FODMAP and How to Stay Fit recap

Nutritional Seminar recap - A Fall Map to the FODMAP diet

So we had a great turn out for our Fall Map to the FODMAP diet at Natural Grocers in Green mountain. Key points to take away from the lecture included the following: what are FODMAPs, does the FODMAP diet work and for who, and some basic layout on how we start the implement the diet. I will try to answer these questions as briefly as possible in the following post. 

What are FODMAPS?

FODMAPS is an ancronym for fermentable oligo, di, and mono saccharides..and polyols. These are basically short chain carbohydrates such as gluctans, fructans, lactose, fructose, and sugar alcohols. These carbohydrates usually draw water into the intestine during digestion and can cause bloating, abdomen pain, and gastrointestinal distress. This does not mean you have an allergy to them. However, some people suffer more from there effects than others. 

Does the FODMAP Diet work and for who?

The FODMAP diet has been studied in several well known nutritional and gastrointestinal journals and has shown some promising results for patients suffering from irritable bowel disorder or functional bowel disorder, Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis, Celiac's and even fibromyalgia to name a few. If you do a quick web search you can see the diet mentioned in multiple respected sources including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and US News and World Reports.

How to implement the FODMAP diet....

I proceed with caution at this point. The FODMAP diet is not a diet that is intended to cause someone to lose weight but is actually an elimination diet intended to identy possible triggers for GI distress. It is a difficult diet to implement and very complicated. In addition, sometimes it might not get to the root of the problem since it likely reduces sources of probiotics, prebiotics, and fiber that are helpful in allowing the bowel to heal. If you and your nutritional advisor determine this may be a path for you; the diet is often individualized based upon your tolerances to fructose or lactose based upon hydrogen breath testing. After that, an elimination process begins from anywhere from all FODMAP sources to only gluctans and polyols. Additional sources to help implement the diet include the MONASH food app for you android or iphone. However, the diet can become even more complicated since it not only involves FODMAPS you eat but also the amounts and what other foods you are eating as well. Below is a simple FODMAP chart from ibs.org.