IBS--Free at Last!

Orgran Gluten Substitute

Wheat-free baking can be a real challenge. Gluten, one of the proteins in wheat, gives baked goods a characteristic structure and texture. Finding a substitute for gluten in baked goods is an ongoing project for food companies and home bakers. A reader has asked me to evaluate Orgran Gluten Substitute for a FODMAPS-elimination diet.

The nutrition information says there is no fiber, so therefore no (measurable) fructans or galactans. Also, there are no (measurable) sugars, thus no lactose, fructose or sugar alcohols. It is highly unlikely, therefore, that the remaining carbohydrates in the product would contain enough fermentable, osmotically active carbohydrates to meet the definition of a FODMAP.This product is probably fine for a FODMAPS-elimination diet.

If you have used this product, please leave a comment and let us know how it worked in your kitchen!

Ingredients: Superfine rice flour, pea extract, maize starch, vegetable derived gums & cellulose, guar gum, methylcellulose, carboxymethycellulose, monoglycerides from vegetable.

NUTRITION FACTS
Serving Size 10g/0.3 oz.
Servings per pack 20
Calories 30 Calories from fat 0
Amount per serving - %DV
Total Fat 0g - 0%
Saturated Fat 0g - 0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg - 0%
Sodium 0.1mg - 0%
Total Carb 5.6g - 2%
Dietary Fiber 0g - 0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0%
Iron 0%

Source for ingredients and nutrition information: www.celiac.com

FODMAPS in Coffee?

According to the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, coffee does not contain fiber, and would therefore FODMAPS-friendly. However, I have just become aware of some recently published details about the nutrient composition of coffee (J Agric Food Chem, 2007, 55, pgs 1999-2003).

According to this report, the average 9-ounce "cup" of filtered coffee contains 1.3 grams of fiber. Most of the fiber is a fermentable type, and would be defined as FODMAPS, in the galactans category. People who drink three "cups" of coffee a day could be consuming about 4 grams of fiber, equal to the amount in 1/4 cup of cooked beans. Who knew?

Many people, including me, would find it very difficult to give up coffee entirely for even a week or two, to do a completely FODMAPS-free elimination phase. I'm going to suggest, instead, that people undertaking the FODMAPS elimination diet cut back on coffee somewhat, but not to the point that would cause caffeine withdrawal symptoms, during the elimination phase.

If you decide to be a purist, you could wean yourself off coffee over a week's time--watch out for rebound caffeine-withdrawal headaches if you do this. Then, after the elimination phase of the diet, you could add de-caf coffee back during the galactans challenge. Challenge with decaf to avoid confusion about the impact of caffeine itself on bowel habits.

Once in a while someone who is apparently a good candidate for the FODMAPS elimination diet doesn't improve much during the elimination phase. Before calling the experiment a failure, it might make sense at that point to completely wean off coffee and see if any further improvement takes place.

High Performance Energy Sources

I've had several endurance athlete-clients lately looking for an appropriate energy source to use during competition that won't cause bloating and gas. During long events, a large FODMAPS load can be consumed, especially if the product used contains more fructose than glucose. Watching the Olympic games tonight, I was inspired to search for a product to recommend, and I found one: Raspberry PowerBar Gel Blasts energy chews. The web site for the product states that the ratio of glucose to fructose is 2:1--very favorable. Even so, each person has a maximum threshold for fructose absorption, so it's still possible to overdo--too much of a good thing. Do you have a favorite high-energy competition product that doesn't aggravate your IBS?

Which Tomato Products are FODMAPS-Friendly?

Fresh tomatoes contain fructose in very small amounts. They are FODMAPS-friendly. However, when tomatoes are processed into tomato paste, the fructose is concentrated a great deal. According to one of my favorite references, Cook's Thesaurus, just 1tablespoon of tomato paste is equivalent to 1 medium tomato! So tomato paste is NOT allowed during the elimination phase of a FODMAPS-elimination diet. Depending where you are in the world, tomato paste may be called tomato puree or tomato concentrate, so check food labels for all these terms.

Check the nutrition facts on the label to see how the product compares to fresh tomatoes (2 grams sugar per 1/2 cup) versus tomato paste (16 grams sugar per 1/2 cup). This tip assumes the product has no sugar added as an ingredient, and that the sugar listed on the nutrition facts panel is all coming from the natural sugars in the tomato.

After reading the label, if you're still not sure whether the tomato product you have is OK to eat during the elimination phase, you may have to open the can and look inside. Whole canned tomatoes or diced canned tomatoes with watery-looking juice in the can are OK to eat during the elimination phase of the diet. If the juice in the can is thicker than water, transfer the contents to a a freezer-safe container, stash in the freezer, and wait until the fructose challenge phase to eat this tomato product.

Fructans 101

Fructans are a group of food fibers. As you might guess from the name, fructans are chains of ring-shaped fructose sugars. Humans don't have what it takes to break these chains apart, so the fructose in the chains is not absorbed in the small intestine where other sugars are absorbed. When these dietary fibers reach the large intestine, they are fermented by the bacteria that live there, producing gas. This is no problem for many people, and sometimes fructans are even deliberately added to foods or probiotic supplements for the specific purpose of feeding the "good" bacteria. But for some people with IBS, the gas causes painful bloating.

By far the largest source of fructans in the Western diet is wheat.It accounts for 70% of our fructans intake. The second biggest source is onions, followed by garlic and unripe bananas. You can recognize added fructans in your food or supplements by the names "inulin" or "FOS".

It is important to note that even though wheat happens to be the primary source of fructans in our diets, intolerance of this kind has nothing to do with the wheat protein, gluten, which those with celiac disease must avoid. For a more complete discussion of fructans intolerance versus gluten intolerance, please see my recent guest post on the Kitchen Therapy blog.