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You may have heard of the term FODMAP or FODMAP diet recently and wondering what this means. Fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) are found in everyday foods such as wheat, apples, onions, milk, and yogurt. For some people who experience digestive complaints and conditions such as IBS, these foods can be problematic and contribute to inflammation in the digestive tract.
There are five main FODMAP food groups:
Fructose—certain fruits, honey, and high-fructose corn syrup
Fructans—certain vegetables, wheat and rye in large amounts, inulin, and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS)
Galacto oligosaccharides (GOS)—found in legumes
Lactose—found in milk and milk products, particularly soft, unripened cheeses
Sugar polyols—found in certain fruits, mushrooms, and sugar alcohols (sorbitol, mannitol)
Often times when there is inflammation in the digestive tract, leaky gut syndrome can develop which causes food particle leakage into the blood stream promoting an immune reaction. This can cause skin eruptions, allergies and food intolerances such as FODMAPs. Naturopathic treatment entails identifying and removing some of these less tolerated foods and focus on healing the gut, reducing inflammation and promoting mucosal fusion along the intestinal lining. This process can take anywhere from 3-8 weeks. Once the digestive tract is optimally functioning again, we then look to slowly reintroduce the previously irritating food groups. As the gut is now on its way to becoming healed, the inflammatory and immune mediated reactions should be minimised/eliminated with those problematic foods. Often times after following this treatment plan, people are able to fully digest and absorb most of the FODMAP food groups that would previously cause lots of discomfort.
If you feel like your have lingering digestive complaints and problematic foods in your diet book in for a Naturopathic appointment and we can look at restoring function to your gut so you can enjoy an unrestricted, pain-free diet again!
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