If you answered yes to the question above, you are not alone. Some of the most common digestive health disorders that affect people in Vancouver, Canada and all of North America are Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease, and Ulcerative Colitis. Although these conditions have been a problem for many years, we still don’t have a simple answer when it comes to diet. If you ask your doctor, he or she may tell you diet will not help you. If you ask me, a registered dietitian specializing in digestive health, I will tell you there is enough science to show us that nutrition and diet can have a large impact on managing IBS and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) symptoms, as well as improving your overall quality of life.
Lactose-free, wheat-free, onion-free, garlic-free… but WHY??
Sound difficult? It can be! I am currently my own client for a low FODMAP diet. This diet was created by Dr. Sue Sheppard (also an RD with celiac disease) and Dr. Peter Gibson, who developed and implemented the first scientific research studies on eating low FODMAP foods and their effects on gastrointestinal health.
You’re probably wondering what this weird word “FODMAP” means. First, it’s an acronym. It stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols. Now you’re probably wondering what all these strange, long, hard-to-pronounce words mean. Simply put, they are all short chain carbohydrates or sugars (what the term ‘saccharide’ means). Why a low FODMAP diet? Because people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and even some with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) can hugely benefit.