Ginger

Why ginger is rated low

Fresh ginger is Low FODMAP at 1 tsp grated (5g), which is good news for anyone who cooks with warmth and heat, because that is roughly what a recipe actually asks for in a single portion. The record for ginger has no raised FODMAP subgroup at all: it is not that one group sits just under a threshold, it is that nothing is elevated at the tested amount, so ginger earns its rating simply by coming in low rather than by carrying a group that has been kept small. What that rating does not cover is a much larger helping, a processed ginger product, or the sauce the ginger went into. Low at the tested serving is not the same as unlimited.

What changes your risk

• Serving size The tested amount is 1 tsp grated (5g). Larger amounts have not been tested here, so a dish built on a great deal more ginger than that is outside what the published data can speak to.
• Drying concentrates what is left Drying removes the water and concentrates everything still in the food, so ground dried ginger is not interchangeable spoon for spoon with the tested fresh grated amount. The tested serving describes fresh ginger, grated.
• The sauce, not the root Ginger rarely arrives alone. Stir fry sauces, curry pastes, marinades, teriyaki, laksa paste and bought dressings routinely carry onion and garlic, which bring fructans to the plate that the ginger itself never had. Read those labels rather than the ginger.
• Stacking across the whole meal A low rating applies to the serving, not the meal. A ginger stir fry is usually only as low as everything else in the wok, so the total FODMAP load of the rice, the vegetables, the sauce and the sides is what decides how the meal lands.
• Ginger products are their own question Crystallised ginger, pickled ginger, ginger cordial and ginger drinks carry sugars, syrups and other ingredients that the tested serving of fresh grated ginger says nothing about. Judge each of those on its own ingredient list.

What else works

Ginger is already one of the easy ones, so the useful thing is knowing what sits beside it. Chives, the green tops of spring onions, leek leaves, fresh chilli, black pepper, lemon and lime zest, turmeric and garlic infused oil all bring flavour to the same dishes without loading the plate. The lookalikes worth separating out are the processed ginger forms: candied or crystallised ginger is a sugared dried product rather than the fresh root, and bought ginger garlic paste is exactly what its name says, a jar in which the garlic fructans travel with the ginger. Onion and garlic themselves are never the gentler option in a ginger dish, whatever the recipe suggests, so reach for garlic infused oil and a pinch of asafoetida instead.

How to keep it low

Buy ginger in a piece with taut, shiny skin rather than wrinkled, fibrous ends, and keep it in the freezer, where it grates straight from frozen on a fine grater with the skin left on. Freezing changes nothing about the FODMAP content, it just makes the root easier to portion, which is the point: grating lets you measure to 1 tsp grated (5g) where hacking coins off a knob does not. If a recipe wants a large amount of ginger for a whole pot, work out how many servings that pot makes before deciding how much lands on one plate. When ordering, ask for a stir fry made with ginger, chilli and soy rather than the house sauce, since the house sauce is usually where the onion and garlic are.

Common questions

is ginger low fodmap

Yes. Fresh ginger is Low FODMAP at 1 tsp grated (5g), with no raised FODMAP subgroup recorded at that serving.

how much ginger can i have on a low fodmap diet

The published data tests 1 tsp grated (5g) and rates it low. Larger amounts have not been tested, so that is the serving to work to.

can i drink ginger tea on the elimination phase

Fresh ginger steeped in hot water is just the tested root and water, so the question is how much ginger goes in and what else is added. Bagged ginger blends and bottled ginger drinks carry other ingredients that need reading on their own.

is ground ginger the same as fresh ginger for fodmaps

They are not interchangeable spoon for spoon. Drying removes water and concentrates what remains, and the tested serving of 1 tsp grated (5g) describes fresh ginger, grated.