Are you getting enough fiber in your diet? Fiber, although not technically digested, is important for keeping the gut happy and healthy. It slows down digestion, which allows the body plenty of time to absorb all the good nutrients from the food you eat. With so many off-limits foods on the low FODMAP diet, you may wonder where you can get your daily dose of fiber. Lucky for you, there are plenty of fiber-rich foods to enjoy on the low FODMAP diet.
Vegetables
There are plenty of vegetables on the low FODMAP diet that can provide rich sources of fiber.
- Salad greens: Iceberg and Romaine lettuce, and arugula can be eaten freely since they contain little to no trace of FODMAPs.
- Other leafy green vegetables: About one cup of Bok choy, ¾ cup broccoli, 1 cup broccolini stalks, ¾ cup cabbage, 1.5 cups baby spinach, and multiple servings of collard greens, endive, kale, and Swiss chard.
- Eggplant: This violet veggie can be eaten safely in a one cup serving.
- Green beans: Multiple servings of green beans contain low amounts of FODMAPs.
- Bell peppers: Red bell peppers can be eaten freely, but green bell pepper intake should be limited due to its sorbitol content.
- Carrots: No FODMAPs are detected in this beta carotene-rich veggie, so eat up.
- Cucumber: No matter how you slice it, cucumbers are free of FODMAPs.
- Root vegetables: No FODMAPs are found in such high-fiber root vegetables like parsnips and radishes. However, you should limit rutabaga, yam, and turnip to one cup diced, and taro and sweet potato to one-half cup servings. However, multiple servings of unpeeled white potatoes are low FODMAP friendly.
- Squash and pumpkin: Stick to one-half cup of cooked spaghetti squash but eat common squash and Japanese pumpkin freely since no FODMAPs were detected in these foods.
- Tomatoes: Five cherry tomatoes and a few Roma tomatoes are low FODMAP servings. Common tomatoes contain no FODMAPs, however, so eat freely to get your fiber.
- Edamame: Not many beans are low FODMAP safe, but you will be ok with ½ cup de-shelled frozen soybeans.
Fruits
Need something sweet to eat? Why not grab some fiber while you are at it. Here are some high-fiber and low FODMAP fruit choices.
- One medium unripe banana
- One-half cup cantaloupe
- Eat fruits such as carambola, clementines, durian, grapes, mandarin oranges, navel oranges, paw paw, prickly pear, peeled plantain, rhubarb, starfruit, and strawberries as desired since they contain trace to zero levels of FODMAPs.
- Four cumquats or tamarind fruits.
- One medium dragon fruit
- Two small kiwi, passionfruit, or medium mangosteen
- 1 cup chopped pineapple
Whole Grains
Low FODMAP gluten-free breads may not the highest in fiber. However, there are plenty of other whole grain food sources that are fiber-rich and low FODMAP.
- One-half cup oats, uncooked contains about four grams of fiber.
- Two tablespoons dry oat bran contains 3 grams of fiber.
- One cup cooked quinoa contains about 5 grams of fiber.
- One cup cooked brown rice contains about 3.5 grams of fiber.
Other low FODMAP fiber sources
Besides the high fiber whole foods listed above, there are a few other high fiber low FODMAP foods you can add to your healthy diet.
- About 7 cups of plain popcorn provides 7 grams of fiber.
- Two tablespoons chia seeds contain 10 grams of fiber, while two tablespoons of pumpkin seeds or hulled sunflower seeds contain 1.5 grams of fiber.
- One tablespoon flax seed contains 4 grams of fiber.
- 32 peanuts contain about 4 grams of fiber.
- 10 walnut halves contain about 1.5 grams of fiber, while 10 Brazil nuts contain about 3 grams of fiber.
Take home message
While staying low FODMAP friendly, don’t forget to get your fiber in each day. The average person should be consuming about 25 to 38 grams of fiber each day. Therefore, add some of these fiber-rich, low FODMAP foods to every meal and snack to help you meet your daily dose and keep your gut healthy. And if you feel like after eating more fiber, you are still having trouble having bowel movements, then reach for a product like Casa de Sante’s colon cleanse which contains low FODMAP friendly psyllium husk as well as a dose of probiotics to help your gut health to get back on track.
Written by Staci Gulbin, MS, RD a Board-certified dietitian.
