On 2nd & 3rd March the Scottish leg of the Allergy & Free From Show 2019 was held in the SEC in Glasgow, and as Founder of Bay’s Kitchen I was invited to speak in the Just-V show ‘theatre’! The theme of the talk was ‘Following a Low FODMAP Diet, whilst maintaining a Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle’.
My talk was at 11.45am on Saturday, and the show opened at 10am, so I had a short time to browse the show before hand and then continued to following my talk. There were lots of other fantastic talks on the line-up, including Registered Dietician Lesley Reid talking all things IBS and Low FODMAP Diet, and the Mac Twins from The Gut Stuff talking about gut health, the gut microbiome, what The Gut Stuff do and Symprove!
Being all the way up in Scotland, I know there are many of you who couldn’t make the show and so I thought I would include my key points from my talk and findings from the show in this blog post for you!
I also discussed how it’s key for you to find your individual triggers. The Low FODMAP Diet is a very restrictive diet (even more so if you are also vegetarian or vegan!), and the elimination stage should only be followed for a maximum of 8 weeks. Whilst reintroduction is a scary thought, it is so important to your health and your gut microbiome to reintroduce as many foods as possible back into your diet. Even if it’s only small serving sizes you find you can tolerate, it’s better to have that small amount in to add variety than to exclude it altogether.
I get asked a lot “if I have some symptoms, when I try to reintroduce, does that mean I shouldn’t continue it in my diet?” As mentioned, the diet is very personal to you and you need to decide what symptoms/level of symptoms are ‘tolerable’ to you. If you get a bit of bloating but it’s not causing you sever pain and so is ‘tolerable’ then I would keep that food group in.
Whilst discussing identifying your triggers, I mentioned our Food & Symptom Diary – it’s a great resource to record your food, medication, bowel movements, stress, tiredness and more. You can use the morning and evening symptom scales to easily flick back and forth to find your most problematic days and start to identify your triggers. If you go to a dietician or GP they will always ask you to complete a diary, so you’re best to start this one and then take it to them and be one step ahead!
Don’t panic! There are still a huge list of foods you can eat, and if you have a successful reintroduction, then hopefully there are many more you can add in too! Below is a great example from Fodmap Everyday which shows you the huge list of fruits and vegetables which are all Low FODMAP (at the listed serving sizes) and Vegan!
As a ‘Vegan Fodmapper’ do you get enough fibre, calcium and protein in your diet?
We have just seen a huge list of fruit and vegetables which are great for following a Low FODMAP, Vegan diet, but we all need to make sure we are getting a healthy, balanced diet with the right levels of nutrients and vitamins. Here we go through some great sources of fibre, protein and calcium for when you are following a Low FODMAP, Vegan diet!
Fibre is always a big subject when you follow the Low FODMAP Diet. We need fibre to make our bowel movements regular and the right consistency.
Women under the age of 50 need 25g of fibre a day (over 50 21g) and men under the age of 50 need 38g of fibre a day (over 50 30g).
The following ingredients are all good sources of fibre, and are Low FODMAP (check serving sizes) and vegan!
- Oats – 1/4 cup has 2g
- Rice – 1 cup has 3g
- Quinoa – 1 cup has 5g
- Quinoa pasta – 1 cup has 2g
- Broccoli – 1/2 cup has 2.5g
- Carrot – 1/2 cup has 2g
- Potato – 1 medium potato has 3.5g
- Oranges – 1 orange has 3g
- Bananas – 1 unripe banana has 2.5g
- Raspberries – 1/2 cup has 3.5g
- Pine Nuts – I tbsp has 6g
- Chia seeds – 2tbsp has 10g
- Bread – 2 slices Gluten Free Multigrain Bread has 6g
It can be difficult to get the right levels of protein when following a vegan diet, but following a Low FODMAP Diet at the same time can make things even trickier, as many protein sources including beans and lentils are high FODMAP!
Ideally you need to aim for 0.9g protein per Kg of body weight. so if you weigh 60kg you need approximately 54g protein per day.
The following ingredients are all good sources of protein, and are Low FODMAP (in the specified serving sizes) and vegan!
- Soy protein milk (must be soy protein not made from soy beans) – 250ml has 8g protein
- Tofu – 170g has 27g
- Tempeh – 100g has 19g
- Quorn mince – 75g has 12g
- Canned lentils – 1/2 cup has 9g
- Canned chickpeas –
- Nut butters – 2tbsp has 6-7g
- Pumpkin seeds – 28g has 7g
- Cooked quinoa – 185g has 8g
Again, similar to protein, calcium is always a big subject when you follow a vegan Diet, as the biggest source of calcium most people get is from dairy products, like cows milk, which are a no-go on a vegan diet. So how do you get the right amount of calcium into your diet?
Women between the ages of 19-50 need 1000mg per day and men between the ages of 19-70 also need 1000mg per day. When you are older or younger than this you need more.
The following ingredients are all good sources of calcium, and are Low FODMAP (in the specified serving sizes) and vegan!
- Fortified almond and soy milks (made from soy protein) – 250ml has 286mg calcium
- Tofu – 113g firm tofu has anywhere from 250-750mg (see individual brands/packets
- Brazil nuts – 10 nuts have 68mg
- Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp has 88mg
- Bok choy – 1 cup has 40mg
- Kale – 1 cup has 55mg
- Spinach – 1 cup has 29mg
Now you have a good idea of what foods you need for your diet, now you need to know where it is best to get them from! And my best recommendation… online shopping!
Food shopping online is incredible, you have all the information you need at the tips of your fingers, in the comfort of your own home, without wandering aimlessly up and down supermarket aisles for hours! The best parts of shopping online:
- Ingredients listed
- Key features and allergens highlighted (e.g nut free, gluten free etc)
- Search facilities for Gluten Free, Vegan and Vegetarian foods (we are also working on getting Low FODMAP as a category to search by too with major online retailers and supermarkets)
- Browse in your own home, at your own leisure
- Specialist Low FODMAP online retailers – see our stockists page for some of the best, including FODMarket!
MY FAVOURITE REASON FOR SHOPPING ONLINE…
- Most use ‘favourites’ or ‘recent purchases’ so you can quickly find and re-buy the items you researched on your first shop!
Whilst food shopping you can also start to look out for certifications on products. There’s the Vegan certification from the Vegetarian Society, as well as two Low FODMAP Certifications – one from FODMAP Friendly and the other from Monash University which are starting to be seen on more and more products every month! Be careful of products which claim they are Low FODMAP yet don’t have the certification – as it may mean they have just taken out the ‘onion and garlic’ but not other ingredients. The certification tests take things like FODMAP stacking and the cooking process into account, which all have an affect on the fodmap levels in foods.
To finish my talk I spoke about our Low FODMAP, Gluten Free, Vegan sauces (see link below to head to our shop to purchase) - perfect if you are a vegan Fodmapper! I also provided a list of the most useful resources I have found over the years I have followed the Low FODMAP Diet, which can all be found below.
Monash Uni Fodmap App – https://www.monashfodmap.com/
Fodmap Friendly – https://fodmapfriendly.com
The Wild Gut Project – https://www.thewildgutproject.com/
The Food Treatment Clinic – https://thefunctionalgutclinic.com/
The Functional Gut Clinic – https://thefunctionalgutclinic.com/
Vegetarian & Vegan Society – https://vegsoc.org/
The IBS Network – https://www.theibsnetwork.org/
Emma Hatcher Blog & Cookbook – https://shecanteatwhat.com/
Fodmap UK – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559350870946123/
Low Fodmap Recipes & Support – https://www.facebook.com/groups/743558315679493/
Low Fodmap For Vegans – https://www.facebook.com/groups/573481779398275/
When I finished my talk, I had a chat with a few member’s of the audience. It was my first time speaking at a consumer show like this, and though I was pretty nervous, I really enjoyed it and somehow I was exactly within my timings! The audience were so lovely, so thank you to all who sat and watched!
I then went and wandered around the show and listened the The Gut Stuff’s talk. I absolutely loved listening to them… you can tell they are also DJs as they were great with a microphone and so engaging!! I chatted with Lisa and Alana after their talk all things ‘gut health’ and ‘Low FODMAP’!
Following our chat, I went and visited other stands, I finally met Lauren from Fodilicious who was launching her new snack product and promoting their read meals at the show. I also went to the Symprove stand… Symprove is a supplement which, over the course of a 12 week programme, will help you support a healthy balance in your gut bacteria. I have finally (been meaning to for ages) signed up for the 12 weeks and will start my programme in the next day or so. I will be writing a diary/review on my experience for you!
So that’s the show all wrapped up! We will be exhibiting at the next Allergy & Free From Show, so make sure you get your tickets for the biggest consumer show in allergy products and free from foods!
