Is Cashew Low FODMAP? (And Other Nuts Ranked)

Michael Eisenwasser 7 min read

No. Cashews are high FODMAP at any serving size you'd actually eat, and that surprises people because cashews feel like a neutral snack. They're not. They're one of the highest-GOS nuts on the shelf, and Monash doesn't give cashews a green-light serve at typical snack portions. Pistachios are in the same category.

Everything else in the nut aisle has more forgiving math, but the serves are smaller than most people assume.

The short answer

Cashews are high FODMAP at typical snack serves. Same for pistachios. Both are loaded with galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), the same FODMAP family that makes chickpeas a problem.

Most other common nuts do have tested low-FODMAP serves, but portions are smaller than a typical handful. Macadamias, walnuts, and pecans have the most generous allowances. Almonds and hazelnuts have tight ones. Peanuts, brazil nuts, and pine nuts sit in the middle.

Why cashews and pistachios are different

Cashews and pistachios are both high in GOS compared with other common nuts. GOS is the "O" in FODMAP (oligosaccharides), the same fermentable carbohydrate family that makes chickpeas a tight 1/4 cup serve. (Onions, by contrast, are high FODMAP mainly because of fructans, a related but separate oligosaccharide.)

GOS ferments in the large intestine and produces gas. At the dose in a small handful of cashews (roughly 10 nuts), many people with IBS notice symptoms, which is why Monash treats cashews and pistachios as elimination-phase foods to avoid.

Other nuts carry less GOS, which is why they land on the ranking with real serves attached.

The nut ranking

Serves below are for raw or dry-roasted nuts without flavored coatings. The gram weight is the primary anchor; the nut counts are rough estimates because nut sizes vary a lot (especially brazil nuts). Always check the current Monash app for the exact tested value in your region, because serves drift as Monash retests products.

Macadamias give you the most nuts per serve, which is part of why they show up in so many low-FODMAP trail mixes. Pine nuts look stingy on paper, but a tablespoon is enough to finish a pesto or scatter across a salad. Almonds and hazelnuts are called "low in small serves" because double the portion pushes them into high-FODMAP territory fast.

Peanuts are technically a legume, but nobody shops for peanuts in the legume aisle. Botanically a bean, practically one of the easier low-FODMAP snacks.

Why almonds are "small serves only"

Almonds are the nut people overshoot most. A handful is 20 to 25 almonds, already double the low-FODMAP serve of 10. Raw, roasted, smoked, salted, it doesn't matter. The GOS content of the nut is what drives the portion.

The good news is that almond-derived products aren't all stuck at the 10-nut cap. Almond meal is low FODMAP in small baking amounts (see the low-FODMAP flours roundup). Almond butter is low FODMAP at 1 to 2 tablespoons. Almond milk is a different product entirely (see below). Diluted or processed forms often have tested serves that work even when the whole raw nut is portion-sensitive.

Nut butters

Nut butters follow the GOS math of the nut they came from, but serves are usually given in tablespoons rather than nuts, which makes portioning easier.

• Peanut butter: 2 tablespoons (about 32 g), low FODMAP. Pick a jar whose ingredients are peanuts and salt. Jars with honey, agave, or high fructose corn syrup often push the product out of low FODMAP at that same serve, so check the label.
• Almond butter: 1 tablespoon is low FODMAP. Larger serves become portion-sensitive, so if you're spreading almond butter on toast, stop at one generous tablespoon during elimination.
• Cashew butter: high FODMAP. No surprise given the whole nuts are. Skip during elimination.
• Hazelnut butter and macadamia butter: follow the whole-nut serves. Less commonly stocked but perfectly workable.

The ingredient-list warning is the same one that applies to almond milk and most processed nut products: added sweeteners like honey, agave, apple juice concentrate, or inulin can move a product out of low FODMAP even when the nut itself is fine.

Nut flours and meals

Almond meal (almond flour) is the most common nut flour in low-FODMAP baking. It's low FODMAP in small serves per Monash, but the exact gram threshold matters more than the volume because almond meal packs differently by grind. Weigh your share of a batch, and don't scale a whole-pan recipe as if the low serve applies to the entire pan.

Hazelnut meal is similar. Peanut flour is low FODMAP in small baking amounts. Cashew flour is high FODMAP, same as the whole nut. See the low-FODMAP flours guide for how nut flours fit alongside rice flour, oat flour, and gluten-free blends.

Cashew milk

Here's the exception that catches people off guard. Whole cashews are high FODMAP, but commercial cashew milk is usually low FODMAP at small serves per Monash.

The reason is the same one that makes almond milk work despite whole almonds being high FODMAP. Commercial cashew milk is mostly water with a small percentage of cashew material, and filtering after blending removes the solids that carry most of the GOS. What's left is a much smaller GOS dose than the whole-nut portion it came from.

Monash lists cashew milk as low FODMAP at roughly 1/2 cup, with the usual ingredient-label caveats about inulin, chicory root, agave, and honey. That's less generous than almond milk's 1 cup serve, so cashew milk works for splashes in coffee and small portions in recipes but isn't the right pick for a full cereal bowl. More on alt milks in low-FODMAP dairy alternatives.

Homemade cashew milk is different. Home recipes use a higher cashew-to-water ratio and often don't filter out the solids, which keeps the GOS intact. Stick to commercial brands during elimination.

How this plays out on a plate

Nuts are one of the easier places to trip over FODMAP stacking. Each portion might be under its individual threshold, but a trail mix with almonds, hazelnuts, and pumpkin seeds can combine enough GOS to trigger symptoms even though nothing in the bag is high FODMAP on its own.

Practical patterns for elimination:

• Pick one nut per snack and stick to the listed serve.
• Portion into a bowl, not straight from the bag. Nuts are the easiest food group to overshoot without noticing.
• Watch flavored coatings. Honey-roasted, smoke-seasoned, or wasabi-coated nuts often carry added high-FODMAP ingredients. Plain or raw is the cleanest default.
• Skip cashews and pistachios entirely during elimination. Revisit in the GOS reintroduction challenge.
• Check for onion and garlic powder on savory seasoned nuts.

Reintroduction

GOS is one of the standard reintroduction challenges. Many people tolerate larger nut portions after reintroduction than elimination allows, and some find they can eat moderate amounts of cashews or pistachios without symptoms. Test them specifically rather than assuming your tolerance from a chickpea challenge will transfer, because different foods in the same FODMAP group come with different doses.

The takeaway

Cashews are high FODMAP. Pistachios are high FODMAP. Everything else on the nut aisle has a serve that works, but the serves are smaller than most people eyeball. Macadamias, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, and brazil nuts give you the most breathing room. Almonds and hazelnuts keep you to about 10 nuts. Pine nuts are a tablespoon.

Nut butters smooth out the portioning at 1 to 2 tablespoons. Almond meal works in small baking amounts. Cashew milk sneaks onto the low-FODMAP list because filtering does most of the heavy lifting.

Measure the first few times. After that, your eye calibrates. See what are FODMAPs for the full category breakdown.

Track your symptoms and discover patterns with FODMAP Tracker. Includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings.