What the Heck is a FODMAP?

My doctor: “High Fodmap”

Me: “Oh, that’s not my name, but hi to you too!”

Starting a low FODMAP diet sucks, but it’s soooo worth it. I’ve got so many digestive conditions that my health chart is as long as a CVS receipt. Cutting out so many of my safe foods (I have ARFID) was a struggle, but you know what’s even better? Not feeling horrendously sick every single day.

In my wife's case, her gut issues turned out to be stress-based. Elimination diets ironically made her issues worse, because they were so difficult to follow as a vegetarian, and the perception that it was her last, best hope. Not saying these diets wont work for many people, but something to consider if you're having issues.

Unfortunately i did the low fodmap elimination diet and it was life changing.
I feel a million percent better but I dont get apples and mushrooms anymore :(

Thank you for covering, quickly but efficiently things about FODMAPS. I'm constantly trying to explain it to other people who don't understand why I can't eat apples ("but it's gluten-free" "I'm totally fine with gluten!").
Lactose is reasonably easy to explain (many people are lactose intolerant, so that's common), but others are weird to muggles. I really try everytime I'm invited to eat... and I always feel like I'm the terrible guest.

I'd love to see a video on IBS and its possible multiple causes and troubles, and possible solutions. So that I can send it to others.

Pffft. My IBS miraculously cleared up three months after my abusive ex left me.

No, I don't mean it's always stress. What I mean is it's not always what you're eating.

Omg finally a scishow video on this. I have IBS and have been trying on/off for years to figure out a consistent FODMAP diet, but the foods are so all over the place. I kinda just gave up and decided I'll eat what I want, and if it gives me stomach issues, it gives me stomach issues 🤷♀️
I already figured out apple juice made me sick before I even realized I had IBS, so I at least had that already cut out of my diet.

These diets are helpful for those who actually struggle with a specific problem, but at some point when it gets popular it just turns into a fad diet. If you dont struggle with these food items, theres no need to stop eating them, theyre delicious and nutritious (apple, mushroom, onions, beans)

Here's what low FODMAP means: A life of misery. I can personally attest to not being able to have most, if not all, of my favorite foods having made me miserable, depressed, and unwilling to even think about eating anymore. The diet is repetitive, bland, and a mental challenge to maintain. I'm not sure what was worse on my mental health, the side effects of FODMAP food, or knowing that I'll never look forward to or eat a regular meal again.

Yes! I'm so glad SciShow is covering the low FODMAP diet. I discovered it via disability groups many years ago which led me to Monash University's brilliant work on it. I've been following a low FODMAP diet for about 10 years now and (along with the right meds & lifestyle changes) it's improved my IBS immeasurably.

A gastroenterologist had advised me to cut FODMAPs out of my diet because he suspected I might have a strong irritable bowel syndrome or even Crohn’s disease.
It was the saddest time of my life: no garlic, no onions, no cabbage, no lentils… 😭😭😭😭
Not only did I still had stomach ache, but I was also depressed.
Now I can eat them again, cause we finally found the culprit.

This was a game changer for me, Once we figured what foods were the problem I gained the 30lbs I've needed to put one for the the last 20 years and have kept them on with ease. No more forcing myself to eat, and praying it stayed in. Turn out it wasn't IBS I just had poor absorption for a type of sugar, much like lactose intolerant, the sugar would sit in my gut and bloat me up the the point I was throwing up and too "full" to eat. Also since I couldn't do anything with that type of sugar I wasn't much from the food I was eating. Luckily for me I mostly only ate because I needed to eat to have a healthy diet, not because I wanted to. The only really hard one was garlic and onions, I had to get really creative to replace them. On the plus side I discovered high end olive oils store that sell garlic oil, and OMG that is some amazing oil and worth the money. Don't waste your money the low fodmap brand, just get the nice stuff that cost twice as much. You can use half as much with better flavor. Save and plant the white part of the onion/ garlic that you can't eat and plant them. They will keep making the green part for pretty much free, I got them to even grown in a fairly cold winter

There's a digestive enzyme that works like lactaid but for fodmaps called Fodzyme, it's changed my partner's life. Low fodmap diet can be super restrictive and not ideal long term (try going out to eat not being able to have any type of onion/garlic)

So weird because I just started researching FODMAP this week. I’ve had to stop devouring my favorites, asparagus and nectarines, but my awful endometriosis belly is feeling better. I've had 2 surgeries for endo cysts and lesions which has helped, but the docs can't ablate the lesions on my colon. So I'm giving FODMAP a try.

As many other issues as I have, I'm so grateful that I don't have digestive issues. I've seen what kind of effect they can have on people's lives, and I've also seen how hard it can be for people to get others to take those issues seriously.

I’ve been on a low FODMAP diet since 2013. I thought my life was ending at the time, but I’ve adjusted over the years and now it’s just normal. I understand my personal triggers and limits and can work around it. I’m not always perfect at preventing GI issues, but I’m not in agony like I had been before so it’s worth it

I went on a low FODMAPS diet about 15 years ago and went from almost crippled in daily life to no symptoms at all. It’s been cool to see “low FODMAPS” slowly start to spread as a food label since then.

My mom has to follow this. the HARDEST thing to avoid is absolutely the garlic and onions its. in. EVERYTHING!!

When I saw the thumbnail I was like: "Noooo, almost all my favorite things..."

It's Hank. Hank is hot girls