Cumulate food in low FODMAPs diet
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hello,
I would like to talk about the FODMAPs diet. I can follow more or less easily the monash app recommendations but I do not understand how FODMAPs cumulate. What happens if I eat 5 kg of food per meal but only allowed food in appropriate quantities? This should be too high in FODMAPs, right? How do I know the limit since each ingredient may have different properties and different sugars? Can I eat 500 grams of meat if I am hungry since it is low in FODMAPs and has green light? These questions are puzzling me. As the offer in dietitians in my city is not broad and very expensive, I would like to seek advices here before going bankrupt to get an appointment.
Thank you in advance.
0 likes, 25 replies
pippa58442 GP89
Posted
You may get different answers depending on who you ask because everyone's response to the Fodmap Diet varies according to how badly their IBS affects them . There is no one size fits all.You could try experimenting with different quantities of food types first of all to see how you respond. However, your money would be well spent on seeing a good dietician who specialises in the Fodmap Diet and IBS. You really need expert guidance because this diet can be confusing.
GP89 pippa58442
Posted
Thank you for your answer. I guess I have to talk with my insurance since the only professional who answered my messages told me I would have to pay more than 400 euros... I find it quite expensive after having spent already hundreds of euros on probiotics and other treatments.
However when the Monash App says that absolutely no FODMAPs were detected in the food, it is safe to eat as much as we want? I started the diet already on my own and even if I get an appointment, it will not be soon...
pippa58442 GP89
Posted
I would ask a dietician or your doctor about food quantities on the Fodmap diet. This is the safest way to find out. I don't need to follow The Low Fodmap Diet because food doesn't affect my IBS. If you can't see a dietician soon, try experimenting with different quantities of food types to see how they affect you. It is very much a trial and error process because everyone is different.
GP89 pippa58442
Posted
My doctor does not know about the FODMAPs diet, that is why I am contacting several dietitians and wait for their answers to select the one that seems the best for me.
How do you know that food does not affect your IBS? And do you know what is the cause then?
I am trying, I think that now I have only low FODMAPs ingredients and I should be able even without seeing a dietitian to follow a strict enough diet using the Monash App. I have already removed a lot of them progressively during the last two weeks. I believe my symptoms have slightly decreased but I am not sure yet. I am used to take loperamid every day and I tried some days without it and did not have diarrhea every day...
pippa58442 GP89
Posted
My IBS never flares up after eating; I did try making changes to my diet but I was no better or worse. I went back to what I would normally eat and again was no better or worse. Some people with IBS don't have food intolerances.
My symptoms started after six months of stress and my doctor diagnosed it as stress related IBS. What really got my intestines in a twist was a botched blood test that left me with permanent neuralgia. If I get stressed, my IBS flares up.
GP89 pippa58442
Posted
I see, so can you be in good shape by taking anxiolytics when you know you are in a stressful period? Or is it more complicated and random than that?
At first I thought I had the same as I tried to keep a diary of my meals and the pain and symptoms associated every day. But it did not make any sense, I could feel better after eating supposedly unhealthy food than vegetables for example. But I did not know about FODMAPs, so I am trying again but in a more controlled way thanks to this diet.
Several times I also tried new treatments or changes that seemed to work but only for a while weirdly. I do not know if this was some kind of temporary placebo effect or complex chemistry. For example, Questran reduced and almost removed my symptoms during 3 days and then it became inefficient. When I changed my pastas to gluten free ones, I saw an improvement but also only during a few days.
libralady13 pippa58442
Posted
Hello pippa58442 I do agree that stress and anxiety are if not the cause then they make IBS worse and cause flare ups. I am at the start of reintroduction on low fodmap diet having found that after the first 2/3 weeks my bloating and constipation were much improved. There were odd days when the symptoms crept back usually due to stress and over eating which goes with it. So far I am not sure but thinking that bread or at least too much of it might be a problem as symptoms came back after doing the reintroduction over 3 days. I will try again at a later date. Same with pasta. N ow doing lactose 2nd day and everything is ok. Thinking I will be ok with lactose. I am wondering even hoping that after doing the elimination and reintroduction I will have given my system time to calm down so I might find I can tolerate most things. Of course this might not be so only time will tell.I have had a bad 3 years with stress and anxiety and have had counselling . It was along time to be feeling this way no wonder my digestive system was out of wack. I also had gastritis diagnosed last year. Am feeling so much better now so hoping things will keep on improving.Good luck to you and keep that stress at bay hard I know but will stop the ibs flares.
pippa58442 libralady13
Posted
I use my poetry, photography and filming and to help me to relax and keep calm. I am preparing my next poetry collection for publication. Good luck to you too.
pippa58442 GP89
Posted
I don't take anything for anxiety. I just accept I get anxious and if stress flares up my IBS, I take painkillers or an antispasmodic for the IBS pain. Sometimes the body can get immune to treatments and diet changes over time so they become less effective. Sometimes you just have to keep changing your diet and or IBS medication to suit your symptoms.
jan48389 GP89
Posted
You can eat as much of the "green light" foods as you want. The amount of fodmaps in green light foods is not significantly increased even if you eat a large quantity. So yes, in theory you could safely eat 500g of chicken or pork, for example, per meal - whether anyone would want to eat such a large amount of meat in one meal is debatable!!! It's a bit like saying water is low in fodmaps, but drinking 5 litres of water in one go is neither sensible or desirable. My advice is to eat as much you normally would. As others have said, everyone is different. You might find, following the elimination and reintroduction phase, that you can easily tolerate several of the foods in the "red light" list, hence the importance of keeping an accurate food diary.
Hope this helps
Jan
GP89 jan48389
Posted
Thank you for your answer, it surely helps. And actually when I was a bit younger, 500 g of meat per meal was kind of normal for me but I calmed down since then! I was also asking because there is a restaurant specialized in good meat in town and I feel I will miss going to the restaurant by following this diet. So if I can go there and eat without fear a big piece of meat from time to time, that is good for the psyche.
I hope to find what I can tolerate because it happened that I went to eat döner kebabs with sauce, onions and probably plenty of fodmaps, and felt okay while other days I ate "healthy" vegetables and rice and felt sick. Hopefully the diet will help me to clarify this.
libralady13 GP89
Posted
Hello GP89, First of all I assume you are not in the UK. The Monash App is gold standard for Low Fodmap. If you are on Facebook there are several forums which you can join on this subject I belong to one nd th hey have answered s o many of . my questions as th e y are all doing Low Fodmap.
With regard to accumulating food what is know as stacking
Some foods you will notice have no upper servings and are safe green like carrots. Others are red with no safe serving and others have maybe a green yellow and red amount depending depending on what fodmaps have been found in them.As I understand it this is stacking. For example. raspberries are a safe serving at 60grams but at higher amounts are high and should avoided. Carrots are safe green and you can eat according to your appetite. If you consume 2 servings of foods containing the same fodmap at one sitting or close together. Even if they are both green amounts it can take you over your tolerance level and cause symptoms. Everyone is different it is not a one size fits all. I assume you are following the elimination part of the diet. It is important to do it strictly which I found out then progress to parts 2 and 3 of the diet all in all it takes several.months. If you need anymore information please ask me. Good luck.
libralady13 GP89
Posted
I also meant to say that you should really be under the care of a formal trained dietitian. Here in the UK it is not always easy s y. to find one I was lucky enough to be referred on the NHS although some have to pay privately.
libralady13 GP89
Posted
@Hello GP89, First of all I assume you are not in the UK. The Monash App is gold standard for Low Fodmap. If you are on Facebook there are several forums which you can join on this subject I belong to one and they have answered so many of my questions as they are all doing Low Fodmap.
With regard to accumulating food what is known as stacking
Some foods you will notice have no upper servings and are safe green like carrots. Others are red with no safe serving and others have maybe a green yellow and red amount depending on what fodmaps have been found in them.As I understand it this is stacking. For example. raspberries are a safe serving at 60grams but at higher amounts are high and should avoided. Carrots are safe green and you can eat according to your appetite. If you consume 2 servings of foods containing the same fodmap at one sitting or close together even if they are both green amounts it can take you over your tolerance level and cause symptoms. Everyone is different it is not a one size fits all. I assume you are following the elimination part of the diet. It is important to do it strictly which I found out then progress to parts 2 and 3 of the diet all in all it takes several.months. If you need anymore information please ask me. Good luck.
GP89 libralady13
Posted
Thanks for your answer, I will look into facebook groups. I am new here and I do not know if it is possible to edit a message. You could just reply to yourself and make an "erratum".
You confirm what I thought that we cannot just eat the maximum of everything, and it is true that some professional help can be useful. I wanted to train myself with the App but then I noticed it was not actually included in the price...
So for example if I take Rutabagas they have green light (and no yellow or red) but it is mentioned that larger servings may contain polyol-sorbitol. If I understand well I should not combine it with another green light food which has the same warning. On the other hand it should be okay to combine with a green light food with a warning on lactose, fructose or any other category of FODMAPs?
And yes I am following the elimination part but I am not sure it is strict yet because I had to replace absolutely everything that I was eating previously except rice and noticed from time to time that some of the new food I bought had some fodmaps in the ingredients. Especially before I bought the monash app because on the internet there are different websites that lists different forbidden ingredients...
GP89
Posted
I forgot to say I find the Monash App a bit vague concerning pastas. They just say gluten free. So I assume pastas made with 70% corn and 30% rice are fine? In the beginning I bought only spelt pastas and ate that in large amounts every day because websites were not clear about that but there is a red light on the monash app, so I try to find a replacement. However I cannot replace the industrial tomato sauce I was buying. Do you (or anyone else reading this) have an idea what to add to pastas to replace the sauce and follow the diet?
libralady13 GP89
Posted
I am sending you a private message.