- A lot of people are not going to like
what I'm about to say,
but this is something that's really important,
and it's something you need to know.
Now, the fact of the matter is, the FODMAP diet is risky.
It's not without its dangers, and it can cause big issues
that actually make your gut health even worse.
Now, in this quick video,
I want to explain why that is and how you can make sure
that the FODMAP diet benefits you.
First, just to quickly introduce myself,
my name is Joe Leech.
I am a dietitian.
I write about FODMAPs and other digestive issues
at dietvsdisease.org, so if you want more information,
you can always visit the website.
So here's the main issue here.
So many people do so well and feel so good
after following a low FODMAP diet
that they don't ever wanna eat a high FODMAP food again.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
Problem is, that's not the right mentality here,
because the low FODMAP diet is actually split
into two main phases.
You have the elimination phase and the reintroduction phase,
and they are equally as important as each other
and they must go hand-in-hand.
Only doing the elimination phase of the diet
and not the reintroduction phase
is kinda like having a hole in your boat,
and instead of filling in the hole and sealing it properly,
you just put a bit of tape over the top.
At first, everything seems fine
if you take your boat out on the lake,
but slowly water is gonna start coming in
and spreading out and damaging other areas,
and potentially the whole boat could sink.
Of course, what you should've done was filled
and plugged the hole properly before you went any further,
and that's what you're doing
when you do the reintroduction phase of the low FODMAP diet.
So you're committing to go from the beginning to the end
or to go the distance in terms of improving your gut health
and discovering what your major FODMAP
and food intolerances are.
So, yeah, not doing the reintroduction phase is
where this diet becomes really risky.
Is this making sense so far?
If it is, just leave a yes in the comments
or like the video so I know that the style
and way I'm teaching is actually useful.
Okay, so now I wanna show you four of the major reasons
why you wanna reintroduce FODMAPs
if you've been following the diet.
Now, the first one is that FODMAPs are prebiotics, okay.
Prebiotics.
So a prebiotic is food
for the healthy gut bacteria that reside inside you, okay,
not to be confused with probiotics,
which refers to the actual bacterial strain.
FODMAPs act as food,
and particularly the ones that act as food, I'll do it red,
are fructans
and galactooligosaccharides.
I ain't gonna write that word,
'cause I'll spell it wrong for starters,
but GOS we call it for short.
Now, when you follow a low FODMAP diet,
you are heavily restricting these basically,
so you are, in a way, starving the healthy bacteria
of the food they need, and they can die off that way.
Now, two studies on the low FODMAP diet have shown
that following it does change the diversity and balance
of our gut bacteria in as little as three to four weeks,
specifically the numbers
of the beneficial bifidobacteria species go down.
And it's thought that over the long term,
if it remains that way,
it could have negative implications for health.
Okay, so number two is that variety
in your diet is important for nutrition.
So unsurprisingly, medical exclusion diets
do make it more difficult
for you to meet your daily nutritional requirements.
And this is no different when following a low FODMAP diet.
Now, studies show that people who follow the diet
typically have a decreased intake of fiber, that's for sure.
Apologize for my writing; it's awful.
Decreased intake of calcium.
And decreased intake of iron,
and a lot of people already have problems with iron.
So by completing the re-challenge phase of this diet,
you'll be able to recognize
what foods you can actually safely reintroduce
and improve your overall nutrition
by eating a wider variety of foods.
Now, you'll be surprised at how many foods
you're actually unnecessarily restricting
during the elimination phase.
Number three is that the FODMAP diet is socially awkward.
Let's highlight awkward a few more times.
Now, we don't need any studies to prove that one to us.
The fact of the matter is,
if you're following the elimination phase of a FODMAP diet,
the really restrictive phase,
then eating out becomes really difficult.
And you actually can even feel,
make you feel even more anxious about eating out,
'cause you're scared
that you're gonna eat something high FODMAP.
The thing is, once you know your food triggers,
this makes eating out
and social occasions much more stress-free and enjoyable.
And last but not least is number four,
get back in the driver's seat.
So the point of the re-challenge and reintroduction phase
is to help you identify what your triggers are.
Now, if this is done correctly,
you should know what FODMAPs in particular cause you issues
and in what amount
so that you know how much you can tolerate
and you don't pass your symptom threshold
and feel the aftereffects later.
Plus, the information that you learn
from doing that process will help you in,
I guess, the third phase of the low FODMAP diet,
which is what's called typically a modified FODMAP diet
where you actually know what you can tolerate.
You reintroduce that into your normal diet,
because you wanna have maximum variety,
you wanna make sure you meet all your nutrients,
and you wanna make sure that you can enjoy yourself
and make friends with food again.
Okay, so to recap, the four really important reasons
that you need to do the re-challenge, reintroduction phase
of the FODMAP diet is because FODMAPs are prebiotics.
We don't wanna cut out certain FODMAPs if we don't have to.
We suspect it's gonna have bad implications
on your gut bacteria and your overall gut health
in the long-term.
Number two, you wanna eat a varied diet
for loads of reasons,
but particularly meeting your nutritional requirements.
Number three, the FODMAP diet is socially awkward,
so you don't wanna be doing that forever.
Number four, put you back in the driver's seat
so that you can have a really healthy and fun
and good relationship with food once more.
Now, if you're just about to move
into the FODMAP reintroduction phase
or you're thinking about it or you just want some assistance
from some knowledgeable dietitians
without having to leave your own home,
then I invite you to check out
my FODMAP Reintroduction Quick-Start Program.
It's an online program where basically we walk you
through the entire reintroduction phase
from start to finish, and you get access to myself
and other FODMAP dietitians while you do it.
So if that sounds interesting to you
and you wanna learn more,
you can click the link below this video.
Lastly, if you found this video useful
or you know someone who might,
please share the video or tag them in the comments
so they can watch it for themselves.
Thank you very much for spending this time with me,
and I hope we get to speak soon.