FODMAP is NOT about gluten free!

(BACKGROUND: FODMAPs are five kinds of carbohydrates: fructans, galactans, fructose, lactose, and polyols. For some people, FODMAPs cause digestive problems. A FODMAP diet is where you avoid FODMAPS.)

A lot of FODMAP resources recommend avoiding gluten. This is bad advice: the FODMAP diet is about problem carbohydrates. Gluten is not a carbohydrate; it’s a protein! Avoiding gluten is not a goal of the FODMAP diet.

Here’s why many are confused. Gluten-free products generally do not contain wheat, barley, or rye. These should be avoided on a FODMAP diet. Therefore, FODMAP-sensitive people may have success with some gluten-free products.

But not all! Some gluten-free products have FODMAPs. For example, Rudi’s Multigrain gluten-free bread has inulin. People on a FODMAP diet cannot have inulin; it’s a long-chain polymer of fructose!

So what’s my point? FODMAP dieters will probably end up buying gluten-free products. However, you’re doing it not because of the gluten–a protein–but because of the carbohydrates. Products that contain gluten but do not have the problem carbohydrates, like beer, are generally not a problem on the FODMAP diet.

2 thoughts on “FODMAP is NOT about gluten free!”

  1. I think it is worth keeping in mind that everyone is an individual. In my case I have other things going on (gerd and a rare disease that results in many patients getting both IBS and gluten/wheat allergies as well as dairy.) But, it wouldn’t surprise me if some others with IBS and no added disease couldn’t handle gluten too. There are variations from individual to individual.

    1. I don’t disagree, but the core of the FODMAP diet has nothing to do with gluten. If you have gluten sensitivity issues, then it is from something unrelated to but possibly, as in your case, concurrent with one’s problems digesting certain carbohydrates.

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