Why FODMAPs is NOT the solution to your gut problems

The FODMAPS diet purposefully eliminates the consumption of certain fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables high in the kinds of carbohydrates that feed intestinal organisms (a.k.a. gut flora). The rationale for the concept is that by removing the foods that feed the gut flora, there will be less gas generated in the intestinal tract, and therefore fewer bothersome symptoms like bloating and cramping.

There are a few problems with this so-called solution:

• We are assuming that by restricting FODMAPs foods we are starving only the undesirable organisms in our gut. The problem is that beneficial gut organisms like the lactobacilli genus require FODMAP foods to proliferate. The diet cannot selectively starve the bad and allow the good to thrive.

• By limiting consumption of FODMAPs foods it is more difficult to obtain adequate fibre and the full spectrum of nutrients in the diet.

• Eliminating FODMAP foods is just a band-aid solution to symptoms like gas, bloating, cramping and IBS.  It doesn’t get to the source of the issue: not enough of the beneficial flora and too many of the undesirable kind.  Since our digestive organs are not equipped with enzymes to break down all food ingredients, the micro-organisms in our gut finish the job.  What the flora do once they digest the FODMAPs in foods depends on what species of flora reside there and the size of their colony. It could result in a bit of odourless gas, or it could result in that foul, rotten egg odour.  In the absence of adequate chewing, adequate enzymes and/or flora, food will go through to the stool undigested.

Think of a compost container.  Without worms and other decomposers, the food scraps cannot be transformed into soil.   Bring the right organisms back, and the result is a healthy product of their work: topsoil.  Similarly, without FODMAPS foods, we cannot hope to support the gut microbes that finish off our digestion.

Is FODMAPs working for you and your lifestyle? Are you feeling restricted with your food choices? If you would like to enjoy a wider array of foods, a nutritionist can help you with your IBS symptoms.  Find out more about how.