FODMAP Challenges

Here is a list of foods to be challenged by carbohydrate category - after you've found your happy, symptom-free place, with the 3-week FODMAP elimination.  You want to pick one category to challenge at a time.  Each new food should be challenged alone for 3 days - you don't want to challenge two foods at once or you'll never know which caused the reaction.  It is strongly recommended to do food eliminations and challenges under the care of a registered dietician.  You should also keep a detailed food journal - listing everything that goes in your mouth, along with symptoms, and BM frequency, size & consistency.

Here is a link to a FODMAP Friendly dietician directory by state...and I highly recommend Patsy Catsos' book, IBS--Free at Last, second edition.  It is a fantastic book that will walk you through the challenges and includes shopping lists & meal plans.

Lactose Challenge - (we do okay with lactose)

• Cheese, in larger servings
• Cottage cheese
• Milk
• Vanilla Yogurt

Fructose Challenge - this group would be challenged if you are suspecting fructose malabsorption, but haven't had a breath test to confirm it.  Since we had a positive breath test for FM we did not challenge this list.  If you find these foods give you trouble, you could have FM...

• Barbecue Sauce
• Ketchup
• Corn Syrup
• Dried Fruit
• Fructose
• Fruit Drinks
• Fruits on allowed list, larger servings
• Granola Bars
• Honey
• Jam or Jelly
• Figs
• Pancake Syrup
• Papaya
• Plum Sauce
• Melon
• Molasses
• Sweet & Sour Sauce
• Non-Diet Soft Drinks
• Tomato Paste

Fructans Challenge - *we also avoid this category.  Tootsie will eat a little raw broccoli once in a while but we avoid all other fructans listed here.

• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Green Banana
• Broccoli 
• Kale
• Flour Tortilla
• Garlic
• Green Onion
• Inulin
• Onions
• Pineapples
• Pistachios
• Pizza Dough made with wheat
• Pasta made with wheat
• Whole wheat or white bread, bagel, english muffin

*Fruits to challenge that are both high in fructose & sorbitol - only if you've passed the fructose challenge above. (we avoid these)

• Apple cider
• Apple juice
• Applesauce
• Apples
• Apricots
• Fruit juice blends
• Juice from canned fruit
• Peaches 
• Pears
• Prunes
• Prune juice
• Sweet Cherries

*Fruits to challenge that are both high in fructose & fructans (we avoid these)

• Grapes
• Raisins
• Mangos
• Watermelon

Galactans Challenge - (we avoid these, except for a little broccoli)

• Baked beans, without molasses or HFCS
• Black-eyed peas
• Broccoli (also a fructan)
• Brussel sprouts
• Cabbage
• Chickpeas
• Dried or canned beans, all kinds
• Dried peas, all kinds
• Green beans
• Hummus
• Kidney beans
• Lentils
• Soy-based vegetarian foods
• Soy milk
• Tempeh
• Textured vegetable protein
• Tofu
• Veggie burgers
• Yellow beans

Polyol Challenge - (we avoid these, except for a little cauliflower & occasional corn on the cob)

• Blackberries (we haven't challenged berries because she doesn't like them)
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Sweet Corn
• Green pepper
• Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates 
• Isomalt
• Lactitol
• Maltitol
• Mushrooms
• Polydextrose
• Pumpkin
• Sorbitol
• Sugarless candy
• Sugarless gum
• Xylitol

If you know you have fructose malabsorption and would like to find your tolerance to safer fruits - these are the fruits you should challenge.  Fructose tolerance varies greatly from person-to-person.  Some people find they can eat 7 small strawberries at one sitting, where another person cannot have one slice.  Go slow with the challenges...start with very small amounts of one fruit for 3 days, then slowly ramp up to find your limit. It's best to eat the fruit with a meal and limit to two servings per day...spacing the servings out several hours.  Symptoms for my girl are: loose stool the night of the offending food (sometimes with cramping and burping), the next day her mood is "off" (hyperactive, sometimes irritable, and gets hung up on the same questions over-and-over...or maybe that is a 6-year-old thing).  She also has nightmares or night terrors the first or second night.  She then becomes constipated.  The only fruit she tolerates from this list is ripe banana...we haven't challenged berries, grapes or honeydew because she does not like them.

• Ripe banana
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe
• Grapefruit (contains small amount of polyols)
• Grapes
• Honeydew
• Kiwi (contains small amount of polyols)
• Lemons (contains small amount of polyols)
• Limes (contains small amount of polyols)
• Oranges (contains small amount of polyols)
• Passion fruit (contains small amount of polyols)
• Pineapple
• Rhubarb
• Strawberries
• Tangelos

These are the safer vegetables to challenge if you know you have fructose malabsorption:

• Bock choy
• Bean sprouts
• Red bell
• Lettuce
• Carrots (limited quantity)
• Chives
• Cucumber (english cucumbers produce less gas)
• Eggplant
• Green beans (problematic for some)
• Potatoes (we stick to russet)
• Tomatoes (limited quantity)
• Spinach
• Water Chestnuts
• Celery (moderate polyol levels)
• Avacado (moderate polyol levels) 

We do okay with the veggies.  We limit the red bell pepper to 1 mini one 3 times per week.  Cucumbers are also limited to a few times per week.  Baby carrots are limited to 1 or 2 per day.  She likes celery & Adam's peanut butter, but never eats more than 1/4 of a stick at a time (her own self limit).  We have not challenged avocado or eggplant and we avoid tomatoes (for now).