Kale

Why kale is rated low

Kale is a leafy green carrying very little fermentable carbohydrate, and at about 75g no FODMAP group reaches a meaningful level, which puts it at low. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, not because of one particular FODMAP group but because the overall FODMAP load rises with the sheer amount of leaf on the plate. A normal side or a salad base sits comfortably low, raw or cooked. The amounts only become a question with kale chips, green smoothies and big pots of wilted greens.

What changes your risk

• Serving size, and the shrinkage trap Kale is low at about 75g, moderate at larger portions and high at much larger portions. Raw kale wilts down hard, so what looks modest in the pan at the end can be far more leaf than it appears. Judge the serving by how much kale went in, not by what comes out.
• Kale chips and green smoothies Drying kale into chips removes the water and concentrates everything left behind, so a bowl of chips represents a great deal of leaf. A green smoothie does something similar by packing a lot of raw kale into one glass. Both are easy ways to arrive at moderate without noticing.
• What it is cooked with Sauteed kale is very often sauteed with garlic and onion, and kale soup is usually built on a stock cube. Garlic-infused oil carries that flavour without the troublesome parts of garlic, because they are water-soluble and do not dissolve into oil, as long as no solid pieces are left sitting in it. Chives and the green tops of spring onions do the rest of the work.
• Stacking across the plate No single FODMAP group drives kale, so the thing to watch is the total FODMAP load of the whole meal. A big bowl of kale next to several other vegetables adds up even when each part was counted on its own.
• Heat is not the lever people think it is Steaming, roasting, sauteing, freezing or massaging raw kale leaves the FODMAP content exactly where it was. Heat does not break FODMAPs down. Boiling in plenty of water and pouring the water away can carry some water-soluble FODMAPs out with the liquid, but that is the water taking them, not the cooking destroying them.

What else works

Kale is already low at about 75g, so the useful comparison is the rest of the greens aisle. Bok choy and baby spinach do the same job raw or cooked, and green beans, zucchini, carrot and cucumber round out a plate without adding a different problem. Leek bulb and onion are never the stand-in for a green. Watch bagged superfood or slaw mixes too, since they often combine kale with other vegetables and a dressing sachet, so what is in the bag is no longer just kale.

How to keep it low

Buy kale bunched rather than pre-dressed, and strip the leaves off the thick central stems before cooking, since the stems are what make kale chewy rather than what makes it worth eating. Stored dry, wrapped loosely in a clean tea towel in the fridge drawer, it holds for several days. For salads, massage about 75g of torn leaves with olive oil and a little salt until they darken and soften. For a hot side, cook it in garlic-infused oil with chives rather than garlic cloves, and finish with lemon. If you are buying it pre-chopped in a bag, check that the ingredients are kale and nothing else, because onion and dressing sachets turn up in mixes more often than people expect.

Common questions

is kale low fodmap

Yes at about 75g. Kale is moderate at larger portions and high at much larger portions, so the amount on the plate is what matters rather than the kale itself.

how much kale can you eat on a low fodmap diet

About 75g is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. Because cooked kale shrinks so much, judging by the raw amount is the more reliable habit.

are kale chips low fodmap

Drying removes the water and concentrates what is left, so a bowl of chips represents far more leaf than the same kale eaten fresh, which makes it easy to pass about 75g and head toward moderate.

can i put kale in a green smoothie

A smoothie packs a lot of raw leaf into one glass. Keeping kale to about 75g as one part of the blend, rather than the bulk of it, keeps it at the low serve.