Lately nothing has fascinated me more than the art of starting the day in beautiful and productive style. Everybody seems to have his or her own way of claiming the day’s first sunbeams. Seeing as the morning hours hold such a precious place in my heart, I thought it might be time to find out how other talented bloggers and bloggerettes start their day and thus created this interview series. So instead of asking „How was your night?“, from now on I’ll rather be asking „How was your morning?“.
After a beautiful prelude to this series with earlybird Steffi, I should probably warn you ahead of today’s interview: If you too are a child of the sun, you might find yourself packing your bags for Australia right after finishing this read! Why? Because today’s guest, the fructose friendly chef Melissa, wakes up where koalas and kangaroos kiss each other good night, while being surounded by cafés sure to make your food sensitive heart leap for joy. Morning walks on the beach in dreamy light and an enviably healthy tan on Melissa’s face: If being a morning grouch looks like this, I’ll take an extra large serving! But see and read for yourselves…
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Last month I treated myself to a little something special. No, I didn’t visit any expensive restaurants, nor did I spend a day at a local Hamam (well actually, I did that too). I did however venture into the world of Ayurveda. Seriously? Ayurveda? Yes, seriously. At the end of the day everybody has their own idea of what a proper ‘treat’ should look like, right? And no, just to spoil the premature excitement and even though that would have been a nice treat as well, I didn’t spend 4 weeks at a yoga resort, meditating all day and sipping on one chai after another, as might be the common association when it comes to Ayurveda. (Note to self: Remember to travel to a distant place and meditate for four weeks someday). Anyway, my exploration into the field of Ayurveda was of course food related and came in form of an Ayurveda cooking class. It sounded interesting enough to make me get up very early on a Sunday morning and literally hop on a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul.
When it comes to breakfast, pretty much everyone has his or her own idea of the “perfect” set-up. The choices are endless, be it cold or warm, liquid or solid, savory or sweet, or nothing at all. Since being diagnosed with FM breakfast is not only mandatory for me but also a way to start my day in a calmer manner. It’s a chance for me to be nice to my stomach first thing in the morning, so that it won’t be too upset later in the day if something wrong comes along. Whenever I skip breakfast entirely the day is basically ruined. Then all I think about is ‘how on earth will I get something quick to eat on the way to wherever I’m headed. Which is, as you probably know yourselves, rather impossible. So breakfast has become a very important part of my morning routine. …
Last year, during my initial phase of going gluten free I reflected not only on my wheat consumption but also on my diet in general. I figured that I was consuming a lot more dairy here in Istanbul than I used to do back in Berlin. Since moving here I had yoghurt for breakfast every single morning, drank many, many café lattes and ate lots of salads topped with loads of feta cheese. Everybody knows, too much of anything is never good, so I felt the urge to put a halt on this. In the back of my head I developed this thought that just maybe I could hit two birds with one stone: Going gluten and dairy free at the same time. I mean, why not? I was about to change my diet completely anyway, right?
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.
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. …
Before I knew about my fructose malabsorption, breakfast was something I only thought about after a long night out to sooth my stomach. I usually skipped breakfast and couldn’t wait for lunch time to indulge into hearty portions of pasta, pizza or whatever was on the lunch menu. If I bothered having breakfast I usually grabbed a sandwich at a bakery that was near my office or university. I’m not talking about the kind of mayonnaise dripping sandwiches topped with a half kilo of turkey like most of my American friends are used to. Nope. I’m talking about a simple “belegtes Brötchen”, that’s what we call our sandwiches in Germany. Nothing too unhealthy or heavy, just a bunch of useless carbohydrates. However, by lunch time I often felt hungrier than the times I hadn’t had any breakfast at all. Of course weekends were a different story, but that makes for only 2 out of 7 days a week, right? Either way, I just couldn’t get hold of a healthy breakfast routine. But since I had to throw everything I’ve learned about nutrition (including my personal preferences and eating habits) over board after getting my test results, breakfast was one thing I had to tackle as well….
Willkomen in Fructopia! In dieser kleinen Welt dreht sich alles um ein gesünderes Leben ohne Fructose, ohne Zucker, ohne Weizen. Schön, dass ihr da seid! 
