Presence of Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Monosaccharides, and Polyols (FODMAPs) in commonly eaten foods: extension of a database to indicate dietary FODMAP content and calculation of intake in the general population from food diary data

Abstract

Background FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Monosaccharides And Polyols) are known for their health benefits but their fermentation may trigger gastrointestinal symptoms and a low-FODMAP diet is a commonly used intervention for functional gastrointestinal disorders. The use of direct measures of FODMAP is labor intensive and expensive and to facilitate the assessment of FODMAP intake in research and clinical work, a nutritional content database with good quality estimates on FODMAP values is needed. Further, the average intake of FODMAP in a general population would be a useful reference and knowledge of the most commonly eaten foods containing FODMAPs would facilitate clinical work utilizing FODMAP diet interventions. Methods A nutritional content database was extended with published FODMAP content data. The database was used to calculate FODMAP intake from four-day food diaries from 117 individuals from the general population in Sweden and the most common food items containing FODMAPs were identified. Results FODMAP content for 1060 food items was added to the database resulting in 1805 listed FODMAP values. Mean intake of total FODMAP in the diaries was 19 g (fructose: 15.2 g; fructan: 3.5 g; lactose: 14.1 g; galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) 0.43 g and polyols 1.3 g per day). Overall the most common eaten food items containing FODMAPs were rye and wheat based foods. Conclusion Intake of FODMAPs as calculated using the extended database were in line with previous studies supporting its use of the database in both research and clinical interventions. The lists of the most commonly eaten FODMAP food items are provided and may be used to facilitate FODMAP diet interventions.

Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, and Mono-Saccharides and Polyols (FODMAPs) Consumption and Irritable Bowel Syndrome in the French NutriNet-Santé Cohort

“…The higher FODMAP consumption found in France in IBS subjects, around 19 g, compared with the 16.5 g per day of Australian and Swedish study is due to an increase in the excess fructose and polyol categories while lactose and GOS intakes are similar [5,50]. However, this total FODMAP intake of around 19 g in both groups is in accordance with our recent publication in more than 100,000 participants of the NutriNet cohort [32] and of 117 Swedish invidious representative of the general population [52].…”

Habitual FODMAP Intake in Relation to Symptom Severity and Pattern in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

“…All foods and drinks were reported and the quantity was estimated in grams or by using household utensils. Intake of energy, nutrients, and FODMAPs were calculated in a special version of the software Dietist XP 3.1 (Kostdata.se, Stockholm, Sweden), connected to an aggregated FODMAP database [24]. The food composition table was provided by the National Food Agency in Sweden.…”

“…The food composition table was provided by the National Food Agency in Sweden. The FODMAP database contained information about fructose, fructan, lactose, galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS), and polyol content (g/100 g) from published sources [24]. A trained dietician entered all diet records into the software.…”

Ileocolonic Histopathological and Microbial Alterations in the Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Nested Community Case-Control Study

“…Only subjects who had a completely normal colonoscopy and no evidence of organic or infectious gastrointestinal (GI) disease and who were not taking PPIs or NSAIDs are included in this study. All the subjects in this study were born in Sweden; the Swedish population is genetically similar to other populations of Northern Europe ( 19 ) and the diet in Sweden, and especially Stockholm, is also similar to Europe including the intake of fermentable carbohydrates ( 20 ).…”