Why is reintroduction important?

So, you’ve started the new year with the low FODMAP diet, or you may have been following it for a little while and you’re excited to see results – fantastic!

Unfortunately, many people get to this stage and, as they feel such good symptom relief, they want to stick at the diet for life.

While this may help with reducing or controlling symptoms, cutting out all FODMAPs long term is not recommended for the following reasons:

1. You’re probably not sensitive to ALL FODMAPs
   Even if you’ve determined that FODMAPs are a trigger for your IBS, there is no way to tell which ones in particular are causing your symptoms without reintroducing
2. Restriciton
   The low FODMAP diet can offer great results, however it is quite restrictive in the foods we can eat and enjoy – something that is not sustainable in the long term
3. Variety
   We know our gut health both impacts on the rest of our body and is impacted by the foods we eat. We are huge advocates for eating as much variety as we can – especially in the form of plant foods. This can get a little tricky during the elimination phase of the low FODMAP diet, which is why we put strong emphasis on reintroducing FODMAPs, to see which ones and how much you can tolerate, and therefore increae the variety in your diet.

As always, contact us if you have any questions about your own gut health, the low FODMAP diet or nutrition in general!