptoms remain in good control, larger portions or other foods can be introduced. Many IBS patients need help from our nutritionist or from registered dietitians to this right.
2.Making proper adjustments in specific foods and portions of the FODMAP foods, many IBS patients find they can gluten and can have small amounts of many of the FODMAPS foods.
The low FODMAP’s diet, which originated with the dietitians and gastroenterologists at Monash University in Victoria, Australia, has changed the practice of GI considerably, and puts patients in much better control of their lives and diet.
3.This diet does not make everything better, but it makes a lot of people significantly better.
For more information regarding the low FODMAP diet or any digestive needs feel free to contact on of our highly training physicians!
