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We Need FODMAPs!

The low FODMAP diet is a great way of managing gut symptoms if you have a sensitive gut. However, FODMAPs form a very important part of our diet for many different reasons.

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  • The greater the variety in our diet of healthy food choices the better our nutrient intake

  • Foods contain more than just nutrients - so diversity of foods is important to receive the range of benefits different foods provide

  • When we reduce our FODMAP content of our diet it has been shown that we also reduce prebiotics by 50%

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Prebiotics enhance the growth of your friendly bacteria while probiotics refer to the friendly bacteria that live in our gut and provide us with a huge range of health benefits linked with our mental health, immune systems and ultimately our gut health.

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FODMAP foods are generally regarded as prebiotics as they support our friendly microbe colones in our gut. Switching the foods available to these bacteria may not be the best solution for our health in the long term.

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So how to work around this?

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By going through the whole FODMAP Elimination Diet- all 3 phases - from the initial elimination to the challenges and finally including the FODMAPs back into your diet at a level you can manage. This will help our friendly gut microbes to flourish and promote a healthy gut going forward.

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The risk is that many people just avoid all the high FODMAP foods without realising that they may only be reacting to one group of FODMAPs so are avoiding the rest needlessly. By identifying exactly what you are reacting to with the proper elimination and challenges then only the trigger foods are reduced in the gut and the high FODMAP foods that your gut can handle can be brought back into your diet and support your gut health.

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FODMAPs are not bad for you, we actually want them in our diet wherever they are tolerated. Identifying the gut triggers and populating your diet with tolerated healthy foods is key.

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Friendly bacteria in our gut need FODMAPs to flourish

 HEALING THE GUT

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  • MAKE SURE you complete the 3 phases of the low FODMAP diet: 1. Elimination  2. Challenges and 3. Reintroduction where tolerated.

  • Include FODMAPs in your diet as much as can be tolerated, for example include high FODSMA_P foods in Low FODMAP amounts: check with a sepacialized dietitian how this can be done without triggering symptoms.

  • Consider probiotics (healthy bacteria that normally live in the gut)- several studies have shown that some probiotics effectively alleviate the symptoms in patients with IBS, particularly abdominal pain and bloating although much more research is required to guide which type of probiotics should be used in which situations. 

  • Include some low FODMAP fermented foods in your diet such as lactose-free probiotic yoghurt and kombucha in Low FODMAP amounts.

REFERENCES

  1. Steer, T., Carpenter, H., Tuohy, K. & Gibson, G. R. Perspectives on the role of the human gut microbiota and its modulation by pro- and prebiotics. Nutr. Res. Rev. 13, 229–254 (2000).

  2. Kajander, K., Hatakka, K., Poussa, T., Farkkila, M. & Korpela, R. A probiotic mixture alleviates symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome patients: a controlled 6-month intervention. Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 22, 387–394 (2005).

  3. O’Mahony, L. et al. Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in irritable bowel syndrome: symptom responses and relationship to cytokine profiles. Gastroenterology 128, 541–551 (2005).

  4. Saggioro, A. Probiotics in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. J. Clin. Gastroenterol. 38, S104–106 (2004).

  5. Whorwell, P. J. et al. Efficacy of an encapsulated probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in women with irritable bowel syndrome. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 101, 1581–1590 (2006).

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