FODMAP Diet Plan – Get Rid of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Are you suffering from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and looking for permanent solution to getting rid of it?

Here comes the solution for you. FODMAP Diet Plan is an exclusive diet plan devised by researchers in Australia. Having total duration of six to eight weeks, the diet plan will purge your body from IBS and will render you a perfectly hale body. Instead of completely eliminating high FODMAP foods from your diet, the diet plan will rather limit high FODMAP foods and will provide you healthy substitutes to replace them.

Why FODMAP Diet Got Discovered?

You might be thinking, you are the only one in your family and friends, who is suffering from IBS. But, you will be surprised to know that one in seven adults is facing the problem of IBS. No matter whether you are an Asian, American, Australian, or citizen of any other country, no country has been able to keep its citizens immune from IBS.

Having gotten the gravity of disease, FODMAP diet meaning fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, came into existence.

Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

As compared to men, women are more likely to suffer from IBS. Let’s have a look at some of the most common symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

• Constipatio
• Diarrhea
• Bloating
• Abdominal Pain
• Burping
• Flatulence
• Gastrointestinal Disorders

Should you suffer from chronic GI problems and IBS, FODMAP diet plan will safely bring you out from the hold of these troubles.

What FODMAP Diet Plan will Do? 

FODMAP diet plan will sweep all the sinister compounds such as fructose, lactose, fructans, sugar alcohol, and galactans from your diet. These compounds are found in various food items you consume. It’s difficult for your body to digest them. When they reach small intestine, they get fermented by GI bacteria, and get converted into water and gas, which results into all the problems such as acidity, bloating, flatulence etc.

The diet plan will eradicate all the troubleshooting or high FODMAP foods from your diet for six to eight weeks and then will gradually reintroduce banished foods into your diet. There will be introduction of one restricted food in four days.

This stage has been calibrated to see the reaction of your body towards trouble causing foods, and evaluate whether the symptoms of GI problem reappears after consuming them.

Bothersome Compounds in Food Items

Let’s get insight into bothersome compounds of various food items, which are responsible for IBS.

Fructose

Fructose is one of the types of carbs. Food items such as honey, high fructose corn syrup, fruits, agave syrup etc. are rich in fructose. That being said, not all fructose containing fruits and foods are bad and not at all of them are restricted in the plan.

Certain enzymes found in GI tract and carb named glucose are responsible for the metabolism of fructose in your body. And lack of these vital enzymes cause problem in the metabolism of fructose.

Food items having equal ratio of glucose and fructose are comparatively easier for your body to digest than the foods having higher ratio of fructose than glucose. Some of the foods having increased ratio of fructose are apples, mangoes, pears etc. These foods are very likely to trigger abdominal problems in you.

Lactose

Lactose is another kind of carbs found in sheep, goat, and cow milk. Lactase enzyme in your body helps in the digestion of lactose, but partial or total lack of enzyme causes gas problems, stomach pain, bloating, and diarrhea in your body, and symptoms start appearing within thirty minutes of consuming milk or milk based products.

Food items such as yogurt, milk, cottage cheese, ricotta etc. being rich in lactose are prohibited in the diet plan.

Fructans

Fructans are carbs, which get absorbed with the aid of enzymes found in your small intestine. These enzymes break fructose-fructose bond found in fructans to assimilate them. Dearth of enzyme makes it difficult for your body to metabolize fructans, which cause gas, pain, and bloating.

Food items such as onions, wheat, garlic etc. being opulent in fructans are banished in the diet plan.

Galtactans

Just like fructans, your body lacks certain enzymes to digest galactans, due to which the carb remains undigested in your body, and you end up having gas and other GI disorders.

Food items such as lentils and beans being high in galactans are forbidden in the diet plan.

Polyols

Poyols are kind of sugar alcohols found in several fruits and vegetables. Polyols are also externally added into various food items such as cough drops, mints, sugar-free gums, and drugs etc. to add sweetness into them. Polyols affect your bowels and cause many stomach related problems.

How to Follow FODMAP Diet Plan?

First of all, get an expert dietitian who can devise the food map for you. Don’t try to do that on your own because you might feel tempted to add certain food items you like, which are not actually good for you. Nutrition experts will craft the diet plan for you based on your particular body system. And since they are experts, they will also make sure that you get balanced and nutritious diet while going along with the diet plan.

Your chances of showing improvements will indeed increase, if you adhere to the diet plan under the supervision of diet experts. Should you dedicatedly follow the diet plan, you will notice improvement in your symptoms within a week. After a period of six to eight weeks, you are allowed to introduce new foods into your diet, which so far were forbidden. If you see reappearance of the symptoms, don’t insert any new food item in your diet for at least two weeks.

Sample Menu Plan

Let’s have a look at one of the sample menu plans containing low FODMAP foods.

Breakfast – Oats, corn flakes with almond or rice milk, spoonful of chopped almonds, banana

Lunch – White bread sandwich containing spinach leaves, tomato, lettuce, sliced cheddar cheese, or rice noodles, brown rice, beef, chicken, peppers, bok choy without garlic, and onion

Snacks – Mozzarella string cheese, blue diamond almonds, pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes, boiled eggs

Dinner – Salmon with butter, olive oil and sweet potato, spinach with seasoned peppers, salt, pine nuts, kiwi, and green parts of onion.