Low-FODMAP Food List: What to Eat and Avoid

A low-FODMAP food list shows which everyday foods are usually lower or higher in certain poorly absorbed sugars. Lower-FODMAP options include rice, oats, carrots, oranges, and plain meat. Higher-FODMAP foods often include onion, garlic, wheat bread, apples, and cow’s milk. Portion size can change how a food is rated. This short-term eating plan should be guided by a healthcare professional.

FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. These are short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. In some people, they draw water into the gut and are fermented by bacteria, which can lead to bloating, wind, pain, or a change in bowel habit. That pattern is most often discussed in people with medically assessed irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), not as a general “healthy eating” rule for everyone.

A printed list is only a starting point. Laboratory testing continues to update how foods are classified, and the same food can be lower FODMAP in a small serve and higher FODMAP in a larger one. Researchers at Monash University, who developed the diet, advise using their tested food data rather than unofficial internet charts, and working with a dietitian before a strict restriction phase begins.

How the list is meant to be used

The low-FODMAP approach is a three-step learning process, not a lifelong ban on favourite foods. In the first step, higher-FODMAP foods are swapped for lower-FODMAP alternatives for about two to six weeks to see whether symptoms settle. If they do, foods are brought back in a planned way so individual triggers can be identified. The longer-term aim is a personalised pattern that limits only the items that clearly bother that person.

International gastroenterology guidance treats the plan as a structured dietary therapy for IBS, usually after simpler first-line eating advice, and recommends dietitian supervision plus reintroduction according to tolerance. It is not a test that diagnoses IBS on its own. Persistent gut symptoms still need medical assessment so other conditions are not missed. People who already have a diagnosis may find a dedicated overview of the low-FODMAP diet helpful before they start changing meals.

Foods often limited first

During a short restriction phase, many people temporarily reduce foods that laboratory testing has found to be higher in one or more FODMAP groups. Common examples include:

• Vegetables: onion, garlic, leek (white part), cauliflower, mushrooms, green peas, artichoke, and asparagus
• Fruit: apples, pears, mango, watermelon, cherries, stone fruit such as peaches and plums, and most dried fruit
• Grains: wheat, rye, and barley breads, pasta, and many breakfast cereals based on those grains
• Dairy: cow’s milk, regular yoghurt, ice cream, and soft fresh cheeses that still contain lactose
• Pulses: many beans, baked beans, and large serves of lentils or chickpeas
• Nuts and sweeteners: cashews, pistachios, honey, and sugar-free products sweetened with sorbitol or xylitol

Onion and garlic deserve special mention because they flavour so many home-cooked stews, gravies, and takeaway sauces. The problem is usually the fructans in the vegetable itself. Garlic- or onion-infused oil, used without pieces of the vegetable left in the oil, is often used as a lower-FODMAP way to keep flavour. Marinated meats, sausages, and bottled sauces can still be high FODMAP if onion or garlic has been added.

These foods are not “bad.” Many are nutritious. They are only limited for a short time in people whose symptoms appear sensitive to FODMAPs. Other IBS triggers, such as large fatty meals, irregular eating, or stress, can still matter even when FODMAP intake is lower.

Foods more often chosen during restriction

Plenty of ordinary foods are naturally low in FODMAPs or low at a tested serving. Typical lower-FODMAP choices include:

• Vegetables: carrot, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, lettuce, potato, zucchini, and bok choy
• Fruit: firm banana, orange, mandarin, kiwi fruit, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries, kept to suggested serving sizes
• Grains: rice, oats, quinoa, polenta, corn tortillas, rice cakes, and many wheat-free breads without added onion, honey, or inulin
• Protein: eggs, plain cooked meat, chicken, fish, firm tofu, and tempeh
• Dairy alternatives: lactose-free milk and yoghurt, hard cheeses, brie, camembert, and feta in usual amounts
• Nuts and sweeteners: peanuts, walnuts, macadamias, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, and ordinary table sugar in modest amounts

Staple maize foods can be useful in a local kitchen. Monash testing has rated several corn products — including polenta, corn tortillas, popcorn, and maize flour or cornmeal — as low FODMAP at defined serves. Plain pap made from maize meal, without onion, garlic, or high-FODMAP gravies, is therefore often easier to fit into a restriction phase than wheat bread. Serving size and added ingredients still matter, so a current tested database is more reliable than a memory of an old chart.

Lactose-free dairy is not the same as dairy-free. Hard cheeses are naturally low in lactose. Some people tolerate a splash of regular milk in tea even if a full glass of milk is uncomfortable. That kind of detail is worked out during reintroduction, not guessed from a generic list.

A side-by-side look at common swaps

The table below compares foods that are frequently higher in FODMAPs with alternatives that are more often used during the short restriction phase. It is a learning aid, not a complete shopping catalogue, and ratings can change when a food is retested or eaten in a larger portion.

The useful takeaway is substitution, not fear of whole food groups. A person can still eat vegetables, fruit, grains, and dairy-style foods. The change is which item is chosen and how much is served at one sitting. Combining several “amber” serves in the same meal can still add up to a higher FODMAP load.

Why serving size changes the rating

FODMAP content is dose-dependent. A small amount of a food may be well tolerated, while a larger plate of the same food is not. Avocado, sweet potato, beetroot, broccoli heads, and canned lentils are examples of foods that may be acceptable in a limited serve and more troublesome in a generous one. That is why traffic-light style apps list more than one portion for many foods.

Ripeness can matter too. A firm banana is generally lower in FODMAPs than a very ripe, spotted banana. Dried fruit concentrates sugars because the water has been removed. Fruit juice delivers fructose quickly without the bulk of whole fruit, so it is often limited even when the whole fruit has a modest serve.

Reading labels helps during restriction. Wheat, onion, garlic, honey, inulin, chicory root, apple juice concentrate, and polyol sweeteners ending in “-ol” are common hidden sources. Gluten-free products are not automatically low FODMAP. Some gluten-free breads still contain honey, apple fibre, or bean flours.

Where this list fits with wider IBS care

Diet is only one part of IBS care. First-line advice often includes regular meals, enough fluid, a gradual change in fibre type, and a look at caffeine, alcohol, and very fatty foods. A low-FODMAP trial is usually considered when those steps are not enough and a clinician is reasonably confident the problem is IBS rather than another gut condition.

People comparing options can read more about general IBS diet approaches and broader IBS treatment, which may also include soluble fibre, medicines, and strategies for stress or gut-brain symptoms. The food list on this page does not decide which of those options is appropriate for an individual.

Symptoms such as bloating or loose stools can overlap with other diagnoses. That is why a clinician may recommend tests or a review of how IBS is diagnosed before a long elimination diet begins. Self-rating foods from a list cannot confirm the cause of pain, bleeding, or weight loss.

When to talk to a doctor or dietitian

Professional review is appropriate before a strict low-FODMAP phase, and again if symptoms do not improve after a few weeks. A doctor should also be consulted promptly for warning features such as unexplained weight loss, bleeding from the bowel, waking at night with diarrhoea, fever, or symptoms that start after age 50. Those signs are discussed further in guidance on IBS red flags.

A registered dietitian can translate a generic list into meals that still include enough energy, protein, fibre, calcium, and iron. In this country, the Association for Dietetics in South Africa is the professional organisation for registered dietitians and maintains a public way to find one. Public-sector clinics and private practices both employ dietitians; the right setting depends on a person’s existing care pathway and what their clinician recommends.

Do not stay on the strictest version of the list indefinitely “just in case.” If symptoms never change, FODMAPs may not be the main issue, and further restriction is unlikely to help. If symptoms do settle, the next step is planned reintroduction, not a permanent narrow menu.