It's the FODMAP Life

I have lived with irritable bowel syndrome for decades. I was recently trying to figure out why I waited so long to address it. For many years, I only had an ob-gyn, no GP. Maybe that’s why. Also the symptoms seemed like something you just have to suffer through, gas and bloating being the worst. I guess it didn’t seem serious enough.

I self-treated for YEARS using every nutritional supplement on the market. I did colon cleanses. I went to a naturopath for acupuncture; she gave me wicked strong herbs for SIBO, which I may or may not have actually had. Finally, I saw an actual GI specialist. After running tests to rule out any sinister causes (hello, my first colonoscopy), he officially diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome and handed me a sheet of paper listing the basics of a restrictive diet called “low-FODMAP.”

FODMAP is an acronym that stands for “fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols”—classes of starch found in many common fruits, vegetables, and grains. Eliminate them fully for a time to get symptoms under control, then systematically add them back to test what your particular offenders are. So simple!

This approach dramatically reduced my symptoms. Still, I can have ridiculous bloating. I am skinny, and it’s not unusual for me to sport an apparent five-month baby bump. I complained about this to my GI doc, who shrugged and said, “Well, you have a functional bowel disease.” Translation: My bowels don’t function properly. I need to learn acceptance. This is probably as good as it gets. At least I have largely eliminated my most dreadful symptom, what he called “room-clearing gas.” (Charming.)

There are many foods I avoid entirely now or eat verrrry sparingly, and honestly I barely miss them: dried fruit, fruit juice, high-fructose corn syrup, alcohol sugars, onions, legumes, soda. And others I can eat but have to watch the portions. I used to love making smoothies that contained probably five servings of fruit. BIG no-no (it’s called stacking). I watch how much sugar I take in because too much sugar upsets your gut flora. And speaking of gut flora, these days I nurture my gut with real foods instead of supplements: kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi for probiotics, plus lots of healthy fats and oils.

Unfortunately, I still get occasional flare-ups. One to two days of intermittent fasting usually gets me back on track, along with drinking hot water mixed with turmeric and slippery elm.

The best resources to learn more are the Monash smartphone app and Facebook groups dedicated to the elimination diet.