Eggs

Why eggs is rated low

Eggs come out low, and the reason is simply what an egg is made of: protein and fat, with almost nothing fermentable in it for gut bacteria to work on. That is why there is a single rung, "Any typical portion", marked LOW, and the honest reading is that the egg itself is not the part of breakfast that causes trouble. What changes the picture is everything that arrives with it: the onion and garlic in the pan, the milk whisked into the scramble, the toast underneath, the stock in the omelette filling. Low is a verdict on the egg, not on the plate.

What changes your risk

• What you cook them in Onion and garlic are high FODMAP, so sauteing eggs in a pan that started with either one puts the load right back on the plate. Garlic-infused oil gives you the same flavour without it, as long as no solid pieces are floating in the bottle.
• Milk and cream in the mix Scrambled eggs and omelettes are often loosened with milk or cream, and ordinary dairy brings a FODMAP load that the eggs never had. Lactose-free milk does the same job in the pan without it.
• Seasoning blends and stock Onion powder and garlic powder hide in seasoning mixes, stock cubes and bottled sauces, and a splash of stock in the filling is enough to change an easy dish. Read the label on anything that goes in beyond salt and pepper.
• The rest of the meal A low rating applies to the eggs alone, not to the total FODMAP load of the meal. Several low servings of different foods eaten together in one sitting can still add up, so look at the toast, the beans and the sauce as a whole, not one item at a time.
• Processed and prepared egg dishes Quiche pastry, egg salad bound with onion, and bottled liquid egg products with a long ingredient list are not the same food as a plain egg. The closer to a shell egg you buy, the less there is to check.

What else works

Eggs need no swap, so the more useful list is what sits beside them. Plain meat, poultry and fish are low in the same way for the same reason, and firm tofu fills the protein role in a meatless breakfast. The lookalikes worth watching are the prepared versions rather than the egg itself: shop bought quiche on a wheat pastry base, egg salad and deviled eggs mixed with onion, egg dishes finished with a cream sauce, and egg sandwiches on ordinary wheat bread. If you want bread with them, gluten free bread keeps the plate honest, and a hard cheese such as cheddar or parmesan grated over the top is an easier finish than a soft fresh cheese.

How to keep it low

Buy plain shell eggs and skip the flavoured liquid egg cartons, where the ingredient list is the thing you are actually eating. Keep a bottle of garlic-infused oil next to the stove so the pan gets flavour without the aromatics, and keep lactose-free milk in the door of the fridge for scrambles and omelettes. Build fillings from plain low FODMAP vegetables rather than the freezer drawer: zucchini, bell pepper, baby spinach, chives and the green tops of spring onions all cook down well, and hard cheese melts through without adding a load. Eating out, poached or boiled eggs are the easiest order because nothing has been added to them, while anything arriving under a hollandaise, a gravy or a stock-based sauce is worth a question first.

Common questions

are eggs low fodmap

Yes. Eggs are rated LOW overall, with one rung, "Any typical portion", at that same level. An egg is mostly protein and fat with nothing fermentable to speak of.

how many eggs can i eat on the low fodmap diet

There is no count to keep. "Any typical portion" is LOW, because an egg has nothing fermentable in it to build up. What matters more in practice is what the eggs are cooked with and what else is on the plate.

can i eat eggs during the elimination phase

Eggs are low and there is nothing in them that the elimination phase is designed to remove. Keep the cooking simple, since onion, garlic, stock and ordinary milk are the parts of an egg dish that cause problems. Tolerance is individual, and reintroduction is something to work through with a dietitian.

are scrambled eggs with milk low fodmap

The eggs are low, but ordinary milk adds a FODMAP load that the eggs do not carry. Lactose-free milk works exactly the same way in the pan and keeps the dish where the egg rating says it should be.