Are all gluten free products low FODMAP?
Don’t be fooled! Not all gluten free products are low FODMAP. Just because a product says it is gluten free that does not mean it is always safe for thelow FODMAP phaseof the diet. Gluten free products often lack fibre and flavour. This means manufacturers sometimes pack them full of high FODMAP ingredients to improve nutrition and make them more palatable.
Why are gluten free products recommended on the low FODMAP diet?
The low FODMAP diet is not a gluten free diet so it can be difficult to understand why gluten free products are recommended. Gluten is a type of protein found in wheat endosperm (in layman’s terms, this is the type of tissue produced in seeds that is ground to make flour) (1). Gluten protein is not a source of FODMAPs (only certain carbohydrates are FODMAPs). Gluten is commonly found in wheat, rye, and barley.
Fructans are a type of oligosaccharide and fall within the ‘O’ group in the FODMAP acronym (2). Wheat, rye and barley all contain high levels of fructans. These grains are a major source of FODMAPs in western diets.
Gluten free products are recommended on the low FODMAP diet as they remove wheat, rye and barley from our daily diets. This can significantly reduce our intake of fructans and our overall level of FODMAPs.
What are some common high FODMAP ingredients found in gluten free products?
Gluten free products often lack fibre and so to counter this, manufacturers add inulin (chicory root extract/dietary fibre), apple fibre, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), oligofructose, or other high FODMAP fibre sources to products, to increase their nutritional value.
To make products more palatable, manufacturers often add high FODMAP sweeteners like: honey, apple or pear juice, fruit juice concentrate, high fructose corn syrup, fructose-glucose syrup, agave syrup, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), oligofructose, fructose (isolated), or polyol sweeteners (sorbitol (E420), mannitol (E421), maltitol (E956), xylitol (E967), and isomalt (E953)).
Not all gluten free flours are low FODMAP either. Almond flour/meal (½ cup serve), amaranth flour, coconut flour and lupin flour are all high FODMAP (2). Soy flour, chickpea flour, besan flour, gram flour and lentil flour are all suspected to be high FODMAP although they haven’t been officially tested by Monash University.
