No onion and garlic but still delicious

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People might avoid eating onion and garlic temporarily, while they are on the elimination phase of the FODMAPs diet for IBS.  Or, they might avoid onion and garlic longterm, if the challenge phase of the FODMAPs diet shows them they don’t tolerate the fructans which onion and garlic are rich in. It’s not usually until … Read more

Plan to Eat Well – Step Two

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How many dinners a week do you already plan ahead?  Could you see yourself planning for one more dinner than you currently manage?  Start this week, and once that becomes easy, add an extra planned dinner per week. Take small steps like this, gradually build on them, and in the long term, you will find … Read more

Plan to Eat Well – One Week at a Time

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It’s really hard to eat deliciously, healthfully and economically when you don’t think about what you are going to eat until the late afternoon.  By that time, when you are tired, starting to get hungry, and the stores are crowded, convenience food, take out or home delivery become hard to resist. While they work as … Read more

It might not be the gluten

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Ever feel that you have digestive problems after you eat wheat in bread or pasta?  When this happens, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that it’s the protein gluten that causes the gas, bloating, cramping and abdominal pain which some people experience after eating wheat.  However, there is a growing body of evidence in … Read more

Enliven vegetables with vinaigrette

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Consuming a generous amount of vegetables each day is fundamental for health.  Vegetables are the basis of the eating pattern which reduces risk of developing most chronic diseases, like heart disease, stroke, hypertension , diabetes and cancer. Most people don’t eat enough vegetables. Yet nobody is going to eat more vegetables if they can’t make … Read more

Mint – a homegrown way to calm digestion

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Mint has calming properties for the digestive tract.  If you suffer from IBS symptoms, consider making mint tea your drink of choice throughout the day.  In winter, mint tea is good hot and in summer it’s just as good as an iced tea, with a squeeze of lemon.  While mint tea bags are easy to … Read more

Vegetarian low-FODMAPs stock

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vegetable-low-fodmaps-stock

It is possible to make a good stock without the onions, leeks and garlic that are usually part of the recipe for vegetarian stock. The following is more a guideline than an exact recipe. You can vary it depending on what you have in your fridge or garden. Here’s how to make your own garlic and onion … Read more

Make your own stock without onion or garlic

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There are a number of good reasons to dedicate time to making this stock: it tastes much better than the pre-made stocks available on the market. It has a fraction of the salt that commercial stocks have. And, most importantly, if you are following a low FODMAPS diet, it is free of onion and garlic.

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Make your own onion and garlic infused oil

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olive-oil-garlic-onion

One of the most difficult things about following the low FODMAPs diet is avoiding onions and garlic.  For some people they are highly fermentable and therefore trigger IBS symptoms, yet they are in so many of the pre-prepared foods on the market as well as being in many of the recipes we prepare for ourselves at home. However, with a little planning and pre-preparation, you won’t have to go without the delicious flavour they add to cooking.

If you like to use onions and garlic in your cooking most days, and you are just starting the challenge phase of the diet, it is worthwhile to make a 2 cup batch of this oil and refrigerate it. Use it instead of plain olive oil to start any recipe which would normally call for sautéed onion and garlic.

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Loving legumes

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smokey-lentil-vegetable-soup

Legumes are rich in protein, iron and B vitamins, as well as high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. They are also inexpensive and can be prepared in so many ways. What’s not to like? Well…the gas. For some people it’s a minor issue, barely noticed, while for others it’s painful and miserable. But it doesn’t … Read more