Tag: fructose

What is the FODMAP diet?

Hi, today’s topic is the low FODMAP diet.

Now I have seen the odd reference to this diet in the past but not really taken any notice. During the last fortnight, Scott has been studying different diets and was talking about a FODMAP diet. A lady I know has also recently stated that she was on a low FODMAP diet.

As this term has started to crop up more often, I started asking Scott more questions. He suggested I do a bit more research and write about it. So I did.

What does FODMAP mean?

The word FODMAP is actually an acronym. FODMAPs are short chain carbohydrates and sugar alcohols that are poorly absorbed by the body, resulting in abdominal pain and bloating. In other words, they are indigestible sugars that provide fast food for bacteria.

They can occur in some foods naturally or as additives.

The acronym stands for:

Fermentable – rapidly broken down by bacteria in the bowel

Oligosaccharides – fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)

Disaccharides – lactose

Monosaccharides – fructose

And

Polyols – sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and maltitol

If this seems too wordy to get your head around, just remember that ‘saccharide’ is simply another word for sugar. Polyols are what we call sugar alcohols – sugar molecules with an alcohol side-chain. You may have heard of some of these sugars or seen them in ingredients lists.

These foods are not necessarily unhealthy products. Some of them contain healthy prebiotics that help stimulate the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. Many of them are otherwise good for you, but for some people, eating or drinking them causes gastrointestinal symptoms.

Who might benefit from a low FODMAP diet?

When FODMAPs are not absorbed well in the small intestine. They increase the amount of fluid in the large intestine (bowel) and they produce more gas.

Symptoms and signs that suggest you may be eating products high in these short chain carbohydrates are:

Gas

Pain

Bloating

Abdominal distention

Abdominal pain

Diarrhea (similar to IBS symptoms)

A feeling of fullness after consuming only a small amount of food or liquid.

What is a low FODMAP diet?

 This diet cuts out many common foods that contain may contain high FODMAP foods.

Such as certain types of vegetables and fruits, beans, lentils, wheat, dairy products with lactose, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners.They are eliminated or severely limited for 3-8 weeks, then gradually reintroduced into a low-FODMAP diet to see if they cause symptoms (elimination diet). It is not meant to be a permanent solution because is very restrictive.

The principle behind the diet is to give the gut a chance to heal, especially if you have gastrointestinal problems like IBS.

This diet may be difficult to follow.  It is advisable to contact a health care professional, like a naturopath or a dietician to make sure that you are on the right track and getting enough dietary nutrients.

 Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

Those ‘Healthy’ recipes and Sugars

Today I am talking about the ‘healthier’ recipes and sugars.

There are many magazines and books available that contain healthy recipes lately. It can be quite a task choosing one that suits your needs. Manufacturers, authors, cafes and restaurants use the term ‘healthy’ very loosely in recent times, as most of us are aware.

Healthy is a buzzword that has been used to describe all sorts of foods.

Focus on Sugar

You may be trying to limit your intake of sugars as part of a healthier diet.  Most people would like to think that recipes for ‘health’ foods and snacks would have less sugars and processed ingredients.

The use of dates or other dried fruits has become popular as a way to sweeten cakes, bliss balls and other desserts.

Fresh fruit contains lots of fluid, which fills us up. Dried fruit is stripped of its water content, which then concentrates the sugar. To put this in perspective:

– Half a cup of fresh cranberries contains 2g of sugar. One cup of dried cranberries contains a whopping 37g, or 9 teaspoons.

– One date is over 60 per cent sugar and 30 per cent of this is fructose.

In my experience, including these ingredients in the recipe is instead of adding processed sugars, as they are sweet enough.

Recently I was looking through a free recipe magazine. Of particular interest were some ‘Bliss Ball’ recipes, as it’s always good to get some new ideas. I was always of the belief that these great little snack balls were developed to help people to make better snack choices.

Consequently it is very disappointing to see that these recipes also included brown sugar in the ingredient list.

Less is Best

People are becoming used to cakes and slices being very sweet. It appears that the authors feel that the addition of extra sweeteners is necessary.

It is a scientific fact that sugar is addictive. Therefore the more sugar we eat, the sweeter we want our food to be. It is a vicious circle that leads to certain decline in our health.

That many people are still having issues with weight gain, is not surprising, with these types of recipes being published as a healthier option.

At the end of the day, everyone is looking for his or her own version of a healthy diet. Each of us has different needs and goals.

Our preference is to reduce our sugar intake. Over the past couple of years we have managed to remove added sugars from most of our diet. We have found that over time, the less sugar we consume, the less we crave or can eat.

Till the next post,

 

Live clean n Prosper