There is something interesting that I am discovering from my many phone calls with women looking to enter my low Fodmap coaching program. Most of them have told me that they have had some kind of digestive issue all their lives but a few had it come on suddenly. But the interesting thing is that there was always an inciting factor for the start or for kicking it up a notch. For some it was a very bad stomach infection with diarrhea but for most it was a traumatic event in their lives. The Inciting Factor for IBS For me, it was the illness and death of my father eight years ago. I remember wondering why my gut had to play up right now when I had so much to cope with. It then got progressively worse leading to my visiting several healthcare professionals to no avail and to eventually sorting it myself with the low Fodmap diet through online research. Others I have spoken to have also had the death of a close family member as their inciting factor, but other traumas have … [Read more...] about A Connection Between IBS and a Traumatic Event plus a Low Fodmap Recipe
Parmesan, Rice Flake Crackers
I see the question asked often on the low Fodmap groups around the internet of how to start reintroducing foods after the elimination period of the diet. The following is the way recommended by the Monash University research centre. Reintroduction Plan – Food Challenge How does this work? After your symptoms have disappeared, while staying on the elimination diet with only low FODMAP foods, you reintroduce one FODMAP subgroup at a time to find whether you can in fact tolerate it or at what level you can eat it. How long do I stay on that challenge? Reintroduce only one food a week. If you eat it and there are no symptoms, try it again to be sure. What do I do if the challenge food causes symptoms? You try it again at half the amount and see if symptoms still occur. If they do, then that is a food you should avoid. Next try another food in the same group and repeat the process. If you don’t have symptoms at that level, then take note of that amount and move onto another food in … [Read more...] about Parmesan, Rice Flake Crackers
Jamie Oliver’s Quick Lamb Tagine – low Fodmap & gluten-free
Through the calls I am doing with people interested in my low Fodmap coaching program, I see there is a lot of confusion about what teas you can and cannot drink on the low Fodmap diet, so I want to clarify that now. Safe Teas These are based on a 1 cup serve. Weak to medium black tea Weak chai tea Weak dandelion tea Weak green tea Weak herbal teas (fruit-based with chicory root) Peppermint tea Teas to Avoid Strong chai tea Chamomile tea Fennel tea Strong herbal tea(fruit-based with chicory root) Oolong tea Coffee, as long as it is drunk with lactose-free milk, is generally low in Fodmaps though it is a gut irritant so you should be careful with it. Hot chocolates made from cocoa powder (3 heaped tsp) are fine but made with carob powder, you could only have 1 heaped teaspoon of it. 2 heaped teaspoons quickly takes you into high Fodmap territory so it could be a good idea to avoid carob and use cocoa if you want a hot chocolate drink. The Recipe This recipe is from … [Read more...] about Jamie Oliver’s Quick Lamb Tagine – low Fodmap & gluten-free
Gluten Intolerant or is it the Fodmaps in food? Plus a Feta & Bacon Dip.
There's an interesting discussion on the internet at the moment. As always, it gets taken to extremes and brings strange people out of the woodwork. There is the line of thought which says that gluten intolerances were never actually real and that they were intolerances to the fructans in the gluten containing products all along. Just to clarify, gluten is the protein in grains like wheat, barley and rye, while the fructans are the sugars in the same grains. The fact is that many people who are diagnosed with a gluten-intolerance feel much better when they stop ingesting those grains. Fructans are in many other foods as well as in wheat, barley and rye so they wouldn't feel so much better if they had trouble digesting fructans. That says to me that their issue is gluten. However, many people who are told they are gluten intolerant don't feel a whole heap better when they cut out gluten-containing foods so something else has to be going on. That is in fact what led Dr Sue … [Read more...] about Gluten Intolerant or is it the Fodmaps in food? Plus a Feta & Bacon Dip.
Put Yourself First and Low Fodmap Beef Bourguignon
I get almost daily emails from women who are desperate to control their irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. They reach out because they have been in pain for years, often decades, but have lacked the knowledge and the time to help themselves. Unsure of what to do next, they get in touch with me. Women put their needs last Here’s what I’ve discovered after countless emails and many many phone conversations with them. Women put their own needs last in the family, far below those of their children and even farther below those of their husbands. I’ve discovered mothers and wives are simply not used to helping themselves first because they see time spent exclusively on themselves as selfish when the rest of the family could be in need. But what they don’t see is that their ill health is affecting everyone in the family. IBS causes you to be grumpy, often depressed or anxious and unable to fully engage in life’s little pleasures. Irritable bowel syndrome affects everyone in the vicinity, … [Read more...] about Put Yourself First and Low Fodmap Beef Bourguignon
Tomato Sauce – low FODMAP
I get a lot of people on the low Fodmap diet asking what they can do about sauces since so many of them contain either garlic and/or onion. We are kind of brainwashed into thinking that onions and garlic are the base of all flavour and it just isn't true. I made this tomato sauce with very simple ingredients and it tastes great. You can either use it with meats, as a dip or as a pasta sauce. I have used it for all three. If you need a dressing for a salad, the most basic dressing that most of us use actually is low Fodmap - olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add some herbs or a little mustard if you want some extra oomph. And what about mayonnaise? Mayonnaise is also low Fodmap and you can find my recipe in this post. I even make delicious pesto without garlic but with about 1 tsp of garlic-infused oil. So there are no excuses for saying that low Fodmap food is boring because you can't find sauces. 4.9 from 7 reviews Tomato Sauce - low FODMAP Print Author: … [Read more...] about Tomato Sauce – low FODMAP
