What's it all about (Alfie)

So, this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down.

In April of this year, I decided to test my 'iron gut' by eating two fillets of out of date salmon. It looked a little grey around the edges but, with a cocky confidence I no longer possess, I assured myself that I could handle it. It wasn't going to kill me.

It nearly killed me (slight exaggeration).

I contracted salmonella poisoning. I know what you're thinking; food poisoning isn't all that bad, a little time spent on the loo, a spot of vomiting, a couple of days in bed, nothing you can't handle. Salmonella poisoning is a whole other beast. I had 10 days of constant vomiting and diarrhoea, I couldn't keep down so much as a glass of water. I had fever sweats, and cold flashes, I passed out on my bathroom floor. There was talk of ambulances and IV fluids. I shed almost three stone in those ten long, sweaty, sleepy days. Then, as suddenly as it arrived, I was well again. The bug was out of my system. I could eat, I could get out of bed, I could skip off to work. I was healthy. Or so I thought.

For the next three months, my stomach never quite settled. I would be running to the loo when I least expected it, I experienced my first bouts of heartburn and indigestion, I would wake up in the night with pains in my chest that made me want to vomit. I was off food, something that rarely happens to me. I would have three or four bites of a meal and declare myself done. We assumed that my stomach had shrunk, ten days without eating would do that. I thought it would settle. When it became clear that settling wasn't going to happen, I headed back to my GP. There were blood tests, stool samples, urine tests, every part of me was poked and prodded. It took a month to work it out, but I finally had an answer. I had developed Post-Infection Gut Inflammatory Disease. My stomach and intestines were not absorbing food correctly, they were not digesting things the way they always had, I had intolerances I hadn't had before. There was only one thing for it, a complete diet overhaul. Time to work out what I could and couldn't handle, and that's how I started on my FODMAPS adventure.

But Jen, I hear you cry, what on god's green earth is a FODMAP? Well, it's something that appears in every food you eat, some are good for you and some are nothing but trouble.

FODMAPs are a collection of short chain carbohydrates and sugar alcohols found in foods naturally or as food additives. FODMAPs include fructose (when in excess of glucose), fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), lactose and polyols (eg. sorbitol and mannitol). (source)

The basic premise is the lower the FODMAPs, the better the food for your gut health. So, here goes. I'm off on an adventure, to work out how to keep my stomach happy. Who knows where it might lead...