Diet Tips:Thank you for purchasing our low FODMAP diet app

By Dr Jaci Barrett

It's a New Year and time for us to reflect on 2015. We wanted to take an opportunity to thank those of you that have purchased our Monash University low FODMAP Diet app. It’s not a free app, and for many the price is significant, so thank you for investing in us.

The proceeds from the sale of the app go toward many of our projects. Research funding is scarce, competitive, and difficult to source, especially when the area of research is new. Some of our projects funded by app sales include:

• Testing of foods for their FODMAP content and expansion of our food database  Including local Australian and international foods

• The purchase of laboratory equipment, kits and chemicals

• Research studies and clinical trials we conduct: 

- Assessing the fermentability (gas-producing ability) of fibre supplements

- Manipulating the diet of breastfeeding mothers to relieve the symptoms of infantile colic

- Investigating the neurobehavioral effects of gluten in non-celiac gluten sensitivity

- Alterations in zonulin as a potential biomarker of gastrointestinal dysfunction

- Can cooking times reduce the FODMAP content of legumes?

- Investigating a new diet therapy to reduce symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome


We'll be posting more detailed reviews about some of these studies in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

We get many emails of support and gratitude from patients with IBS using the diet and app with much success. We hear life changing stories. But without your support and the worldwide interest in what we do, these projects would not be possible and the success of the diet would be limited.


So a big thanks to you from all of us in the Monash University, Translational Nutrition Science Group!

           

           

Diet Tips:Research update: Fermentable oligosaccharide, disaccharide, monosaccharide and polyol content of foods commonly consumed by ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom

By CK Yao (APD and PhD candidate)

 

We have recently published an article on the FODMAP content of top 20 foods commonly consumed by minor ethic groups in the UK. This research was part of a collaborative work with the King’s College research group based in London.

The project was undertaken on the basis of an increasing need to make the low FODMAP diet more applicable to different ethnicities/cultures around the world. In the UK, the Asian and African/Carribean British ethnic groups form two of the largest ethnic minority groups. Whilst the prevalence of IBS in these groups is unknown, it was a good opportunity to diversify the contents of the low FODMAP diet.

The top 20 foods were identified by the research team in King’s college London and with the help of dietitians from around Europe who had previously received training in the use of the low FODMAP diet. These included:

TOP 20 SELECTED FOODS

Fruits: Fresh: Breadfruit, plantain, tamarind Processed: Ackee (tinned in brine); Guava (tinned in syrup)

Vegetables: Fresh: Cassava, cho cho, karela, taro, yam Processed: Callaloo

Legumes: Chana dal, urid dal (dry and boiled)

Herbs & spices: Fenugreek leaves

Nuts and seeds: Egusi seeds and white poppy seeds

Samples were collected following the Monash protocol, freeze-dried (if fruit or vegetables) and then shipped across to the laboratory of the Monash FODMAP team here in Australia. Measurement of FODMAP content was performed by the Monash FODMAP team. The foods tested are now listed in the Monash University Low FODMAP diet app.  Only foods that are laboratory tested are listed in our app (See under UK foods in the app).

 A brief summary of the findings are:

·         Fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides were present in most foods

·         For typical serving sizes; taro, karela, cho cho, cassava were HIGH in FODMAPs

·         Chana dahl and urid dahl (which are legumes) were LOW in FODMAPs

·         All fresh fruits tested were LOW in FODMAPs per serve eaten

 To read a full version of this paper, please see the reference below:

PrichardR, Rossi M, Muir J, Yao C, Whelan K, Lomer M. Fermentable oligosaccharide,disaccharide, monosaccharide and polyol content of foods commonly consumed byethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. International Journal of FoodSciences and Nutrition 2016:1-8.