I was 19 when I was first diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis.
A gastroenterologist handed me a leaflet about FODMAP - a word that sounds less like a dietary framework and more like an acronym invented by a committee that had given up on being understood. One of its key offenders, oligosaccharides, sounds less like a carbohydrate and more like a Russian oligarch who owns a superyacht.
The condition went into remission. Life moved on. Then, at 35, it came back and stayed for three and a half years. Long enough to reshape how I thought about food, energy, plans, and the particular exhaustion of managing something nobody around you can see.
I turned to Monash University's FODMAP resources, which are genuinely excellent. I found community in IBD Facebook groups, where people were far more generous with their experiences than any clinic appointment had been. But there were gaps nobody was filling.
The recipes assumed I cooked British food. The guidance didn't account for Indian cooking, which is built on garlic and onion, both high-FODMAP triggers. Adapting meant trial, error, and a lot of evenings I'd rather not revisit.
I needed something that combined clear, jargon-free information with practical, culturally relevant guidance. Something that could answer questions at 11pm when the next gastroenterology appointment was six weeks away.
Biomy is that thing.