Spices and FODMAPs: 69 foods rated

Garlic is one of the five vegetables measured highest in fructan, and it is the one used in the smallest amount - which is exactly why a single clove still counts. The useful fact is that fructans are water-soluble and not oil-soluble: a clove fried in oil and then lifted out leaves the flavour behind and takes the fructans with it. Infused oil works; garlic paste does not. Muir measured 60 vegetables and named garlic, artichoke, shallot, leek bulb and onion at the top, across a range of 1.2 to 17.4 g per 100 g fresh weight for the group - without ranking them against one another.

• Muir J et al., J Agric Food Chem 55 (2007) 6619-6627 and 57 (2009) 554-565, fructans and short-chain carbohydrates measured in Australian vegetables and fruit

Garlic powder is dehydrated garlic, so the fructans arrive several times concentrated in a teaspoon. It is not an alternative to fresh garlic for anyone avoiding it - it is the same compound with the water removed. Infused oil is the substitute; powder is not.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Garlic salt is mostly salt, so the FODMAP dose per teaspoon is diluted compared with pure garlic powder - but a teaspoon of it is a lot of seasoning, and it appears in rubs, fries and popcorn where nobody measures. The dilution is real; it is not protection.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Licorice root carries fructans, and it arrives as a sweet rather than a vegetable - which is how a high-FODMAP food gets eaten in quantity without anyone counting it as one. The root is chewed slowly, so the dose is spread but sustained. Monash gives a SERVE THRESHOLD, which is a different object from a content. A threshold answers how much, and for grams per hundred the papers are the source, not the app.

• Monash University FODMAP composition tables and app, for the serve threshold

Onion powder is the labelling problem more than the FODMAP dose. It hides behind "spices", "seasoning" and "natural flavouring" on ingredient lists, which means a crisp, a stock cube or a marinade can carry it without ever naming it. Read for the category, not the word.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Cayenne pepper is one chilli, dried and ground, with nothing else in the jar — which is what separates it from a chilli powder sold as a blend. Drying concentrates the FODMAP the fruit held, and the fruit held little: fresh chilli is low, and a teaspoon of the powder is a smaller quantity again.

Chili powder is where the name decides nothing: in some countries the jar holds ground chilli alone, in others it is a blend built on garlic and onion powder, and those two are among the five vegetables measured highest in fructan. The front of the jar does not say which; the ingredient list does.

Curry powder blends often contain onion and garlic powder, which are high in FODMAP fructans. Check the blend or use an onion/garlic-free mix to keep it low FODMAP.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Fenugreek is one of the rare foods that carry two FODMAP classes at once. Prichard measured the seed at 1.11 grams of fructans and 1.27 grams of galacto-oligosaccharides per hundred — the only one of the five significant sources in that study carrying both classes, and both are FODMAPs, so this level cannot sit below the oligosaccharide one. It is used as a spice by the teaspoon; sprouted fenugreek eaten as a leaf is a different quantity, and this figure is a content per hundred grams rather than a threshold per serving.

• Prichard R et al., Int J Food Sci Nutr 67 (2016) 383-390, FODMAP content of foods commonly consumed by ethnic minority groups

Capers are low as used: a pickled bud, scattered by the teaspoon, and the teaspoon is the whole serving. The dependence on serving size comes from Gibson and Shepherd, who built this approach: what these carbohydrates do is deliver fermentable substrate and water to the end of the small intestine, so the quantity decides the distension. Their trial also found that restricting them GLOBALLY works where restricting them one at a time does not.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on

Garam masala is low as used, but spice blends are where this axis is most often defeated by an ingredient list: garlic and onion powder are two of the five vegetables measured highest in fructan, and they appear in most mixes without being what the mix is named for. The blend is low; check that it is this blend. The dependence on serving size comes from Gibson and Shepherd, who built this approach: what these carbohydrates do is deliver fermentable substrate and water to the end of the small intestine, so the quantity decides the distension. Their trial also found that restricting them GLOBALLY works where restricting them one at a time does not.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on

Lemongrass is a stalk used for its aroma and lifted out before the dish is served, which settles most of the FODMAP question: the fibrous outer layers are bruised, simmered and discarded rather than eaten. Where it arrives as a paste instead of a stem, read the list — garlic and shallot are the usual second and third ingredients.

Mustard is a seed condiment, and the seed carries little fructan; what keeps it comfortable is the spoonful rather than the concentration. The Monash tables put the serve at about 11 g of mustard, and 20 to 23 g for Dijon — a threshold answers how much, not how concentrated. What varies is the jar: honey mustard brings its own sugar, and some prepared mustards are built on garlic. For grams per hundred the papers are the source, not the app.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile
• Monash University FODMAP composition tables and app, for the serve threshold

Ras el hanout is low as used, but spice blends are where this axis is most often defeated by an ingredient list: garlic and onion powder are two of the five vegetables measured highest in fructan, and they appear in most mixes without being what the mix is named for. The blend is low; check that it is this blend. The dependence on serving size comes from Gibson and Shepherd, who built this approach: what these carbohydrates do is deliver fermentable substrate and water to the end of the small intestine, so the quantity decides the distension. Their trial also found that restricting them GLOBALLY works where restricting them one at a time does not.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on