Clams

Why clams is rated low

Clams sit low, and that rating is estimated from what a clam is made of rather than from a measured serving. Shellfish flesh is protein and water with essentially no fermentable carbohydrate, so no FODMAP subgroup is recorded here, and the ladder gives one rung: Any typical portion is low. The catch is that clams are almost never eaten alone. They arrive in a broth, a white wine and garlic sauce, a chowder or a pasta, and every one of those carriers can bring a load the clams themselves do not have. The shellfish is the easy part of the dish to get right.

What changes your risk

• Serving size The ladder covers Any typical portion and rates it low, which is as good as it gets for a protein. That still describes a bowl of clams rather than an unlimited amount, and the total FODMAP load of the meal is what adds up.
• The liquid they cook in Water-soluble FODMAPs leach out of onion and garlic into whatever they are simmered in, so a clam broth built on those aromatics carries them in every spoonful. This is different from the idea that heat breaks FODMAPs down, which it does not. Straining the solids out does not clean up the broth.
• Canned and bottled forms Canned clams and bottled clam juice are often packed with a seasoned base, so the packing liquid is the part to question. Draining and rinsing canned clams leaves you with the shellfish rather than the seasoning, and plain clams packed in water or their own juice are the ones worth hunting for.
• Chowder is a different food Clam chowder is milk or cream, onion and often a flour thickener, and that combination is not low no matter how good the clams are. The shellfish rating does not carry over to the soup.
• Stacking across the meal A low rating is per serving, not per meal. Clams add nothing to the pile, but garlic bread on the side, wheat pasta underneath and a creamy sauce over the top all land in the same sitting, and that is usually what tips a seafood dinner over.

What else works

Clams need no substitute, and plain fish, plain meat and poultry, eggs and firm tofu all fill the same protein slot comfortably. The forms that trip people up are the prepared ones: clam chowder with its milk and onion base, bottled clam juice and seafood stock that list onion and garlic powder, breaded and fried clam strips, and linguine alle vongole where the garlic and the wheat pasta do the damage rather than the shellfish. Build the flavour back with garlic-infused oil, chives, the green tops of spring onions, leek leaves, chilli, parsley, lemon and white wine, and serve the clams over gluten free pasta, rice or polenta instead.

How to keep it low

Buy clams live in the shell when you can, since that is the form with nothing added, and keep them in the fridge in an open bowl under a damp cloth rather than sealed in a bag or sitting in fresh water. Purge them in cold salted water so they spit out the grit, discard any that stay open when tapped, and steam them in a covered pan with white wine, garlic-infused oil and a handful of chopped chives until they open. That steaming liquid is worth keeping, because it came from the clams rather than from an onion base, and it makes a clean sauce over rice or gluten free pasta with parsley and lemon. When ordering out, ask for clams steamed in wine and oil with the garlic left out, and treat chowder as off the menu.

Common questions

are clams low fodmap

Yes. Clams are rated low overall, and the ladder has one rung: Any typical portion is low. That rating is estimated from the composition of the shellfish, which is protein with essentially no fermentable carbohydrate, rather than from a measured serving.

how much clams can i eat

The published data covers Any typical portion and finds it low, so a normal bowl of clams is the reference point. There is no larger tested serving here, and what usually decides the meal is the sauce, the bread and the pasta rather than the shellfish.

is canned clam low fodmap too

The clams themselves are, but the packing liquid may not be, since seasoned bases often include onion or garlic. Drain and rinse canned clams, or look for ones packed plainly in water or their own juice.

is clam chowder ok on a low fodmap diet

No. Chowder is built on milk or cream and onion, and both are a problem regardless of how the clams rate. Steamed clams in wine and garlic-infused oil give you the same flavour without the base.