I Tried A Low-FODMAP Diet To Heal My Gut: Here's What Happened

Can you imagine going two years without garlic and onion? If your answer is absolutely not, you are like the majority of the people in this world. These two allium vegetables are staple ingredients in almost all cooking styles.

Whether it is the base of a stock; mixed into a dressing; dried, ground, and used as a spice rub; or simply roasted and added whole to dishes, garlic and onion are everywhere. For most people, this may go unnoticed.

As someone who never had digestive issues growing up, I found myself confused, frustrated, and in pain. For about a year, I dismissed these problems and convinced myself that it was just my body taking out stress on my stomach. It wasn't until I reached two ultimate lows that I finally decided to do something.

The first was on Thanksgiving Day; after spending all day prepping and cooking, I looked down at my plate and suddenly realized I had no appetite. I was in so much pain and discomfort, and so bloated, that I could no longer fathom putting anything else into my stomach. Although I realized that this was no way to live my life, the ultimate reality check came when these gastrointestinal issues began to affect my ability to breathe.

My severe bloating paired with my inability to properly digest food caused such intense acid reflux that I was unable to take deep inhales without experiencing a coughing fit.

I researched numerous gastroenterologists in NYC, found one that seemed promising, and booked my new patient visit. After consultations, tests, and an upper endoscopy, my doctor told me that, fortunately, I did not have any severe life-threatening medical issues but, instead, had IBS.

While at first this seemed promising and a hallelujah moment of finally finding out what was going on, she informed me that there is no cure for IBS. We discussed my options going forward and, as someone who would rather take the homeopathic route over pumping my system with drugs, we decided that I would start the low-FODMAP diet, eliminating fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols, which are all complex names for the collection of sugar molecules that are found in food.

After six weeks, I finally started feeling like my old self again, and it was time to reintroduce foods and monitor my reaction. As excited as I was to eat some of the foods I had missed so much, such as stone fruit and avocados, I was extremely nervous to find out which foods I was intolerant to, in fear that it was something I loved.

Never did I expect that the two main culprits would be garlic and onion. When I tried to reintroduce both of these foods into my diet, I immediately experienced the IBS symptoms I had suffered from before. At first, I thought I was going crazy. Is it truly possible that these two healthy kitchen staples could be so seriously messing with my stomach? I immediately took to the internet and found that, thankfully, I was not alone.

It turns out, garlic and onions contain fructans1 that can be malabsorbed in the small intestine.

When I began my garlic- and onion-free lifestyle, it was extremely daunting. I found myself asking a thousand questions at restaurants, vigorously reading the label of anything I put in my body, and constantly calling takeout restaurants to discuss their menu.

After one too many nights coming home from work hungry and spending 30-plus minutes researching restaurants only to continuously find myself depleted and making the same sad eggs and toast for dinner, I knew something had to change. I took my frustration to the kitchen and began to create garlic- and onion-free versions of the foods I missed most. Turns out, they are all still delicious.

Since taking garlic and onion out of my diet, I have noticed an incredible change. I no longer feel the massive bloat I once suffered from, my digestive system works on a more regular schedule, and my acid reflux has disappeared.