Easy Low FODMAP Recipes: Try These 3 Gut-Friendly Delights!
Video Transcript:
Hi everyone. Welcome back. If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS or other digestive issues, you've probably heard of the low FODMAP diet. The goal of this diet is to alleviate digestive symptoms by eliminating certain carbohydrates that can contribute to digestive discomfort.
Living with digestive issues can be challenging, but finding simple recipes that are easy on the gut can really make things less stressful.
In today's blog, we are going to discuss the low FODMAP diet and why this may benefit individuals struggling with IBS symptoms, as well as give you three simple and easy low FODMAP recipes to try at home.
I'm Katie Bailey. I'm a Gut health dietitian at Oswald Digestive Clinic, where we help individuals improve and resolve their bothersome gut issues like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and more.
If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms and would like to work with our clinic, you can schedule an appointment. Download our free guide: Five Ways to Improve Your Gut Health, as well, in case you want to get started right away.
So what is a low FODMAP diet?
Like I mentioned before, the FODMAP diet was designed to help individuals with IBS as well as other digestive issues manage their symptoms.
FODMAP is an acronym for fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.
These are all types of carbohydrates that can be difficult for some individuals to digest, which can lead to symptoms such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
The goal is to reduce high FODMAP foods and replace them with low FODMAP foods in an effort to relieve symptoms.
Ideally, once your symptoms are resolved, you could start reintroducing foods back in one at a time to determine what your individual food triggers may be.
So when should this diet be used?
People who experience digestive issues or who have been diagnosed with IBS but have not had success with other dietary changes could consider trying this diet.
Studies have shown that following a low FODMAP diet has provided many individuals with relief from gas, bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
When first starting out with this diet, it can be very overwhelming, so I would highly recommend you work with a healthcare professional to really help you implement the diet as well as the reintroduction phase correctly.
It's important to remember that no two people are the same, and this diet may need to be tweaked in order to meet your individual needs. If this is something you are interested in trying, we'd be happy to help you. You can schedule an appointment with us.
3 Easy Low Fodmap Recipes You Can Try!
Okay, now that you have an understanding of what the low FODMAP diet is, let's get started on the recipes.
The first recipe is a Peanut butter protein bar. Now, this is an easy snack option that can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge of the freezer. They are packed with protein and healthy fats and only contain low FODMAP ingredients.
For this recipe, you're going to need:
3/4 of a cup of natural peanut butter
1/2 a cup of vanilla protein powder
two tablespoons of coconut oil
two cups rolled oats
1/3 of a cup of maple syrup
three tablespoons of ground flaxseed
two tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
3/4 of a cup of dark chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
The first thing you're going to want to do is to place the peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil in a saucepan and slowly melt it over low heat. Once it's melted, you're going to turn off the heat and remove the saucepan to let it cool, and it should look like this.
Now we're going to add all the other ingredients into the mixing bowl ball. You're going to want to add the chocolate chips last so they don't melt. You may need to add a little bit of water just to get it completely mixed.
You want to be able to smoosh it with your fingers like this so they can be pressed into the pan. You want to get an eight by eight dish and you want to take some parchment paper and put it in the bottom of the pan. And then dump all the ingredients into the pan.
The last thing you want to do is get a piece of parchment paper and really push down the rest of the mixture into the bottom of the pan, nice and compressed, and then you're going to put this in the refrigerator and let refrigerate for an hour, and then you can slice it into the size that you'd like.
I also wanted to mention that not all protein powders are low fodmap. So to help you out, I recommend a fantastic low FODMAP protein powder option to support your dietary needs.
The second recipe is a Strawberry kiwi tropical smoothie. Now this recipe is a well-balanced simple breakfast that you can take on the go.
For this recipe, you're going to need:
two and 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 a cup of frozen or fresh pineapple
1/4 cup of vanilla protein powder
two cups of frozen strawberries
two tablespoons of chia seeds
two kiwi and one small zucchini chopped
You want to add all your ingredients to a blunder, blend the smoothie until smooth. If you wanted to, you could even prepare the ingredients ahead of time and place them in freezer bags.
When you're ready to make the smoothie, then you just add the ingredients from the freezer bag into the blender with your liquid blend and enjoy.
The last recipe is Peanut butter cup overnight oats. This breakfast recipe is great for meal prep and it's also a flavorful and satisfying breakfast option.
For this recipe, you're going to need:
one and a half cups of unsweetened almond milk
1/2 a cup of water
one and a half cups of quick oats
one tablespoon of cocoa powder
two tablespoons of chia seeds
two tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 cup of natural peanut butter
Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl and mix until combined. Once combined, you're going to cover it and let it sit in the fridge overnight. So there you have it, the peanut butter protein bars, the strawberry Kiwi tropical smoothie, and the peanut butter cup overnight oats.
If you'd like to start creating your own low FODMAP meals and snacks at home, the first thing that you want to do is to learn which foods are your high FODMAP foods and which ones are your low FODMAP foods.
Then when you're cooking or looking for recipes, you can try changing, the high FODMAP foods or ingredients to the low FODMAP alternatives. If you need assistance learning about the FODMAP diet, I highly recommend you work with a dietitian or a nutritionist.
There are other resources as well that are helpful, like the FODMAP app from Monash University, which helps you determine which foods are high FODMAP and which foods are low FODMAP.
Lastly, I wanted to mention that....
the FODMAP diet is not intended for long-term use because it's so restrictive. It is a short-term intervention to help alleviate symptoms and find food triggers.
The diet is typically followed for six to eight weeks, after which high FODMAP foods are then reintroduced gradually to determine an individual's tolerance to that particular food.
It's important to remember that we are all unique and there are other factors that can contribute to digestive issues like stress, lack of sleep, and other medical conditions.
By working with a professional, they can not only help you with the diet, but they can also explore any other possible causes of your symptoms.
To wrap up our topic for today, I encourage you to try these three easy low FODMAP recipes and let us know what you think.
I hope that you found this blog to be helpful, and if you're interested in working with our clinic, you can click the link below.
If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic. We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.
Or you can just start by downloading our FREE GUIDE: 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE GUT HEALTH
