Let us make your life a whole lot easier with our top 5 tips for following the low FODMAP diet!

1. Onion & Garlic Replacers 

Onion and garlic infused oils are a life saver when it comes to adding flavour on the low FODMAP diet. We enjoy using Roasted Onion and Garlic Infused olive oil from Cobram Estate. Alternatively, you can make your own infused oil at home. Simply fry garlic or onion in a pan of oil for a few minutes, then remove them before adding the rest of your ingredients when cooking. We also love using the green tips of spring onion or leeks to give that classic onion flavour. Fresh or dried chives work a treat too! If you want more tips on adding flavour to meals check out our blog post Adding Flavour on the Low FODMAP diet. 

2. FOMDAPs are Water Soluble

The great thing about FODMAPs is that they are water soluble. We can reduce the FODMAPs in food by using water processing methods. This includes boiling, canning and straining. Lower the FODMAPs in vegetables or legumes by boiling them or choose canned options such as canned beetroot and legumes. Remember to rinse and strain your canned foods to remove the leached FODMAPs. 

3. Portion Size is Key 

The FODMAP content of foods is always relative to the portion size. For example, avocado is high FODMAP at a serving size of 80g or more, however 30g is considered low FODMAP. The beauty of this, is that you don’t have to completely cut out all foods containing FODMAPs! We love the Monash App for helping us distinguish between low, medium and high FODMAP serves using their traffic light system. 

4. Hard Cheeses are Low FODMAP

Cheese often gets blamed as the culprit for causing gut issues, and for a selected few this may be true. However, something we wish everyone knew following the low FODMAP diet is that HARD CHEESE IS LOW FODMAP. To put this into perspective; one cup of cow’s milk contains 7g of lactose whereas, two slices of cheese contains 1g of lactose. Most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate about 7g lactose per day if it’s spread throughout the day. This means you can still enjoy the tasty goodness of cheese, whilst sticking to the low FODMAP diet. 

5. Be aware of FODMAP Stacking

FODMAP stacking is a term used to refer to FODMAPs adding up in the gut. If you find yourself feeling bloated and uncomfortable after dinner, it may be the accumulation of FODMAPs you ate over the entire day. To reduce FODMAP stacking, space out your meals 3-4 hours apart. We also recommend focusing on eating more foods naturally low in FODMAPs. If you want more information on FODMAP stacking, check out Monash’s blog post on ‘how to avoid FODMAP stacking’.