Karaya gum

Karaya gum is notable for FODMAPs, oligosaccharides, histamine and nickel. Clear on lactose, gluten, fructose, sorbitol, sucrose, tyramine, salicylate and oxalates.

Yes — Karaya gum is high in FODMAPs. Karaya gum is a dried tree exudate, and if you have learned that FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates this level will look wrong. It is not: the criterion that matters is whether gut bacteria ferment it, not how long the chain is. Inulin runs to sixty sugar units and is still a FODMAP. These gums ferment, which is exactly why they thicken in the gut and produce gas. The criterion is fermentability rather than chain length, and that is Gibson and Shepherd's definition: a long chain that ferments slowly is not the problem; a short one that ferments fast in the proximal colon is.

Yes — Karaya gum is high in oligosaccharides. Karaya gum is a branched polysaccharide, longer than an oligosaccharide by definition - but the criterion that decides this axis in practice is fermentability, not chain length, and the colonic bacteria break this one down readily. It is also used as a bulk laxative, which is the same property under another name.

Karaya gum contains only low levels of histamine. Karaya gum is the dried sap of the sterculia tree, used as a thickener and a denture adhesive. It is a chain of sugars, and sugars are not what bacteria decarboxylate into an amine.

Karaya gum contains only low levels of nickel. Karaya gum is dried tree sap, so whatever the tree drew from the soil is in it. Sap carries far less nickel than a leaf or a seed would, and the gum is used in fractions of a percent. Amounts vary by brand and recipe, so always check the label of the exact product.