Hearsync said:
Is the fodmap diet just another fad, or is there actual benefit behind it?
My ex went on a fodmap diet for a while to remove bloating, and now my sister is on it as she's experiencing post-natal nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Not like either of them would ever consider looking into TCM, but I'm curious what others on here think of this whole fodmap thing. Legit, bogus, or otherwise?
It is an imperfect clown medicine approach because it is not holistic in its view (to put it simply). This is the same for all these sort of diets: keto, vegan, fasting, etc, and why they work for some people and not others. They don't understand the full properties of these foods and the energetics of proper digestion, hence the imperfect dietary approach.
Bloating is the result of improper digestion due to the stomach and spleen not properly processing the food. This could be the result of the meal itself, or an underlying deficiency of those organs. Looking at some of the Fodmap-restricted foods, the diet goes a bit too far in its restrictions. While some of these foods can be a little harder to digest for one reason or another, they should not be restricted entirely. If one has trouble with some of these foods, it is more clear the blame lies on the person's underlying digestive weakness, as opposed to the food item itself.
Most of the foods items on the restricted list are either unnaturally sweet (hurts spleen), too cooling (hurts stomach when not balanced), or very damp/phlegm producing (also hurts spleen). In this case, the unnaturally sweet or other processed items can be removed without looking back, however the foods that are cooling and moderately dampening can be safely taken when done in the correct manner. In some cases, these foods could actually be what the person needs for other imbalances of the body. This is where the diet starts to fall short.
Even on the fodmap diet, if the correct proportions of macros are not taken into account, or the person still eats too much sweet or cooling foods, they will still be subject to the same digestive problems. It may work for the people who inadvertently end up eating closer to a true balanced diet, but this is not the case for everyone, which is exactly like keto, vegan, etc.
If your sister is still experiencing these sort of symptoms, you should push her to get TCM treatment. Just say like you heard acupuncture is really good at treating that or something and she what she says. The dietary advice from them will conflict with her fodmap diet, but the acupuncture or herbals treatments will be able to improve her condition regardless (hopefully giving it more credence in her eyes).