A diet that is low in certain natural sugars can reduce symptoms in patients with certain gut disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
FODMAP stands for fermentable, oligosaccharides (including the fructo-oligosaccharides found in wheat, rye, onion, garlic, leeks, and artichokes, and the galacto-oligosaccharides found in beans, chick peas, and lentils), disaccharides (milk products except hard cheese), monosaccharides (excess fructose, fruits that contain more fructose than glucose, honey, apples, pears, mangos, high-fructose corn syrup), and polyols (sugar alcohols including sorbitol, mannitol, stone fruits, apples and pears, mushrooms, cauliflower, snow peas, maltitol, and xylitol).
Low-Sugar Diet Can Reduce Irritable Bowel Symptoms
November 2, 2011 (National Harbor/Washington, DC) — A diet that is low in certain natural sugars can reduce symptoms in patients with certain gut disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). That is the message that Peter Gibson, MD, head of the Eastern Clinical School at Monash University in Victoria, Australia, shared at this year’s American Journal of Gastroenterology lecture here at American College of Gastroenterology 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course.
His talk — Food Choice as a Key Management Strategy for Functional Gastrointestinal Symptoms — addressed how certain food components can induce or trigger functional gut symptoms, and examined how avoiding those food components can lead to a global improvement in symptoms in patients with functional bowel disorders, including IBS.
If we can recognize what dietary components contribute to problems and reduce their intake, hypothetically, that should reduce symptoms, Dr. Gibson told the packed audience.
Dr. Gibson, who is a proponent and cofounder of a low-FODMAP diet, claims that poorly absorbed short-chain carbohydrates, which are small molecules that are potentially osmotically active and rapidly fermentable, are to blame for gut symptoms such as bloating, wind, abdominal pain, and changes in bowel habits.
FODMAP stands for fermentable, oligosaccharides (including the fructo-oligosaccharides found in wheat, rye, onion, garlic, leeks, and artichokes, and the galacto-oligosaccharides found in beans, chick peas, and lentils), disaccharides (milk products except hard cheese), monosaccharides (excess fructose, fruits that contain more fructose than glucose, honey, apples, pears, mangos, high-fructose corn syrup), and polyols (sugar alcohols including sorbitol, mannitol, stone fruits, apples and pears, mushrooms, cauliflower, snow peas, maltitol, and xylitol).
A number of studies have established the benefits of a low-FODMAP diet for certain patients, Dr. Gibson said. In one study, after just 2 days, patients with IBS who were placed on a high-FODMAP diet experienced increased abdominal pain, bloating, and tiredness.
In another study, patients randomized to a low-FODMAP diet, as opposed to a standard diet, for IBS experienced a marked improvement in symptoms overall.
The Mini-Gastric Bypass (MGB) 