Search

Placeholder Content Image

Why the FODMAP diet is not for weight loss

<p>The <a href="https://www.monashfodmap.com/">FODMAP diet</a> is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24076059">used to help manage</a> irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but it’s becoming more popular. Now bloggers and so-called health gurus have jumped on board, claiming it can treat everything from acne to weight loss.</p> <p>While it would be great if the diet did help to manage these hard-to-treat conditions, these claims are closer to science fiction than science.</p> <p><strong>What are FODMAPs?</strong></p> <p>FODMAPs are a group of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24830318">carbohydrates</a> found naturally in a wide range of foods, including garlic, onion, dairy, many fruits and vegetables, breads, cereals, pulses, nuts and many manufactured foods.</p> <p>FODMAP is an acronym that stands for Fermentable Oligo- Di- Monosacharides And Polyols. Our team at Monash University coined the term in 2005 when we <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15948806">showed</a> this group of carbohydrates trigger symptoms of IBS in susceptible people, and reducing all of them together would have a greater impact on IBS symptom relief than reducing any one of them alone.</p> <p><strong>How do FODMAPs lead to IBS?</strong></p> <p>FODMAPs attract water as they <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28592442">pass slowly</a> through the small intestine. They then pass undigested into the large intestine where bacteria ferment them. In people with IBS, this leads to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27144627">excessive gas production and changes in bowel habit</a>, along with many other typical IBS symptoms including pain, bloating and distension.</p> <p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3921083/">One in seven Australian adults</a> are thought to have IBS. Our <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24076059">research</a>, which has been replicated by groups all over the world, has shown the diet reduces IBS symptoms in three out of four sufferers.</p> <p><strong>FODMAP is not a weight loss diet</strong></p> <p>While a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28244658">limited number</a> of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31947991">studies</a> indicate weight loss is an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22739368">unintended consequence</a> of a low FODMAP diet, the diet is ill fit for this purpose. For people needing to lose weight, the food restrictions the FODMAP diet imposes are unnecessary.</p> <p>Unless carefully implemented, the diet can compromise intake of nutrients such as fibre, iron and calcium. This can lead to a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28244658">shortage</a> of these nutrients if the diet is followed strictly long-term.</p> <p>One example of this is the diet restricts intake of prebiotics, the fuel source for good bacteria in our bowel. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25016597">Numerous studies</a> have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22739368">shown</a> an unintended consequence of the FODMAP diet is it changes the composition of the gut microbiota. While the long-term consequences of these changes are unknown, it is not advisable to restrict FODMAPs unnecessarily.</p> <p>There is no scientific evidence to suggest the FODMAP diet reduces acne.</p> <p><strong>How should the FODMAP diet be used?</strong></p> <p>A FODMAP diet is a three step diet best followed under the guidance of an experienced dietitian.</p> <p>People follow the diet strictly at the start, and relax and personalise the dietary restrictions over time. The aim is to strike a balance between adequate symptom control and a minimally restrictive diet.</p> <p>In step 1, people reduce intake of all FODMAP groups below a threshold level. The aim of this step is to reduce IBS symptoms. If IBS symptoms improve sufficiently, people progress to step 2.</p> <p>In step 2, people undertake a series of “food challenges” to determine which FODMAPs they can tolerate.</p> <p>In step 3, well tolerated FODMAPs are brought back into the diet, while poorly tolerated FODMAPs are restricted, but only to a level necessary to control IBS symptoms.</p> <p><strong>Growth in popularity</strong></p> <p>The success of the FODMAP diet is due to its widespread uptake among patients with IBS. Backed by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6202292/">scientific evidence</a>, the diet is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25716701">recommended</a> in various local and international clinical guidelines as a first-line IBS treatment.</p> <p>As consumer demand for low FODMAP food choices grows, some companies have started to adopt Monash University’s low FODMAP certification. Brands like Vegemite, Kellogg’s USA, and Bakers Delight now offer low FODMAP-certified products.</p> <p>But with bloggers and “health gurus” promoting fad diets under the FODMAP name, our research team is spending more time combating disinformation. This takes time away from our research and the support we can offer IBS sufferers.</p> <p>To learn more about the FODMAP diet, visit <a href="https://www.monashfodmap.com/">monashfodmap.com</a>.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131550/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jane-varney-963066">Jane Varney</a>, Senior Research Dietitian in the Department of Gastroenterology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fodmap-diet-is-everywhere-but-researchers-warn-its-not-for-weight-loss-131550">original article</a>.</em></p>

Food & Wine

Placeholder Content Image

Warning about the popular FODMAPs diet

<p>The <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/health/body/2016/03/low-carb-diet-for-irritable-bowel/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">low FODMAP diet</span></strong></a> is a scientifically proven dietary treatment for the management of <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/health/body/2017/04/everything-you-need-to-know-about-irritable-bowel-syndrome/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)</span></strong></a>.</p> <p>"FODMAP" is an acronym for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. These are a collection of short-chain carbohydrates found in foods naturally or as food additives, and they include fructose (when in excess of glucose), lactose, fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), and sugar alcohols (such as sorbitol and mannitol).</p> <p>FODMAPs can pass through the digestive tract into the large intestine, where they are readily fermented by bacteria. This produces gas, which can contribute to bloating and abdominal pain. The presence of these substances in the large bowel can also draw fluid in, which can lead to changes in bowel motions.</p> <p>Given how common IBS is – around one in five New Zealand women have IBS – and the impact that it can have on quality of life, it's no surprise that the low FODMAP diet has become hugely popular.</p> <p>Food companies are now making low FODMAP products, you can find low FODMAP cookbooks in book shops, and blogs, websites and apps provide an enormous amount of information to help people follow the diet.</p> <p>While this can be extremely valuable for those on the diet, it also means that people can now potentially try this on their own without the support of a nutrition professional, and in some cases this can have unintended consequences.</p> <p>Because some FODMAPs have prebiotic effects, namely GOS and fructans, a low FODMAP diet restricts the intake of prebiotic fibres. Prebiotics are the food for our gut bacteria. A prebiotic-rich diet is considered beneficial, and there are concerns that the restriction and/or elimination of these may be detrimental to long-term gut health.</p> <p>Before going down the low FODMAP path, it's important to see your doctor to rule out any other conditions affecting the gut. This is something that a qualified nutrition professional will always check before starting a client on a low FODMAP diet, so people who begin the diet on their own may miss this crucial step.</p> <p>The low FODMAP diet can be quite restrictive and many nutritious foods are high in FODMAPs, so if it is followed long-term without professional guidance, you may also be at risk of nutritional deficiencies.</p> <p>The low FODMAP diet is not a no FODMAP diet. Nor is it a forever diet – it is a tool intended to identify the foods triggering your symptoms. As the diet isn't curative (it is for symptom management only) and work must continue to be done on the gut and digestion to help improve its function.</p> <p>The FODMAP dietary management of IBS consists of stages, with the first stage being the low FODMAP diet. This stage, in which you eliminate high FODMAP foods, is only intended to last for up to six weeks. From here, you begin the challenge/reintroduction phase, where you systematically reintroduce one FODMAP at a time to assess your tolerance.</p> <p>Not everyone reacts to the same FODMAPs (for example, you may only react to one or two of the FODMAPs) or to the same extent, so you don't necessarily need to eat in a way that is completely low FODMAP to manage your symptoms.</p> <p>At the end of this process you should understand which FODMAPs you react to and the doses of these that you can tolerate. You can then personalise the diet to manage your symptoms, without unnecessarily restricting the foods you can eat.</p> <p>Symptoms are only experienced once your overall load for a particular FODMAP exceeds your personal tolerance threshold, so you only need to restrict FODMAPs to the extent required to remain below this. For example, in my experience, some people only need to avoid onion, garlic and apples for adequate symptom relief.</p> <p>If you are interested in trying the low FODMAP diet, I can't encourage you enough to seek guidance from a qualified nutrition professional with experience in this approach.</p> <p><em>Written by Dr Libby. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>

Body

Our Partners

Over 60

© Copyright 2024 OverSixty.All Rights Reserved.