Skimmed milk

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

Yes — skimmed milk is high in FODMAPs. Skimmed milk carries marginally MORE lactose per hundred millilitres than whole, not less - removing the fat concentrates everything in the water phase, and lactose lives there. Choosing skimmed to be gentler on the gut works against you on this axis.

Yes — skimmed milk is high in lactose. Skimming removes fat, not lactose. Skimmed milk holds about 4.8 g per 100 ml, marginally more than whole milk, because taking the fat out leaves everything else a little more concentrated in the same volume - and it loses the fat that would have slowed the sugar's arrival. Low-fat is not low-lactose, and here it is very slightly the other way round.

Skimmed milk contains only low levels of histamine. Skimmed milk is low because milk measured on the day it is opened is low, and rises over the days it spends open in the fridge. Histamine in dairy is a storage measurement, not a recipe one. Pasteurisation, starter culture, salt, pH and ripening time decide more than the name on the label.

Skimmed milk contains only low levels of tyramine. Skimmed milk is milk itself, before any culture has worked on it. On this axis dairy splits in two, and the dividing line is ripening: aged cheese is one of the four foods a MAOI diet excludes outright, while fresh dairy is among the safest things on the shelf. The same milk becomes either one. Amounts vary by brand and recipe, so always check the label of the exact product.