I love writing these posts (bit geeky I know!) but the more information you have about a subject, as long as you can critically appraise it, the better your understanding and therefore you enjoy it more. This months top articles have a research theme; I didn’t plan it that way its just what twitter threw at me last month so I hope you find it useful.
If you only have the time to read one article from this post make it the paper below. It really is a fantastic overview of the evidence around FODMAPs and the paper is freely available on the web. Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) and nonallergic food intolerance: FODMAPs or food chemicals? via @KateScarlata_RD
I don’t think you can access this paper for free (unless a member of the BDA or have access to journals), which is a shame, as the paper has a list of foods which have been analysed for sorbitol and mannitol content, which was really interesting to see, The research also suggests that these polyols can trigger symptoms whether they are femented or not, which means that breath testing for polyol absorption may not be a useful clinical procedure. And of course avoiding them while following the Low FODMAP diet elimination phase is recommended; Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns between healthy individuals and patients with irritable bowel syndrome via @JHNDEditor
To give your brain a break from full on research papers here is a neat little article explaining the link between the brain and the gut and how that can affect IBS symptoms. I remember one of the speakers at the KIngs College London FODMAP course telling us a story about some old and unethical research done by a doctor who wanted to prove the link between the gut and the brain. So he decided to monitor the brain and gut activity of some patients and then told them they have cancer (they didn’t) and left them to worry about this for a while. Meanwhile the doctor was measuring the brain and gut activity, then he came back and said erm, actually you don’t have cancer and then continued to monitored the brain and gut reaction again to see the changes. Thankfully the authors of the next article didn’t go to such extremes, Visceral Hypersensitivity and IBS via @CPRGI
This article from the Canadian Society of Intestinal Research has some interesting information on Fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and inulin which are prebiotics and are also a couple of things you need to eliminate on the FODMAP diet. Ignore the research bit at the bottom which it seems is just promotion for Nestle written by the author…….. Intestinal Microbes & Prebiotics at a Glance via @GISociety
To round it all off this month an article from the Daily Mail! Bet you didn’t expect the Daily Mail to be on here with esteemed research journals but this article is actually very good and has Dr Anton Emmanuel discussing the digestion part of the article; From your lips to your hips in just 3 hours: From digesting a cupcake to healing after surgery or even having an orgasm, how long it takes your body to work via @talkhealth
And finally just for fun…….The Pooh Song by Dr Ranj for @CBeebiesHQ You will regret it if you don’t watch this 
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LeeMartinRD
Lee is a UK Registered Dietitian who worked as a researcher at King’s College London University researching the low FODMAP diet for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Previously Lee worked for the NHS with many years’ experience of treating IBS. Lee has run a popular blog www.rmdietetic.com on the low FODMAP diet since 2013 where you can learn all about his experiences of following the low FODMAP diet, find information on the research behind the diet, the practicalities of implementing the diet along with low FODMAP meal and baking recipes. This year Lee has published the first ever book dedicated to the reintroduction phase of the low FODMAP diet. More information on the book entitled ‘Re-challenging and Reintroducing FODMAPS: A self-help guide to the entire reintroduction phase of the low FODMAP diet’ can be found on the website www.reintroducingfodmaps.com
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