diagnosis Archive • Fructopia

Why it’s good that fructose is bad for us

October 25, 2013 by Deniz Leave a Comment

From time to time I know it can be a bit tiring to be friends with, related to or in a relationship with me, the adamant no-fructose-advocate that I am. Even four years after being diagnosed with fructose malabsorption, I’m not showing any signs of fatigue in bringing up the fructose topic. Be it by making critical observations on why certain foods are unhealthy (which I usually make just as a friend is about to dive into their said plate of food). or in response to somebody once again asking me, why (after turning down the piece of cake) I won’t have any of the fruit either. Enter the sugar-police! I always try not to lecture, rather to explain. I understand that my little sister for example is not keen on hearing my opinions on sugar, as she is just about to have a bite of her delicious looking cupcake. (I am still the older sister, though, so bear with me) In the end, all I am really trying to say is that I am concerned about the health of my loved ones.

Good to see that my relentless fructose free input has left some positive marks within my circle of friends. They seem much more conscious about handling their daily sugar intake and some have even taken to research on their own. Lucky me, sometimes they share an interesting article or two with me. Lucky you, sometimes I share those articles with you! So here goes: …

Unlearning Snacking

May 10, 2013 by Deniz 10 Comments

The past weeks here in Istanbul saw a lot of visitors from home. Which of course is great because we got to share the beauty and stories of this wonderful city with our loved ones and made most of them fall in love with Istanbul just the way we have. On the other hand, a lot of visitors meant a lot time spent in restaurants, cafés and and pastry shops and snacking on street food. We were eating ourselves through a lot of amazing specialities the Turkish cuisine treasures, to show our visitors the amazing tastes we were already familiar with and to explore unknown ones together. What sounds like a dream come true, actually turned out to be a nightmare for my maltreated stomach. Getting lost in all the new, delicious and tongue tingling tastes I wasn’t paying enough attention to my stomach anymore. Naturally, it didn’t hesitate to strike back. I’m not feeling well, the tiniest amount of fructose turns into a rumbling concert in my stomach and I’m getting sick again more easily. After six weeks filled with a lot of “Oh, this looks amazing, I have to try this. I know it’s not good for me, but a tiny spoon full, maybe two, can’t hurt, can it?” -Spoons full of veggies, fruits and, yes, sweets it’s time to give my stomach a break, reflect on my personal eating habits and unlearn snacking, once again. Unlearning snacking? You may be asking yourselves, what is wrong with snacking, I probably just chose the wrong snacks, right? Nope, you heard me right. I mean unlearning snacking and not just learning to pick the right snacks. …

Enter, fructose malabsorption

January 25, 2013 by Deniz Leave a Comment

I’d like to share a 15 minute radio report about fructose malabsorption with you today, which I found on Fructose Free Me. The piece aired on Radio National Australia in December and gives a nice introduction on fructose malabsorption. It talks about the hydrogen breath test, which you have to take to find out whether you are fructose intolerant or not and discusses the rise of the disease.

I was surprised that the directors of the show didn’t hold back on the problems and difficulties people with fructose malabsorption suffer from. I’m used to newspaper articles claiming that, for example, “the abandonment of fructose from the daily diet usually leads to full recovery” , while failing to mention how difficult impossible and burdening it is to exclude fructose from one’s daily diet. I could freak out when something of the sorts gets published. But this radio report is different. The directors don’t euphemize fructose malabsorption, but at the same time they manage to give hope that it is still possible to enjoy different foods without fructose.

On a side note, what I find remarkable is that English literature usually refers to fructose malabsorption instead of fructose intolerance, while in Germany it is the other way round. German literature refers to fructose intolerance to describe the disease. I wonder why these differences are made. Does anybody have a clue?

At the end of the show the hosts also talk to Dr. Sue Shepard, who is well known for her work on fructose malabsorption and celiac decease. She introduces the FODMAP diet. You may have heard about this diet, as it is often referred to in English speaking sources. FODMAP stands for “Fermentable, Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides and Polyols” thus summarizing foods that should be avoided when suffering from fructose malabsorption. On a personal level, I figured that it doesn’t make sense to stick to this guide as it eliminates a lot of foods I actually handle pretty well like the mentioned cream or cottage cheese (of course they have to be plain in flavor, no funky ingredients like onion powder etc.) That is why I don’t use FODMAP as a guideline for my daily nutrition.

Enough said, here is the link to the radio show “Tummy troubles: The rise of fructose malabsorption”.

(Source: Radio National)

You should check out the other research articles on Fructose Free Me. If you are gluten-free, it offers some nice gluten-free recipes as well.

I eat you, I eat You Not (1): Low FODMAP Foods To Enjoy With IBS

January 24, 2013 by Deniz 14 Comments

It’s one week post launch of Fructopia and the tingling hasn’t stopped yet. After turning the whole blog thing over and over in my mind and testing ~~numerous~~ two blogging platforms for months, I’m pretty surprised how fast everything happened the moment I finally settled for one service. Now I am out and about with a topic that on the one hand is quite intimate, on the other hand affects so many people and still lacks a lot of attention. Time to change that. …