A low FODMAP diet can bring blessed relief to those blighted by IBS, blogger-turned-cookbook author Emma Hatcher tells Gemma Dunn

The term 'low FODMAP diet' may leave you scratching your head - but not for much longer, if Emma Hatcher has anything to do with it. FODMAPs - fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols - are types of short-chain carbohydrates that can be tricky to digest, and they can wreak havoc for some people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common condition associated with digestive symptoms such as bloating, diarrhoea, constipation and cramps.

They can be found in a wide range of foods, including certain fruits, veggies, grains and nuts - onions, garlic and apples are prime examples (though not everybody with IBS is affected by the same foods in the same ways). But cutting out, or cutting down on key culprits can help - and if anyone can vouch for the effective of a low FODMAP diet it's Hatcher, a long-term sufferer of IBS and a sensitive gut.

"It was a lightbulb moment of, 'Oh my God, this could actually really help'," the 23-year-old recalls of her dietician's suggestion to try the plan, following years of cutting out various foods to no effect. "You don't realise quite how much it affects your life until after your symptoms have gone, and you think, 'Wow, I'm not thinking about when I'm next going to need the bathroom, or what I'm going to eat on my work lunch break today'. It's been a massive life-changer for me, and by the sounds of it, for a lot of other people out there as well."

Discovering that the information available was minimal - she recalls initially being handed "a very uninspiring, four-page leaflet with a big long list of foods to cut out" - the forward-thinking millennial embarked on a one-woman mission to show that the diet needn't be restrictive. She's since been a pillar of support for countless others in a similar position, via her brilliantly titled lifestyle blog, She Can't Eat What?! Now, Hatcher's sharing her insights in her debit cookbook, The FODMAP Friendly Kitchen.

Initially "slightly scared" at the lack of resources, Hatcher explains the tome - a colourful smorgasbord of recipes, helpful meal plans and tips - was created with the intent of "distilling" the diet into digestible chunks. "I wanted to make it easy for other people, to provide them with another resource that's not really science-y but simplifies and relays it from a personal experience. "Food is a massive part of IBS and dealing with symptoms, but at the same time, there's the anxiety and stress side of things," she elaborates. "There's the question of, 'What am I going to do when I go out to a restaurant with my friends and order food?' "I was really conscious I wanted to answer some of those questions."

As well as avoiding processed foods and sugars, Hatcher devised a menu of simple, healthy and delicious dishes, that all require no unobtainable ingredients. "I'm not a chef, so if I can make them, anybody can," she insists. "These 100 recipes were designed to be that foundation; they're all completely low FODMAP, people can tailor them depending on their personal tolerances, and they're all really easy."

LIGHTENED UP LASAGNE

(Serves 6-8)

1 parsnip, peeled and diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 red pepper, diced

2tbsp olive oil

1kg minced beef

2 tins (each 400g) chopped tomatoes

120ml water

2tsp dried oregano

2 bay leaves

20g basil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 butternut squash

200g spinach

100g grated mozzarella

In a large saucepan, heat one tablespoon of the oil and saute the parsnip, carrot and pepper until soft. Add the mince and cook until browned. Pour in the tomatoes and water and stir in the oregano, bay leaves and basil. Simmer for roughly one hour until the meat is tender and saucy. Taste and season.

Preheat the oven to 180C (gas 4). Peel and cut the squash into thin slices, as if lasagne sheets. Bake in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil for 15 minutes. Once tender, you can get to work on layering the lasagne, just quickly fish out your bay leaves from your meat first. In a baking dish, add one layer of the mince mixture, one layer of spinach and one layer of squash, repeating until all of the ingredients are used up. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake in the oven at the same temperature for 30 minutes, or until the top is crispy.

GLAZED BLOOD ORANGE DOUGHNUTS

(Makes 6 large or 12 mini doughnuts)

100g white rice flour (available from good supermarkets)

4tbsp tapioca flour (available from good supermarkets)

70g brown sugar

1tsp baking powder

¼tsp xanthan gum (available from good supermarkets)

¼tsp salt

60ml lactose or dairy-free milk of choice

4tbsp oil

2 eggs

2tsp pure vanilla extract

For the blood orange glaze:

200g icing sugar, sifted

Zest of ½ a blood orange

3-4tbsp fresh squeezed blood orange juice, depending on desired consistency

Edible flowers to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C (gas 4) and lightly grease a doughnut pan.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt. Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into a piping bag or a large resealable sandwich bag with a hole cut in one of the corners. Pipe the batter evenly into the prepared doughnut pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the top of the doughnuts bounce back when gently pressed. Let the doughnuts sit in the pan for five minutes, before popping them on a wire rack and leaving to cool.

To make the blood orange glaze, add the icing sugar, orange zest and three tablespoons of blood orange juice to a bowl and whisk together.

Adjust the icing thickness by adding additional orange juice, one teaspoon at a time. Dip the cooled doughnuts into the glaze and then decorate with the flowers.

  • The FODMAP Friendly Kitchen by Emma Hatcher (Yellow Kite, £20)