When Alana Scott was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and coeliac disease, the young Hamilton woman was told she'd have to eat a gluten-free and low-FODMAP diet to manage her uncomfortable symptoms. Eventually, Alana launched the website A Little Bit Yummy and she's just released The Gut Friendly Cookbook.
Alana Scott, author of The Gut Friendly Cookbook Photo: Alana Scott / Facebook
Alana Scott: 'I became the girl you'd find hiding in the corner of a networking event trying to have a sneaky fart'
Alana tells Jesse Mulligan she was at university when she realised something was very wrong with her gut.
"I was sort of the girl who would sit in the middle of a lecture theatre and see if I could sneakily unzip my jeans to let my horrifically bloated belly escape… then I became the girl who you'd find hiding in the corner of a networking event trying to have a sneaky fart."
Eventually, Alana became the girl who didn't want to leave the house because she felt ill all the time.
After her diagnosis of celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome, on the advice of a dietician, Alana went strictly gluten-free, but her symptoms still weren't settling.
Then her dietician recommended she try a low-FODMAP diet.
FODMAPs are short-chain carbohydrates, Alana says.
"These are sugars our gut bugs love to feast on. And when they feast on these sugars they create gas and they pull water into our intestines. This leads to bloating and distension and all the other unpleasant gut symptoms people often experience."
FODMAPS are present in a lot of staple, everyday foods including stone fruit, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, dairy products and even onions and garlic – and Alana was depressed by the list of banned foods at first.
But then she discovered there were still plenty of other foods to enjoy.
If you miss onion and garlic, the green tips of leek or spring onion are okay and fresh herbs and spices are perfect for boosting flavour, Alana says.
She recommends people who are avoiding FODMAPs but miss the taste of garlic can drizzle (low-FODMAP) garlic-infused oil over their food.
Alana says that once she was on a gluten-free and low-FODMAP diet, her health improved drastically, and now her symptoms are 95 percent under control.
You can find some of Alana's recipes here.