I’ve taken a small break from blogging recently. I’m stuck on an even more restrictive diet of basically potato, chicken and very over cooked carrots. Not exactly exciting and there’s only so many recipes you can make with those minimal ingredients…
But I miss blogging so I thought I’d write a post sharing all of the products that have helped me cope with my broken body. Enjoy!
Savse smoothies
As I mentioned, leafy greens are out but I have to get my vitamins from somewhere. Juicing and smoothies are a great way to get the greens in without your stomach having to work too hard. But most are packed with sugar. Then I came across Savse. They are made of just veg and fruit with no added sugar or other rubbish. The green one is great for getting some much needed fibre and vitamins in and is full of low fodmap ingredients (except for a little apple, but I seem to tolerate it).
They’ve been a bit of a digestive lifesaver for me.
Lacto free yoghurt and cream cheese
I love yoghurt. A lot. But since going low fodmap, yoghurt is off the menu. Until now. Arla do a great lacto free range (Tesco have a good one too) that includes yoghurt, milk, cream cheese and others) and they don’t taste any different! It’s the little victories.
Maternity jeans
I’m not going to dress it up, I found this one really difficult. Jeans were always a wardrobe staple for me but they are not kosher when your stomach suddenly does a 9 months pregnant impression.
I had in the back of my mind to try maternity jeans for a while but I couldn’t bring myself to accept that my body was poorly enough to only fit into maternity wear… but I’m so glad I made the jump. I can now wear clothes that I like whilst being super comfy. Yes they do fall down a bit when I’m not bloated but they more than make up for that when the bloating starts.
Yeast extract
I know I know, it’s a love hate thing when it comes to marmite. But I love it. The Marmite brand has barley in it but the Tesco and ASDA own brand yeast extract is barley free and tastes exactly the same. Even if you don’t want to spread it on your rice cake, a teaspoon or two of it makes a huge difference to a low fodmap gravy.
Massel stock cubes
Gravy is my one true love (sorry Steve). I like my food swimming in the stuff and I would count it as a hot beverage. But as we all know, most gravy is a definite no no in the low fodmap department.
But then I came across these stock cubes on amazon. They’re a New Zealand company but these babies are readily available on Amazon. They’re £10 for 10 packs which I think is a great deal. When they arrived I passed a couple of packs to my friend who’s also low fodmap and she agreed, they taste flipping great! In fact they taste better than your usual bisto or oxo offerings. They’re my top low fodmap tip!
Ketchup
I do like a bit of ketchup. Especially as potato is now a bit of a diet staple. You just can’t have a dry chip.
As usual, ketchup is full of those nasty fodmaps. BUT I discovered that the ketchup you get at greasy spoons (which I personally quite like) is in all honestly too cheap to include onion or garlic.
So ketchup’s back on the menu boys (yes that was a slightly altered Lord of the Rings reference but it’s actually totally relevant because isn’t everything we eat on low fodmap ‘slightly altered’… I’ll stop now).
Tube badge
Last but not least is a little offering from Travel For London. Obviously this only works for us London commuters but it’s such a kind gesture from such a big company.
If you’re on Low Fodmap it means you probably feel really rubbish on a regular basis and for most people that includes chronic pain or fatigue. Well these badges are on offer to those with invisible illnesses or disabilities who sometimes just really really need to sit down. Like the ‘baby on board’ badges they make the awkward ask for a seat much easier… I must admit I feel a bit embarrassed to use it so I don’t wear it all the time but if I’m having a day where the choice is fainting or wearing a badge, I’ll take the badge.
I hope those things are helpful to someone. I know how hard it is when your thrown into the world of dietary restrictions and it can often feel impossible… but hang on in there. You’ve got this.
A spoonful of yummy! 