Hmm, I'm wondering if I should go down the gastroenterologist route, dietitian or just trial the FODMAP diet. Yesterday I ate some dried dates and apricots and some honey (was making some apricot coconut balls for the kids) and paid for it all afternoon and today it's not good either. The best my guts have ever been is when I did low carb (but I don't think it's a very healthy diet so would never make it a lifestyle change).
Will check out more of your recipes
Any suggestions for books or websites with good FODMAP info?
yeah I can't do low carb either. sounds like fructose/fructan issues to me. try the FODMAP diet but do note your individual symptoms. e.g. some people can tolerate rye. I can't, which is sad because I love rye bread
make sure you eliminate sugar polyols from your diet too .. the sorbitol, malitol, xylitol...no sugar free gum, drinks etc. that stuff will bloat and make you feel sick if you are susceptible.
try it for a few weeks, you should notice a drastic improvement by the end of one week if indeed this is the issue.
but always talk to your doc about it. i had the tests just to be sure. My symptoms were not classic intolerance. Mostly pain, nausea and cramping.
It's made a real difference for me. But it took me the best part of two years mucking about with different foods, although it's not that hard for everyone.
I don't follow the full low FODMAP diet as I don't have an issue with lactose at all. I find broccolini and avocado, eggplant all OK too for example. Problem is that a lot of foods have not yet had their fructan content determined so no-one really knows. A lot of the recommendations are based on trials by people.
For books and info etc, check out Sue Shepherd's site:
http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-information/low-fodmap-diet
I'm critical of the "science" and studies as they look poorly designed and run and there isn't much good science going on in this. Ignore it and see what you find for you. Commonsense is a good guide.
Some recipes on this site (i don't use them so not sure):
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/low+fodmap+diet+recipes
hope that helps! if you google FODMAP recipes, there should be lots of sites..