The Low FODMAP Reintroduction Phase: What I Learned

After weeks of eliminating foods, the thought of eating them again can feel scary. The elimination phase definitely felt safe and in some ways, much simpler to do than the reintroduction phase.

When you start to feel results- less bloating, gas and discomfort in your gut- it can definitely create anxiety that the symptoms may return when you start to reintroduce the foods.

However, the reintroduction phase is essential as it helps to identify the foods that trigger your symptoms and this will be personal to everybody.

When do you start the reintroduction phase?

This will be different for everyone but the rule is you start, once your symptoms have significantly improved.

I stayed on the elimination phase a lot longer than the usual recommended length of time, which is 2-6 weeks and this was because I had suffered with gut health issues for many years and it took my gut a while to start responding to the effects of the diet. I started to reintroduce foods much later than 6 weeks.

What Is The Low FODMAP Reintroduction Phase?

This is what they call Phase 2 (Phase 1- elimination) of the diet- when you start to reintroduce a food type, from each food group. Now this is the bit that confused me most as I didn’t understand what food group meant. I thought I had to reintroduce each food one at a time that I had eliminated! I did a lot of research into this part, to try and fully help my mummy brain understand exactly how to do this- especially after weeks of eliminating foods- I did not want to get this bit wrong.

The goal of the reintroduction phase is to pinpoint exactly what sugar groups (short-chain carbohydrates) like fructose or lactose (I explain below) trigger your gut issues.

I will now break this down as simple as I can, so you don’t get confused like I did.

FODMAPS are specific types of sugars and fibres, naturally found in many everyday foods that can trigger symptoms for those with a sensitive gut. Let me explain….

FODMAPs (short-chain carbohydrates- I just call them sugars) present itself in these 5 sugar groups:

Here are examples of common foods that contain these sugars:

Fruits: mango, apples, pears, grapes, cherries, guava, all dried fruits (dates, raisins, figs)

Vegetable: onions, shallots, asparagus, mushrooms

All dairy products- milk, yoghurt, ice-cream, butter

Sorbitol: found in stone fruits, cherries, peaches, plums

Mannitol: mushrooms, cauliflower, celery, sweet potatoes, watermelon

Erythitol: small amounts in grapes, melons and pears

Xylitol: added to sugar free mints and gum

Legumes: lentil, chickpeas, kidney beans

Nuts: chashews, pistachios, almonds, pine nuts

Vegetable: beets, butternut squash, pumpkin

Grains: wheat, barley, rye, spelt and your standard breads and pasta

Vegetables: onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, asparagus

Fruits: watermelon, grapefruit, persimmon, pomegranates, all dried fruit

Nuts and legumes: cashews, pistachios, black and kidney beans

The Reintroduction Phase Step-By-Step

As you can see, there are 5 main groups. This is the food groups you need to do the test (reintroducing) from, focusing on these 5 major sugar groups! You reintroduce around 1-2 food types from each sugar group. For example, when I reintroduced the fructose food group, I chose- onions and mango.

Steps to reintroduce:

Step 1: Choose a test food

(Below in step 2, is an example of what I chose to start with and what it looked like. You can choose whichever one you want to start with, however I recommend you start with the foods you eat most commonly!)

Step 2: The 3 day challenge

Day 1:  Eat small amount of onions. I put some back into my sauces.

Day 2:  Put a moderate amount of onions back in food.

Day 3:  Add large amount of onions.

Step 3: Rest and record

On day 4, you rest. Take 2-3 days of rest, meaning no onions, back to strict FODMAP diet. If you notice symptoms coming back after day 1, you can stop testing that food because that would indicate that the specific food type is a trigger for you.

Make sure you are keeping track of your symptoms and during this time, you are still following the low FODMAP diet until you have tested all the foods from your 5 different groups.

Tip for recording symptoms

You do not need anything fancy, just grab a notebook and keep it simple. Just make sure you have this key information so you can go back to it.

An example of how I wrote mine

Common symptoms to watch for:

Mild symptoms do not mean that you are completely intolerant to the food type, which is why portion sizes matter hugely when it comes to reintroducing.

What Happens After Reintroduction

After completing Phase 2- which takes between 6-8 weeks- you can finally evaluate your results. This would help you to understand the foods you can and cannot have and whether some foods are tolerated in smaller portion sizes.

Full tolerance– you are able to eat normal portion sizes comfortably

Partial tolerance– you can tolerate smaller portions

Poor tolerance– your symptoms occur consistently

Once this is established, you move on to the final phase of the Low FODMAP Diet that is Phase 3- Personalization. This is all about creating a long term, sustainable diet based on your results from Phase 2. No longer eating the foods and serving sizes that trigger your symptoms and to reintroduce everything else to enjoy a varied and nourishing diet.

If you find the whole process overwhelming or you are still unsure how to follow it correctly, I recommend you find a registered dietician to support you through it.

What I learned

For me, this whole process confirmed some of the suspicions I had about certain foods I would eat like, mango and nectarines. I would always get bloated and gassy after eating these fruit and learned that they both contain fructose, which is one of the sugars sensitive individuals cannot digest properly in the small intestine.

I am able to eat certain foods but in smaller portions like sweet potatoes and onions and have found that I need to just avoid some foods altogether. This has definitely helped me control my symptoms. I’m not nervous about being out and about and feeling uncomfortable as I now know what foods trigger me. I don’t feel like I’m missing out either as there are so many variety of foods you can enjoy. However, with that being said, food is definitely a major factor when it comes to gut health issues but how we manage stress and sleep is equally just as important.

Disclaimer– I am not a professional dietician or nutritionist. I was advised by a professional, to try the low FODMAP diet due to gut health issues. This is a post about my own personal experience and my results from Phase 2. Through sharing what I have learned, I hope this offers support to other mums that are currently on the diet and that it offers some reassurance- making the process less stressful.

Good luck with your low FODMAP journey and as always if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on my contact page.

Thanks for reading! x