# Having trouble with a theory



## Andrew Du (Jan 2, 2015)

So here's something i've been wondering but way too afraid to give it a go. I don't know everyone's experiences here so feel free to post your opinions and thoughts.

I've been following a* low-FODMAP diet with L-Glutamine* to heal my gut for about a good *8 weeks now*. I've seen *definite improvement* from where I was 2 months ago but still *not 100%*.

However, there is something that's bothering me. I've been reading online that since I'm on a low FODMAP diet i'm starving my gut microbes because I'm not feeding them ANY prebiotics to help my flora flourish and digest correctly? So, that brings me to this theory. *Has anyone tried reintroducing FODMAP foods AFTER a 6 week elimination diet and improved? The reason i'm saying this is because maybe your gut has healed up a little from the elimination diet and now needs prebiotics for proper digestion. Yes? No? * I'm too scared to even try and reintroduce broccoli, cabbage, and onions before having some opinions of others, because when I was eating those I was having the absolute worse days of my life 2 months ago. Overall, I'm just not sure if it actually makes sense to reintroduce foods before I'm feeling 100% or this might be what I've been missing.

I'm thinking about maybe buying some fermented vegetables (pickles, can't have cabbage) and testing out my "flora" theory and seeing if this will have any effect.

Any thoughts?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

yes, i read several studies about that too--that going strict low FODMAP can be bad for your gut biome, starves the microbes etc

and what i've generally been reading is that it's suggested to follow the FODMAP diet strictly for approximately four weeks. after that, what you are supposed to do is challenge each group--one by one and food by food. keeping a food diary helps.

that's what i've done. i now eat a moderate FODMAP diet since i've found that only certain foods bother me, which is good. going strict FODMAP made my C worse.

everyone is different. some people can't have any FODMAPs at all. others find that it might only be one group that bothers them. others don't notice any difference on the diet. the FODMAP diet is meant to be a four to six week diet to determine your sensitivities, but you might also find that you need to be on it long term. basically the diet reduces fermentable carbohydrates which provides symptom relief for many people, but, yes, it starves both our good and bad bacteria of the prebiotics they use for growth. That is why many people recommend challenging food groups later on, so that you can have as many prebiotics in your diet as possible.

'

we're all different. if a food really bothers you--like broccoli, onions, etc don't eat it of course but do try challenging each food, from each group, one by one and hopefully you;ll find some FODMAPs you can tolerate.

sometimes it's also a matter of the amount of a bothersome food that you eat---like maybe you can't tolerate a lot of broccoli or whatever but a smaller amount doesn't bother you.

yes a lot of people say fermented food helps.

good luck..


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