Can I have chocolate on the low Fodmap diet?

Chocolate is universally loved and the idea that we couldn’t ever again have any would be heart-breaking. Whether we can or can’t have chocolate if we have irritable bowel syndrome is not clear cut. Watch my video to see what I mean.

Transcript of "Can I have Chocolate on the Low Fodmap Diet?"

Today we are going to talk about what chocolate is low FODMAP. The various different chocolates, dark, milk and white chocolate have varying amounts of lactose in them. 30 grams of the white or milk chocolate is moderate FODMAPS, but 30 grams of the dark chocolate is okay – it’s low FODMAP. So even relatively small amounts of the milk and the white chocolate could trigger symptoms especially if you’re at the end of the day and you’re accumulating FODMAPs during the day. That’s, of course, the accumulative effect that we’ve spoken about before.

Do avoid all carob chocolate. Carob is high FODMAP so you don’t want that. It’s got fructans in it.

I have had clients that have tried some dark chocolate and have had problems with it. So let’s take this a bit further and look at the other ingredients that are in chocolate even if it’s the right chocolate FODMAP-wise for us.

• There could be inulin, which is in a lot of processed foods including yogurt, but it could also be in dark chocolate, and inulin is high FODMAP.
• There could also be high fructose corn syrup. This could be used as a sweetener and for those of us where our main trigger is fructose that’s really a problem. Even a teaspoon of honey, and that has relatively small amounts of excessive fructose, can cause an issue. So imagine with high fructose corn syrup.
• A lot of chocolate has dried fruit in it and we can’t have that because it’s mainly high FODMAP because of concentration of FODMAPs in it. The only dried fruit we can have is a tablespoon of dried cranberries. And I’ve never seen chocolate with dried cranberries although I’m sure it exists somewhere and it actually sounds quite delicious.
• Soy lecithin is actually something that you can have so you don’t have to worry too much about it. It’s used in processed foods as an emulsifier. It makes the water and the oil components combine and stay together.
• And the other two issues with chocolate are the fat and sugar – the quantities of them. The darker the chocolate, the more sugar that needs to be added to make it more palatable. And again, if one of your main triggers is fructose, this could be an issue and cause symptoms. And, as you know, fat is a gut irritant and the tolerated levels will differ with every person. You have to find your own levels.

So chocolate is not just about the FODMAPs. At the end of the day, it is a processed food and we should be avoiding all processed foods. Thank you for watching and good bye.