The term FODMAPS is an acronym that stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. They are a collection of poorly absorbed simple and complex sugars that are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables and also in milk and wheat. After digestion of a meal, they pass through the stomach and small intestine unchanged and are either fermented by colonic bacteria releasing gas or expelled together with fluid. Thus in people with a sensitive gut of IBS, they can causes symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
What foods contain FODMAPs?
- Some Vegetables. Onions and garlic, pulses (peas, beans and lentils) and brassicas (cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and sprouts) can tend to generate a lot of gas. Beetroot can tend to make the bowels loose.
- Wheat may also be a problem in some people. Link to paper on The Problem with Wheat.
- Fruits. Stone fruits (such as plums, prunes, peaches, nectarines, apricots.) Apples and pears. Fruit juice concentrate.
- Milk and dairy products containing lactose. This only applies to people who are lactase deficient.
- Some sweets. Sorbitol in chewing gum and sugar free mints. High fructose corn syrup (used as a sweetener in many drinks, ready meals)
Diet Treatment FODMAP
Below are two lists of FODMAP unfriendly and FODMAP friendly foods. Generally trying to stop usage of the bads foods is advisable but if you really need certain items try and keep the usage down to a minimum. Onion and garlic are particularly bad triggers and should be avoided as best as you can. Always look at ingredient lists and try and look for the main culprits: onion, garlic and wheat products. Try and keep fruit to one portion per meal and avoid processed foods.
High FODMAP food (things to avoid / reduce)
Vegetables and Legumes
Garlic – avoid entirely if possible
- Onions – avoid entirely if possible
- Try Garlic and Onion infused oils
- Artichoke
- Asparagus
- Baked beans
- Beetroot
- Black beans
- Black eyed peas
- Broad beans
- Butter beans
- Cassava
- Cauliflower
- Celery – greater than 5cm of stalk
- Cho cho
- Choko
- Falafel
- Haricot beans
- Kidney beans
- Lima beans
- Leek bulb
- Mange Tout
- Mung beans
- Mushrooms
- Peas, sugar snap
- Red kidney beans
- Savoy Cabbage
- Soy beans / soya beans
- Split peas
- Scallions / spring onions (bulb / white part)
- Shallots
- Taro
Fruit – fruits can contain high fructose
- Apples
- Apricots
- Avocado
- Blackberries
- Boysenberry
- Cherries
- Currants
- Custard apple
- Dates
- Feijoa
- Figs
- Goji berries
- Grapefruit
- Guava, unripe
- Lychee
- Mango
- Nectarines
- Paw paw, dried
- Peaches
- Pears
- Persimmon
- Pineapple, dried
- Plums
- Pomegranate
- Prunes
- Raisins
- Sultanas
- Tamarillo
- Tinned fruit in apple / pear juice
- Watermelon
Meats, Poultry and Meat Substitutes
- Chorizo
- Sausages
- Processed meat – check ingredients
Cereals, Grains, Breads, Biscuits, Pasta, Nuts and Cakes
- Wheat containing products such as (be sure to check labels):
- Biscuits including chocolate chip biscuits
- Bread, wheat – over 1 slice
- Breadcrumbs
- Cakes
- Cereal bar, wheat based
- Croissants
- Crumpets
- Egg noodles
- Muffins
- Pastries
- Pasta, wheat over 1/2 cup cooked
- Udon noodles
- Wheat bran
- Wheat cereals
- Wheat flour
- Wheat noodles
- Wheat rolls
- Wheatgerm
- Almond meal
- Amaranth flour
- Barley including flour
- Bran cereals
- Bread:
- Granary bread
- Multigrain bread
- Naan
- Oatmeal bread
- Pumpernickel bread
- Roti
- Sourdough with kamut
- Cashews
- Cous cous
- Einkorn flour
- Freekeh
- Gnocchi
- Granola bar
- Muesli cereal
- Muesli bar
- Pistachios
- Rye
- Rye crispbread
- Semolina
- Spelt flour
Condiments, Dips, Sweets, Sweeteners and Spreads
- Agave
- Caviar dip
- Fructose
- Fruit bar
- Gravy, if it contains onion
- High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- Hummus / houmous
- Honey
- Jam, mixed berries
- Jam, strawberry, if contains HFCS
- Pesto sauce
- Quince paste
- Relish / vegetable pickle
- Stock cubes
- Sugar free sweets containing polyols – usually ending in -ol or isomalt
- Sweeteners:
- Inulin
- Isomalt
- Maltitol
- Mannitol
- Sorbitol
- Xylitol
- Tahini paste
- Tzatziki dip
Prebiotic Foods
- The follow items may be hiding in yoghurts, snack bars etc:
- FOS – fructooligosaccharides
- Inulin
- Oligofructose
Drinks
- Beer – if drinking more than one bottle
- Coconut water
- Cordial, apple and raspberry with 50-100% real juice
- Cordial, orange with 25-50% real juice
- Fruit and herbal teas with apple added
- Fruit juices in large quantities
- Fruit juices made of apple, pear, mango
- Orange juice in quantities over 100ml
- Rum
- Sodas containing High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
- Soy milk made with soy beans – commonly found in USA
- Sports drinks
- Tea:
- Black tea with added soy milk
- Chai tea, strong
- Dandelion tea, strong
- Fennel tea
- Chamomile tea
- Herbal tea, strong
- Oolong tea
- Wine – if drinking more than one glass
Dairy Foods
- Buttermilk
- Cheese, cream
- Cheese, Halmoumi
- Cheese, ricotta
- Cream
- Custard
- Gelato
- Ice cream
- Kefir
- Milk:
- Cow milk
- Goat milk
- Evaporated milk
- Sheep’s milk
- Sour cream
- Yoghurt – including greek yogurt
Cooking ingredients
- Carob powder
Low FODMAP food (good to eat food)
If quantities are given these are the highest amount allowed
Vegetables and Legumes
- Alfalfa
- Bamboo shoots
- Bean sprouts
- Bok choy / pak choi
- Broccoli – 1/2 cup
- Brussel sprouts – 1 serving of 2 sprouts
- Butternut squash – 1/4 cup
- Cabbage, common and red up to 1 cup
- Callaloo
- Carrots
- Celeriac
- Celery – less than 5cm of stalk
- Chicory leaves
- Chick peas – 1/4 cup
- Chilli – if tolerable
- Chives
- Cho cho
- Choy sum
- Collard greens
- Corn / sweet corn – if tolerable and only in small amounts – 1/2 cob
- Courgette
- Cucumber
- Eggplant / aubergine
- Fennel
- Green beans
- Green pepper / green bell pepper / green capsicum
- Ginger
- Kale
- Karela
- Leek leaves
- Lentils – in small amounts
- Lettuce:
- Butter lettuce
- Iceberg lettuce
- Radicchio lettuce
- Red coral lettuce
- Rocket lettuce
- Marrow
- Okra
- Olives
- Parsnip
- Peas, snow – 5 pods
- Potato
- Pumpkin
- Pumpkin, canned – 1/4 cup, 2.2 oz
- Radish
- Red peppers / red bell pepper / red capsicum
- Scallions / spring onions (green part)
- Seaweed / nori
- Silverbeet / chard
- Spaghetti squash
- Spinach, baby
- Squash
- Sun-dried tomatoes – 4 pieces
- Swede
- Swiss chard
- Sweet potato – 1/2 cup
- Tomato – canned, cherry, common, roma
- Turnip
- Water chestnuts
- Yam
- Zucchini
Fruit
- Ackee
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Breadfruit
- Carambola
- Cantaloupe
- Cranberry
- Clementine
- Dragon fruit
- Grapes
- Guava, ripe
- Honeydew and Galia melons
- Kiwifruit
- Lemon including lemon juice
- Lime including lime juice
- Mandarin
- Orange
- Passion fruit
- Paw paw
- Papaya
- Pineapple
- Plantain, peeled
- Raspberry
- Rhubarb
- Strawberry
- Tamarind
- Tangelo
Meats, Poultry and Meat Substitutes
- Beef
- Chicken
- Kangaroo
- Lamb
- Pork
- Prosciutto
- Quorn, mince
- Turkey
- Cold cuts / deli meat / cold meats such as ham and turkey breast
Fish and Seafood
- Canned tuna
- Fresh fish e.g.
- Cod
- Haddock
- Plaice
- Salmon
- Trout
- Tuna
- Seafood (ensuring nothing else is added) e.g.
- Crab
- Lobster
- Mussels
- Oysters
- Prawns
- Shrimp
Cereals, Grains, Breads, Biscuits, Pasta, Nuts and Cakes
- Wheat free breads
- Gluten free breads
- Bread:
- Corn bread
- Oat bread
- Rice bread
- Spelt sourdough bread
- Potato flour bread
- Wheat free or gluten free pasta
- Bread, wheat – 1 slice
- Almonds – max of 15
- Biscuit, savoury
- Biscuit, shortbread – 1 only
- Brazil nuts
- Bulgur / bourghal – 1/4 cup cooked, 44g serving
- Buckwheat
- Buckwheat flour
- Buckwheat noodles
- Brown rice / whole grain rice
- Chestnuts
- Chips, plain / potato crisps, plain
- Cornflour / maize
- Crispbread
- Corncakes
- Cornflakes – 1/2 cup
- Coconut – milk, cream, flesh
- Corn tortillas, 3 tortillas
- Crackers, plain
- Hazelnuts – max of 15
- Macadamia nuts
- Millet
- Mixed nuts
- Oatmeal, 1/2 cup
- Oats
- Oatcakes
- Peanuts
- Pecans – max of 15
- Pine nuts – max of 15
- Polenta
- Popcorn
- Porridge and oat based cereals
- Potato flour
- Pretzels
- Quinoa
- Pasta, wheat – up to 1/2 cup cooked
- Rice:
- Basmati rice
- Brown rice
- Rice noodles
- White rice
- Rice bran
- Rice cakes
- Rice crackers
- Rice flakes
- Rice flour
- Rice Krispies
- Seeds:
- Chia seeds
- Egusi seeds
- Poppy seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Starch, maize, potato and tapioca
- Sorghum
- Tortilla chips / corn chips
- Walnuts
Condiments, Dips, Sweets, Sweeteners and Spreads
- Aspartame
- Acesulfame K
- Barbecue sauce
- Capers in vinegar
- Capers, salted
- Chocolate:
- Dark chocolate
- Milk chocolate – 3 squares
- White chocolate – 3 squares
- Chutney, 1 tablespoon
- Fish sauce
- Garlic infused oil
- Golden syrup
- Glucose
- Jam / jelly, strawberry
- Ketchup (USA) – 1 sachet
- Maple syrup
- Marmalade
- Marmite
- Mayonnaise – ensuring no garlic or onion in ingredients
- Miso paste
- Mustard
- Oyster sauce
- Pesto sauce – less than 1 tbsp
- Peanut butter
- Rice malt syrup
- Saccharine
- Shrimp paste
- Soy sauce
- Stevia
- Sweet and sour sauce
- Sucralose
- Sugar – also called sucrose
- Tamarind paste
- Tomato sauce (outside USA) – 2 sachets, 13g
- Vegemite
- Vinegars:
- Apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp
- Balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp
- Rice wine vinegar
- Wasabi
- Worcestershire sauce
Drinks
- Alcohol – is an irritant to the gut, limited intake advised:
- Beer – limited to one drink
- Clear spirits such as Vodka
- Gin
- Whiskey
- Wine – limited to one drink
- Coffee:
- Espresso coffee, regular or decaffeinated, black
- Espresso coffee, regular or decaffeinated, with up to 250ml lactose free milk
- Instant coffee, regular or decaffeinated, black
- Instant coffee, regular or decaffeinated, with up to 250ml lactose free milk
- Drinking chocolate powder
- Espresso, regular, black
- Fruit juice, 125ml and safe fruits only
- Lemonade – in low quantities
- Malted chocolate powder e.g. Milo, Horlicks – 3 tsp
- Protein supplement
- Soya milk made with soy protein
- Sugar free fizzy drinks / soft drinks / soda – such as diet coke, in low quantities as aspartame and acesulfame k can be irritants
- ‘Sugar’ fizzy drinks / soft drinks / soda that do no contain HFCS such as lemonade, cola. Limit intake due to these drinks being generally unhealthy and can cause gut irritation
- Tea:
- Black tea, weak e.g. PG Tips
- Chai tea, weak
- Fruit and herbal tea, weak – ensure no apple added
- Green tea
- Peppermint tea
- White tea
- Water
Dairy Foods and Eggs
- Butter
- Cheese:
- Brie
- Camembert
- Cheddar
- Cottage
- Feta
- Goat / chevre
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan
- Ricotta – 2 tablespoons
- Swiss
- Dairy free chocolate pudding
- Eggs
- Margarine
- Milk:
- Almond milk
- Hemp milk
- Lactose free milk
- Oat milk – 30 ml, enough for cereal
- Rice milk – upto 200ml per sitting
- Sorbet
- Soy protein (avoid soya beans)
- Swiss cheese
- Tempeh
- Tofu – drained and firm varieties
- Whipped cream
- Yoghurt, lactose free
Cooking ingredients, Herbs and Spices
- Herbs: Basil, Cilantro, Coriander, Curry leaves, Fenugreek, Gotukala, Lemongrass, Mint, Oregano, Pandan, Parsley, Rampa, Rosemary, Tarragon, Thyme
- Spices: All spice, Black pepper, Cardamon, Chilli powder, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cumin, Curry powder, Fennel seeds, Five spice, Goraka, Mustard seeds, Nutmeg, Paprika, Saffron, Star anise, Turmeric
- Oils: avocado oil, canola oil, coconut oil, olive oil, peanut oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil
- Asafoetida powder – great onion substitute
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cacao powder
- Cocoa powder
- Cream, 1/2 cup
- Gelatine
- Ghee
- Icing sugar
- Lard
- Salt