routine Archive • Fructopia

My Morning: The Fructose Friendly Chef + Homemade Granola

April 21, 2015 by Deniz 3 Comments

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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Gluten Free Holidays: Fructosefree Blueberry-Buckwheat-Cake With Lemon Curd

March 27, 2015 by Deniz 8 Comments

Sound familiar?

I made a cake and am super excited to treat my family members to a healthy and sugar free dessert for the holidays. Everybody gathers around the table and happily digs into piles of Easter bread, juicy carrot cakes and delicate chocolates. Lightyears seem to have passed since the last holidays. One by one, tense shoulders around the table loosen up and even my guilt-free cake receives some attention.

Right when I’m about to put on a content smile, thinking how nice it is that people finally seem to appreciate healthier alternatives instead of the usual sugar bombs, I get hit by a wave of comments again: “Your cake tastes really good, like, really healthy! A little bit like bread… Really good. I would just add a bit more sugar the next time.”

Duh! I mean that’s the whole point about fructose free cooking, right?

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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: …

A good week starts with some good reads

October 14, 2013 by Deniz 10 Comments

I spent the past two weeks suffering from a proper cold, rushing to a couple of last minute “let’s have a coffee”-meets with friends in Berlin and preparing myself for our return to Istanbul. Though it was only three weeks, it feels as though I’ve been away for ages. I’m actually having some difficulties getting back on track. Maybe it’s because we didn’t just return to Istanbul, no, at the same time we moved into a new interim flat. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really cozy place with huge windows for the sun to fill the rooms with its warming autumnal light. It’s just a little strenuous adapting to a new place, new neighborhood, new rhythm once again, knowing all along that in about three months time we are going to need to find a new place to call home.

Also the trip itself back to Istanbul was quite a disappointment. I already told you about the frustration I experienced on the way to Berlin when SWISS didn’t manage to cater to my order of a gluten-free meal. During our stay in Berlin I called their customer service to make sure, this wouldn’t happen again on the way back. I was super surprised to learn that SWISS doesn’t respond to special meal requirements on short-distance flights and that it would be my own responsibility to prepare enough food to keep me going during the upcoming five-hour trip back from Berlin via Zurich and on to Istanbul. Not a big deal in their mind I guess. Thanks a lot SWISS for helping out. Not. Again. By the way, stunning three weeks after my mail they managed to answer to my mail. Three weeks! It’s 2013 by the way, not the 1980s.

Even though I prepared some food, which they almost didn’t let me bring onto the plane during the routine security checks, it was frustrating watching others being served a warm meal. I know it’s usually better to skip the crappy airplane food, but who cares when hungry, frustrated and on a trip back home, which is taking way too long. I mean, come on SWISS, it’s not like I asked for some crazy, exotic, out of this world, nut, grain, lactose and fructose free meal that includes some fresh salmon with millet and a delicious avocado-chocolate-mousse on the side. All I asked for was a gluten-free meal, which they proudly advertise on their website anyway. This failure in customer service left me munching on my banana, nuts and homemade cocoa spelt buns for the rest of the journey. The spelt buns were good, no doubt, but after having eaten five of them the day before, I was getting a bit tired of their taste. The reason why I won’t be sharing the recipe with you yet? I ended up using a lot more spelt flour than planned and need to work on the recipe again.

Well, so much for a quick update. Sorry about spreading those negative vibes. In any case, before I wish you an amazing start into another sunny fall week (or is it spring where you live?), I’d like to share two nice reads with you. A warming cup of turmeric milk should make these reads even more enjoyable 😉

Research fructose malabsorption:

This article on the history of sugar published by the National Geographic magazine in August is a must read for everyone, not only for us fructmals. It explains how sugar virtually became an indispensable part of our daily lives and describes its journey from when “the sugar was so rare it was classified as a spice” to the point when “sugar began to change to a staple, first for the middle class, then for the poor”: Sugar, National Geographic

Also, if you are new to avoiding gluten, check out these helpful hints on going gluten-free. My favorite “Be prepared!” (Beware: The author does not follow a fructose free diet so some of the following food recommendations may cause your tummy some serious trouble): Helpful Hints On Going Gluten Free from Naturopath, Jules Galloway…

Going gluten free Part III: Fructose free superfoods

September 23, 2013 by Deniz 5 Comments

It’s been seven months since we left our home in Berlin in an attempt to grow roots in Istanbul. A few days ago we arrived back in Berlin. It’s our first time home since February. I was looking forward to these upcoming three weeks. Looking forward to all the breakfasts, lunches and dinners with friends and loved ones, to happy bike rides in the city and enjoying morning runs in the park close by. Other than that, I must confess, there is not much I missed about Berlin. Who would, considering the numerous hours of sunshine Istanbul provided us with, all the Turkish food and fresh seasonal goods grown on the fertile lands of the rough Black Sea, the thousand plus different views of the Bosphorus or the seemingly endless supply of new and one of a kind impressions. Istanbul has not failed to keep us entertained. Needless to say the Gezi Park protests and the surprisingly violent response by the police caused quite a stir in our daily lives.

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On to-do lists, gluten, birthdays and fructose

August 25, 2013 by Deniz Leave a Comment

Blogging on fructose malabsortpion // Bloggen über Fruktoseintoleranz // Fructopia.de

I‘m a big fan of to-do lists, both handwritten and digital. I also love getting the individual to-dos, want-to-dos or whatever you like to call them depending on their respective level of fun back off my list and off my back for good. But sometimes one of the to-dos decides to stay on the list. It is times like those, when I simply can’t complete the job at hand. Instead that small to-do becomes a ubiquitous mental note, floating above of my inner mess of thoughts, making me more miserable and more afraid to tackle it with every day I’ve failed to approach it. I hate it. Believe me, I’m not talking about some dreadful task here. I just hate it, because I know perfectly well that getting it done would be an easy way to clear my mind. Yet I still fail to follow through.

This is why I was afraid to check the date of my last post here. I still haven’t looked it up. There is no need to. However long it has been since my last post I haven’t forgotten what I’d been meaning to tell you:

For one, we have been welcoming, hosting and seeing off a steady flood of visitors from home who seized their summer holidays as an opportunity to explore Istanbul with us. So there we were, guiding our guests, showing them around, running up and down the hills of this beautiful city at a constant average temperature of 32°C/90°F in the shade and taking a break here and there making me unlearn snacking for the ‘I’ve stopped counting’-est-time.

I also missed out on telling you that it’s been 8 weeks now since I cancelled wheat from my diet. I had kind a sudden sort of epiphany, when I realized why so many of you fellow fructose malabsorptioners avoid wheat. Food life has been quite adventurous since I started my gluten-free journey and there is much to tell you about in my next post.

We also celebrated a birthday, my very own thirtieth birthday to be precise, which I still find slightly weird realizing it is my own age. But if being in ones thirties means getting a fructose friendly cheesecake from my boyfriend I willingly embrace this new era. He kindly gave his permission to share the recipe too and so I will, shortly.

On another note I missed out on sharing the following article, which reminds us of why it’s a good thing, that fructose is bad for us and why it‘s worth it taking a stand against this little monster day in day out. Read it here. Found on No Sugarless Gum. Thanks for sharing Paige!

So much for my long overdue update. It was good to catch up. I’m looking forward to sharing more details on my newly acquired fructose AND gluten free eating habits with you soon! Have a great Sunday!

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. …

I eat you, I eat you not (2): foods to avoid with ibs

February 6, 2013 by Deniz 13 Comments

Whew, last week was a hectic one, which explains the eight days without a new blog post. This being my third blog week I’m feeling pretty guilty. Blogger’s guilt, I guess.

At the same time I was kind of thankful for a little more thinking time to write this blog post. I knew I still owed you the follow up on my food dos and don’ts….

What’s for breakfast?

January 15, 2013 by Deniz 8 Comments

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….