If you’ve embarked on a Low FODMAP diet for your IBS, you may be worried that you have to say goodbye to bread. Good news, you don’t! You’ll likely need to swap out whatever kind of bread you’re currently eating or modify your portion size.
Contrary to what you may have heard, the Low FODMAP diet is NOT a gluten free diet. Many gluten free products are considered Low FODMAP, but gluten free and low fodmap are not interchangeable. I do have some patients who prefer to go gluten-free during the Low FODMAP process in case gluten is a trigger, but you definitely do not have to.
Let’s take a look at what breads have been tested by Monash University, what varieties are high and low FODMAP and specific brands you can try. If you’d rather bake your own, grab a sourdough or gluten-free recipe. Finally, see some picks from my Amazon storefront.
Pretty much everything! Wheat based bread products are definitely the most common, but whether it is high or low FODMAP will depend on portion size and additional ingredients.
Flour: the type of flour does not matter as much as the portion size and additional ingredients. The exception is rye, as there is no low FODMAP serving size.
Sweeteners: high fructose corn syrup, agave, honey, apple or pear fruit juice are sweeteners that may make a bread high FODMAP. Dried fruit, like raisins, may also make it high FODMAP.
Added fibers: inulin, FOS and chicory root fiber are terms you may see added to bread.
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples. First up is millet bread. We know that Monash has tested millet and found it to be low FODMAP. I looked at Udi’s Gluten Free Millet Chia Bread, but it contains a few additional ingredients that make it high FODMAP. Those are inulin (fiber), pea protein and dry molasses.
Now let’s look at a brand that Whole Foods carries, Deland Bakery. They have a Millet Special Bread that meets the criteria for low FODMAP flour without any additional ingredients. Hooray!
Next up is sourdough. You can read more about FODMAPs and sourdough below, but first let’s compare two brands, Trader Joe’s San Francisco Sourdough and Whole Foods Bakery Sourdough. TJ’s brand uses a traditional sourdough fermentation process, which means its Low FODMAP! The Whole Foods Bakery Sourdough actually contains yeast, which makes it high FODMAP.
The traditional sourdough bread making process is long (i.e. 24-72 hours!). This slow fermentation process allows the yeast and lactic acid in the sourdough starter time to break down fructans.
Types of sourdough
White wheat, whole wheat and spelt sourdough are all considered Low FODMAP. The white and whole wheat varieties become low FODMAP with the fermentation process, while spelt flour has a naturally lower fructan content.
Label Reading
If your bread has a label, look to see if the word “yeast” is included. If it is, that means yeast was added to speed up the fermentation process! This means that it is not Low FODMAP. You can ask your bakery if yeast was included or you can ask them if it underwent a traditional sourdough process.
Pumpernickel
Oatmeal
Rye
Whole Grain or Multigrain wheat bread (sorry, this includes Dave’s Killer Bread!) is considered high unless specifically certified Low FODMAP by Monash
Corn
Gluten free (rice, corn, tapioca)
Millet
Sourdough (Spelt, Wheat, White wheat).
White Wheat bread (1 slice)
Dr. Schar (all gluten free products and Certified by Monash): Sourdough Deli Style Bread, Artisan Baker White Bread, Artisan Baker White Bread, Artisan Baker Multigrain Bread, Baguette, Hamburger Buns, White Rolls,Sandwich Rolls, Artisan Baker 10 Grains & Seeds Bread, Hot Dog Rolls, Sourdough Rustic Loaf, Italian Breadsticks,
Inewa (Monash Certified): 100% Spelt Sourdough
COBS Bread: LowFOD Loaf, LowFOD Bun, LowFOD Mini Loaf,
Canyon Bakehouse Gluten Free Mountain White, GF Stay Fresh Country White
Udi’s Gluten Free White Sandwich bread, Multigrain, Soft White Bread
Trader Joe’s Gluten Free White, Gluten Free Italian, San Francisco Style Sourdough
San Luis Sourdough
Essential Baking Company Organic Bake at Home
Did you join the sourdough bread making craze during the pandemic? I sure did! I used the Cultures for Health starter, but you can absolutely make your own. I linked two recipes below, one for making sourdough bread and another for making gluten-free bread!
Since the main FODMAP found in bread is fructan, any bread that is low in fructans should be safe for a low FODMAP diet. This includes sourdough bread, white bread (in small amounts), and gluten-free bread that does not contain high FODMAP ingredients.
The low-FODMAP diet has a high predicted success rate for people with IBS, but up to 25% may not benefit. For all other conditions, research is more limited, but there's reason to believe it may help with symptom management in cases of SIBO, IBD and functional dyspepsia.
There are some other foods like potatoes, rice, carrots, bean sprouts, blueberries, Japanese/Kabocha/Kent squash, cucumber, parsnip, lettuce, oyster mushrooms, hard cheese (like cheddar and colby), choy sum, collard greens, swiss chard and silverbeet that remain low FODMAP in large serving sizes.
Sourdough bread and gluten-free bread are the best types of bread for people with IBS. The lengthy fermentation process used to make traditional sourdough bread reduces the amount of fructans, which are the kind of carbohydrates in bread that cause IBS symptoms.
If you're following a low FODMAP diet, chances are your food choices are pretty slim these days. But there's good news: You can eat pizza on a low FODMAP diet, you just have to choose the right ingredients and be very mindful of your portion size!
The low FODMAP diet can be helpful for symptom management but is not a direct treatment for IBS or SIBO. Long term strict FODMAP restriction can have adverse effects such as a reduction in Bifido and butyrate producing bacteria, and creating anxiety and fear around food.
If you skip these foods for too long, you may starve helpful bacteria colonies and cultivate unhealthy bacteria. Over time, if you follow only strict low FODMAP eating, you might notice yourself getting more tired, having more headaches, constipation, muscular weakness, or getting sick more easily.
You may also be eating more starches and sugars from hyper-processed gluten free, low FODMAP packaged foods than usual, which may overwhelm the absorption capacity of a sensitive, hyper-active gut. If you suspect this, try eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and see how you feel.
Wheat, barley, rye, and wheat-containing products like breads, cakes, pasta, cereal, and pastries are high in FODMAPs, so they're a key food group to avoid for management of IBS symptoms. In fact, a 2015 study suggested that a gluten-free diet may improve IBS symptoms in around half of the population.
Unlike gluten sensitivity, FODMAP intolerance is not an immune reaction. Instead, the condition is an intolerance to certain types of food. This food intolerance is due to bacteria in the colon that ferment carbohydrates and to the presence of too much water in the large intestine, leading to diarrhea.
Is peanut butter low FODMAP? Peanuts are low in FODMAPs, and natural peanut butter is also. Some peanut butter brands add sweeteners with FODMAPs, but typically add small amounts that most people tolerate.
Often a food will have low FODMAP, moderate FODMAP and high FODMAP serving sizes. That means even if a food is listed as low FODMAP, that doesn't always mean you can eat unlimited quantities without triggering symptoms.
Low FODMAP choices include plain cooked meats, poultry, seafood, eggs, while high FODMAP options include marinated meats, processed meats (e.g. sausage / salami) and meats served with gravy/sauces that may include high FODMAP ingredients.
So if the sourdough is made from wheat/rye flour and/or has not undergone traditional sourdough processing, it is most likely high FODMAP. If the dough is made from wheat/rye flour but is a traditional sourdough, one serving (1-2 pieces) should still be low FODMAP.
Standard white bread (made of wheat) has been tested by Monash and is low in FODMAPs for one slice (24g). Even though it contains wheat, it has been processed and does not contain enough fructans to cause symptoms for most people with IBS.
Wheat intake is reduced because it contains high levels of fructans, one of the oligosaccharides (a type of carbohydrate). Other high fructan grains include rye and barley. Therefore, during the strict phase of a low FODMAP diet, intake of wheat, rye and barley should be limited.
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