36 Veggies

There are 36 vegetables on the low-FODMAP diet that I can eat and I’m challenging myself to find as many ways to cook them as I can. If bakers can make the infinite variety of baked goods that they do with just flour, water, yeast, and sugar, think what’s possible with 36 vegetables and a generous list of seasonings. Who knows how many recipes I can find. This is not a complete list of the vegetables on the diet, as some are not easily available where I live or I don’t tolerate them. See my page on the Low FODMAP diet for a complete listing of foods generally considered safe to eat on this diet. Here are the veggies I’m cooking with:

36 Veggies generally tolerated (bold = 1/2 cup or less per serving)

Artichoke hearts (1/4 cup), arugula (rocket), bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, beets (4 slices), bok choy, broccoli (1/4 cup), Brussels sprouts, bell peppers (capsicum), cabbage – common, carrots, celery (1 stick), chives, corn (1/2 cob), cucumber, eggplant (aubergine), endive, fennel bulb, green beans, green onions (green part only), lettuce (butter, iceberg, red coral, radicchio), olives, parsnip, peas (1/3 cup), potato, squash (if butternut, 1/4 cup only), Swiss chard (silverbeet), spinach, radish, rutabaga (swede), seaweed – nori, sweet potato, tomatoes, turnips, water chestnuts, zucchini

+ 4 more (avoid these if you are sensitive to polyols)

Avocados (1/4 or less is generally tolerated), cauliflower, mushrooms, snow peas (most people tolerate 5 or less)

83 thoughts on “36 Veggies”

  4. Great post! One of my dear friends is gluten-free and its always fun to learn new ways to prepare foods I love or recipes that she can tolerate. Also a quick thanks for stopping by my page and liking my post “healthy eats”. Hope you check back for more healthy tips!

    • Let me know how the recipes turn out. I’m looking forward to more of your healthy tips!

      • I LOVE zucchini bread. I’m sure there’s a way to sub out the ingredients you can’t have. Thanks for checking out my website!

      • I think so too- I’m constantly swapping things out and tweaking recipes to make them fructose friendly. It’s actually a lot of fun and very creative.

    • Not a dumb question at all. A polyol is a sugar alcohol like malitol, xylitol or sorbitol. They’re often used as a sugar substitute, particularly in gum and diabetic foods, because they’re low-calorie and don’t cause glucose to spike. But polyols do cause digestive upset in people who are sensitive to them.

  7. Pingback: Day9.Lunch « Adventures of Bamboo Girl

    • One way to make tasty garlic-free pesto is to use garlic infused olive oil. Sometimes I leave the garlic out completely and as long as I use pine nuts or walnuts and plenty of Parmesan, the pesto tastes great.

  8. After years of dealing with IBS, and earlier years of just not knowing what was wrong, my sis is still finding what foods bother her these days. I’ll turn her on to your post; she’ll love it.
    Thanks for stopping by and liking “A sprinkle of cinnamon isn’t enough” on afterthecommercial.

    • It’s really hard to get IBS straightened out, but I know from experience that figuring out what foods are triggers is a major part of the puzzle. I hope your sister gets her everything squared away soon.

  10. Now THAT is a serious list! ;Wonder why produce providers don’t label things suitable for common special diets at point of sale,,,small logos could be used to make life easier for a lot of folks…and hike sales of some of the items too.

  17. For recipes with eggplant, check out Turkish recipes — there are a ton of different eggplant dishes. For olives, head for Morocco. Olives are a huge part of the diet there — always on the table, and often in the recipes.

    And thanks for visiting my blog. I look forward to finding out how your research progresses.

    • Thanks for the suggestions- it never occurred to me to check out Turkish or Moroccan recipes. I’m totally up for something new.

  18. I guess you have most options covered but if you need any ideas for a veggie let me know, it’s a tough regime you have there, good luck with it!
    Al

  20. My favorite way to cook veggies is with a light saute. To keep it from getting boring, I mix it up … for example, today, I might saute carrots, squash, and green beans together; tomorrow, it might be zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant. I also vary the seasoning combinations. I also like to use lemon and limes (juice and zest) as the seasoning with a bit of herbs in fresh veggies. I follow the theory that “veggies are best raw or lightly cooked for better nutritional value” and eat a totally unprocessed diet .. no fructose, preservatives, or additives of any kind. Not only have I lost weight, I feel better too.

  26. Hi Donna – What a wonderful resource! I will be sure to pass your blog on to my friends and family. Thank you for stopping by uberdish and liking my paella!

  29. It’s really tough being on such a restricted diet, no wonder you started a blog. Your friends can find something to cook for you when they have you over for dinner. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

  30. Hi,this site is such a help, my 18 month old daughter was on a dairy and soya free, wheat and gluten free diet, now fructose free too, which I’m sure you can imagine makes it so hard to feed her tasty healthy food, especially with my limited knowledge of it all. Have you got a list of fruit that are low in fructose, as I’m often finding conflicting information? Any recipe ideas for little ones would be great too. Thanks

  31. The walnut and red pepper dip was a winner thanks. I did read that pure maple syrup did not contain fructose, is this true? I trying to find something I can make flapjack with for my little one, with gluten free oates. Thanks.

    • I’m so happy to hear that the recipe was a hit. Thanks for letting me know!

      Maple syrup is allowed on the Low FODMAP diet, as it contains more glucose than fructose. The only time fructose is a problem is when there’s more of it than there is glucose. According to the USDA, 100 grams of maple syrup contains 59.1 grams of sucrose, 2.3 grams of glucose, and .9 grams of fructose.

      Researchers from the University of Vermont profiled the different grades of maple syrup and discovered that the higher the grade of syrup, the greater the amount of glucose. See: “SUGAR PROFILES OF MAPLE SYRUP GRADES”, by Abby van den Berg, Timothy Perkins and Mark Isselhardt,Proctor Maple Research Center, The University of Vermont, Underhill Ctr., VT 05490. The highest grade of maple syrup in the U.S. is Grade A, but I don’t know how it’s graded in other countries.

  34. Thank you for stopping by my blog HappinessHeals and liking my post Affirmation, Gratitude and Gluten, Dairy, Egg Free. Gratitude Dance. Thank you for sharing your truth too! :~)

  36. I roast it in milk with salt, pepper and rosemary
    then top it with bacon and parmesan to serve for one I got that recipe from another food blogger who is a professional chef – she rocks. I’ll try to remember the nam eof her blog.

  39. I couldn’t agree more with you. I always buy organic, non-GMO food, especially corn. However, many people on a highly restricted diet struggle with healthy eating patterns, so it’s more important to encourage them to eat as many things as they can. Telling them to restrict themselves even more can backfire.

  40. I’m so glad this is helpful- let me know if there’s anything in particular that you’re looking for recipe-wise and I’ll see what I can find for you.

  41. Donna I need a bread, every morning I was used to having a bread with some almond butter, I would be in heaven if I had some bread alternative. I think I’m going to try your pizza crust as a bread :)

  42. The pizza crust is crispy enough that you won’t have to toast it. If you’re looking for a gluten-free sandwich bread, I recommend “Gluten-Free Baking Classics” by Annalise G. Roberts. It’s very reliable and full of great recipes for lots of other things as well. I particularly like the Buttermilk Sandwich Bread. If you’re lactose intolerant, use lactose-free milk and add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the milk to substitute for buttermilk. It goes stale quickly, however, so you’ll need to use it or freeze it.

  43. It’s a load dependent issue- people can tolerate a certain total amount of fructose (or other poorly tolerated sugar) in a day, and anything over the limit causes problems. That means you can eat a tomato without problems on one day because the rest of what you ate that day didn’t have enough excess fructose to push you over the daily limit. Likewise, when you eat a tomato and have problems it’s probably because the rest of your daily food budget had too much fructose in it. The amount tolerated varies greatly between people.

  44. Thank you so much for your reply. Any tips would be great, I’m feeling so bad for my little girl and want to give her some tasty food for all thing things she misses out on. I’m going to do your red pepper dip this week for her as an alternative to hummus, which she did love!

  45. For myself, and In Australia, I have found that some companies make their tomato and barbecue sauces with Apple puree/concentrate. This means that I have to read the labels carefully before adding condiments to my food. Good sauce (not made with apple/pear) may be why she can tolerate it some days.

  46. The constant label reading is such a pain! I have to read every label, every time, because you never know when a company is going to switch things up. The big one we have to look out for in the U.S. is high fructose corn syrup- it’s in everything and it drives me crazy.

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