FODMAPs
FODMAPs are fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly. FODMAPs can cause gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and stomach pain.
These fruits contain no FODMAPs or only trace amounts:
Sugar Banana (green just able to be peeled), breadfruit, carambola, clementine, durian, guava (ripe), papaya, prickly pear, plantain, rhubarb, starfruit
Only unripe common bananas are considered low FODMAP at a serving size of 100g. Ripe common bananas are high FODMAP for fructans, however, you might find you can tolerate a small 30g serving.
Sugar alcohols are found in many fruits and vegetables. Examples include Mannitol, Sorbitol, Xylitol, and Erythritol. Although these are naturally occurring at very low levels in foods, excessively used as an additive can cause serious gastric and allergic-type effects in some individuals. Food manufacturers have begun adding excessive amounts of sugar alcohols to their products to increase the sweetness and also to avoid having to declare “added sugars” in their products.
As the common banana ripens the starch turns into several types of sugar (sucrose, fructose, and glucose) and fructans appear to increase. Reactions to fully ripe bananas have often been attributed to fructose. A fully ripe banana is 14 percent fructose, 20 percent glucose, and 66 percent sucrose. Research has shown that a ripe common banana’s fructose and glucose ratio are equal which indicate that it is the fructan content within the banana that can trigger FODMAP symptoms
Fructans are chains of monosaccharide fructose sugars that are joined together with glucose at the end of the molecule, referred to as a fibre. Short chained ructans (2-9 units long) are known as fructo-oligosaccharides. Inulin is a common longer chain fructan (10+ unit chains) found in foods such as chicory.
Are fructans destroyed by cooking or processing?
One example of a decrease in fructans is the dry heat baking of inulin which causes a significant decrease in the fructan content and the formation of low-molecular degradation products, most likely di-fructose dianhydrides, which cannot be hydrolyzed by fructanase
Fructans are water soluble and therefore leach out into your entire meal when cooking foods together. the only way to avoid fructans in onions and garlic is to soak them in oil so the flavors leach into the oil but the fructans do not as they are not oil soluble. Therefore sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and onions can still be enjoyed indirectly. by consuming the soaked oil.
Pickling of high-fructan foods such as onion, garlic, and tomatoes does lead to a decrease in their fructan content..
Soaking nuts such as almonds overnight for 12 hours has been shown to decrease their fructan and lectin protein content.
Boiling of foods such as beans and lentils decreases their fructan content as fructans are water soluble and leach out into the water
Are there any supplement enzyme pills sold that break down fructans?
The Fibractase supplements from Intoleran contain the enzyme alpha-galactosidase to break down fructans and galactans.
Fruits and Vegetables with Fructans in them…
- Artichoke (contains inulin) – 75g serving is high FODMAP
- Kidney beans (contains both inulin and FOS) – 150g serving is high FODMAP
- Soya beans (contains inulin) – 170g serving is high FODMAP
- Watermelon (contains both inulin and FOS) – 250g serving is high FODMAP
- Onions, white (contains both inulin and FOS) – 75g serving is high FODMAP
- Garlic (contains inulin) – 3g serving is high FODMAP
- Grapefruit (contains inulin) – 250g serving is high FODMAP
- Nectarines (contains FOS) – 110g serving is high FODMAP
- Inulin and FOS can also be added to processed foods, so it is always important to check the ingredients list. Many people unnecessarily avoid gluten (a protein found in wheat products), because they experience digestive symptoms after eating wheat-based products. Maintaining a gluten-free diet is only required if you have been diagnosed with coeliac disease. Potentially the source of your digestive issues is the presence of fructans in foods, rather than gluten.