FODMAPs 101: How “Healthy Eating” Can Cause Bloating

Eating for Gut Health
Written By Stephanie Walsh

🕒 7-8 min read

Avocado, tomatoes, onion, and peppers on slate - healthy foods that are high in FODMAPs and may impact gut health or cause bloating.

Prefer to listen? Press play and follow along. ⤵

Curious what FODMAPs are and if they’re causing your bloating and digestive symptoms? Here’s a quick snapshot to guide your next steps:

Your FODMAP 101 Highlights:

  • Identify high FODMAP foods: foods like onions, apples, wheat, and garlic are high FODMAP and may contribute to bloating, gas, and irregularity, even with a clean, whole-food diet.

  • Notice patterns without restriction: tracking symptoms and reading labels helps you connect how certain foods affect your digestion, without cutting everything out.

  • Use FODMAP food lists as a guide: your free High and Low FODMAP Food List helps you explore which food choices feel better in your body.

  • Take a sustainable approach: curiosity, awareness, and small adjustments often bring more relief than strict rules or long-term restriction.

Who knew a “clean diet” could be so frustrating?

Not because it’s hard.  You’ve actually done an amazing job cleaning things up. You made the switch to whole grains, added more veggies, even cut back on sugar (okay, that last one was slightly harder, but you did it).

And yet… you still catch yourself thinking:

“I’ve been doing all the right things. So why the heck am I still bloated and uncomfortable?”

That’s the frustrating part.

Let me be clear: you’re not doing anything wrong.

I’ve seen this again and again. In my 12+ years working as a Master Nutrition Therapist, so many clients come to me doing their best, only to feel discouraged because their symptoms won’t budge.

There are many reasons digestive issues can stick around, but today we’re going to talk about one of the biggest culprits especially if you’ve been diagnosed with IBS:

FODMAPs.

What Are FODMAPs?

FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. I know…it's a mouthful. But basically, FODMAPs are certain types of carbohydrates: short-chain carbs and sugar alcohols.

Because of the way they’re structured, and how your body digests food, you might not break these down efficiently. When that happens, they hang out in your digestive tract longer than they should. And the longer they sit, the more they ferment. That fermentation leads to bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

FODMAP written in chalk on slate with assorted foods - a visual cue for understanding how FODMAPs impact gut health and digestion.

Once you know what FODMAPs are, you can begin uncovering where they show up in your diet and how they might be connected to bloating or other digestive symptoms.

Why FODMAPs Can Trigger Digestive Symptoms

Even if you’re eating a “clean” diet packed with fiber-rich fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains, you might be unintentionally consuming more high FODMAP foods than you realize. While I always encourage a whole foods diet, these specific carbohydrates can sometimes be the sneaky source of lingering symptoms.

Here are six reasons why FODMAPs might be behind your digestive issues:

  1. They pull water into your intestines.
    This can lead to bloating, distention, abdominal pain, and changes in your bowel movements like constipation, diarrhea, or a mix of both.

  2. They don’t get properly broken down.
    Everyone lacks the enzymes to fully break down certain FODMAPs, like oligosaccharides. But they only become a problem when they stay in your gut longer than they should.

  3. They may not get absorbed efficiently.
    Even if you can digest some FODMAPs like lactose or fructose, your body still needs the right transporters to move them along. If those are lacking, they will sit and ferment.

  4. They feed your gut bacteria, sometimes too much.
    FODMAPs are great fuel for your gut microbes, but depending on your unique microbiota (and how much undigested food is left), they can lead to bloating, gas, or irregular bowel movements.

  5. They can trigger your immune system.
    When FODMAPs are around long enough to ferment, they can create a chain reaction that puts your immune system into overdrive. The result is more inflammation, more immune response, and more digestive symptoms.

  6. They can worsen leaky gut.
    That inflammation can damage your intestinal lining, leading to increased permeability (aka leaky gut), inability to properly digest and absorb nutrients, and more digestive symptoms.

How to Begin Exploring FODMAPs Without Overhauling Everything

If you’re wondering whether FODMAPs might be behind your symptoms, there’s no need to jump into restriction mode.

Start small.

Stay curious.

Here are five tips to navigate FODMAPs:

Woman reading ingredient label - a starting point for spotting high FODMAPs in everyday foods.

Reading labels helps you spot common high-FODMAP ingredients and build awareness, not restriction, around your food choices.

1. Download Your High and Low FODMAP Food List

Start getting familiar with which foods tend to be high or low in FODMAPs. You might be surprised at which healthy foods are high FODMAP like apples and garlic! But, don’t forget to look at the low FODMAP list too, because you’ll find plenty of healthy foods you can still enjoy with confidence.


[Download your Free High and Low FODMAP Food List and start exploring.]

2. Take the FODMAP Quiz: “Is a Low-FODMAP Diet Really What You Need?”

Not everyone needs to follow a low-FODMAP diet. And even if you do, it’s meant to be temporary. This quick quiz can help you decide whether now is the right time to start experimenting.


[Take the FODMAP Quiz to see if you're ready.]

3. Use Curiosity Over Perfection

Instead of cutting everything out right away, begin by observing. Use a food and symptom journal to track how you feel after eating potential FODMAP triggers like wheat, milk, apples, onions, or snack bars with inulin. And know that symptoms can show up within a few hours, or even a couple of days later. That might sound like a big window to pay attention to, but awareness is your superpower.


[Grab your Free Journal to Track Food & Observations and start tuning in.]

Hand writing in a journal to track food and digestive symptoms for FODMAP awareness.

Using a tool like your free 7-Day Food & Observation Journal invites you to observe how food affects your digestion and start connecting what you eat with how you feel, one entry at a time.

4. Read Labels Through a New Lens

FODMAPs hide out in a lot of packaged foods under some sneaky names. Five common ones to keep an eye out for:

  • Wheat

  • Milk (especially if not lactose-free)

  • Chicory root / inulin

  • High fructose corn syrup

  • Sugar alcohols (like xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol)

If you spot them, don’t panic, just make a note. Your food journal can help you notice patterns over time.

5. Focus on What You Can Eat

Low FODMAP foods include:

  • Carrots, potatoes, squash

  • Berries, oranges

  • Rice, oats

Refer back to your Low FODMAP food list often, and even use it as a grocery list template. It’s full of satisfying, nourishing options you can enjoy as you experiment.

Frequently Asked Questions About FODMAPs

Do I need to follow a low-FODMAP diet forever?

Thankfully no.

A low-FODMAP approach should not be permanent. For many people, it’s a short-term experiment used to gather information. And even if you need to avoid all high FODMAP foods for a period of time to feel better, it can be temporary. Many of those foods can often be reintroduced after some healing and increased awareness.

In fact, every one of my clients who followed a super strict FODMAP protocol could reintroduce several high FODMAP foods after a little healing and a lot of awareness.

On any gut health journey the goal is always awareness, not lifelong restriction. Which means, you may learn only certain FODMAPs, not all of them, affect you.

Can FODMAPs cause symptoms even if I eat “healthy”?

Yes, because all high FODMAP foods are normally healthy whole-food choices.

Foods like broccoli, onions, garlic, avocados, apples, dates, whole wheat, and beans are high FODMAP and may contribute to bloating, gas, or irregularity. And the more high FODMAP foods you choose to eat, the more potential for problems.

Think ‘the dose makes the poison.’

This also means you may feel great with more low FODMAP healthy food choices, interspersed with small amounts of high FODMAP foods. This is why a super strict low-FODMAP diet is rarely necessary long term.

How long does it take to notice patterns with FODMAPs?

It depends.

Some symptoms show up within hours, sometimes they appear a day or two later. Typically bloating and gas may show up within a few hours, but changes to your bowel movements may not appear for a day or two. And if FODMAPs are affecting you, the more high FODMAP foods you eat, the more it can intensify symptoms.

That’s why tracking food and symptoms over time is so helpful. Tracking isn’t an exercise in judgment. It’s an exercise in discovery.

Observing and tracking for at least a week or two can start revealing some patterns. And those patterns can help you experiment with simple changes instead of a complete overhaul.

Final Thoughts: Use the Power of Awareness Over Restriction

If we were sitting down together and you told me you felt overwhelmed by all this FODMAP stuff, I’d tell you the same thing I tell all my clients:

This is simply an experiment in awareness, not a lifelong restriction.

You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. And you may never need to follow a low-FODMAP approach at all.

But the moment you start getting curious about how certain foods make you feel, you begin to take back your power.

And if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you also know this:

Awareness is the first step toward lasting change.

So if you’re feeling discouraged by your symptoms, don’t be. You might be closer to clarity than you think.

Let curiosity and sustainability lead the way. You don’t have to give up your favorite foods forever. Sometimes you just need to feel better first, so you can clearly see what actually works for your body.

And you can finally know what actually feels good in your body. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

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© Stephanie Walsh and Walsh Approach, 2025. I pour a lot of care into creating this content, so please don’t copy or reuse it without permission. You’re always welcome to share excerpts or links if you give clear credit back to Stephanie Walsh and Walsh Approach.

Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. It does not replace individualized medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. Nutrition and lifestyle responses are highly personal, and what works for one person may not be appropriate for another. Always consult your physician or qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical concerns or before making changes to your healthcare routine.

Stephanie Walsh
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