Copy of About Us

 

Casa de Sante is a gut friendly low FODMAP brand founded by Onyx Adegbola, MD PhD, a physician scientist and former pharmaceutical executive. Dr. Adegbola received her PhD at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her medical training at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. A mother of rambunctious triplets, she has observed the effectiveness of the low FODMAP diet for digestive sensitivities firsthand in her own family. Dr. Adegbola is a member of Mensa who enjoys cooking and reading in her spare time.

Casa de Sante (casadesante.com) believes everyone with IBS deserves good gut care. We provide comprehensive IBS management, including dietitian-customized mealplans for food intolerances, personalized virtual IBS care services, low FODMAP foods, protein powders, supplements, apps, and a wealth of information and resources to help individuals dealing with gut health issues. Our approach is rooted in scientific principles and delivered by an integrated care team comprising GI clinicians, dietitians, and coaches.

At Casa de Sante, we make gut friendly foods safe for people with sensitive tummies and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Our all natural plant based products are gluten & lactose free, contain no onion or garlic, additives, preservatives or fillers. Our products are laboratory tested and certified low FODMAP by FODMAP Friendly. FODMAPs are fermentable carbohydrates which cause digestive discomfort in the 10-15% of Americans with IBS. Our low FODMAP certified products are a lifesaver for people have who stressed over shopping and eating for many years, enabling them to eat with confidence. Our low FODMAP certified range includes salsa, sauce, salad dressings, seasonings, supplements, protein and meal replacement shakes.

We also sell FODMAP Dietitian approved products, and provide a number of free resources for the low FODMAP diet including apps, recipes, cookbooks and more.

Our low FODMAP weekly diet plans are developed by Akanksha Gilbertson, MS, CNS, a board certified nutrition specialist, who has worked in a clinical setting with chronic IBS patients using the low FODMAP approach with much success. She has also collaborated with Australia's Monash University team (who founded the low FODMAP diet) on research papers during her masters at UCLA.

Our free low FODMAP cookbook recipes are developed by Jody Garlick, RD, LDN, a Digestive Health Expert and Owner at South Hills Nutrition. Jody is an integrative and functional nutritionist specializing in digestive and autoimmune disorders.

Get FODMAP friendly products in our online store.

 

The FODMAP Diet

Here at Casa de Sante we put your health and wellbeing first. For this reason, we work closely with FODMAP Friendly to ensure that our products are low FODMAP and kind to your tummy.

FODMAP Friendly is a world leader in assisting people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome to manage their symptoms with the low FODMAP diet. They are based in Melbourne, but assist people worldwide with simple and practical tools that can be used by dietitians, nutritionists, the food industry and the general public. These tools help make daily life simple and enjoyable while on a low FODMAP diet.

Recently the FODMAP expert Dietitian at FODMAP Friendly collaborated with us to provide the following article that breaks down what FODMAPs are and why the low FODMAP diet works for managing IBS.

FOD –What?

The low FODMAP diet is gaining popularity, and for good reason. This oddly named diet is now scientifically proven to provide relief for people suffer with chronic abdominal symptoms or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), including bloating, excess wind, cramping and altered bowel habits, constipation or diarrhoea or alternating between the two.

What are FODMAPs?

FODMAP is an acronym for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols, wow that was a mouthful! In a nutshell these are the scientific names for four types of carbohydrate molecules found naturally a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and milk products. The low FODMAP diet is designed to limit foods that contain these molecules, subsequently reducing abdominal symptoms and IBS.  

What happens when we eat fodmaps?

When we eat, food passes from the mouth down the esophagus to the stomach. In the stomach food is mixed and broken down before being slowly released into the small intestine. Enzymes in the here continue to break food down to single molecules so that it can be absorbed from the small intestine into the blood stream. Any part of food that isn't broken down or absorbed will continue its path along the digestive tract and pass into the large intestine, or colon, for elimination.

 

There are two processes that can occur during this progression that may trigger symptoms in certain people including:

 

1. Certain FODMAPs are highly osmotic and readily draw water into the small and large intestine. This can effect how fast the bowel moves, and cause diarrheas'.




2. When FODMAPs reach the large intestine they are fermented by the bacteria that naturally live there and just like when beer is fermented, this process creates gas and bubbles. For the individual this results in abdominal distention, bloating and cramping. 


  

If you suffer with abdominal symptoms or IBS, a low FODMAP diet may help. If you would like to learn more you can visit www.fodmapfriendly.com. However, I would also encourage you to work with a FODMAP trained Dietitian.

Fermentable	Molecules resist digestion, pass through the digestive tract to the colon where they are fermented, creating IBS symptoms.
Oligosaccharides	“oligo” means “few” and “saccharide” means sugar. These molecules made up of individual sugars joined together in a chain. Include Fructans & Galactans found in onion, garlic, wheat, barley, rye, inulin, some dried fruit and Legumes (kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy beans).
Di-Saccharides	“di” means two. This is a double sugar molecule. Lactose is the di-saccharide found in milk, yoghurt, some soft cheese’s, ice cream, custard and cream.
Monosaccharides	“mono” means single. This is a single-sugar molecule. Fructose in excess of glucose found in asparagus, apples, mango, honey, cherries, some dried fruit, pears, juice and high fructose corn syrup.
And	The easiest FODMAP to remember!
Polyols	Sugar alcohols including Sorbitol & Mannitol found in cauliflower, mushrooms, snow peas, stone fruit and certain artificially sweetened products e.g. mints and gums.