Knowing what to expect during your FODMAP challenges can help you to feel more prepared and in control. It's possible you'll experience everything from discovering your favourite food is not off the menu to badly timed flare-ups. Let's take a look at some of the likely outcomes and take it from there.
The good
Many people are pleasantly surprised by their ability to better tolerate FODMAPs following the elimination phase. When reintroducing FODMAPs in a controlled way we can see the true reaction that we have to each. Without the accumulated effect of stacking them all together, the portion we can tolerate becomes clearer.
Eating FODMAPs in too large an amount is one of the main reasons for FODMAP related flare-ups. The incremental reintroductions will often show us that foods we thought we couldn't tolerate are actually ok in smaller amounts.
The bad
After bringing our symptoms down to a manageable level during the elimination phase the challenges can come as a bit of a shock. Following the guidelines for recommended test foods, portions and timings will help make things easier. However, If your elimination phase went particularly well you may have forgotten what a full-on flare-up feels like.
The timing and severity of your reactions will likely be different for each FODMAP type and can occur at any time throughout the challenge. This makes things seem a bit more unpredictable but it's actually not such a bad thing. If you react badly on day 1 of your GOS challenge you shouldn't automatically assume you'll react badly to the other challenges. If a particular challenge goes badly we can take some comfort in knowing our reaction to the next challenge may be different.
Once your symptoms settle down you need to continue to work methodically through each FODMAP challenge. This is the only way to give yourself the best possible overview of all your tolerances.
The ugly
Realistically, you need to expect that you're likely to experience FODMAP reactions that range anywhere from mild to severe. The return of some symptoms of IBS is a perfectly normal reaction to reintroducing high FODMAP foods back into the diet. [1] Bloating and gas are normal signs that the digestive system is working to process the food that we eat. Everybody farts, belches and bloats! It's only when these effects, or the expectation of them, become anxiety-inducing and physically unmanageable that they need to be addressed.
The possibility of flare-ups is an unfortunate side effect of the reintroduction process. However, it's the only way to determine which FODMAPs you can eat and in what quantities you can tolerate them. The difficulty is that these flare-ups are hard to predict and individual to each of us.
Managing expectations
The best way to approach the reintroduction phase is to keep an open mind. Try to begin each challenge without expectations, a negative mindset or being overly sure of the results you expect.
The reintroduction challenges can be frustrating, enlightening, disappointing, surprising or downright confusing. Having a dietitian on hand during this phase is advisable. They will help you to interpret any puzzling results and reactions, keep you on track and suggest ways to make the whole thing much easier and worthwhile.
Remember that our tolerances can and do change over time. If you didn't get the results you hoped for during a particular challenge you can always return to it in the future.
Did anything unexpected happen during your challenges?
Comments
No Comments