Honeydew Melon

Why honeydew melon is rated high

Honeydew melon is rated high because of its fructans, and the steps sit closer together than most people expect. About ½ cup (90g) is low, a larger portion is moderate, and a much larger portion, such as a full bowl of cubes, is high. Fructans are the group that builds, so nothing else in the melon is driving the rating. Because cut melon is easy and quick to eat, the practical risk here is not the first serving but the second one, which arrives without feeling like a decision.

What changes your risk

• Serving size About ½ cup (90g) is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. A single refill of the bowl covers most of that distance, which is why honeydew is worth portioning before you sit down rather than eating from a shared platter.
• Stacking with other fructan foods Honeydew shares its group with wheat bread, pasta and cereal, onion, garlic, and inulin or chicory root fibre added to yoghurts and bars. Melon after a sandwich lunch is two fructan sources in one sitting, even when the melon serve itself was small.
• Fruit salad company Melon is almost never served alone. Watermelon is high FODMAP, and pre-cut melon medley tubs and brunch platters routinely mix it in with honeydew, so the bowl in front of you may be carrying a load the honeydew alone would not.
• Juicing and blending Juice concentrates the sugars of several cups of melon into one glass and leaves the fibre behind, so melon juice and agua fresca run higher than the cut fruit. Blending does not break fructans down, so a melon smoothie holds whatever went into it.
• Drying Dried melon has had its water removed, which concentrates the fructans into much less food, so the fresh serve on this page does not carry across to it.

Swaps

Cantaloupe is the direct swap, since it fills exactly the same cold, sweet, cut-melon role and is low FODMAP at a normal serve. Strawberries, blueberries, oranges, mandarins, kiwi and pineapple all work in a fruit bowl or on a brunch plate and keep the fruit component low. The lookalike to keep out is watermelon, which is high FODMAP and often sits in the same tub as the honeydew, and mango is not an easier sweet fruit either.

How to lower the load

Buy a whole honeydew and cut it yourself instead of buying a mixed tub, which puts you in control of what is in the bowl and keeps watermelon out of it. Cube the flesh, weigh about ½ cup (90g) once or twice so you can recognise it, and store it already divided into single containers rather than one big tub you graze from. Melon softens fast once cut, so it is tempting to eat it up quickly; plan the extra into the next day instead of finishing the container. At brunch, ask for the fruit plate without watermelon, and treat the melon as the fruit for that meal rather than an extra on top of a wheat pastry.

Common questions

how much honeydew melon can i eat on low fodmap

About ½ cup (90g) is low. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high.

is honeydew high in fructans

Fructans are the FODMAP group behind honeydew's rating, and they are what moves it up from low at about ½ cup (90g) to moderate and then high in bigger bowls.

what melon is low fodmap

Cantaloupe is the low FODMAP melon and is the closest swap for honeydew. Watermelon is high FODMAP and is not a substitute.

is honeydew melon ok on the elimination phase

Yes, at about ½ cup (90g), which is low. A full bowl is a much larger portion and is high, so portion it out before you sit down. Your dietitian is the one to confirm how your own elimination phase is set up.