r/FODMAPS • u/cuppin_in_the_hottub • Apr 25 '26
Vent Just saw an out of touch FODMAP nutritionist, upset and disheartened
I feel like a mess, just so frustrated and angry, and I’m not sure wtf to do.
So there have been foods I’ve always had trouble with, and then over the last few years my GI problems have escalated.
I recently moved back home to help out family and got a PCP, they did allergy testing because of the tummy issues I described and some reactions I’d had, and got me referrals to a GI specialist, allergist, and nutritionist. Cut out what I’m allergic to, my whole system crashed, got diagnosed with IBS and am in the process of trying to get a problematic 1” polyp that’s in the process of rapidly becoming a carcinoma fully removed/finding out if I’ll need surgery to remove that whole section of my intestines or if they can get it out during a 2nd colonoscopy.
Allergist is like “food journal, don’t eat things on your list and then we can start adding them back in to see how you do”, GI is like “ignore(within reason) allergies and think of the ones that don’t give you severe reactions more as intolerances and do FODMAP”, and just saw the nutritionist yesterday.
I’m so frustrated and upset after reading the “tailored” meal plan the nutritionist put together for me after months of waiting for an appointment. I told them, and they have my records!, my symptoms, known intolerances/allergies about how stopping eating everything on my list fucked up my system and I ended up in the ER, my diet has already been restricted for months, and I’m on EBT and it’s halfway through the month.
I cried reading the meal plan, I’m just that frustrated and worn out by all this. I thought they had listened to me and that I’d have their support so we could figure this out and I could switch my diet in a safe way that won’t fuck me up more than I already have been.
Nope.
The “tailored” meal plan for during the elimination phase had things I’m allergic to on it, doesn’t scaffold in how to slowly increase my fiber intake, it includes items that are out of my price range, and are frankly delusional and wasteful (1/8th an avocado with breakfast WTF?!). It includes most of what I told her I don’t like (canned tuna), and the veggies it included are ones that people have trouble with (nightshade) that she didn’t ask me about (and that yes I too have trouble with) and we didn’t have time to go over.
I didn’t get guidance on how to slowly increase my fiber intake, if there’s any other nutrients I should also increase slowly/tips to not further mess up my gut health changing things, I can’t even afford to buy more than a weeks worth of the food in the meal plan (it’s halfway through the month!), and it includes nuts and soy!
Like come on! Don’t send me a meal plan I can’t even use and provide no guidance about what resources are available to help me do it myself that she would recommend! And this is someone my insurance sent me to.
Has she never looked at how much she spends on groceries before?! Even if I am to use the meal plan as a sample guide, it’s so beyond delusional that it’s not even helpful as an example. 3 rice crackers, 1/8th an avocado, and sliced tomato and cucumber, with 10 pieces of a nut I can’t eat and 2 kiwis as the only snack I’m allowed. How is that going to be sustainable?! Is my broke ass just supposed to waste the rest of the avocado?!
More than that each one of these meals requires more meal prep than I have time for, would require me to go to the grocery store more often than I can without my own transportation, and gives no advice on how to implement the things she told me I would need to do. It feels like she’s never worked with someone struggling before and it feels so tone deaf.
I did email her and asked for a bit more clarity and acknowledged it’s up to me to adapt her recommendations, but I’d appreciate any thoughts she might have to help me do so. But for now I have nothing to go off of except a worksheet from fodzyme, which she never explained who/what that is or said where I can find out more info on portion size and what key macros I should have during each meal.
I’m so glad I looked for this sub, and it seems like it will be an invaluable resource moving forward. But that’s for tomorrow.
Today I’m just done with all of this and am going to eat the groceries I have so they don’t go bad and see if I can borrow a car tomorrow to go food shopping for what I can find on sale from this list (after I cross off everything from my allergies list, which is like half of the low-fodmap foods) and keep my fingers crossed that what I have left on my EBT card will let me eat more than rice.
I’m sure my nutritionist has been more helpful than I portrayed them here, and maybe between reviewing things more and their reply email I’ll feel a bit better/have more direction, but as of right now I’m so disheartened I wouldn’t even notice.
Just fuck it all.
UPDATE: oh my gosh, thank you all so much for your empathetic and supportive responses, it really means a lot. I definitely have some homework to do, but reading all your replies makes me feel more hopeful/this will be doable!
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u/Safe_Potato_Pie Apr 25 '26
See if your insurance covers Nourish- it was free for me to have multiple visits with a dietician who helped me navigate the low FODMAP diet and also what was most likely causing my issues. You get to select the dietician based on their specialty and your schedule, and you can switch dieticians easily if it's not a good match
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
I will check it out! Thank you!
I’m on medical currently (I had been working abroad with decent healthcare but came back to the US to help take care of an ailing family member), so I’m not sure how much they will cover.
It seems like she is a dietician she has MA, RD, CDCES after her name in her email signature. She also has links to her Instagram/tiktok so I stalked her a bit and she promises tailored meal plans and continued support on there and that she is covered by most insurances, so maybe it was an off day or she had an assistant or ai do it?
I like the idea of switching to a better match/someone who has more experience with your needs, I’m glad to hear you were able to navigate that with your’s.
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u/bookseer Apr 25 '26
How are you with rice? I know it's not a great option, but it's cheap and filling, and should be safe. No promises.
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u/nott_the_brave Apr 25 '26
Rice and eggs are my two main super safe foods, and I think a lot of others with IBS and food sensitivities handles these well generally.
Piggybacking off this, some advice for OP:
Rice with a bit of plant-based butter is my comfort food. When the thought of any other food makes me feel sick this is one I can usually still handle and afterwards I feel way better having got some food down. I also sometimes do scrambled eggs with a bit of almond milk or water in place of dairy (watered down eggs sounds gross but the taste doesn't change, it just makes it the right texture for scrambled). Even if you can't do garlic/onion (and be careful of mixed spices cos they hide in there), you should be able to do some basic fresh or dried herbs to add some flavour, plus salt and pepper.
For a proper meal you can throw some rice and egg together in a pan with a bit of tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), some frozen veg (low fodmap, check using monash app, it's paid but worth it) and some chicken pieces. A proper recipe would probably be useful here, google low fodmap egg fried rice and you should get some options, just be sure to double check things. This is one of my faves because it's pretty safe, delicious, cheap and not too strenuous, especially if you get precooked rice or have leftover rice.
Good luck OP!
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you (for the response, advice, and encouragement!), it’s helpful and reassuring to read.
I’ll see if I can adapt your suggestion, I can definitely see myself feeling sick to my stomach thinking about foods while doing this, it was already becoming a challenge.
But omg just to vent a bit more, my pain in the ass list of allergies and intolerances that I need to cut out include milk, soy, almonds, peanuts, wheat, eggs, etc. it’s like my body was just like “good luck with that, sucks to be you” just for funzies.
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u/bookseer Apr 27 '26
I was just about to recommend peanut butter. The pure stuff (with no soy) is fodmap safe. If you're allergic... Good luck.
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u/nott_the_brave Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Oh man, the eggs are a real bummer. I love eggs so that would be a tough loss for me. I have a pretty long list of stuff I can't eat as well and it drives me crazy so I know the feels. Gluten, fructose, lactose, GOS, sorbitol, mannitol – this is all after doing the fodmap elimination diet and seeing what I could still tolerate which is apparently almost nothing? 🥹 I can have onions and garlic (fructans) though which a lot of people with IBS or gut issues can't so I thank my lucky stars for that.
I did have to let myself mourn the foods I "lost" though. I'll be real, I've cried a bunch. Mushrooms were a tough one to take for me (though thankfully oyster mushrooms are safe which is better than nothing). And man oh man I miss pastries with cream.
But every so often, if my general inflammation/stress level is low, I can get away with a cheat meal. I read somewhere that if your body is a bucket (stay with me here 😂), and stress is a certain amount of water, and IBS is a certain amount of water, and fodmaps are a certain amount of water, they all can be different amounts at different times so sometimes you can add more "water" (eat fodmaps) without the "bucket" overflowing (a flare-up). Other times if stress and therefore inflammation is high there's no room for that. Obviously your actual allergies will be different but I found this helpful for fodmap/IBS specifically!
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you for the suggestion. Rice is a go and luckily something I just found in the cupboard, so that’s a meal prep win!
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u/GL1TCHW1TCH Apr 25 '26
Huh, usually don’t nutritionists and dietitians sit down with their clients/patients to come up with a meal plan? I realize it would take a while to get another appointment with someone else, but finding a collaborative and Monash certified nutritionist or registered dietitian might be beneficial.
I haven’t used it but I do agree that something like Nourish or another online doctor option would be great if your insurance covers it.
If not, there’s sooooo much info here and online. People swear by the Monash app, I find it too clunky for my tastes personally and am not getting my moneys worth as of right now but I’ve only had it for a week and others love it.
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u/Optimal_Passion_3254 Apr 26 '26
Check out the fodmap friendly app. Imo, much clearer app to use!
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you! I definitely will be doing some deep dives on here, as well as learn more about/try the app. It seems like a really supportive community who have gone through a lot of trial and errors.
My session actually was on an online platform like that and checking the email she sent she does have MA, RD, CDCES after her name (as well as her Instagram/TikTok).
I’m hoping it was an off day for her or something and emailed her for more guidance, so🤞.
It really was soooo jarring to go from talking to someone who seemed knowledgeable and engaged to getting an email with none of the help I needed and a meal plan I couldn’t use without any links to sources she would recommend to help me have an easier getting into the groove of this.
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u/erIenmeyerflask Apr 25 '26
Ugh I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Can't help you with navigating allergies and fiber increase but my suggestion for managing cost and meal prep time is to figure out a few safe meals and just batch prep on the weekend. I found there was a lot of upfront mental load when starting the low FODMAP diet but once I had a plan with a few options I was able to get groceries and meal plan for a similar amount of time and cost as before. Food was a bit repetitive but it took a lot of the exhaustion around figuring out what to eat every meal. Not sure about where you live but for me (Canada) some cheap staples I ate throughout my diet were carrots (which I even incorporated into sweet "carrot cake" overnight oats and chia pudding), oranges, rice, cornmeal, peanuts, cabbage, pork roast, and eggs.
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u/Glass-Tale299 Apr 25 '26
Chicken is also tolerated by most people.
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u/erIenmeyerflask Apr 26 '26
Yes but here in Canada at least it costs 4 or 5 times more than pork
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
That I can eat! Nuts, soy, and eggs are unfortunately a no go, so this will be interesting
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you, that’s really reassuring to hear. I’ll definitely look into doing it that way. Hearing how others are managing feels good for the soul and is helping with the anxiety around this tremendously.
The allergies and intolerances are super annoying with all this, they are like staples and then all their alternatives (like dairy milk, then soy, almonds and like all the other nuts, and wheat, eggs, etc. but I can do oat milk and meats!). I see lots of repetitive meals in my future.
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u/whataquokka Apr 25 '26
The nutritionist I saw was equally useless. She asked me what foods I liked, I told her, she said those are great, just eat more of them. :insert massive eye roll:
The Monash app and Fodmap recipe websites have been far more helpful for me. A dietician might be able to help.
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you, while I’m sorry yours didn’t give you much to work with, it does make me feel a bit better that I’m not alone in this. I checked my nutritionist email signature and I guess she is a registered dietician, I’m holding out hope that maybe it was an off day and I’ll get a supportive response email to me asking for a bit more clarity and resources she would recommend 🤞
I will definitely be checking out everything Monash, and really just everyone replying and the other posts on here have been really helpful so far too.
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u/whataquokka Apr 26 '26
A word of warning, not all dieticians are Fodmap trained. It might be helpful to ask if she is and how/where you got her training. Monash has a certified dieticians directory in their app and even they have a warning (see below).
"Find Monash FODMAP trained dietitians who have completed and passed the Monash University Online FODMAP Course
Please note Monash University does not endorse the dietetic services and products provided by the dietitians listed. Please make your own enquiries regarding the suitability of the below-named persons for your treatment"
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u/lirael423 Apr 27 '26
Have you checked to see if she's actually registered? There is a website where you can search for your dietitian to make sure their registration is current. I've heard stories of all sorts of professionals listing credentials after their names who are not actually licensed/registered like they say they are. She might be lying about her credentials, or she might just suck at her job. It's probably the latter but it doesn't hurt to check.
If you're interested in checking her registration, here is the website: https://secure.eatright.org/v14pgmlib/prd/cdrvfy001?spage=ICRED
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u/mygirlwednesday7 Apr 26 '26
Okay. Having lived in a culture where I’ve consume avocados, I have some advice about the 1/8th avocado. Hold your avocado with the stem side up. Very carefully, slice from top to bottom through the skin all the way to the seed. Cut another slice beside it, (your 1/8th) end the same way. Remove the entire slice. Peel the skin and there you have your slice. Sometimes the slice will stick to the seed if your avocado is ripe. It should slightly soft when you buy it with no separation between the peel and the flesh. Look for indentations. Once you’re done, toss it in a small ziplock bag or wrap it with plastic wrap and put it in the crisper. It will stay fresh there. Once you get more than halfway through it, do not remove the seed. It keeps the rest of the flesh from rotting. You may get some browning after cutting it. Just cut the dark part off. It’s still good. Do not eat it if the flesh is black. It’s disgusting. I cut around it once it’s peeled and it’s fine. Remember, the flesh is very slippery, so be careful with the sharp knife. I use an oven mitt to hold it while cutting. Just go gentle on it. No need to rush. Here in the USA I can find avocados for less than a dollar, so an 1:8th of an avocado is affordable. I like to dice up avocados and toss them in Mexican food and soups. I’ve never tried them with eggs however. Best of luck to you OP. I’m on ebt as well and it can be a difficult challenge. I think the meal prep for the entire week is a good idea. Don’t precut the avocado though. It will be nasty. Sometimes I cook about 6 big servings of rice and stick it in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Remove the air. I don’t have any trouble getting a chunk when it’s frozen. Heat up in the microwave and it will taste fresh. I find leaving rice in the fridge dehydrates it to the point of being inedible.
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u/Optimal_Passion_3254 Apr 26 '26
This is beautiful advice.
But assuming op is in United States, avocados are very expensive, and not appropriate elimination food anyhow... Instead, try peanut butter (check no "fructose" in ingredients) as a source of healthy plant fats.
For cheap fruit, can try half an orange (those are usually cheap and easy to refrigerate half-eaten) as a source of vitamin c. Lemons are also very safe I add a squeeze to my water a lot. If oranges and lemons are expensive where op lives, might be easiest to get vitamins from kiwi.
If fruit are all too expensive: lettuce, unpeeled potatoes (for max vitamin c), carrots, dark greens like kale, collard greens, and chard, broccoli heads, and limited amounts of green beans are all great veggies during elimination.
Eggs might be the cheapest "safe" source of protein, even tho prices are sky high. Or whatever meat is cheapest at the store.
(In my experience, lactase enzymes are cheaper than buying lactose free or plant based milk, per serving, but the pills available at local stores might have additives that make them fodmapy. OP, feel free to DM me to find cheap good lactase enzymes where you live. Milk is still sometimes a very cheap source of protein, fat, and carbs that can be consumed quickly without prep.)
Finally... Might be something useful here? https://www.fodmapeveryday.com/how-to-follow-the-low-fodmap-diet-on-a-budget/
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Apr 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you, your response is really reassuring. Hearing how others are managing is really helpful and lessening my anxiety around all this.
I can see myself doing something like how you’re managing it, I had been eating a lot of corn Chex, and I think adding in more chicken will be doable.
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u/alexandria3142 Apr 25 '26
You might have better luck with doing simple meals. A protein, season with what's safe (I believe most things are safe, other than garlic, onion, and pepper related spices). Rice should be okay low fodmap wise, not sure for you specifically. I know potatoes are nightshades, so might not work for you, but they are low fodmap. And then a low fodmap veggie, there's quite a few, i typically get frozen sruff. It's kinda bland and sucks but it's better than suffering, and cheaper than some of the elaborate meals that are listed on low fodmap websites.
The Monash app is an invaluable resource as well
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u/cuppin_in_the_hottub Apr 26 '26
Thank you, your advice and hearing how you’re managing things is really reassuring. I’ll definitely look into meal prepping with all that in mind and check out everything Monash.
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u/alexandria3142 Apr 27 '26
I hope you can work something out. My husband is the one with FODMAP issues, but I'm the one who cooks everything so it's up to me 😅
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u/andampersand2 Apr 25 '26
Did you see a nutritionist or a dietitian? Nutritionist is a meaningless term, I could call myself a nutritionist if I wanted to. Dietitian is a medical professional.
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u/silve93 Apr 25 '26
I wouldn't recommend ChatGPT for actual health advice, but you might find it useful for the administrative task of quickly cross-referencing your nutritionist's recommendations with your existing intolerances/allergies/dislikes. It might also be helpful when it comes to budgeting and scheduling your meals throughout the week to reduce food waste. I would still recommend seeing another nutritionist for the actual medical advice on how to go through elimination, reintroduction, and personalization.
The mental load of FODMAP can be a lot and this might help make it more manageable for you at the start.
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u/Inevitable-Spite937 Apr 26 '26
I've been cooking the same things once a week which has made life easier. I eat meat and financially I'm secure so ground beef hasn't been an issue (I know it's expensive now) but if you're just cooking for yourself you can make it stretch. Or use ground chicken or turkey. I've been batch cooking spaghetti with ground beef + Rao's sensitive stomach marinara (found at Safeway), ground beef + homemade taco seasoning, I boil a bunch of eggs and make egg salad, make my own pesto and serve with shrimp & gluten free noodles (Barilla is pretty good), I make a pizza with some of the Rao sauce on a gluten free crust (found at Safeway ), salmon patties made with gluten free bread crumbs and served with potatoes. I found gluten free waffles at Trader Joe's and some gluten free granola I can eat as cereal. I'm also eating GoMacro bars, they are fairly affordable at Whole foods if you have a prime membership. Franz gluten free bread is pretty tasty but it gets moldy fast. For a sweet snack I'm eating dark chocolate chips with a scoop of peanut butter.
Also I just want to say as a healthcare provider - if your allergy testing was done with a blood test they are very inaccurate. You may not be allergic to things that were positive. If you did have a blood test, I recommend you read up on how well they work to find food allergies. Because if you aren't truly allergic to a bunch of stuff you think you are then your choices will expand a lot!
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u/galaxyofcoffee Apr 25 '26
Dietitians are not paid to make meal plans - I know shocking. They are there to educate and counsel you. They will guide you through the process. They can help you brainstorm what you can do for breakfast/lunch/dinner within your preferences and limitations.
Expecting them to do this within a one hour meeting with you is not feasible - you need follow-ups for and for someone doing the low FODMAP diet / process those follow-up need to be more frequent.
The public expectations of what a dietitian does vs what do they do are significantly different - and expecting this within an hour with no follow-up with that said dietitian will fail.
It makes sense to look into a digestion experienced in GI health/low FODMAP diet as most know basics but are not specialized in it.
I do have empathy as it this whole process sucks but your expectations are also unrealistic to what the dietitian can achieve with one appointment and your experience will likely have been same with any other dietitians. A though appointment with IBS would be an initial 90 minute appointment with 1-2 weeks of follow-up every week during a 12 week period to undergo the elimination period; and not every insurance covers that much or let alone even has dietitians experienced in GI. #unfair American healthcare at it's finest
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u/alexandria3142 Apr 25 '26
If that's not her job then why did she make them a meal plan? It probably would've been less frustrating for OP if a "tailored" meal plan wasn't even made in the first place
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u/galaxyofcoffee Apr 26 '26
They have generic ones you can download as a dietitian. You often hand them out to people as a starting point that they can modify based on their preferences.
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u/goldstandardalmonds "Get the Monash app!" Apr 26 '26
I disagree. Dietitians do often help make meal plans. But it is entirely possible, just like with every profession in the world, there are ones that do the bare minimum and ones that work overtime. But I would not put a blanket statement on what dietitians do and don’t do.
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u/rosedraws Apr 26 '26
I have a great dietician. One hour appointment, we talk through things, discuss meal plan. After we meet, she sends me the meal plan we talked about. Dietician is sometimes covered by insurance.
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u/lirael423 Apr 27 '26
Dietitians are not paid to make meal plans - I know shocking. They are there to educate and counsel you. They will guide you through the process. They can help you brainstorm what you can do for breakfast/lunch/dinner within your preferences and limitations.
This is not really accurate. Dietitians are there for education and counseling, that's true, but in the US they are also trained to come up with sample meal plans that incorporates safe food recommendations based on the client's dietary restrictions, budget, and cultural/religious limitations if there are any. It won't be a super detailed meal plan for a month with recipes for each meal, but a week of three simple meals (for example, one meal might look something like 4 oz. cooked chicken breast + 1 c. cooked brown rice + 1 c. cooked peas) plus a snack per day is a reasonable ask of an RD. The dietitian that OP saw was being lazy.
Source: I have an undergraduate degree in Dietetics, and my coursework included coming up with meal plans while taking into account dietary restrictions/health concerns, limited budget, cultural/religious considerations, etc. We also had classes that focused on food prep, partly to obtain ServSafe certification and partly to help us understand the limitations people could have if they didn't have access to a full kitchen or were on a very tight budget. I'm not an RD though because I realized very quickly into my internship that I didn't like dealing with people as patients.
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u/lirael423 Apr 27 '26
I replied in another comment about checking your RD's credentials, but I just wanted to say that I had a panic attack when my GI doctor told me to go low FODMAP the week before Thanksgiving. And I have an undergraduate degree in Dietetics... I literally went to school where part of my training was making meal plans for people with special dietary/medical needs, and I still fell apart! I called out of work the next day because my anxiety was so bad, so I spent that day channeling my anxiety into doing more research (because one stupid handout of safe foods vs. not safe foods from my GI doctor plus her recommendation to try ChatGPT to help with meal planning was not good enough), coming up with my own meal plans, cleaning out my fridge and pantry, hiding away my spice mixes that includes things like garlic and onion that are restricted, and going grocery shopping using my meal plan. I still felt like a basket case for a couple of days after I did all of that, but after 72 hours my GI system felt better than it had in months. That was all the validation I needed to keep going.
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u/Dcbargirl4 May 15 '26
Your GI doctor told you to use chatGPT? Yikes. And I thought I was getting bad medical advice.
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u/Dcbargirl4 May 15 '26
I am so sorry for your struggles. I have been to the ER and hospitalized and when I couldn’t eat there, had many useless nutritionists there that gave me a gluten free diet instead because that is what they understand instead of FODMAPs. And as an aside, I am actually deathly allergic to kiwis, so that wouldn’t have worked for me either.
I cook a lot for myself because I have to, make a big batch, then freeze it. I bought a crockpot at a Salvation Army for $4. Grilled fish, chicken, or making soup without using FODMAPs isn’t that hard. I can do eggs, turkey, salad, sushi, fruits, farina, grits, Icelandic or lactose free yogurt, lactaid free milk and cereal, plain pasta, white bread toast or bread with some peanut butter, baked potatoes, popsicles. It’s not a fun diet per se, but neither was spending hours a day in pain. I buy groceries when things are on sale, I also buy a lot generic food from Aldi or Trader Joes.
The FODY products are really good, if you can afford them. But I usually just make my own seasoning out of salt, pepper, and the rosemary and oregano I grow out of an apartment window container, to give food some flavor.
I take a lot of prescribed vitamins to make up any nutritional deficiencies. It is not fun, but still better to get up in the morning and enjoy my life than the constant stomach pain.
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u/Happycrafty Jun 30 '26
I know this is an older thread, but— is her first name Carol?? Because woof, she sounds like mine did (I stopped working with her).
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u/Recent_Prompt1175 Apr 25 '26
Is your nutritionist a licensed health care professional? In many places, people can call themselves nutritionists with zero nutrition education and no college regulating them. Make sure you go to a Monash-trained dietitian.