Pomegranate

Why pomegranate is rated low

Pomegranate tests low at 1 fruit (76g), and the record lists no raised FODMAP subgroup for it, so the rating is not about one particular carbohydrate. It is about quantity, and the rungs here are unusually close together. At 1¾ fruits (134g) the level is moderate, and by 2¼ fruits (167g) it is high. That is a short climb, which makes pomegranate a fruit that behaves very differently as a scattering over a dish than as a bowl of seeds eaten on its own.

What changes your risk

• The rungs are close 1 fruit (76g) is low, 1¾ fruits (134g) is moderate, and 2¼ fruits (167g) is high. There is not much room between comfortable and not, so pomegranate rewards a decided portion rather than an open bowl.
• Stacking across the meal no subgroup is recorded for pomegranate, so the load that matters is the meal's total. Seeds over a yoghurt that already has another fruit in it, then fruit again at the next course, adds up even when each serving is inside its own tested amount.
• Juice concentrates it pomegranate juice presses the contents of several fruits into one glass and leaves the fibre behind, so juice runs higher than the seeds. No juice serving is tested here, which means the glass has no published amount to aim at.
• Molasses and concentrate pomegranate molasses is juice cooked down until most of the water is gone, and taking water out concentrates everything left behind. A spoonful stirred through a dressing or a marinade is not the same thing as the seeds by weight.
• Seeds as garnish, not as the dish scattered over salad, roast vegetables or yoghurt, pomegranate naturally lands near the low rung. Eaten straight from a deseeded bowl in front of the television, it climbs past it without anyone noticing.

What else works

Pomegranate is low at its own serving, so it belongs alongside the other fruits that test low at theirs: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, oranges, mandarins, kiwi, pineapple and cantaloupe. If you want that same jewelled pop of colour and tartness on a salad or a grain bowl, halved grapes or a few raspberries do the job without a new set of numbers to track. What does not carry over from the fresh seeds is the processed form: pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses are concentrates with no tested serving here, so treat them as their own question rather than as pomegranate by another name.

How to keep it low

Choose a fruit that feels heavy for its size with taut, slightly squared off skin, which usually means the seeds inside are full rather than dried out. Score the skin and open it under a bowl of water so the seeds sink and the pith floats, which is faster and far less messy than picking it apart dry. Deseed the whole thing at once, then portion the seeds into small containers rather than storing one big bowl, because 1 fruit (76g) and 1¾ fruits (134g) look much more alike loose than they do measured. Sealed in the fridge the seeds keep for several days, and they freeze in portions if you deseed more than you will use.

Common questions

how much pomegranate is low fodmap

1 fruit (76g) is low. It moves to moderate at 1¾ fruits (134g) and to high at 2¼ fruits (167g), so the low serving is a modest one.

is pomegranate juice low fodmap

Juicing concentrates several fruits into one glass and leaves the fibre behind, so juice runs higher than the seeds. There is no tested serving for pomegranate juice here, so the seeds at 1 fruit (76g) are the amount to work from.

can i eat pomegranate seeds on the elimination phase

Yes, at 1 fruit (76g), which is where the published data puts pomegranate at low. Scattering the seeds over a dish rather than eating a bowl of them is the easiest way to stay at that rung.

what about pomegranate molasses

Pomegranate molasses is juice reduced down until most of the water is gone, which concentrates what is left. It has no tested serving here, so it is not covered by the figures for the fresh seeds.