Do you have gut issues or have you tested positive on breath testing?
More and more people are testing positive to fructose malabsorption and/or lactose malabsorption through breath testing. However, if you have received a positive fructose breath test, it is important to understand that this is not a diagnosis. At Love What You Eat, our dietitians can help you identify if fructose and/or other FODMAPs are indeed a trigger for your gut symptoms. We will guide you through the low FODMAP trial, followed by food challenges, to determine if FODMAPs are the trigger for your symptoms. Book here to organise your appointment for a full assessment.
Note: If you have received a negative fructose test result, it is still important to seek help from an accredited dietitian, as it may be the other FODMAPs (fructans, galacto-oligosaccarides, lactose and/or sugar polyols) that are causing your symptoms.
No one should need to follow a low FODMAP diet long-term, 2-4 weeks is enough time to see if symptoms respond and then there is a challenge phase where you need to test individual FODMAPs to see which, if any, are triggering your symptoms. Staying low FODMAP long-term is not good for your gut microbiome as FODMAPs provide important nutrition to your gut’s bacteria, helping keeping the balance.
If you have been low FODMAP for some time and feel you haven’t been able to reintroduce any foods without reacting, you may actually be sensitive to the natural food chemicals. Lowering FODMAPs also lowers the natural food chemicals, but only enough that people often feel they need to eat strict low FODMAP to keep symptoms at bay. If this sounds like you, it is definitely worth further exploration to avoid on-going and unnecessary restriction.
Our experienced dietitians will also discuss the mind and gut connection and how any anxiety, including anxiety around your relationship with food and body image, can be a key cause for gut symptoms. Many people come to us with a troubled relationship with food and body in addition to their gut issues and it is not unusual that as people improve their relationship with food, their gut symptoms improve or settle down completely.
A low FODMAP diet plan is not hard to follow and varies from person to person. You will be given low FODMAP meal ideas and recipes to help you complete the trial and challenge period. We will then help you work out your tolerance levels based on challenge outcomes and our dietitians can help you with a low FODMAP meal plan. The low FODMAP diet does not need to impact significantly on eating out or travelling, provided you know what you can and can’t tolerate.
Click here for an example of a fructose malabsorption or low FODMAP meal plan.
Zoe also spent 8 years co-ordinating the Melbourne based fructose malabsorption support groups, an initiative of Dr Sue Shepherd (Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian).
We can also help with the correct diagnosis of Coeliac Disease and provide up to date education on a strict gluten free diet.
We help you with the Non-Diet Approach, Pregnancy, Vegetarian Eating and Food Intolerance
