Do I need to do the personalised phase?

If things have been going well then in your low FODMAP diet then you may begin to doubt whether you need to do the personalised phase. I know how daunting it feels to start reintroducing FODMAPs back into your diet. However, this personalisation is exactly what you've been working towards this whole time.

The potential risk of flare-ups can be especially worrying if you've experienced a significant improvement in your symptoms up until now. Remember you have the experience of managing your symptoms through diet. Using this knowledge you can always go back to a low FODMAP diet for a few days during a flare-up, before continuing with the personalised phase.

By the time you reach the personalised phase, you should be confident that you're sensitive to FODMAPs. During elimination, you'll have experienced significant improvement in your symptoms when restricting FODMAPs in your diet. In the reintroduction phase you learned which individual FODMAPs you can tolerate and in roughly what quantities. Now the real fun begins! [1]

Why should I risk the personalised phase?

It's very unlikely that going forward you'll only eat one high FODMAP food a day, in isolation from other FODMAPs, as you did during your reintroduction challenges. Whilst the controlled reintroductions you completed in the previous phase helped identify the individual FODMAPs you can tolerate, it doesn't tell you much about eating them as part of a regular meal or an average day. The personalised phase is where you start to put all of those individual challenges together.

The personalised phase is crucial for getting you back to "normal" and generally feeling more relaxed about your food choices and overall diet. If your diet is permanently restricted you risk;

• nutritional deficiencies
• altering your gut microbiome
• continued anxiety when it comes to shopping, cooking and eating
• remaining stuck in elimination limbo
• low confidence around choosing food, socialising and eating out
• never being sure exactly what caused your latest food-related flare-up and why

All of which can lead to further gut issues in the near future and impact your overall health and mental wellbeing. [2]

Looking for more help for your low FODMAP personalised phase? Check out the other posts in this series.

Did you put off your personalised phase for a little too long? Share your struggles in the comments below.