Hey Lisa! I just updated the post to hopefully make it a bit more clear. Make the recipe as written but keep your portion to one brownie which should keep your cocoa intake at an appropriate amount per sitting.

Oh Cathy…try to snack on acceptable veggies: carrots, cucumbers, red pepper strips. If you get a bit of a sweet tooth, try vanilla Green Valley (lactose free) yogurt with a few strawberries and a sprinkle of nuts OR small amounts of dark chocolate chips with sliced bananas and a tablespoon of peanut butter or 3/4 tablespoon of almond butter is a nice treat too. Work with a dietitian to help you manage your weight and IBS. Weight management and IBS-C do seem to be connected. Constipated patients seem to have more methane producing microbes and these microbes are also linked with obesity or higher body mass index. What I have found with some of my clients-with the low FODMAP diet and treatment for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth…the weight finally starts coming off! So interesting, huh?

Chocolate is a tricky one. The Monash team have not released the latest info on chocolate (and I just emailed them today again about it..still no new info yet.) Chocolate and Kale are the most common questions…and still we await! BUT I find that many of my IBS clients can tolerate chocolate as long as it is not overdone. So perhaps try one gluten free brownie–not the whole batch 🙂 and see how you feel. I was trying to find the original study info, but from what I remember one of the key FODMAP research articles by Jaci Barrett actually used a cocoa drink as one of the low FODMAP beverages…but of course, when I am looking for something I can’t find it…ugh! It can be a gastric irritant…so if you feel comfortable try a small amount–a few chocolate chips or perhaps a brownie and see how you feel.
On another note, you mention ‘extreme IBS’ symptoms–and that always makes me think small intestinal bacterial overgrowth….so if you have not had that tested yet, I encourage you to look into the testing…it is a breath test using lactulose (not lactose). So many of my patients have tested positive (including me) so it is an important test.

I was just, yesterday, told that I should follow a LOW FODMAPs diet to help me with the extreme IBS symptoms I have been feeling for the last few months. Your site had been a great resource to me already as I panic over what the heck I CAN eat. This brownie recipe looks great – I have read conflicting advice on Cocoa powder – do you find that people with IBS can tolerate it OK?

Thanks!

I made sure to use real dutch-processed high-quality cocoa powder. Yum!

I used oat flour instead of potato startch.

I only used 3/4 cup of sugar and added 8 drops of stevia extract.

I used brown sugar instead of white… just because I like it better.

I’ll let you know how it turns out!