You know there's an app for that? Monash FODMAP app.

My iphone can do everything better than me. How? Because there's an app for that. This phrase has established itself in my life just as much as "Google will know" when asked a question about...well, anything.

You can download to your handheld magic machine a programme (app) who's purpose is simply to solve your problem. Initially I thought the range was games, games and er.. games. Not the case. Can't sleep? Sleep Cycle app. Weather? Met Office app. Whether whiskey is FODMAP friendly? FODMAP app!!

This whiskey predicament I was finding increasingly troubling. Bottle in hand, ready to splash a generous amount into my cooking (boozehound) I paused .."whiskey is made from a grain...". DUH DUH DUUUUUUUUH. Having established that Jack Daniels whiskey is gluten free due to the distilling process riding it of gluten, I began to question whiskey's FODMAP properties.

This was where my new favourite app swooped in to save the day. Monash University (brains behind the FODMAP diet) have released an iphone and now android app, which "provides accurate information about foods that trigger IBS reactions and will significantly help sufferers to manage their symptoms".

The best bit about the app in my opinion? The search function for foods. Foods are listed and rated using a traffic light system. Red light - no no. Green light - chomp away.

Life pre-app involved me carrying around a double sided list of foods which I had copied out of the book I was given by my deitcian (and laminated so it would survive the depths of my bag). Now if shopping or out and need to double check something, I just whip out my iphone and have my answer in roughly a minute. Oh I love modern technology.

The Monash app has been great for increasing my understanding of the FODMAP diet, it provides recipes, allows you to filter your 'sensitivities', has a '1 week challenge' plan so you can monitor what you eat versus your symptoms...it just keeps giving. So following recommending it to people several times on Twitter, the time has come to dedicate a post to it!

Priced at £6.99 (so cheaper than most cook books) I think it's a bargain. Monash also states that any proceeds from the sale of the app goes towards funding more FODMAP research. 

Click here to view it on the apple app store. Click here to read more about it from the Monash people themselves. And click here to watch a YouTube clip about the app (those Monash people have really got it covered!)