You’ve might heard about the FODMAPs diet, irritable bowel friend and the “leaky gut”, but what is it exactly?
This particular diet as been developed by an Australian nutritionist and dietitian Sue Shepherd, suffering from celiac disease.
Maïa Baudelaire, Nutritionist, Diet Coach, expert in eating habits and founder of her own method www.maiabaudelaire.com explains easily everything you need to know to understand this diet.
FODMAPs is an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides Disaccharides Monosaccharides And Polyols. In general, the carbohydrates (sugar) which ferment. More precisely:
- Fermentable: carbohydrates that ferment in the colon because they were only partially digested in the small intestine.
- Oligosaccharides: sugar types fructans and oligosaccharides found in legumes, cereals and some vegetables
- Disaccharides: formed by glucose and galactose present in milk products
- Monosaccharides: fructose, found in fruits and sweeteners
- Polyols: sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, omalt and polydextrose, you’ll find them by reading the products labels “sugar free” (gum and candies).
The main goal of this diet is to reduce the fermentable foods in your food intake until you feel better, and to introduce once again 2-3 days later to identify which ones cause the problem.
Here’s a short list about FODMAPs:
Oligosaccharides = wheat, barley, rye, artichoke, asparagus, beets, cabbage, endive, shallots, fennel, onions; peas, leeks…
Disaccharides = milk and fresh cheese
Monosaccharides = asparagus, cherry, mango, watermelon, pears, peas, apple, honey, sugar, glucose and fructose syrop
Polyols: apricot, avocado, cherry, mushroom, cauliflower, lychee, nectarine, watermelon, peach, pear, apple, green pepper, plum, prune and gum
You need to understand that it’s only certain sugars that cause intestine troubles, and not allergies such as gluten. You can then consume bread as long as it’s not white or industrial and promote whole grain and cereal bread.
This type of diet helps relieve the symptoms in 85% of the cases, but you can always ask your doctor or consult a State qualified nutritionist and dietitian from my Diet Coach method.
