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I see the Mayo nutritionist in person.
After my tests, my Mayo GI initially gave me the Mayo Clinic Fructose Malabsorption Eating Plan and recommended seeing the nutritionist, which I did. She then gave me the FODMAP Eating Plan (20 page booklet). I don't know if it is available online or how you get it if not a patient.
There are no firm rules about which foods you start with or the order but the Plan highly recommends you follow their rules/ recommendations if you want to figure out which foods caused your symptoms. You reintroduce 1 FODMAP group at a time and 1 food at time. My nutritionist gave me the order of FODMAP groups to work. The groups (in the order I'm working) are Galactans, Polyols, Fructans, then Fructose (I don't have an issue with Lactose; if so, they would be a group as well).
Within each group there are a a list of foods. You start at the bottom of the list and work up (from lowest FODMAP to highest). What she has me doing is 1 new food every 3 days. Eat the (last) food on the list for day 1, 2 and 3. If on day 1, I don't feel well then wait until I feel better (maybe 3 days) and then try the next food on the list. I then know that I cannot tolerate (or eat) that food. I can always try again in smaller amounts.
If I can tolerate that food, then I wait a day and start with the next food in the same group. As I work myself 'up' the list for the food group, if I find 2-3 in a row that don't work for me, then I probably won't be able to tolerate anything else higher in that food group list.
Once complete a group, go back to basic diet before starting next group and stop eating foods from the first group. Wait about 3 days before starting the new group. Etc.
It is very tedious, but the whole goal is to figure out what you can eat.
There is a website she recommended: http://blog.katescarlata.com/tag/fody-foods/
It contains a Low FODMAP grocery list.
Plus http://www.fooducate.com to get label information of lots of different types of groceries.
And http://www.fodyfoods.com for low fodmap foods you can purchase. They have a really good snack bar (since my old favorite protein bars weren't making my stomach happy!)
Also, for gaining weight there is Nestle ProNourish digestive wellness drink (gluten free, suitable for lactose intolerance, low FODMAP).
Replies to "I see the Mayo nutritionist in person. After my tests, my Mayo GI initially gave me..."
Thanks so much for all this info! The nutritionists didn't have this info the times I was at Mayo, but I'lll check into it now. I've probably already done most of it on my own -trial and error. Tried and can't eat legumes including peanuts; same for corn, tomatoes, summer squash (shaped like a cucumber), cucumbers, asparagus, red/rainbow chard, green and other color peppers, fruit of any kind (used to be my favorite), etc. Even spices/herbs a problem. The fructose/glucose balance doesn't work for me, so can't eat sucrose. Tried glucose tablets once for energy, and boy was that a mistake! Go figure.
Finally got a chance to check out all the links on low FODMAP eating (except for the Mayo eating plans - couldn't find). Unfortunately the items have much more sugar than I can digest. If a person's IBS is caused by something other than fm, or the person has fm on the mild side, these sites would probably work. Recipes had chocolate, salsa, garlic, beans, etc. which don't work for me. But, thanks for your informative e-mail! I may try linking up with a Mayo dietician.
@gut health, @jackiem95, @pjss48, @redhead63, @sarcomasurvivor, @gracheig. I called Mayo and they sent me the 20 page FODMAP Eating Plan and the Fructose Malabsorption Eating Plan since I am a patient. It quickly became apparent that neither would be that helpful for me. I couldn't eat a large part of the stuff in the FODMAP elimination phase so there would be no point in reintroducing the suggested foods. Also can't eat a lot on the fm plan. So, I saw a nutritionist locally yesterday about whether what I am eating so far is good in terms of nutrition, etc., and she said it was. That is nice to know. Am still trying to introduce some new foods, though, and it is helpful to know how long to wait between experiments, which the Mayo plans tell you. The FM eating plan had a couple sentences near the end that said something very true: "Changing what you eat and drink may not be easy at first. Think of these changes as a new lifestyle, rather than just diet changes. Make these changes part of your daily routine for the best chance of feeling better." That is the point I had come to because there had been no other choice. I had gotten so I had pretty much forgotten about the diet changes and restrictions until I started this discussion on Mayo Clinic Connect. Then it all came back big time. But, I wanted to share what I had learned to make it easier for others. If nothing else, know that it is possible to get to the new lifestyle phase! It may not seem like it, especially at first, and it will take some time. Don't give up. And thank you all for your input.
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Thank you for sharing all this information