What is a low FODMAP diet?

Let’s start with the basics. FODMAP stands for: Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. They are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine can’t absorb properly.

As they’re non-digestable, your gut bacteria ferments them, leading to gas. This can be problematic to IBS-sufferers as it can lead to an array of symptoms such as:

  • Cramping
  • Diarrhoea
  • Constipation
  • Bloating
  • Gas and flatulence

As you can probably tell, these symptoms mirror those of IBS, hence why the low FODMAP diet can be incredibly effective in reducing symptoms. In fact, research has found that it reduces symptoms in up to 86% of people.

So how does it work?

The low FODMAP diet is a process and is not supposed to be forever. It follows 3 main steps:

  1. Stop eating high FODMAPs

  2. Slowly reintroducing foods to see which affects you

  3. Incorporating the ones you can eat into a long-term diet and avoiding the ones you can’t

It is recommended that you only follow the elimination process for up to six weeks. Then every few days reintroduce high FODMAP foods back into your diet and see if symptoms occur. For example, you might add apples (which are high in fructose) back into your diet. If you experience no symptoms after a few days, it is likely you can tolerate fructose (monosaccharides).

If you’d like a more comprehensive guide to following this diet, with step-by-step actions, please check out our Definitive Guide. You can also check out our low FODMAP recipes.

Whilst we hope the information on this site is useful, it is important to work with a doctor or registered dietician as the diet plan is restrictive and they can aid you in the process of re-introducing foods.