The FODMAP approach for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
What are FODMAPs and what do they have to do with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)?
If you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) you most likely have a strong sense about what triggers your symptoms. If you believe that food is a trigger, you may be looking for a way to figure out which foods are a problem.
The FODMAP approach, developed by the Monash University in Australia, is used by people with IBS to help with this detective work. I completed FODMAP training with Monash University in July 2024.
FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates that are fermented by bacteria in the large intestine. This breakdown process leads to pain and other symptoms in people with IBS. The FODMAP acronym stands for “Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols.” In practice, the focus is on galacto-oligosaccarides (GOS), fructans, lactose, fructose, sorbitol, mannitol and the foods that contain them.
The FODMAP approach is not a diet to be strictly followed long-term. The elimination diet in the first phase is used in the short-term to alleviate symptoms and lay the groundwork for figuring out which foods exacerbate your IBS symptoms.
There are three phases to the FODMAP approach:
In the first phase of the FODMAP approach, high FODMAP foods are removed from the diet. If these eliminations produce positive results in terms of symptom relief, FODMAPs are likely a problem.
To figure out which FODMAPS are an issue, high FODMAP foods are systematically reintroduced in the second phase. This is an opportunity to figure out which FODMAPs and how much of each you can tolerate.
The third phase of the FODMAP approach brings together everything you learned in the first two phases. Your own personal FODMAP-friendly diet takes shape where you'll include as many FODMAP-rich foods as you can in the amounts you know you tolerate well.
Your tolerance of FODMAPs may change overtime. The FODMAP approach is iterative - you’re encouraged to re-challenge foods found to be a problem in phase 2. In this way, your diet will continue to expand over time to include as wide a diversity of foods as possible.