English to Italian Medical Medical: Pharmaceuticals FODMAP

1. Does cooking breakdown certain FODMAPs in a way that would make them less problematic?

The types of food processing that we have found have the most dramatic effect on FODMAP content of food are -'canning' and preserving under acid conditions ie. 'pickling'. For example, for canned legumes (lentils and chickpeas) the water-soluble FODMAPs (GOS) 'leach out' of the legume into the brine mixture. Ensure that you discard the brine and wash the legumes before use. For pickled artichokes, the combination of acid (from the vinegar) and the 'leaching' greatly lower the FODMAP (fructan) content of the artichokes. While it is also possible that very high temperatures may also break down FODMAPs, we have found that the extent of this reaction can vary greatly depending on the food being cooked, the temperatures used as well as other cooking conditions. In other words, it is harder to predict how effective the cooking has been in lowering the FODMAP content. We currently can't recommend the use of cooking to lower the FODMAP content of a meal and clearly more research is required in this area. At present the most reliable approach is to use low FODMAP ingredients in your cooking.