“There’s a lot online about the low-FODMAP diet, but the information here is so thorough and well organized that I felt less overwhelmed by the diet. The diet is already helping me feel better, I haven’t felt this good in years, actually! It’s a strict diet so I’m looking forward to the next step, which will let me isolate which foods are the problem. ”
You'll probably need some help getting started.
The FODMAP diet consists of a slowly evolving collection of facts. Most of the information used to create food lists in my books was found in peer-reviewed scientific literature published between 2007 and 2017. Researchers at Monash University have published several papers with FODMAP facts about whole and processed foods. (I co-authored one of them.) There have been no new published data tables since 2017, though Monash continues to analyze foods to provide serving size content for their own app, the Monash University FODMAP diet app.
Which foods are high FODMAP and which ones are low FODMAP? Well, it’s not quite that simple. FODMAP-rich foods can be high-, low-, or medium in FODMAPs, depending on the serving size. One cup of nuts has 4 times more FODMAPs than 1/4 cup of nuts—simple math. Much of the FODMAP approach revolves around the idea that consuming a whole cup of nuts might trigger your IBS symptoms, but a small portion might be well tolerated.
Only a few common foods are so rich in FODMAPs that they can’t be used at all on a low-FODMAP diet. Examples of these are onions, garlic, shallots, cashews, pistachios. and a few dried fruits. More commonly, the low-FODMAP serving sizes of FODMAP-rich foods might be so small that it just isn’t practical to include as part of a meal. Examples of foods having very small low-FODMAP serving sizes include asparagus, Brussels sprouts, apples, and peaches.
The table below is not designed with any particular "cut-offs" for high v. low FODMAPs in mind, but suggests relatively lower FODMAP options for some higher FODMAP favorites. The chart doesn’t include enough detail about serving sizes to be useful for a formal FODMAP elimination diet process, but it is useful for more casual purposes.
As you will note, many higher-FODMAP foods would typically be considered healthy choices. For those who can tolerate them, generous servings of higher FODMAP fruits, vegetables, milk products, legumes and whole grains may be wonderful foods! But people with IBS often have to limit their portions of these foods or suffer the consequences. Luckily there are many nutritious lower-FODMAP foods to choose from.
The information in this chart is up-to-date as of January 2024, and supercedes information in my books or material published before that date.
Click here for a print quality pdf of this chart.
It’s more difficult to figure out the FODMAP status of prepared foods with multiple ingredients. I have pulled together a few useful product ideas for your next shopping list. They appear to be low in FODMAPs based on my reading of the ingredients.
Lists of high- and low-FODMAP foods are nice, but to get the most out of your FODMAP-elimination diet you need a strategy and a plan! That's where my books and dietitian services come in. If you need assistance, consider consulting me as your dietitian.
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“When my doctor suggested I try the FODMAP diet, I was very skeptical. I believed my decades-long IBS pain was too great for a mere diet to alleviate. I looked for a book that explained FODMAPs because I had never heard of them. I wanted a book that was published recently so it had the latest info, explained the science behind the diet (I doubted there was much), had step-by-step instructions (I don’t enjoy diets or making up menus) and had easy recipes (I don’t like to cook). How lucky I was to find Patsy Catsos’ updated book. It felt like Patsy was in the room talking to me. Her book is frank, friendly, supportive and straightforward. I used every tool in her book. She has done all the planning and thinking, so there are grocery lists, simple recipe and meal ideas with photos, forms you fill out to chart your progress (that was the most helpful part for me)...everything you need. I don’t know how to tell you how shocked I was when this “elimination diet” worked for me. It took perseverance, but I did it, and the low-FODMAP way of eating literally changed my life. No more pain, no more side effects from pills, no more devastating IBS symptoms. I bought new clothes, clothes without expandable waists for all the IBS bloating. I eat most anything I want now, but with a few tweaks that have made me pain-free. Read and follow this book. You will not regret it. Patsy’s words will get you through. I hope you have exactly the same success I did.”