Beans and FODMAPs: what beans and legumes can you eat on the FODMAP diet?
This article was first published on March 6th 2023 and was last updated on October 15th 2024.
If you follow the low FODMAP diet, you might know that beans can be trigger foods for people with IBS. Beans contain a high amount of galactans and because of that large servings of beans can better be avoided in the elimination phase of the low FODMAP diet.
In this blog, I will tell you all about beans and how you can incorporate them into your diet when you have IBS and eat low FODMAP.
Have you finished the reintroduction phase and do you know that you can tolerate galactans and, in some cases, fructans? Then you can enjoy some more beans in your meals.
Why is it good to incorporate some beans into your diet?
Beans are a good protein source. Especially if you eat vegetarian or vegan, they can be a great extra source of protein in your diet.
Next to that, they are high in fiber and beans are also nutritious for the good bacteria in your gut. So eating some beans now and then is definitely beneficial.
But as you might know, beans can cause gas. Even for people who don’t have IBS, beans are known to create some gas in your intestines.
Luckily, you can eat some beans in small amounts on the low FODMAP diet. And I would definitely recommend adding some beans to your diet in moderation if you can tolerate them.
What FODMAP can be found in beans?
Beans contain a high amount of the FODMAP group oligosaccharides. The “O” in the word FODMAP.
Oligosaccharides are broken down in the body by the enzyme alpha-galactosidase. But the interesting thing is that our digestive system lacks the enzyme alpha-galactosidase that breaks down those carbohydrates completely.
And that causes bloating and gas. The interesting thing is that this doesn’t only happen for people with IBS, but for all people. Which is why most people experience some discomfort after eating a lot of beans.
Supplements to help your body break down oligosaccharides
There are supplements on the market that contain the enzyme alpha-galactosidase, the enzyme that breaks down oligosaccharides in the body.
These supplements can help the body to break down the oligosaccharides in beans and reduce symptoms.
An example of such a supplement is the Fibractase supplement by Intoleran.
Beans that should be avoided
There are some kinds of beans that don’t have a low FODMAP serving size, so those should be avoided. I’ll also include peas and lentils into this list because they are all pulses:
- Baked beans
- Borlotti beans, canned
- Broad beans
- Fava beans
- Haricot beans, boiled
- Navy beans, boiled
- Red kidney beans, boiled
- Split peas, boiled
- Chickpea, sprouted
Beans that have a low FODMAP serving
The following kinds of beans have a low FODMAP serving. As you can see, in some cases canned pulses have a higher low FODMAP serving than the dried version.
This is because when beans and lentils are canned, some of the FODMAPs in the food leak into the water in the can. This lowers the amount of FODMAPs in the beans or lentils.
When eating canned pulses, it is important to drain and rinse them well before using them. You can find an overview of beans and other pulses here:
- Mung beans (green gram), cooked: 40 grams
- Adzuki beans, boiled: 35 grams
- Adzuki beans, canned: 38 grams
- Black beans, fermented: 15 grams
- Black beans, boiled: 40 grams
- Black beans, canned: 40 grams
- Black beans, refried, canned: 34 grams
- Moth beans, cooked: 25 grams
- Red kidney beans, sprouted: 25 grams
- Butter beans, canned: 35 grams
- Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), canned: 42 grams
- Dal, Toor / Turdal, pigeon pea, cooked: 35 grams
- Lentils, canned, drained: 46 grams
- Lentils green, boiled: 29 grams
- Lentils red, boiled: 23 grams
- Lima beans, boiled: 39 grams
- Mung beans, sprouted: 95 grams
- Pea, blue, cooked: 35 grams
- Black-eyed beans, boiled: 20 grams
- Pinto beans, dried, cooked: 23 grams
- Pinto beans, refried: 45 grams
- Pinto beans, whole, canned, and drained: 45 gram
How to eat beans on the low FODMAP diet?
You might say, sounds nice, but 20 to 40 grams of beans is nothing. How will I incorporate beans into my diet?
You can add a spoonful of beans to your salads or mix a little bit into a rice dish that you are cooking.
I also love making my own hummus with chickpeas and I enjoy that in a small serving. Or I roast some chickpeas in the oven with some spices to get a crunchy snack.
Check out some low FODMAP recipes with beans and other pulses below:
How are you going to incorporate some beans into your diet?
Other blogs about the FODMAPs in foods
Would you like to read more about whether certain foods are low FODMAP and in what quantities? Check out the articles below:
Fruits and vegetables
- Are tomatoes low FODMAP?
- Is coconut low FODMAP?
- Are bananas low FODMAP?
- Are mushrooms low FODMAP?
- Is broccoli low FODMAP?
- Is kale low FODMAP?
- Is spinach low FODMAP?
- Is corn low FODMAP?
- Is avocado low FODMAP?
- Is sweet potato low FODMAP?
Dairy and grains
- Is rice low FODMAP?
- Is quinoa low FODMAP?
- Are oats low FODMAP?
- Which milk is low FODMAP?
- What cheeses are low FODMAP?
- Is butter low FODMAP?
3 Comments
Thank you for keeping this short and simple! Great info and explanation! Looking forward to getting the low fodmap beans back in the rotation.
If I eat lentils in a meal, can I also eat another low fodmap bean in that same meal or should I eat only one bean type per meal? Thank you!
You should be careful with foods that contain the same FODMAP group. If you use them together in the meal, you stack the FODMAPs and you can get complaints. For example: butter beans and lentils both contain the FODMAP group GOS. In the elimination phase, I would stick with one type of bean per meal (or small portions that don’t go over the safe serving size when you add them up together).