The Evidence for Reducing Carbohydrates

Dr. Sue Shephard experienced regular and debilitating intestinal gas and because of that, her research led to her coining the term and development of the FODMAP diet in 1998.  FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols.  These short chain carbohydrates are incompletely absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and then become easily fermented by gut bacteria.  The resulting gas causes severe bloating and IBS symptoms.  FODMAP’s also increase fluid to the large intestine and can cause diarrhea...

Are ALL Carbohydrates Bad?

Implicating carbohydrates as a foe for a broad spectrum of common health ailments, would be easy because unlike proteins and fats, there really is no such thing as a carbohydrate deficiency. However, we do need carbohydrates and fiber to feed the good bacteria in our intestinal tract and there have been many cases of people with chronic health problems helped when they went to a plant based diet that is higher in carbohydrates....