What is the low-FODMAP diet, and should you try it? | Dr Will Bulsiewicz

Having had a diagnosis of IBS I went on a low FODMAP diet for about 10 weeks to see if it would reduce my symptoms and also to be able to reintroduce each FODMAP one by one to see what I was sensitive to. It's true that it is complicated to find out which foods contain fodmaps and eliminate them. However it is absolutely not as the presenter suggests, that there is hardly anything to eat! There are so many foods that are low in fodmaps plus many"free from" foods now available that you can still eat widely. Monash university have an excellent app that costs just a few pounds to buy and tells you all the amounts of fodmaps in every food. Also has suggestions for foods to buy etc. As others have said this is a diet just for people with IBS and similar and not for any other reason.

It’s not that restrictive. There are heaps of foods that are low FODMAP foods and heaps of information on what they are - esp from Monash University . The ones that may be hard for me are onion, garlic and bread. But I can use the green part of spring onions for onions and sour dough breads. Broccoli, pumpkin and capsicums are low fodmap according to Monash. We have lactose free milk and dairy. I eat hard cheese and danish feta. And I eat blue berries and strawberries. No issues so far. I’m just doing it because I had a tummy pains recently and doc said to do it for 4-6 Wks to see if it makes a difference

Johnathon, if you don’t have digestive health problems (IBS, Crohn’s disease) or food intolerances, you don’t need to go on the FODMAP diet. A member in our family was diagnosed with IBS, and prescribed FODMAPS by his dietitian, and it saved his life, and it saved me as the family “cook” preparing meals for the family. It didn’t mean cutting out a tone of foods, it meant substituting foods for something else that our family member could digest without excruciating pain. I personally eat high fodmaps throughout the day, preparing low FODMAPS for the main family dinner. Our family member has low FODMAPS options during the day, but not everyone else because we all have different digestive needs.

Thanks for addressing this issue. After several embarrassing uncontrollable diarrhea I was scared to eat anything. Rice and butter in small portions was all I could do (lost weight of course). Then decided to talk to my doctor about the problem. Dignosed with IBS. She gave me list of the FODMAP foods. I begain to slowly add things. I still can not tollarate honey, garlic or onions (which has limanated many highly processed foods like broths, soups, meats, ect). It is amazing how many processed foods contain garlic and/or onions. Since finding Zoe and reading some of your guest book I have reintroduced ferminted goat cheese(tablespoon only) and Kefir (Tablespoon), Sourdough bread. Also, like many of the comments below I also used a free app to track what I ate and how my body and mood was affected by it. Stress is a significant issue with my gut. Thanks again for all the information you provide on your youtube channel.

Thank you for this episode! So great to hear you sharing your personal stories and so great to hear you explore the digestive health side of nutrition and gut health! I would LOVE to hear more episodes related to IBS, IBD and other digestive related issues/topics!

I have bouts of gastritis, IBS, and IBD due to my own stupidity of eating wheat. I want this to be my last bout that I have. I always return full circle. One day turns to once a week, then twice a week, then almost every day of eating wheat and then I'm in the middle of it. But this last time was bad. It reflects so bad into my back with excruciating pain. A couple of years back my GI told me to try the FODMAP diet for 6 months and see how it does. It worked...but when I start feeling better I start eating wheat again. It get stuck in that "live to eat" instead of "eat to live". It causes gastrits, IBS, and IBD. It usually takes a few weeks and then it hits me. Slowly but surely. And it's all due to my own stupidity. This time I did a personal video journal so when I want to eat wheat I can go back and look at the videos to see how miserable I was. So this last time it hit me I started the FODMAP diet along with the FODMAP app on my phone and within a week started feeling better and started having normal bowel movements. I'm at the tail end of it and I'm not in the middle of minute to minute digestive pain or back pain. The mental pain and stress is just as bad as the physical pain. Eat well and be well.

Subscribed! Keep doing what you're doing, zoe! Thank you for the knowledge, it is empowering. I've never been so excited about eating until now. It's only been 3 days but the difference is profound. Again, thank you and please continue your research and podcasts!

Thanks that was extremely interesting. Thanks for all the work you do, it’s very much appreciated.

Really live this podcast and the people!Thanks for sharing all these information! Actually I found really true what Jonathan said about his own experience: it's quite hard to understand what is the food that it's triggering symptoms, while reintroducing foods back in. I think that makes the process quite hard

Having to go on a low fodmap diet for my IBS (which worked great for figuring it all out) was how I found Zoe! My entire diet has changed since, I eat lots of fermented foods, and almost no ultra processed foods now. I'm hoping I can heal my gut, and in the future, I'll be able to eat a teaspoon of spring onion 😅

This has been so incredibly helpful!

Love this episode and the reference to how someone with digestive issues might actually feel when trying to improve their gut health.

I developed IBS over a few years while I tried to ‘eat healthily’. I was introduced to the low FODMAPS diet and had some success in that I managed to reduce my pain and bloating. After a while I began to enjoy the Low carb keto way of eating. I experienced no stress wihile eating because all the foods were safe foods. I’ve found that I am better off not eating many plants.

Yes please do an interview on gastritis. I still can't reintroduce lactose, spices, alcohol or lemon/lime/vinegar several years after getting gastritis with Covid.

Thanks a lot guys, love y'all so much, truly.

This was really helpful for me. SIBO, gut issues are difficult for me over many years. Low Formal helped me for a short period. Now I do what your suggest and eat foe most fiber & variety plant foods. Feeling great doing this and energy is much better now. Thank you

Super useful video! Thank you guys!!!

I think it's also important to take an holistic approach with digestion issues as some are not related to food but may be related to the gut brain axis and stress /anxiety /exercise/sleep etc and all these need to be addressed at the same time. I know this is mentioned but think should be more explicit.

I had ibs(d) and did the Fodmap exclusion stage and gradually challenged my system to return foods back in. I found that because lactose was ok, a daily dose of milk kefir really settled things. I am very sensitive to histamine in alcohol, but the only other thing to be aware of is Fodmap stacking. Several relatively small portions, for me certain fruits and vegetables, each ok on their own, can still add up to discomfort.

Thanks for another informative video. I appreciate your lite humor as well, it keeps it fun as well.