If you’re following a low FODMAP diet and are wondering if your delicious hot coffee is low FODMAP, the answer is: it depends.

There are several ingredients, when following a low FODMAP diet, that have a limit on the serving size. Coffee is one of several ingredients that has a size limit.

Portion Limits of Specific Ingredients

Since we’re here for coffee, let’s start there. 2 ounces of prepared liquid regular coffee, according to the Monash University app is the serving size. For many coffee drinkers, this small amount feels more like a tease and they opt to skip coffee altogether.

Decaffeinated Coffee that’s Instant Coffee in powdered form has a limit of 0.14 ounce (that’s about 3 grams). You’d use this amount of coffee granules to make your cup of coffee.

For other ingredients that have a limit, check out this list:

• Almonds (whole), 15 almond limit
• Cacao/Chocolate, 4.5 gram limit
• Broccoli, 1/2 cup limit
• Butternut Squash, 1/4 cup limit
• Regular + Red Cabbage, 1 cup limit
• Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans, 1/4 cup limit
• Oats, 1/2 cup limit
• Orange Juice,100mL limit (about 3.5 ounces)
• Pumpkin, 60g/2 ounce limit
• Sweet Potato, 1/2 cup limit

Tips on Reducing Your Coffee Consumption

If you’re one of the many coffee lovers that’s been told to reduce your coffee intake (or caffeine intake), there are a few steps you can take to make the transition easier.

An easy step is to start by making weaker coffee. Let’s say you normally make a cup of coffee with about 2 Tablespoons of coffee grounds. Weigh your grounds in grams, then use 2 grams less every few days until you’ve reached your new coffee limit. Over time, this can be a gentler way to help your body adjust, rather than going cold turkey, which is especially important if you’re a long-time coffee drinker.

Another option is to experiment with decaf coffee, especially if that’s part of your action plan. In this scenario, you would mix decaf coffee grounds with regular coffee grounds at a 20:80 ratio. Then, start to tweak the ratio until you’ve started to use larger amounts of decaf coffee grounds in your ratio. Once you’ve reached the proper caffeine ratio, start reducing the overall amount of coffee used by 1 – 2 grams every few days. This will help you get your coffee consumption inline with your FODMAP limits.

For those who are coffee connoisseurs, don’t be afraid to try a new type of coffee. You may find that a new blend from a new region tastes better in smaller amounts/weaker, and this will make the transition easier for you.

More than anything, make sure you monitor any withdrawal-type symptoms. You don’t want to add headaches etc. to the gut issues you may already have.

Low FODMAP Diet Milk Options for Your Cup of Coffee

If you’re in need of a good low FODMAP milk substitute for your daily coffee, here’s a list of milk alternatives:

• Almond Milk
• Coconut Milk (light or canned)
• Lactose-Free Milk
• Macadamia Nut Milk
• Quinoa Mik
• Rice Milk
• Soy Milk from Soy Protein

Some of these milks are easy to purchase, and some you may want to make at home. Quinoa milk for example is difficult to find in grocery stores and you may not love the ingredients in the options that you find. The good news is that you can easily make milks at home with your blender or specialty tools such as the Almond Cow or NutraMilk.

Milks to Avoid on a Low FODMAP Diet

When you’re making or ordering your coffee drinks, here are the milks you’ll want to avoid on a Low FODMAP diet:

• Goat’s Milk
• Hemp Milk
• Oat Milk
• Soy Milk from Soy Beans
• Regular Cow’s Milk
• Skim Cow’s Milk
• Whole Cow’s Milk

The Importance of a Food Journal

Anytime you’re making diet (and lifestyle) changes, a food journal can be an amazing tool to help you track your progress. A journal keeps track of all the foods and beverages you’re consuming, but it goes much further than that. A good journal will track any and all symptoms, sleep, restroom habits, and everything else in between.

A word of advice: for those who suffer from abdominal pain and digestive symptoms, it’s a good idea to be as specific as possible when noting things in your journal. For example, don’t simple say “abdominal pain”. Instead, say “pulsing pain on lower right quadrant of abdomen”. See the difference? Those types of details will help your medical team as they investigate how to best help you.

Who Should Keep a Food Journal?

• IBS Patients to help determine their individual IBS triggers and IBS symptoms
• Anyone Experiencing Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• People on an Elimination Phase or Reintroduction Phase of any Elimination Diet
• Those Who are Making dietary changes to help improve gut symptoms (or symptoms in any other system)
• People Who are New to Longterm Diets (Low FODMAP, AIP Paleo, SCD, GAPs, Low Histamine)
• Anyone New to Managing Food Intolerances and Food Allergies

Essentially, if you’re changing how you eat to heal your digestive system or for any other medical reason, keeping a food journal is a critical part of the journey.

Low FODMAP Coffee Alternatives

If you’d like to explore different hot beverages that are compatible with the Low FODMAP diet, here are a few options for you.

• Black Tea
• Herbal Teas
• Homemade Golden Milk with Low FODMAP ingredients
• Hot Cinnamon Milk (made with a Low FODMAP milk)
• Matcha
• Weak Chai Tea (strong chai tea is not considered Low FODMAP)

Struggling to Make a Low FODMAP Diet Work for You?

If you find yourself struggling with the low FODMAP diet, I can’t suggest enough working with a registered dietitian or a nutritionist that specializes in low FODMAP, or who has worked with a lot of low FODMAP clients. Things a FODMAP-trained dietitian can help you with:

• Reducing coffee/caffeine consumption in a way that makes sense for you.
• ​Help you craft a bespoke meal plan that avoids high FODMAP ingredients
• Create a plan that shifts your dietary choices over a period of time rather than all at once if that’s in your best interest.
• Take all of your dietary needs into account (many are more than just low FODMAP) when helping craft your bespoke meal plan.
• Point you towards the right breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes.
• Encourage and support your transition to a new diet that’s nothing short of complicated.
• Help you set up a food journal that tracks not only the meals you eat, but also any reaction you may have (constipation, bloating, skin issues, diarrhea, etc.), bowel movements, sleep cycles, and more.

Overall, a good RD can feel like a real Godsend as they take a big part of the burden off of you. They can also work with your doctor and make sure you have tests done to see if you should be taking any supplements (for low Vitamin D etc.)

Answering Your Coffee & Low FODMAP Diet Questions

Is cold brew coffee low FODMAP?

Usually, cold brew coffee is a type of black coffee that’s been made without hot water. Like I’ve shared above, the coffee content of the drink will determine if it’s a Low FODMAP compatible drink.

Rather than purchase cold brew coffee, I’d strongly encourage you to make your own at home using the proper ratio of coffee grounds to water that will allow you to stay within your Low FODMAP limits. I did a quick search online and if you search for “Low FODMAP Cold Brew Coffee” you’ll get several results for recipes to try.

Is mushroom coffee a low FODMAP option?

It’s going to depend on how much coffee is in the blend, how much mushroom is in the blend, and what type(s) of mushrooms are in the blend. Most mushrooms in their dried/powder form are acceptable on a Low FODMAP diet, but in very small amounts. For example, 0.28 of an ounce of dried shiitake mushroom is acceptable. For reference, that’s about 7 grams, or 1 teaspoon. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not a lot of content to use, but, if you can tolerate the small portion of mushroom coffee, it’s a great option.

There are several brands that sell organic mushroom coffee that has a lower coffee content (and mushrooms are the leading ingredient). I’d suggest reaching out to them to find out what the ratios are so you know what your serving size should be. Explain that you’re on a Low FODMAP diet and have to stay within a 4.5g cacao limit, as well as limits on the mushrooms as well.

Are stevia and honey low FODMAP sweeteners?

Both stevia powder and honey are considered low FODMAP sweeteners. They would both be good choices for mixing into a coffee or coffee alternative.

Is it true that some people can have more coffee than others when following a Low FODMAP diet?

Yes, this is true, and that’s because no two people are the same. Everyone will have an individual tolerance level for each item that’s considered a high FODMAP food. You’ll see this with all specialty diets since they’re hyper-individualized as I like to say.

Don’t let this get you down though. Id you’re someone who can only tolerate a small amount of coffee, think of this as a way to take great care of yourself. I can tell you from personal experience: nothing tastes as good as neutral feels (when you experience zero symptoms).

Would hot chocolate be a good coffee alternative that’s Low FODMAP?

Remember how I mentioned there are many ingredients with serving size limits when you’re following a low-FODMAP diet? Chocolate is one of those foods. If you really want to have hot chocolate, you’ll need to make it at home, with a kitchen scale. The portion size of chocolate/cacao is 4.5 grams. You’d need to use about 1 teaspoon of ground cacao powder, then add your hot milk and sweetener of choice. Give that a good mix and see what you think.

If it’s too weak for your liking, hot chocolate won’t be a good alternative for you. If you’re OK with that amount of cacao (or would be happy with even less), then yes, hot chocolate would be a suitable option for you.

Are maple syrup and agave low FODMAP sweeteners?

Maple syrup and light agave syrup are both considered low FODMAP sweeteners. However, dark agave has a very small portion limit of 0.18 ounce.

Do you have low FODMAP recipes?

I do have low FODMAP recipes available on my membership site RAISE, but not a lot. It’s best to start with the Advanced Recipe Search so you can plug in all of your needs to see how many recipes the site can really offer you. I know there are other sites out there that focus solely on low FODMAP recipes, and they may be a better fir for your needs.

Does coffee consumption really have a negative impact on IBS sufferers?

So this is a bit of a loaded questions because individuals will experience difference effects. Coffee is a stimulant, and everyone is wired differently. IBS falls under a category of conditions I like to call “hyper-individualized”. It means that no two people are the same and each person can have a different reaction, even if they all consume the same amount of a particular item.

The guidelines that are set in terms of portion limits etc. where FODMAPs are concerned are more about generalizations and the actual FODMAP content of each ingredient. Just because something is deemed a high FODMAP food doesn’t mean you’ll have a negative reaction to the item.

Which brings us back to your question. For some IBS sufferers, yes, coffee consumption really does have a negative impact on them. However, for some IBS sufferers, there’s little to no impact from coffee beans, or even energy drinks. No two people are the same, and that’s why the food journal is KING.

Keeping a detailed food journal, when you’re managing a hyper-individualized condition, is the only real way to understand how food affects you. I know that’s probably not the answer you were looking for, but this isn’t something that’s black and white.

Have a question? Send it to ask@theallergychef.com