Hi, I’m Becky and my love all things baked along with my low FODMAP journey has led me to starting DeliciouslyFreeCupcake. I now live with a low FODMAP diet, but food can still taste great so please stick with me to find out more and how you can still enjoy some of the best things in life (yes by that I mean food!)
My Story
For as long as I can remember I was never a fussy eater. I have always enjoyed cooking and have fond memories of baking with my Grandparents when I was very young. My highlight of any city break would always be the food tour. I remember eating Bacalhau (salt cod) and Pastel de Nata in Lisbon, Portugal, and Mofongo (plantain dish) and flan in Porto Rico without a care in the world about food intolerance.
Unfortunately, while studying at University I developed my first food intolerance to yeast. This is a odd one and not on part of the list of 14 main allergens. However, through trial and error I realised that it was yeast as I could eat pasta completely fine, while bread gave me terrible stomach pains and indigestion for at least 24 hours after eating. A quick google search confirmed to me that yeast intolerance was a thing. From that point onwards I cut out most breads. I then went on to cut out most packet mixes and stock cubes too as I discovered yeast in a lot of these. Mostly through eating something, feeling very unwell and then checking the packaging. These days checking the packaging is the first thing I always do!
A couple of years later I developed a gluten sensitivity. I found I could no longer enjoy the pastas and cereals I’d still been eating with the yeast intolerance. Then finally one year later (they say things come in threes) my low FODMAP journey begun.
Low FODMAP Diet
FODMAP stands for; Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols, yes that’s a lot of long words!! So here is the sciency bit; mono, di and oligo-saccharides are sugars and carbohydrates made up of chains of 1 – 10 sugars, while polyols are naturally occurring sugar alcohols. All of which are found in a range of fruits, vegetables and grains. For instance, lactose (found in milk) is a fairly common intolerance humans (estimated as many as 1 in 4) share with our fury cat friends. Lactose is a disaccharide made up from two types of sugars, glucose (which is very well known) and a chemically similar sugar galactose.
People sensitive to FODMAPS poorly absorb these carbohydrates and sugars, allowing them to pass into the large intestine where they are fermented by the naturally occurring bacteria creating gas. Coupled with a sensitive digestive system with conditions such as IBS and Crohn’s this can cause painful bloating, cramps, diarrhoea and constipation.
Onions, garlic and leaks are particularly high in oligosaccharides. While very sweet foods like fruit, including apples and ripe bananas as well as honey are high in fructose which is a single momosaccharide.
Low FODMAP Foods
- Dairy: Almond milk, lactose-free milk, rice milk, coconut milk, lactose-free yogurt, and hard cheeses.
- Fruit: Bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, grapefruit, honeydew, kiwi, lemon, lime, oranges, and strawberries.
- Vegetables: Bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, bok choy, carrots, chives, cucumbers, eggplant, ginger, lettuce, olives, parsnips, potatoes, spring onions, and turnips.
- Protein: Beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, and tofu.
- Nuts/seeds: (limit to 10-15 each) Almonds, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pine nuts, and walnuts.
- Grain: Oats, oat bran, rice bran, gluten-free pasta, quinoa, white rice, and corn flour.
High FODMAP Foods
- Fructose: Fruits (including apples, mangos, pears, watermelon), honey, high-fructose corn syrup, agave
- Lactose: Dairy (milk from cows, goats, or sheep), custard, yogurt, ice cream
- Fructans: Rye and Wheat, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, onions, garlic
- Galactans: Legumes, such as beans (including baked beans), lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans
- Polyols: Sugar alcohols and fruits that have pits or seeds. Such as apples, apricots, avocados, cherries, figs, peaches, pears, or plums
More information on the low FODMAP diet can be found here: https://www.monashfodmap.com/about-fodmap-and-ibs/
It wasn’t until recently that I released the yeast, gluten and FODMAP sensitivities are linked. It is likely my digestive system has been becoming more sensitive to FODMAPS over the years. This is because the outer wall of a yeast is made up almost entirely of disaccharides. Furthermore, it may not be gluten I an intolerant to at all. Instead the oligosaccharide carbohydrates found in a lot of grains.
My Journey to Needing to Adopt a low FODMAP Diet
My low FODMAP journey begun as I started to get painfully bloated from even small meals of what I perceived to be healthy fruits and vegetables. After several trips to the GP I was recommended to go in the low FODMAP diet. I resisted this to begin with as I couldn’t understand how eliminating so many healthy fruits and vegetables could benefit me. However, eventually I gave in after speaking to a friend who told me the diet was the only thing to help her stomach problems.
The low FODMAP diet isn’t easy. It requires completely eliminating all FODMAP containing foods for several weeks before some can be slowly reintroduced. This reintroduction phase tests our own individual tolerance levels for each FODMAP group. This was a hard journey but untimely one that has massively helped me.
But I refuse to let my new diet dictate my enjoyment of food! Including some of the best things in life like CAKE, PUDDINGS and COOKIES! I now find myself having to bake or cook most of my foods from scratch. I have learnt some clever ingredient swaps to be able to enjoy some of the tasty foods I crave. But that’s fine, as I really enjoy the challenge of developing new recipes and turning my old favourites into gluten, dairy or low FODMAP alternatives. It has also forced me to become a better baker.
I’m hoping I can share some of my recipes with you, and help some of you who have intolerance’s like me to satisfy those cravings. Hopefully along the way I can convince some of you that free from baking can taste exactly the same when done right!
Please share your experiences here!
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