What is FODMAP, you say? FODMAPs are Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols (rolls off the tongue doesn’t it). For many people (about 1 in 10) these fructose molecules are poorly absorbed by their small intestines with the unabsorbed fructose ending up in their large intestines where it ferments causing abdominal bloating, distension, excessive flatulence, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, or a combination of both and other gastro-intestinal symptoms.

In the 1990’s Melbourne scientist, Dr Sue Shepherd, found that limiting high FODMAP foods was an effective treatment for people suffering from fructose malabsorbtion or irritable bowel syndrome as it’s commonly known. The diet which is based on lists of Low FODMAP foods can sometimes seem counter intuitive; for instance you can eat cabbage all the time, broccoli sometimes but cauliflower not at all. The FODMAP diet has been embraced worldwide as one of the few effective treatments for IBS.

The upshot of all this is we are following Dr Shepherd’s produce guidelines for our new Low FODMAP - Good Gut box.