Tag: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

French toast for breakfast? – gluten free, low fodmap

This is a great Sunday morning treat and is very easy to prepare and to relax and enjoy! French toast is not sweet but when combined with fresh fruit and a drizzle of maple or golden syrup the sweetness is added – you only need a drizzle and the breakfast is complete. Posted just in time for you to enjoy tomorrow morning.

Ingredients

2 eggs

70 mls lactose free milk

4 drops of vanilla essence

4 drops of orange essence

spray oil

2-3 slices of gluten-free bread (depending on the size of eggs used)

Maple syrup for drizzling

Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries – a small handful.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and mix with the milk, vanilla and orange.

Slice the bread and soak in to the egg mix until it is soaked through ( a minute or two)

Spray oil into a frying pan and fry the bread for 1 minute each side or until golden.

Serve warm with fruit and a drizzle of syrup – or you can use sweetener if you don’t want to use syrup – aspartame, stevia or sucralose is suitable.

Eat!

 

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Potato and smoked mackerel soup – Low Fodmap

This is a really tasty soup that is made from basic ingredients and I hope you like it!

Ingredients

800g of potato

1 carrot

sprinkling of asafoetida

1 tablespoon of garlic infused oil

1 1/2 smoked mackerel

300 ml of lactose free milk

Salt and pepper

grating of nutmeg

Method

1 litre of water (or more depending on how thick you like your soup! Just add more as needed)

wash and peel the potatoes and carrot and chop

add oil to the pan and add asafoetida and fry

add vegetables

add flaked mackerel

add milk and water, bring to the boil and simmer till vegetables are soft

add salt and pepper to taste

blend or mash soup – depending on your preference

add grated nutmeg.

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This dish serves 3-4 (depending on how much water you add!)

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Monash advises on the suitability of ‘superfoods’ for the Low Fodmap diet and de-bunks the myth

If you have followed my blog for some time you are probably aware of my views on super foods – if not check out one of my previous posts on the superfood called carrots – yes really! The blog has an old reference to David Cameron’s pasty saga though, which you might not be aware of, as the post was written some time ago!

https://clinicalalimentary.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/orange-superfood-cheap-and-not-too-hard-on-the-digestive-tract-the-carrot-yes-seriously/

The carrot has the added advantage that it is low fodmap too, so don’t believe all the superfood hype. The best fact is though that carrots are cheap – superfoods attract a super high price, the best tip however is to have a good variety of foods in your diet. You don’t need to include these super foods to be healthy. But what if you want to include coconut water, kale and chia seeds in your Low Fodmap Diet? The Monash blog has a really good post about de-bunking the myth behind super foods and gives advice on the fodmap content of those foods. You should check out this blog.

http://fodmapmonash.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/debunking-myth-behind-superfoods.html

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Purple sage & parsnip gnocchi

Today the weather has been grim again so I am stuck in the house being creative, or perhaps you should decide if I am! I adore parsnips, they are a tasty root vegetable that is not too hard on the digestive system. It is getting towards autumn now so a nice recipe using parsnips in place of potato sounds an interesting idea. Not that I have anything against potatoes or I not that I reckon parsnips are some kind of ‘super root’ – if you have been following my blog for some time you will know my views on this 😉

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Ingredients

500g of parsnips

80g of gluten free flour

20g of Parmesan cheese

2g purple sage leaves (you can use ordinary sage if you wish)

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil

a sprinkling of asafoetida

Method

wash, peel and boil the parsnips until they are quite soft in salted water

mash them well

whilst still warm add the gluten free flour and mix well

empty the mix on to a floured surface, split into four equal amounts

roll each into a sausage shape and cut into disks evenly

roll each disk into a ball then squash flat with a fork

Boil a pan of water and add a few gnocchi at a time they will float when they are cooked

remove them from the water and drain.

using the olive oil fry the sage and asafoetida and mix with the gnocchi

add grated Parmesan to serve

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the gnocchi can be served as they are if you are vegetarian or they will taste great with meat, chicken or fish too!

If you follow a vegan diet then you should use a dairy free Parmesan alternative.

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I hope you like them – the recipe serves two for a main dish, it is also possible to use them as a side dish serving 4. If you are following the Low Fodmap Diet parsnips are low fodmap – have a small portion. I am seriously wishing the weather to improve a little – it is much to early for wintry weather to be a feature but of course being situated in the middle of the Pennines this is a distinct possibility. Although I don’t want to end on a negative note so enjoy the recipe and I will blog again soon from happy valley!

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Prunes – natures laxative.

“I hope my tongue in prune juice smothers, If I belittle dogs and mothers”

Ogden Nash

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Ogden Nash was an American poet who suffered from crohn’s disease according to Wikipedia, his unfortunate demise was after a lactobacillus infection after eating poorly prepared coleslaw as the Wikipedia site states. Interesting quote about prune juice, do you get the feeling he detested prunes? Prunes might have resulted in symptoms for him – depending on his crohn’s disease. I can only speculate, but what do these dried fruits do for us? Should we in fact include them in our diet? The following post by Compound Interest explains the chemistry behind the prune – or dried plum.

http://www.compoundchem.com/2015/09/01/plums-prunes/

Prunes do in fact improve constipation – but for some people at a cost – the reason they do is down, in part to the large amount of sorbitol and fructans they contain, these FODMAPs or fermentable sugars draw fluid into the small bowel and rapidly ferments in the large bowel. Sorbitol is also found in sugar free mints and gum – often a warning is given on these to avoid eating too much as a laxative effect may be the result. Not great if you have IBS and bloating and are intolerant to sorbitol. Prunes could also result in symptoms for people with active crohn’s disease too – perhaps that is the reason they are suggested by Nash to be a treatment to instill an avoidance of denigrating your mother! Or alternatively it might be just down to taste or personal preference. But to help constipation if you don’t suffer from IBS, bloating and excessive wind – they are worth a try – introduce them in your diet slowly so your bowel adjusts to the extra fibre they contain. These sugars can also have a pre-biotic (food for bacteria) action, so it is worth including some in your diet if you tolerate their effects!

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Sprouts – love them or hate them?

What do you think of Brussel sprouts? Like them or loath them? According to Compound interest website they are a real marmite vegetable, a gassy fodmap food but some people really love them! Check out the link below to learn more about the chemistry of the much maligned vegetable from the excellent chemistry website Compound Interest.

http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/12/04/brusselssprouts/

Sprouts also contain fructans which is responsible for the propensity of Brussel sprouts to be fermented by the gut microbiota, small amounts can be tolerated but don’t go over the top with your portion if you suffer from IBS and are following the low fodmap diet or are intolerant of fructans!

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