Pineapple

Why pineapple is rated low

Pineapple comes in low at about 1 cup (140g), which is a real, usable amount of fruit rather than a token garnish, and fructans stay at a low level at that serve. What the rating tracks is how much fruit lands on the plate. With larger portions it moves to moderate, and with much larger portions it is high, as fructans build with a bigger helping. So pineapple is low at a serving, not low without limit, and the whole question for most people is whether the bowl stays near the first serve or drifts past it.

What changes your risk

• Serving size is the entire rating About 1 cup (140g) is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. Pineapple is sweet and easy to keep eating straight off the board, so the helping is worth deciding before you start rather than after.
• Stacking across one meal Fructans are the group that builds in pineapple, and they add up with the fructans in everything else at the sitting. A serve of pineapple alongside two or three other fruit servings in one fruit salad can push a meal over even when every individual serving is within its own low amount.
• Dried pineapple is a different food Drying removes the water and concentrates everything left behind, so dried rings carry far more in far less fruit. The serves above cover fresh pineapple and say nothing about the dried form.
• Juice and canning liquid Juicing squeezes several pieces of fruit into one glass and leaves the fibre behind, so pineapple juice runs higher than the fruit it came from. Canned pineapple sits in juice or syrup that the serves above do not cover, so drain it well and count only the fruit.
• What it gets cooked into Sweet and sour sauces, glazes, marinades, stock based braises and seasoning blends very often carry onion and garlic. When a pineapple dish causes trouble, the sauce is the more likely culprit than the fruit.

What else works

Pineapple is low at its own serve, so it sits happily in a rotation with other fruits that are also low at theirs: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, oranges, mandarins, kiwi and cantaloupe. The tropical lookalike to leave out of the same bowl is mango, which is not a low FODMAP swap at ordinary servings, so a mango and pineapple salad is not the equivalent of a pineapple one. Dried pineapple and pineapple juice are not stand-ins for the fresh fruit either, and a pineapple flavoured yoghurt or dessert brings whatever else is in the pot along with it.

How to keep it low

Buy a pineapple that feels heavy for its size and smells sweet at the base, and let a hard one sit out for a few days before cutting. Cut the whole fruit at once, then portion it into containers instead of leaving an open bowl in the fridge, because the difference between about 1 cup (140g) and a larger portion disappears fast when you are picking at it. Weighing the first serve once teaches your eye what it looks like in your own bowls, which is more useful than guessing every time. Pineapple freezes well in portioned chunks for smoothies, and freezing does not change its FODMAP content, so the frozen chunks still count as the fruit that went in. Grilled pineapple counts the same as fresh. Eating out, ask what is in the sauce on a sweet and sour or teriyaki style dish before assuming pineapple is the problem.

Common questions

how much pineapple is low fodmap

About 1 cup (140g) of pineapple is low. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so about a cup is the amount to keep a helping near.

is canned pineapple low fodmap

The serves cover the fruit itself and not the juice or syrup it is packed in. Drain canned pineapple well, leave the liquid behind, and keep the drained fruit to about 1 cup (140g).

can i drink pineapple juice on the low fodmap diet

Juicing concentrates the sugars of several pieces of fruit into one glass and leaves the fibre behind, so juice runs higher than whole pineapple. Pineapple juice is not rated here, so the whole fruit at about 1 cup (140g) is the better form to work from.

can i eat pineapple during the elimination phase

Pineapple is low at about 1 cup (140g), so it is one of the fruits that fits the strict phase at that serve. Keep it to that amount and watch what the rest of the meal is carrying.