IBS Dietitian London: Low FODMAP & Gut Health Support

Our 12-week Gut Restore programme costs £750 online (or 3 monthly payments of £279) and £850 at the London clinic (or 3 × £329). That covers monthly consultations, personalised meal plans for each phase, the Nutrium app and unlimited email and app support between appointments. If you only want a one-off assessment, a Personalised Clinical Review is £279 online or £329 at the clinic, with a written plan. Tests are optional and priced separately. Everything is listed on our packages and pricing page.

It helps, but you can talk to us first. IBS should be diagnosed by a GP, usually after a blood count, inflammatory markers and a coeliac antibody test. If you have not had those, we will tell you what to ask for and hold off on restricting anything until you have. Keep eating gluten until coeliac disease has been tested for: NICE advises gluten in more than one meal a day for at least six weeks before the test. Red-flag symptoms always go to your GP first.

It is not dangerous in the short term, but it is very easy to do badly. NICE says exclusion diets such as low FODMAP should only be given by a healthcare professional with expertise in dietary management, and for good reason: people cut too much, stay in elimination for months, lose fibre and calcium, and never reintroduce. Cutting gluten before a coeliac test can also mask the diagnosis. Supervised, the elimination phase stays short and the reintroduction is structured. We explain more in how a FODMAP dietitian can help with IBS.

Following the Monash University protocol, the elimination phase lasts 2–6 weeks. If your symptoms have not improved by then, we stop rather than push on. Reintroduction comes next: one FODMAP group at a time, in increasing amounts, which Monash says takes most people around 6–8 weeks. The third phase, personalisation, is ongoing — you eat freely within the limits you have found. Gut Restore runs for twelve weeks because it is designed around those first two phases.

Almost certainly not, unless you have coeliac disease or a diagnosed allergy. Low FODMAP is a temporary test, not a permanent diet. With wheat, the problem in IBS is usually the fructans rather than the gluten, and many people tolerate modest portions once they know their threshold. With dairy it is lactose, and hard cheeses are naturally very low in it; lactose-free milk and yoghurt are easy swaps. Reintroduction tells you how much you tolerate. See also the 10 worst foods for IBS — and why “worst” depends on the person.

No. No test diagnoses IBS, and IgG-based food intolerance tests do not diagnose food intolerance either. The British Dietetic Association points out that IgG antibodies to foods are found in healthy people with no food problems at all, and recommends structured exclusion and reintroduction instead. We do offer a food intolerance test as an optional add-on, because some patients want one. If you choose it, we use the result only as one extra data point after a full assessment — never as a diagnosis, and never as a list of foods to cut.

Yes. Bloating has plenty of causes besides IBS: constipation, eating fast, large late meals, fizzy drinks, sugar-free products sweetened with polyols, a sudden jump in fibre, or the menstrual cycle. Many of them respond well to changes in what, when and how you eat. One caution: new bloating that is persistent and happens most days — especially in women over 50 — should be checked by your GP before you see a dietitian, because occasionally it needs medical tests.

For some people, somewhat. The evidence is mixed: some strains seem to help some IBS symptoms, but no single product can be recommended for everyone. NICE advises that if you try one, you take it at the manufacturer’s dose for at least four weeks and monitor the effect; the British Society of Gastroenterology suggests trying for up to 12 weeks and stopping if nothing has improved. We help you choose one product, track your symptoms properly, and stop paying for it if it is not working.

Yes, alongside medical care. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is diagnosed and treated medically — usually breath testing arranged by a gastroenterologist, and treatment they prescribe. We support your diet during and after that treatment, without the extreme restriction often recommended online. Reflux often responds to changes in meal size, meal timing, fat, alcohol and caffeine. Difficulty swallowing, persistent vomiting or unexplained weight loss need your GP first. Everything else we support is on our health conditions page.

It varies, and we will not promise a date. Some people notice a difference within the first few weeks of getting the basics right or starting the elimination phase; others need longer. Published studies report that roughly half to three-quarters of people with IBS improve on a properly guided low FODMAP diet — which also means some do not. If you are one of them, we find out early and move to other levers, such as fibre, meal pattern, stress and sleep, rather than keep restricting.

Both work. The online programme is identical in content and is what most of our UK-wide and international patients choose — IBS work is history-taking, food and symptom diaries and plans, and all of that travels well by video. The London clinic at 33 Cavendish Square, Marylebone, adds in-person consultations and body-composition analysis at every visit, a short walk from Oxford Circus and Bond Street.

For gut problems it matters more than most. “Dietitian” is a protected title in the UK; “nutritionist” is not. Our team are HCPC-registered dietitians, trained to work with medical conditions, to spot symptoms that need a doctor, and to run exclusion diets safely — exactly what NICE asks for when it says low FODMAP advice should come from a professional with expertise in dietary management. You can check any of us on the HCPC register.

Some policies cover dietetic input, particularly for a diagnosed condition such as IBS, and some need a GP or consultant referral first. We can provide an invoice with the relevant details for you to claim. Cover varies a lot between insurers and between policies, so check with yours before you start. If your gastroenterologist has recommended a low FODMAP diet, mention it when you speak to your insurer.