During the Challenge phase, I work closely with my patients to personalize food challenges — either by one FODMAP group or food at a time. We strategically plan what to reintroduce based on their past medical history, current symptoms, food preferences, and food tolerances. By taking a well thought out approach, we’re maximizing their chances of success and setting ourselves up to learn information to navigate the Challenge and Integration phases. However, there is nothing to fear by randomly adding back FODMAPs as you’ll likely do if you pause the diet. You’re just less apt to identify food tolerances or triggers.  For example, let’s say you pause the Challenge Phase for your town’s annual chili contest… you eat a bowl of chili with garlic, onions, black beans, pasta and a side of cornbread. You haven’t officially challenged any of these foods, and now you feel a huge uptick in your IBS symptoms. (BTW, everyone should expect some gas or other symptoms after eating a bowl of bean chili — that’s normal since many of our healthy gut microbes love to feast on beans and, in turn, produce gas). Because you added so many foods at once, you won’t know if your symptoms are because of a particular food or foods, a cumulative effect or both. Once the FODMAPs are out of your system, give or take 12-72 hours, you should feel normal. So, return to the low FODMAP diet, wait at least three days, and then resume the Challenge Phase. No harm done.