Lychee

Low FODMAP

Serving sizes

Lychee changes rating with portion size. These are the amounts tested in the literature behind our ratings.

5 fruits (50g) Low
7⅝ fruits (76g) Moderate
9½ fruits (95g) High

Lychee is Low FODMAP at a small serving of 5 fruits (50g), with the overall FODMAP load climbing as the portion grows.

At the tested serving of 5 fruits (50g), lychee has no elevated FODMAP subgroups, so it sits comfortably at Low FODMAP for most people.
As the serving grows, the overall FODMAP load rises, moving into moderate and then high territory, so the amount really is what matters here.

Enjoy lychee as a sweet snack while keeping to the smaller serving, and reach for a different low-FODMAP fruit if you want a little variety.

Why lychee is rated low

Lychee is a portion story more than anything else, and the tested servings show the climb clearly. At 5 fruits (50g) it is low, with no raised FODMAP subgroup recorded at that amount. At 7⅝ fruits (76g) it is moderate, and at 9½ fruits (95g) it is high. Nothing about the fruit changes between those rungs, only the amount, so what rises is the overall FODMAP load rather than any one subgroup. That makes lychee low at a real, usable serving and genuinely dependent on stopping there, because the distance from the low rung to the high rung is measured in a handful of extra fruits rather than in bowls.

What changes your risk

Serving size, and it moves fast 5 fruits (50g) is low, 7⅝ fruits (76g) is moderate and 9½ fruits (95g) is high. All three rungs sit close together, so a few extra fruits is the whole difference between a comfortable serving and a high one.
Counting before you start Lychees are peeled one at a time while you talk, which is the easiest way in the world to lose track. Counting out 5 fruits (50g) before the first one is opened is more reliable than counting shells afterwards.
Stacking across the meal No subgroup is recorded here, so the concern is the total FODMAP load of the sitting. A low serving of lychee after a fruit salad, a fruit juice and a dessert is a stack of fruit servings arriving together even though each one was fine on its own.
Canned lychee in syrup There is no tested serving for the canned form here. FODMAPs are water soluble, so some can move out of the fruit into the canning liquid, but with fruit in syrup that liquid usually gets eaten or drunk rather than poured away, so it is not a way of lowering anything.
Dried lychee and lychee drinks Drying removes water and concentrates what is left, so the same load arrives in far less fruit. Lychee syrups, cordials and bubble tea flavourings are a different product again and none of them carry the fresh serving figure.

What else works

If 5 fruits (50g) is not enough fruit for the occasion, the sensible move is to fill out the bowl with something else that is low rather than climbing lychee's own ladder: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, oranges, mandarins, kiwi, grapes, pineapple and cantaloupe each sit low at their own tested servings. The close cousins that get sold alongside lychee, longan and rambutan, have no tested serving here, so they cannot be treated as a substitute with the same numbers. Steer clear of rounding out a tropical bowl with mango or cherries, and treat canned lychee in syrup, dried lychee and lychee flavoured drinks as separate foods rather than as more of the same.

How to keep it low

Buy lychees still on the branch where you can, keep them in the fridge in a paper bag, and peel to order, since the shell is what stops them turning to mush. Count 5 fruits (50g) into a bowl and put the rest away before you sit down, because the low rung and the high rung are only a few fruits apart and grazing from a pile makes the distance vanish. If you are serving them to a table, portion into individual bowls rather than one shared mound. Eating out, lychee turns up swimming in dessert syrup, in bubble tea and in cocktails, where the portion is set by the kitchen and the syrup comes with it, so a fresh fruit you count yourself is much easier to keep at the tested serving.

Common questions

how much lychee is low fodmap

5 fruits (50g) is the low serving. It moves to moderate at 7⅝ fruits (76g) and to high at 9½ fruits (95g), so the amount really is what decides it.

how many lychees is too many

Past the low serving of 5 fruits (50g), the tested levels go moderate at 7⅝ fruits (76g) and high at 9½ fruits (95g). There is not much room between those rungs, so counting them out matters.

is canned lychee low fodmap

There is no tested serving for canned lychee here, so the fresh figure of 5 fruits (50g) does not transfer to it. The syrup it sits in is part of what you eat, so it is not comparable to draining and rinsing a canned vegetable.

can i eat lychee on the elimination phase

Yes, at 5 fruits (50g) lychee is low FODMAP and fits in the elimination phase. Keeping to that counted serving is the part that matters, since larger amounts test moderate and then high.

Learn more

Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.

References

Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by HPLC. Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.