Shirley, its best you ask the doctor that diagnosed you with diverticulosis. Typically, we encourage a fiber rich diet for diverticulosis to keep things moving through the intestine. A low FODMAP diet is science-based for irritable bowel syndrome.

Not sure this has been tested, Teri.

Do you if Monk Fruit Extract is Fodmap approved?

Perhaps some ginger root–peeled and sliced seeped in warm water–like a tea? It works wonders for nausea.

As to palm sugar, I don’t know how it would work as a primary sweetener, but using kecap manis(an indonesian soy sauce that’s more palm sugar than soy) instead of honey in honey-seared tofu and instead of honey in making gluten free bread has worked well for me. No noticeable pain/bloating. I’m only using a couple tablespoons at a time, max, though.

I completely understand – thank you so much for taking the time to reply with a few suggestions.
1) I do get constipated from time to time but haven’t really been suffering since this bloating/discomfort has come back
2) I’m not sure about the fat – I didn’t cook the risotto with butter, only a small amount of garlic infused oil..and I didn’t put a huge quantity of cheese or oil in the pesto..but it could still be that! What about the stew I had last night though? Does home-made chicken stock have a high fat content?
3) I have read about SIBO and thought that I might fit the description, especially as I have been on long-term antibiotics due to reoccuring UTI’s and kidney infections and I read that this can be a cause of SIBO. However, I’m from the UK and from what I’ve read SIBO is not well diagnosed by GP’s and most people just send you away with the old ‘you just have IBS’ line! Do you know anything about testing for it in the UK?
4) No I haven’t had a gastric motility test – how would I go about getting one of them?

So you don’t think chicken could be a trigger? It would seem odd!

Thank you so much again for your time.

Naomi, Unfortunately it’s hard for me to provide individual guidance in a blog format. Working with digestive health clients can be quite complex. I need all the pieces of the puzzle to help gain a better understanding of what may be troubling you. A couple thoughts do come to mind–1) are you constipated? It’s important to keep things moving in your bowel as this can lead to bloating –so be sure to work with your doctor on a good bowel regimen why your work on balancing your gut flora with the low FODMAP diet.2) Do you think you are eating too much fat–pesto and risotto depending on how it is prepared may up the fat load–fat can stimulate colonic motility but slug down the small intestine. 3)Could you have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth? This is typically tested with a breath test. FODMAPs may be only part of your picture. 4) have you had a gastric motility test–could food be staying too long in your stomach contributing to bloating sensation?

I am on day 6 of the low FODMAP diet and up until the evening of day 4 I was the best I’ve been in a LONG time! My only real symptom is severe bloating. For dinner on day 4 I had GF pasta with chicken, 4 cherry tomatoes (which I’d been fine with on previous days) chicken, and fodmap friendly homemade pesto. Afterwards I experienced the usual bloating and discomfort that I would have done before I started the diet. The next day I had a chicken and green bean risotto with homemade chicken stock, and had the same – a lot of discomfort and huge bloating. This evening I used the rest of the chicken stock and had a chicken stew with low fodmap veg and potatoes and I am now in a lot of discomfort. I cannot keep up seeing my nutritionist due to financial reasons but I emailed her and she said that several of her clients cannot tolerate chicken. This baffles me as chicken is not a carbohydrate!? What would your views on this be? I just feel so discouraged as this was my last hope and it seemed to be going so well at first and now I’m right back to how I used to be!

I’d really appreciate any advice! Thank you