Low FODMAPS Diet 10 Important Things To Know

It's Eric Bakker, the naturopath. How are y'all going out there? It's good to be back again. I'll just get this microphone placed. Here we go. It's great to be back. We're looking at springtime in New Zealand, so I'm happy. We've got all our vegetable gardening and all our strawberry, put 160 strawberry plants in yesterday, so we're pumping. We're going to have beautiful fruit and very cool.

Now, Low FODMAP diet. FODMAPs, fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. So this is quite an interesting diet that was really put together by a doctor several years ago in the belief that it's going to help people, particularly irritable bowel syndrome. I'm not a big fan of the diet. I know many patients that I've worked with, hundreds of them in the past that have been on FODMAPs. I've seen some successes, but they're very limited. I've seen more failures than anything. I'm going to show you 10 points, 10 things that you need to know about this diet that in my opinion, are key things to know.

So, let's get started. FODMAPs. Let's look at point number one. The FODMAPs diet is not a cure all to IBS or any kind of gut problem. Okay? I can't work out why people often go on these diets without doing really the correct testing before they go on these diets in the first place. We'll talk about the relevance of stool testing after, so just remember, this is not a cure all diet. This is not going to cure your disease or get rid of things, okay? All you're doing is taking aggravating carbohydrates out of the diet that are basically cutting back on your body's ability to bloat, to ferment, to create these gut issues.

So you're just taking things away. To me, it's not really fixing the problem permanently. You're just sort of partially solving it.
So, second point. It's not a gluten-free diet. Be very careful because if you're going to have oats in your FODMAPs, you know low-FODMAP, nevertheless, it's considered a low FODMAP. There's still gluten in it. Some people I've talked to think this is a gluten-free diet. It's not gluten free, so don't be confused.

Third point. Many that go low FODMAPs also think that you need to get fiber out of the diet as much as possible. Now fiber is not really the issue here. It's the sugars, but most of these FODMAP foods are also tend to be high in fiber. So the more you limit and go hardcore with FODMAPs, the more likelihood that you could also go hardcore with low fiber and that's going to handicap or kneecap your body's ability to create really good levels particularly of bacteria like bifidobacteria in the colon. So if you take food away from something, you're going to starve it off.
So, remember, it's not just about taking fiber out of the diet.

It's the sugars in these foods. Remember? Oligosaccharides, disaccharides, polyols. So these are different sort of chains of carbohydrates found in foods that can cause problems. For example, if you really want to add more fiber into your diet, kiwi fruit from what I take is permissible on FODMAPs, so kiwi fruit and may well help. Also small amounts of oats servings up permissible on the FODMAPs as well and pumpkin seeds and quinoa and there are different foods you can eat to boost fiber content because fiber is very, very important for your bowel.

Point number four. This should be a short term, not long-term approach. I've got some patients who've been on FODMAPs for 12 months or more. That's crazy. You don't go on a FODMAPs diet for that long. When it was first brought out, it was a two to six-week solution to reduce basically the sugars going into the gut, to stop these symptoms from occurring in the gut. It wasn't meant to be a long-term diet. The reintroduction was supposed to occur after six weeks, but I've got a lot of people who actually don't pay any attention to this at all. They just stay on this diet because they find that it helps to reduce symptoms. Well, that's a pretty dumb idea. You don't just stay on the diet....

All these sort of foods, which I deem healthy are taken out. I think it's a stupid approach to be honest. The most intelligent FODMAP approach if you want one, is to find out what bugs you've got in your gut or how leaky the gut is to try and repair these problems before you start taking stuff out. And in most all cases, in my experience, nearly every person I've worked with with IBS, excuse me, can eventually have a normal kind of diet and lifestyle again. They need to work out where the breach is coming from. Was in a high alcohol diet?

So, that's my little take on the FODMAPs. Be careful not to fall into the trap of following it to the letter. Do it short term, do the testing, fix what needs fixing. Definitely play around with the foods. See what works for you and then go on to a normal diet. Click on the link in the description box if you want my free report. Thanks for tuning in.

[Eddy-myzf]

1:04 - Not a cure to IBS or gut problems
1:44 - Not a gluten free diet
2:05 - Thinking you need to get fiber out of the diet
3:21 - Should be a short term diet.
4:14 - Oils and fats
4:39 - Plan in advance for social events
5:10 - Fodmaps without stool testing
7:12 - Don't be the fodmap police
8:34 - Test the gut first
8:48 - Get relief if you need it
9:37 - Challenge
9:48 - You can eat like normal people

[Magnulus]

I've had SIBO for the better part of a decade. The low-FODMP diet is something I've done off and on. It provides symptom relief, but no cure, and that's the most frustrating part.

Conventional gastroenterologists have been no help here in the US, as they are often reluctant to perscribe effective drugs like Rifaximin (because insurance often won't cover them). They keep encouraging me to stay on the diet, even though it's frankly unhealthy long term (too much potential reliance on meat and fat as a source of energy, exclusion of alot of healthy vegetables and grains).

I've been eating alot of brown rice, potatoes, and sprouted barley and wheat for much of my calories, combining that with taking Beano to deal with galactans, and eating some amount of meat (usually chicken or fish). But I'd like to have a more diverse diet that didn't exclude alot of healthy foods and didn't rely on enzymes.

[kashwashwa]

I can only find tests available to licensed practitioners... Where can I order a test myself?

[chickenmuffin]

I am trying this but I sense it’s BS. How could it be good for me to not eat garlic and onions?

[whitevoodooman]

Eric if I have anything fodmap I suddenly urinate 4 leters through the night in 10 hours .... and drop 5 / 10 pds
Iam sure its because of leaky gut issues so I've started takeing butyrate and molybdenum and manganese and betaine hcl
Do you think fodmap issues stem from leaky gut problems and will continue until I plug my gut gaps back up

[Sophschannel_]

I have Klebsiella oxy 4+ and 2 other dysbiotic species. GSE and silver came up highest to treat it. I’m now taking 2tsp silver 3x/day, and 250mg GSE 3x/day. My diet is super healthy. How long do you think this’ll take to clear up?
I also have high bilirubin levels so my ND wants to put me on a gallbladder/liver supplement