Monday, March 18, 2013

My Current Diet

Many people who are diagnosed with fructose malabsorption will do just fine on a low-fructose diet. Eating very small amounts of fructose, spread out throughout the day, is tolerable. If I remember correctly, my nutritionist said that most people consume about 60g of fructose per day. She recommended 20g per day, and not more than one serving of fruits or veggies (1 cup fresh, 1/2 cup canned in WATER) per meal. Most of her clients do very well on this diet, from what I understand!

This diet works for most fructmals, according to my nutritionist, and definitely confirmed through my own research:

Small amounts of lemon, lime, and fresh berries are favorable for fruits. Ripe bananas are ok for some people (not me!). Most fructmals will not be able to handle apples, pears, watermelon, dried fruit or fruit juices (because of the concentrated amounts of sugar).

Most fructmals cannot handle
wheat, barley, rye, onions, asparagus, leeks or garlic. Fructmals who are not too sensitive have found that they are able to cook with garlic or onions for flavor, as long as they don't eat the meaty part. 

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are ok for some, but everyone is different. I personally can't eat them. On the favorable list for most are zucchini ( can have in tiiiiiny amounts), avacado (no-can-do for me, but I'm super sensitive!), and spinach (seems to be ok so far). Carrots, beans and peas are tolerated by some, but generally don't sit well with most fructmals. 

Milk is generally tolerated, as long as there is not also a lactose intolerance. Avoid sweetened yogurts and milks high in sugars like soy milk and almond milk.

(My nutritionist said that plain yogurt or greek yogurt is ok, but some nutritionists believe it unwise to introduce bacteria into a fructmals body, as the bacteria are already going a little nutso.)


Oats, quinoa, buckwheat, and white rice are generally ok (my nutiritionist said that brown rice is ok, too, but I have found conflicting information on that, and know from personal experience that I don't handle it well). White potatoes are ok for MOST fructmals (I can only have them in small amounts).
Avoid sweet potatoes!

Meats and eggs are a GO, unless honey-cured or sweetened (like most ham and bacon). Unsweetened nuts should be ok for most people.

Avoid
all "itols," like sorbitol, mannitol, etc.

Avoid
agave syrup, molasses, honey, jam, jelly, high fructose corn syrup, fructose sweeteners, sugar alcohols. Sucrose (sugar) is ok for most people in small amounts, and is best tolerated with a meal. Glucose is ok, and dextrose is ok.

Some people can handle very small amounts of dark chocolate. Watch out for
chocolate liquors, because of the high amounts of sugar. 

The diet outlined above works for MANY people. Unfortunately, not for me. I'm super sensitive!! After further research I found this diet, which was VERY helpful. It suggests eliminating as much fructose as necessary, for 6 weeks, to "re-boot" your system.

AVOID (for at least 6 weeks):
ALL fruit and fructose
Wheat, spelt, kamut, brown rice
All of the onion family
Asparagus, artichoke, green and yellow beans
Anything probiotic (like yoghurt)
Anything prebiotic (like FOS, inulin, or chicory)
The “-itols” (like sorbital, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, etc.)

Greatly reduce intake of sucrose, honey, molasses

If still have symptoms after 6 weeks, eliminate:
Corn and tomatoes
Rye and oats
All nuts
All honey (ratio of fructose to glucose is not consistent in honey, as it is in sucrose)

If, after several weeks you still have trouble, try eliminating all potatoes. Not a lot of fructmals have trouble with potatoes, but some do. Very few people have problems with oats and nuts.

When reintroducing foods, try only one food at a time, in one form (only raw, only cooked, only commercially frozen).

Unfortunately, I did end up having to eliminate, even before the 6 weeks, tomatoes and nuts. I'm too scared to try honey. Corn was a problem before I was diagnosed with fructose malabsorption, so corn has always been "out" for me. 

I have learned that I do need to avoid all the foods mentioned above (in red), except for white potatoes, which I can handle in very small amounts. I only eat them once a day. I also react strongly to broccoli, cauliflower, any type of bean, peas, chicory, and gums, like xanthan gum, carob bean gum, guar gum. I had a super strong reaction to almonds, so I am avoiding all nuts, for 6 weeks, just to be safe. I have eliminated all of those things from my diet (for at least 6 weeks). I changed my toothpaste to Arm and Hammer Peroxicare, bc most other toothpastes have sorbitol. I feel MUCH better after doing so. I avoid mouthwash with sorbitol. I avoid anything from the grocery store that says "spices," or "flavorings," bc they might have garlic or onion. THAT SNEAKY FRUCTOSE! I also have to watch out for garlic and onion in powder form.

The things I have been handling well are white rice, steel cut oats, butter, eggs, milk, cheese (check labels!), small amounts of potatoes- once a day, and all meats, except for pork (although I don't think that has to do with fructose, unless it is bc that is what the animal is being fed). I try my best to get grass-fed beef and chicken. 

It's tough following such a strict diet, but I'm feeling a little better some days. Some days I feel worse, but I think that once my body gets through this detox phase, I will feel much better. I am both looking forward to and dreading introducing new foods into my diet, to see how I tolerate them. I have a long way to go!!!

This is just what works for me. Everybody (every body) is different! We can all tolerate different things. It's important to listen to YOUR OWN body, and what it is telling you. Also,  remember that I am NOT a doctor! I'm just a girl relating my own experience to you all. It is always wise to seek the wisdom and advice of a doctor and/or nutritionist before starting any diet.

 

3 comments:

  1. Wish u the best hope ur feeling better.
    My daughter is 4 with colitis fructose malabsorption and recently SIBO it's been very tough and I'm still trying to figure out whats ok for her and whats not. She is in a very strict diet. I just want her to be pain free.

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  2. I have exactly the same problem... I am also so sensitive and don't know what to eat or not. I'm just afraid of eating and I almost always feel sick and ill. Reading your blog already helped me SO MUCH! If you have any tips for me, please send me an e-mail: tamara@mgo-studio.nl

    xxxxx
    Tamara

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  3. I wonder if I have had this problem forever! I have had bowel problems always! 2 years ago everything just hit the fan and I just couldn't take it anymore, I looked 9 months PG I was so bloated!! So went back to GI Dr. The tests started!! What was positive was the fructose breath test! My high was 176, off the charts!! It has taken over a year to feel even 25% better! It is day by day process and seems I find more and more things I can't eat!!! My dietitian said to think of a cup and when you have had more bad foods the cup gets filled and symptoms start, well my cup is more a thimble! So frustrating!!!!

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