FODMAP

As many of you know, my darling husband has been suffering from gastritis for a long time now....he has been in pain most days and none of the medicine seemed to be really helping. Trips back to the doctor for more tests have led to even more confusion as they all came back clear. What was going on here? Well, a fed up Marty finally decided to try another avenue and booked an appointment with a dietician. Remember those awesome friends at church who let us stay in their beautiful home early this year? Yep, she is a dietician! So off he went...and returned home an hour later clutching a long list of notes in his hand.

We sat down at the table together and Marty explained (or tried his best anyway) it all to me. He is trying a thing called the "FODMAP diet" - which should help settle down his tummy issues, or at least give us some clues as to whether his issues are diet related. Here I give you an explanation straight from about.com:

"The FODMAP theory holds that consuming foods high in FODMAPs results in increased volume of liquid and gas in the small and large intestine, resulting in distention and symptoms such as adominal pain and gas and bloating.  The theory proposes that following a low FODMAP diet should result in a decrease in digestive symptoms. The theory further holds that there is a cumulative effect of these foods on symptoms. In other words, eating foods with varying FODMAP values at the same time will add up, resulting in symptoms that you might not experience if you ate the food in isolation. "

So Goodbye wheat. Hello gluten free flour. Goodbye apples, garlic and onion. Hello potatoes, rice and bananas. Goodbye cakes and biscuits. Hello rice, tapioca and spelt flours. Goodbye trim blue milk. Hello lactose free milk.

....And boy, this stuff is expensive! Just to give you a glimpse - 1.5kg of plain flour is $1.40. 1kg of gluten free flour is $10.99! Needless to say, the whole family will not be following Marty with open wallets down this dieting track. We explained to the girls that daddy will get his own bread now, his own baking and sometimes will eat different dinners then us. We told them we hope it will make daddy feel better because he has a sore tummy.

We are optimistic and excited about trying something new that hopefully will really help Marty feel better.  Marty has been in a much more positive mood since his meeting with Diane, and we hope that this is the start of a journey to recovery.  I have taken up the challenge, spending hours today poring over the internet looking for mince recipes without garlic or onion (seriously, every sauce and half the seasonings out there have these things!) or suitable alternatives to some of the foods on the list.  I hit the shops with a mission in mind and came home and made gluten free bread and homemade meusli yesterday.  

To be honest, the only part of his new diet that freaks me out is the dinner time ingredients (onion, garlic, sauces, mixes, seasonings legumes, mushrooms) because I don't want to give up my favourite recipies or have to make two meals every evening!   Diane (his dietician) has been very patient texting answers to my zillions of questions as I took about 3 hours to do my menu plan and grocery shop today!). I am trying hard to remember that this is not necessarily his diet for life now - this is a starting point to see if he feels better in a few weeks time with these changes or not.  And if he does, then there will be more tests and diet adjustments as we work out exactly what he can and cannot tolerate in his diet.  

....and if he DOESN'T feel any different at the end of these 3 weeks?  Well, then we know that it's not diet and the testing game will continue.