Low Fructose Diet

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:19 pm

As I experiment with fruit in my diet, I'm becoming convinced that fructose is a factor in my quest for total remission.

I found this link from the Digestive Health Center of the University of Virginia. It gives very simple recommendations for following a low fructose diet. My fruit and vegetable intolerances seem to correlate with many of their recommendations.

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/in ... e-diet.pdf

Perhaps this will help others like me who are so near, but also so far from remission. Note that known intolerances should supercede this list.

Gloria

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:26 am

Thank you for posting this information, Gloria! Interesting. I am having problems with fruit due to the histamine, oxalate, and starch content. Fruits that are picked unripe or cold stored may contain starch, even raw. The only fruit I seem to tolerate is melon. But I am trying pears and apples that don't contain starch (per iodine test) this week and we'll see if I can handle them. If not, maybe fructose is also an issue!

ant · Post by **ant** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 4:44 am

Thanks Gloria for posting that. I am trying to cut down on fructose. I recently cut honey out of my menu. I used to have it to sweeten my hot 'rice cream' breakfast. I am wondering if powdered glucose would be a safe alternative? But if part of the problem is sugar feeding bad bacteria and/or yeast maybe not? Just thinking out loud here....

Best, ant

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:44 pm

Oh gosh, this is really freaking me out now. Could I possibly have yet another food group intolerance?

You see, I can't do apples and pears and these are the two fruits I should be able to eat as they are not forbidden by any of my other zillion food intolerances. Then when I think about the fructans and the FODMAPs, I just want to pull my hair out.

I am really having trouble getting enough calories these days since I went off starch. At the moment I am living on chicken, clarified butter, bok choy, and cucumbers. I am trying NAPA cabbage, but am not sure about it. It may be a FODMAP!!!! Eeek!!!!

It's all about healing the gut. I'm always optimistic about trying new foods, but I think it's going to come back to Tex's spare foods diet once again.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:14 pm

Faith,

I posted the list because it affirmed what I and others on the board had already discovered, though I don't think we realized it was a fructose intolerance. It makes me wonder if we need to recommend that people follow a low fructose diet while they're healing.

For example, Tex has always cautioned against eating prunes, pears, plums and grapes - and they are on the "avoid" list. I've also found that I react to apples, applesauce, apple cider, and peaches - also on the "avoid" list.

What really blew me away were the carrots and sweet potatoes being on the questionable foods list. I react to both of those and could never understand why. I know others here who also react to tomatoes and corn (I don't). I've found that the intestine friendly ones listed: asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, and white potatoes are definitely easy on my gut. There are also some on the list that I must avoid, but the list has been helpful to ferret out my last (hopefully) few intolerances.

I would use this as a guide, not an absolute. Some foods might agree with you, but some might be offenders that you hadn't considered.

Ant,

Sucrose (table sugar) hasn't been a problem for me, but fructose apparently has. Since I've stopped eating almost all fruits, Norman is visiting just once a day. I continue to eat my daily chocolate fixes and a couple of cookies because there isn't anything else I can snack on. Nuts, dates (Lära bars) and raw vegetables are problematic. I don't eat honey, but I do put pure maple syrup on my waffle or pancake.

I've also found that I can tolerate aspartame, but not sorbitol, just as the list suggests.

I tried following the recommendations on the FODMAP diet in conjunction with the salicylate diet, but the acceptable fruits were causing me problems. I'm still testing some the fruits on this list. So far lemons and avocados seem fine. I tested raspberries this morning and will know tomorrow if I can handle them.

I'm hoping once I'm completely healed that I'll be able to eat more fruits in moderation.

Gloria

ant · Post by **ant** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:57 am

Gloria wrote

What really blew me away were the carrots and sweet potatoes being on the questionable foods list. I react to both of those and could never understand why.

Carrots. Hmmmm. I was eating quite a few of them (well steamed) just before my latest setback. They have now been off the menu for 10 days. One day I may test them again, but not yet....

Best, ant

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:33 pm

Hello!

I've been reading about fructose malabsorption, as I'm quite sure this is an issue for me because of my reactions to apples and pears, two foods I should be able to eat. In case you want to explore it further, what I found is that it is often recommend that you also avoid fructans and polyols, all together knows as FODMAPs.

I found this site which has more extensive lists and instructions (see additional links at the bottom of this page:

http://www.healthhype.com/fodmap-diet-f ... d-gas.html

There is also a yahoo group which has very detailed information in their files section:

health.groups.yahoo.com/group/fructose_malabsorption_australia/messages

I found out that zucchini has more fructose than glucose and I had been eating a ton of it!

Thanks again for posting about this Gloria.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:08 pm

Faith,

You might have overlooked my note:

I tried following the recommendations on the FODMAP diet in conjunction with the salicylate diet, but the acceptable fruits were causing me problems.

I tried some of the fruits that Mary Beth had tested, such as Kiwi and bananas, but I reacted to them. I decided to simplify and just eat the fruits listed on this Low Fructose Diet. So far, it's working pretty well for me.

As you mentioned, the FODMAP diet not only considers fructose, but also fructans and polyols.

Mary Beth posted the most recent list of approved FODMAP foods here:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0

I hope that some of the suggestions will help you and others. They seem to have solved one more piece of the puzzle for me.

Gloria

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:29 pm

Gloria,

Glad your diet change is working for you!

Through my research, I've found that lists vary so it's been interesting to hear what people say on the frucmal yahoo gruops. It seems people vary too in the level of their reaction to fructose. So I am so happy you found a list that is working for you.

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:20 am

I just read this post on the Yahoo Fructose Malabsorption group:

I've got to ask, do most people go by the lists? I keep seeing postings about
new lists and long-awaited lists. I'm a bit perplexed. Though a list is a good
place to start, it doesn't take more than a short perusal of this support site
to see that we all have different tolerance levels. A food one person can eat,
the next person can't go near. Why the excitement about new lists? Surely, if
a new list says FMer's can eat something, you aren't going out and eating it
despite your own history of reacting to that very item.

Just curious.

This is what I'm learning about FM, tolerance level can vary greatly and some have quite extreme intolerance when they start the diet. I think I'm in that category. I've decided to forget fruit altogether for awhile and even cut out the vegies for a week and then slowly add the recommended vegies back in one at a time in small amounts. They recommend only half a cup, but some people need to start with less.

I'm eating white rice again. It seems that the problem isn't the starch necessarily, but I need to test it for a few more days. The muscle and joint problems can come with FM too.

This does remind me of Tex's few foods diet that he did for 9 months before he added new foods back in!

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:55 pm

Yes, I've thought often about Tex omitting both sugar and all fruits for 9 months before he finally healed.

I agree with the quote that you posted. In reality, all lists are only guidelines and we need to adapt them to our own situation.

I've been doing great with little or no fruit. As I begin to test some of the fruits on the list, I'm getting mixed results. I think lemons have no effect on me at all, but so far that's the only one. I'm debating whether I should continue to test fruits, or if I should completely give them up for the time being. Living without fruit goes completely against nutritional recommendations, so it's not a simple decision. It may be that I just need to cut down the amount that I consume at a sitting.

Gloria

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 2:57 pm

Gloria,

I appreciate how you are approaching the fruit question so systematically! I read recently, in a very reliable place, that carbohydrates are not necessary for human life, just as a matter of fact. Tex also has a link to the page by the Artic Explorer who lived on meat and fat for a year with no negative effects. Can't figure out how he got Vitamin C though. Hmmmn?

BTW, I didn't mean to cast any doubts on your list!!!! I'm really glad it has helped you and at least moved you in a good direction. I've seen several lists now and they are all a little different just because food is grown differently in different places.

I've read that healthy people can consume 25-50 g of fructose at a sitting, whereas people with fructose malabsorption can consume between 1g and 20 g, depending on the level of their condition. I think mine is near the 1 g mark!

It seems like the diet is recommended for 2 months before one starts adding new fruits and vegies back in (in addition to the fruits they say are OK). Some people do need to avoid fruits altogether from the start but not everyone by any means.

Hope you can find a fruit or two that works for you.

Post by **tex** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:56 pm

Faith and Gloria,

From Wikipedia:

In 1928 the Arctic anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson attempted to prove his theory of how the Eskimos are able to avoid scurvy with almost no plant food in their diet, despite the disease striking European Arctic explorers living on similar high-meat diets. Stefansson theorised that the natives get their vitamin C from fresh meat that is minimally cooked. Starting in February 1928, for one year he and a colleague lived on an exclusively minimally-cooked meat diet while under medical supervision; they remained healthy. (Later studies done after vitamin C could be quantified in mostly-raw traditional food diets of the Yukon, Inuit, and Métís of the Northern Canada, showed that their daily intake of vitamin C averaged between 52 and 62 mg/day, an amount approximately the dietary reference intake (DRI), even at times of the year when little plant-based food were eaten.)[46]

There's more information on how the Eskimos, (and Stefansson, et al.), handled the vitamin C issue, here:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... get-scurvy

There's also this 21 year-old article, that's sort of relevant to this discussion. These people also had food intolerances, but I note that they were given nutritional supplements, to insure that there were no shortages with the diet, (I have a hunch that the medical profession as a whole, still doesn't trust Stefansson's work, which implies that they don't believe in Eskimos. LOL).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entre ... t=Abstract

Tex

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:42 pm

Interesting articles, Tex.

I'm sure I get adequate vitamin C from my supplements. I worry a little that I'm not getting some of the other nutrients in fruit, but I eat broccoli several times a week. It's pretty nutritious and high in antioxidents. I also eat cauliflower and asparagus pretty regularly. I'm starting to eat the winter squash, too. These are all good vegetables and hopefully help make up for the lack of fruit.

Yesterday I drank 8 oz. of tomato juice and paid a price. I think juices are too concentrated, because I've never had problems with canned tomatoes, catsup, or any other derivatives. Today I'm back to no fruit and things are pretty normal again. It's becoming quite apparent that fruit is an issue for me.

I've also recently realized that I'm having problems with coconut milk. I've had bad reactions to coconut yogurt. I've tried two different types of coconut ice cream and have reacted to them recently. I really loved the chocolate coconut ice cream, though I didn't eat it that often. I notice that coconut milk is on the FODMAP list of foods to avoid.

Gloria

faithberry · Post by **faithberry** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:15 pm

Gloria,

I think I did miss one of your posts, so thanks for adding it back in up above to clarify. Now I see why you were using the simple list and not the FODMAPs one. The FODMAPs one is a good guide but it seems we all have to trial each thing our self. Some people with FM aren't able to do fruit at all until more healing happens. Yes, coconut milk is another culprit! There's a big range of intolerance from being able to tolerate less than a gram of fructose up to 20 grams at a sitting. You seem to manage a great variety of vegetables though.

Isn't it wonderful that you found this connection?!? This will really help you heal more. I put my foods into www.fitday.com to see if I am getting all my nutrients. I find it very easy to use.

All the best,