Celery

Why celery is rated high

Celery is high FODMAP at its tested serving of 1 cup (127g), and mannitol is the subgroup behind it. That is the only amount the published data covers, so there is no lower rung to point to and no published portion of celery that counts as low. This catches people out because celery is treated as the most harmless vegetable in the kitchen: it goes into stock, it is chopped into soups and tuna salad, and it gets eaten raw as sticks while cooking. Cooking does not change the mannitol, so celery braised into a soup base carries the same subgroup as a raw stick.

What changes your risk

• Serving size The published data tests 1 cup (127g) and rates it high. Nothing smaller has been tested, so there is no measured amount that can be quoted as a low serving.
• Chopped celery disappears into the count Sticks are easy to keep track of, but celery diced into a soup, a stew base or a salad is hard to see, and several spoonfuls across a bowl add up without ever looking like a portion.
• Cooking and stock Heat does not destroy mannitol. Simmering celery in stock does move water soluble FODMAPs into the liquid, and that liquid is usually the part that gets served, so straining the solids out does not leave the broth free of what came out of them.
• Stacking with other mannitol foods Celery in the salad next to mushrooms in the main and cauliflower on the side stacks mannitol three ways in one meal, even though each item is counted separately.
• Celery salt and stock powders Seasonings and stock powders made from celery are not covered by the tested serving for stalks, so no low amount can be claimed for them. They are worth spotting on a label rather than assuming the quantity is too small to matter.

Swaps

For raw crunch in a snack plate or a dip, cucumber sticks, carrot sticks and strips of bell pepper do the same job. For the crunch folded into egg or tuna salad, finely diced cucumber or bell pepper works, and chopped chives add the fresh green note. For the soup and stock base that usually starts with celery, carrot with leek leaves or the green tops of spring onions, softened in garlic infused oil, gives a savoury foundation without the mannitol, since the fructans in garlic and onion do not carry into oil. Celeriac is a different vegetable with its own tested data rather than a guaranteed stand in, so look it up instead of assuming.

How to lower the load

Check ready made stocks, broths, bouillon cubes, soup bases and vegetable juice blends, where celery is a standard ingredient and often near the top of the list. Making stock at home with carrot, leek leaves and herbs instead of celery keeps the whole pot usable, which matters because a stock made with celery affects every dish built on it later. At a restaurant, celery turns up in chicken salad sandwiches, chowders, wings platters and bloody marys, so it is worth naming when asking about a dish. When a shared household meal starts with a mirepoix, splitting the base before the celery goes in is easier than trying to fish it out afterwards.

Common questions

is celery low fodmap

No. Celery is high FODMAP at 1 cup (127g), the only tested serving in the published data. There is no smaller tested amount to quote as low.

is celery high in mannitol

Yes. Mannitol is the subgroup driving the high rating at 1 cup (127g), and it is the only subgroup the data flags for celery.

can i use celery in soup or stock on low fodmap

Celery is high at its tested serving, and simmering it does not remove the mannitol. Water soluble FODMAPs move into the liquid, and that liquid is what gets eaten, so a celery based stock is not a way around it.

what can i use instead of celery

Cucumber, carrot and bell pepper cover the raw crunch, and a base of carrot with leek leaves or green spring onion tops in garlic infused oil covers the savoury stock role.