If you’ve embarked on a Low FODMAP diet for your IBS, you may be worried that you have to say goodbye to bread. Good news, you don’t! You’ll likely need to swap out whatever kind of bread you’re currently eating or modify your portion size.
Contrary to what you may have heard, the Low FODMAP diet is NOT a gluten free diet. Many gluten free products are considered Low FODMAP, but gluten free and low fodmap are not interchangeable. I do have some patients who prefer to go gluten-free during the Low FODMAP process in case gluten is a trigger, but you definitely do not have to.
Let’s take a look at what breads have been tested by Monash University, what varieties are high and low FODMAP and specific brands you can try. If you’d rather bake your own, grab a sourdough or gluten-free recipe. Finally, see some picks from my Amazon storefront.
Pretty much everything! Wheat based bread products are definitely the most common, but whether it is high or low FODMAP will depend on portion size and additional ingredients.
- Flour: the type of flour does not matter as much as the portion size and additional ingredients. The exception is rye, as there is no low FODMAP serving size.
- Sweeteners: high fructose corn syrup, agave, honey, apple or pear fruit juice are sweeteners that may make a bread high FODMAP. Dried fruit, like raisins, may also make it high FODMAP.
- Added fibers: inulin, FOS and chicory root fiber are terms you may see added to bread.
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples. First up is millet bread. We know that Monash has tested millet and found it to be low FODMAP. I looked at Udi’s Gluten Free Millet Chia Bread, but it contains a few additional ingredients that make it high FODMAP. Those are inulin (fiber), pea protein and dry molasses.
Now let’s look at a brand that Whole Foods carries, Deland Bakery. They have a Millet Special Bread that meets the criteria for low FODMAP flour without any additional ingredients. Hooray!
Next up is sourdough. You can read more about FODMAPs and sourdough below, but first let’s compare two brands, Trader Joe’s San Francisco Sourdough and Whole Foods Bakery Sourdough. TJ’s brand uses a traditional sourdough fermentation process, which means its Low FODMAP! The Whole Foods Bakery Sourdough actually contains yeast, which makes it high FODMAP.
The traditional sourdough bread making process is long (i.e. 24-72 hours!). This slow fermentation process allows the yeast and lactic acid in the sourdough starter time to break down fructans.
Types of sourdough
White wheat, whole wheat and spelt sourdough are all considered Low FODMAP. The white and whole wheat varieties become low FODMAP with the fermentation process, while spelt flour has a naturally lower fructan content.
Label Reading
If your bread has a label, look to see if the word “yeast” is included. If it is, that means yeast was added to speed up the fermentation process! This means that it is not Low FODMAP. You can ask your bakery if yeast was included or you can ask them if it underwent a traditional sourdough process.
- Pumpernickel
- Oatmeal
- Rye
- Whole Grain or Multigrain wheat bread (sorry, this includes Dave’s Killer Bread!) is considered high unless specifically certified Low FODMAP by Monash
- Corn
- Gluten free (rice, corn, tapioca)
- Millet
- Sourdough (Spelt, Wheat, White wheat).
- White Wheat bread (1 slice)
- Dr. Schar (all gluten free products and Certified by Monash): Sourdough Deli Style Bread, Artisan Baker White Bread, Artisan Baker White Bread, Artisan Baker Multigrain Bread, Baguette, Hamburger Buns, White Rolls,Sandwich Rolls, Artisan Baker 10 Grains & Seeds Bread, Hot Dog Rolls, Sourdough Rustic Loaf, Italian Breadsticks,
- Inewa (Monash Certified): 100% Spelt Sourdough
- COBS Bread: LowFOD Loaf, LowFOD Bun, LowFOD Mini Loaf,
- Canyon Bakehouse Gluten Free Mountain White, GF Stay Fresh Country White
- Udi’s Gluten Free White Sandwich bread, Multigrain, Soft White Bread
- Trader Joe’s Gluten Free White, Gluten Free Italian, San Francisco Style Sourdough
- San Luis Sourdough
- Essential Baking Company Organic Bake at Home
Did you join the sourdough bread making craze during the pandemic? I sure did! I used the Cultures for Health starter, but you can absolutely make your own. I linked two recipes below, one for making sourdough bread and another for making gluten-free bread!
Gluten-free Sandwich Bread Recipe
Take a look at my Amazon shop for some of my favorite Low FODMAP brands, along with tools for making gluten-free bread, sourdough starter and more.
*I may earn a small commission on anything you buy through my Amazon affiliate link.
