If you’re wondering why there have been more giveaway posts and Spain recaps than daily eats lately, it’s because I’ve been doing the fructans challenge phase. And I’m not thrilled with it. At first I was nervous about reintroducing fructans, then I was excited, then I went overboard…
I actually started last week, but had such horrible symptoms, I went back to the elimination diet for two days in between, just to allow my body to rest and re-set.
I’ll share my reactions and symptoms in more detail at the end (ie once I’ve sorted things out). In the meantime, here’s my latest adventure with wheat.
Pre work I did some yoga and then ate aTrader Joe’s mango and berry muffin (with wheat).
The fructans group of FODMAPS includes the following:
- artichokes
- asparagus
- zucchini/summer squash
- less ripe (greener) bananas
- wheat (in all forms – whole, white, semolina, durum, sprouted, etc.)
- garlic/onions/leeks/shallots
- inulin/FOS (these are often found in processed foods)
I didn’t want to completely annihilate my GI tract at work, so I stuck to a mostly FODMAPS free diet after the muffin.
Wheat is the largest source of fructans in the American diet and since I am trying to be really specific in determining causation in how my body responds to each FODMAPS, I figured it would be best to try wheat separate from the rest of the fructans. Plus, as a central ingredient in the muffin, the wheat load seemed to provide a pretty decent amount of fructans on it’s own. No need to throw onions and garlic into the mix quite yet… I’m trying to be a sleuth after all, so I can’t be muddying the waters with too many variables. Baby steps.
Ensalada with mucho veggies.
Muffin, salad, Macrobar, banana. *I didn’t actually eat that bar because I had a Larabar in my bag from the previous day that I ate instead, so the review of the Macrobar will have to wait.
I also brought One Lucky Duck’s raw cinnamon crispies with me. As you can see from the ingredients they are vegan and GF and free of FODMAPS. Unfortunately they are only so-so in flavor. Their after-taste was a bit odd, so I think they may be better as a cereal than as a raw cracker. Next time I’ll drown them in milk.
People have been giving me mixed info about sweet potatoes. At first I read they were FODMAPS free. Then I read they were on the “eat in moderation” list. Then I heard they were ok again. So much conflicting stuff! In the end, I just decided to give it a shot.
I baked it in tin foil in the oven the night before and found there was some mayj shrinkage going on at the point of unraveling. I only ended up using half of it in my dinner mish mash (no symptoms – hooray).
Quinoa, sweet potato, carrots, spinach, avocado, seitan – topped in Bragg’s liquid aminos. Power bowl!
For all the skeptics who think you can’t get enough protein on a vegan and FODMAPS free diet, feel free to calculate the stats for this meal. I bet you it beats the SAD diet in more ways than one.
I had frozen bananas for dessert…this really brought back the memories.
*tangent alert* I first discovered my love for frozen nanner slices when I worked at Jamba Juice in high school. I began freezing them at home, sometimes to use in smoothies, but sometimes to eat plain. I became obsessed with them. A few years later, when I lived in the sorority house in college, I began hoarding bananas for the same use. The trend caught on quickly though, and soon the house freezer was packed. Too packed. And since there were always bananas in the freezer, people started getting lazy. Rather than prep their own bananas ahead of time, they’d just steal someone else’s frozen treats. Oh the fun drama of living with hundreds of girls. Fortunately, I don’t have that problem now. Kyle knows better than to steal my bananas. Muahaha.
I had a second dessert, too. 😛 No more One Lucky Duck cookies left. Sad.
I am going to continue to feel it out as far as upping the wheat in my diet. My goal is to see how much I can tolerate at one meal and then over the course of the day. Hooray for trial and error based research (sarcasm).
I also want to play with the amounts of wheat I eat concurrent with other fructans, and eventually other categories of FODMAPS (wheat bread with hummus, for example), but I think that’s still a ways away…
This journey is just starting, so for now I can only tell you that my morning muffin didn’t ruin the rest of my day. I felt some minor GI rumblings, but nothing significant (no bloating, no gas). They went away after ~1 hour and since I had no more FODMAPS for the rest of the day, my digestion wasn’t a mess from the fructans. I’m hesitant to draw any conclusions yet, since IBS isn’t as simple as that, so for now, that’s all I have to report.
Thanks for the email about running. I’m going to try to stick with liquid calories after long runs and see if that helps for now. Hopefully it will get better with time.
My body isn’t reacting too well to re-introducing some things. Garlic = definitely out. Butternut squash = out. I made a “safe” crockpot meal with quinoa and veggies but put too many red pepper flakes so it is super spicy. I thought spices were ok on Fodmaps but it seems like its bugging me too. Not a good gi week unfortunately.
Really have to try out your seitan recipe, that salad looks yummo. My love for the old frozen banana began through a job as a juice-bar girl too!
Btw what are you using to flavor your quinoa and veggies? I’m pretty much afraid of all flavoring options at this point.
I love all your Spain recaps, it’s like the vacation that never ends! (well except that mine still kindof hasn’t…). Keep em comin!!!
since i started the fod a couple of months ago garlic and onion were THE WORST apples i can eat them now sparingly forget about it with the zukes and coconut flour 🙁 even though i might ignore the pain and do it up coconut flour still haha
I just have to say, I used your recipe to make seitan this evening for dinner and it was FABULOUSLY delicious! Chopped it and stirred it in with quinoa, sweet potatoes, carrots and small dollop of horse radish mustard. Yummy! Every other attempt at seitan has been a gooey brown blob of yuck. Thanks! 🙂
A long journey for sure but I bet it’ll be worth it. Good luck!
Those muffins are my fave!
I’ve got delightful non-celiac wheat intolerance that brings on a host of IBS-like symptoms. When you’re re-introducing wheat be sure to keep an eye on how processed the wheat is. When I did the wheat elimination, I re-introduced wheat with a dinner roll and had no issues, so I thought I was fine. Then I went and had tabouli and almost died from the inside out. What I mean is, you may want to be careful of giving yourself the ok on wheat based on re-introduction of wheat flour and experiment with different incarnations of that dastardly grain.
good luck girl.
heres where i think i stand on fructans thus far…
garlic/onions = out (no great loss for me though, since i wasnt in love with them before)
winter squash = ok in normal amounts
potatoes = ok
wheat = ok in small unprocessed amounts (without any other fodmaps)
wheat combined WITH other high fodmaps is where i have to draw the line…and now im trying to feel out that balance before i move on to the next challenge phase…
shout out to healthy jobs as youngins!
i mostly use bragg’s liquid aminos
other fodmaps safe condiments/seasonings that you can mix and match to make into dressings are:
vinegars (balsamic, apple cider, etc)
tamari/nama shoyu
oils (olive, hemp seed, avocado, walnuts, etc.)
nut butters (cashew, almond, peanut, tahini)
citrus (lime/lemon/orange) juice
salt, pepper
mustard
canola oil mayo
leafy herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, dill, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, mint)
ginger
turmeric
vanilla
maple syrup/granulated sugar
cinnamon
seed spices (coriander, mustard, cumin, caraway, dill seed, celery seed, sesame seed, poppy seed, nutmeg)
most dressings i make myself using an oil, a vinegar, and a sweetener (sometimes mustard, tamari, and nut butters get added in too)
ps everything by Spectrum is awesome: http://www.spectrumorganics.com/
glad its working for you! coconut flour is now listed as an ok item, fyi. sad that zucchini is a no go 🙁
ps why just FOD and not the MAPs part?
yeah!!! so happy you liked it 🙂
thanks!
thanks so much for the heads up! ill be paying much more attention to the exact type and source of the wheat now.
curious – how do you tolerate spelt and/or rye?
Oddly enough, I actually do fine with both spelt and rye (in reasonable quantities, of course). I’ve experimented with processed and whole grain versions of both of them with no “issues”. The intolerance is definitely not gluten and seems to be very wheat-specific for me. Turns out that wheat intolerance is very common among folks of northern european decent – weird, huh?
No offense, but those frozen bananas are just screaming to be coated in chocolate and rolled around in a healthy dose of nuts. At least that’s the way I would eat them. Chocolate and nuts are good for you, right? Can those both be eaten with your new diet?
Thank you so much for all of your recent FOPMAPS posts! I’m going through the process as well, and it’s great to know I’m not alone! I’m eliminating wheat right now, and it’s hard! So far, I’m noticing a lot of improvements – especially since cutting out onions, broccoli, apples, and a lot of other fruits/veggiess that I unfortunately love. But as you said, IBS can be so difficult to predict. I haven’t had problem with sweet potatoes, though!
Also, do you find that eating smaller meals helps you? I used to eat high volume, nutrient dense foods, like endless salads, and heaps and heaps of fresh veggies. Even though I wasn’t consuming too many calories, my GI tract just can’t seem to handle it.
yes and yes! i think you may have just created my next dessert, thnkayouverymuch. chocolate and nuts are definitely FODMAPS approved 🙂
yes to everything you just mentioned.
being aware of which fruits/veggies are higher in fodmaps has made me adjust meals accordingly so now they are in more tolerable amounts. i still do high volume salads and stuff, like you said, but im just really careful about which ingredients i include.
previously i may have made a salad with beans, apples, and a hummus dressing…with a side of wheat bread…but now that i know how to change things up to be much more fodmaps friendly, im tolerating it WAY better.
its really hard to be without wheat, but by reintroducing super slowly, ive found small to moderate amounts with no other fodmaps are ok.
ive had no issues with winter squash or root veggies at all, but ive heard summer squash (zucchini) are the more tricky ones. we will see…
so glad to hear from others going through this too! keep me in the loop with how you are doing.
i think we are pretty similar then! i have no reaction to gluten (thank goodness bc life without seitan would be so sad for me)…ive yet to try rye, but i did have spelt flour (a small amount, but still) the other day and felt fine.
thanks again for sharing.
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we’re both sorority girls. we both studied abroad in barcelona.
AND WE BOTH WORKED AT JAMBA JUICE! I worked there all through junior and senior year of high school (an experience that would “teach me how to be responsible” as my dad liked to say…hahah).
ps you’re right- frozen naners are so yum. especially lately in az’s 90 degree heat (take me back to sd! haha). oh, and your power bowls have become my go-to dinner! i heat up some quinoa, throw a bunch of steamed/sauteed veggies in the mix, add chickpeas/tofu/white beans and drench it all with bragg’s! love.
Thanks so much this is an awesome list! I will be trying some of these for sure!
Ek is allergies vir suiwel en gluten, het ‘n spastiese kolon en sukkel al vir jare om die regte dieet te kry. Is baie onder gewig en nie gesond nie. Is baie lief vir soetigheid, mag ek dit eet. Watter soort lekkers. Mag ek heuning eet, konfyt,l neute, grondbootjie botter, datels, prunes, oats, coconut, watter vrugte. Sukkel baie met hardlywigheid. Kan jy asseblief help. Baie dankie.