The holidays are fast approaching! Holiday parties are meant to be fun get-togethers with friends and family. For those of us with digestive disorders or food intolerances, however, holiday parties can end up being particularly stressful. Most holiday parties revolve around food and drinks. I know how awkward it can be to go to a party and be the only one not drinking alcohol. Instead of avoiding parties, I bring my own food and drinks. This Low FODMAP Holiday Mocktail is a super simple beverage recipe that can be made quickly but looks fancy and festive!
The three essential ingredients for this drink are cranberry juice, sparkling water and ice. The mint, cranberries and pomegranate seeds are optional garnishes. It’s easy to adjust the sweetness level by changing the ratio of cranberry juice to sparkling water. Cranberry juice is low FODMAP at 1 cup so be careful of your serving size. If you wanted it extra sweet, you could use ginger ale in place of sparkling water (one that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup aka glucose-fructose in Canada).
This recipe is a mocktail, but you could add some alcohol if you wish. It may surprise you that certain types of alcohol are low FODMAP! You can learn more about low FODMAP alcohols in this great article by A Little Bit Yummy.
However, just because a food or drink is low FODMAP, doesn’t guarantee it is tummy-friendly. Alcohol is a gut-stimulant and a common IBS-symptom trigger (click to learn more). If you do drink alcohol, make sure to have a meal beforehand and drink it with a low FODMAP mixer. Overall, sticking with a mocktail is the best way to avoid unpleasant digestive symptoms.
Last weekend we started putting up our Christmas decorations and it really got me excited for the holidays! We have a ton of snowman decorations, but this little guy is my favourite – so cute! I completely forgot where we got him though.
Also, here is a note about carbonation. Drinking carbonated beverages can cause us to swallow more air. If gas is a major issue for you, you may want to stick to max one cup of sparkling water. Two ways to decrease the amount of carbonation are to open the bottle the day before you drink it or use a spoon to stir your beverage before drinking. Click here to read my blog post all about causes of gas.
This recipe was inspired by Zoella.
Simple Low FODMAP Holiday Mocktail
Ingredients
Drink
- 1 cup cranberry juice (check ingredients for added FODMAPs)
- 1 cup sparkling water
- 1 cup ice cubes
Garnishes
- 2 sprigs mint
- 1/4 cup cranberries
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Add ice to glass and pour in cranberry juice and sparkling water. Stir. Taste it now and decide if you want to add more juice or water.
- Garnish with cranberries, pomegranate seeds and a sprig of mint.
Notes
- Cranberry juice is low FODMAP at 1 cup. However, read the ingredients of your cranberry juice carefully. Many cranberry juices have other high FODMAP juices added (e.g., apple or cherry) or have high FODMAP sweeteners such as fructose or glucose-fructose. One example of a low FODMAP cranberry juice available in Canada is Ocean Spray's Original Cranberry Juice Cocktail.
- You can adjust the sweetness by altering the ratio of cranberry juice to sparkling water. I love sparkling water and will often drink it with just a splash of cranberry juice.
- Pomegranate seeds are low FODMAP at 1/4 cup.
With the extra cranberry juice, you can make my Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad!
If you like simple recipes, you will love my Quick and Easy Snacks E-book! Click here to learn more!
Looking for a warm holiday beverage? You can click here to view my hot chocolate recipe collection – yum!
I hope you have a very happy holiday season,
