Recipes

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Fructans

Many of those who start on a low fructose diet are insistent that they can still eat wheat.  I know I was one of them and I’ve heard many others say the same at first and later realize that they needed to remove wheat from their diet.   The problem is that wheat contains fructans and since wheat is so largely consumed today it is considered the largest contributor to our fructan ingestion. 

How do fructans fit in with Fructose Malabsorption?  Fructans are a chain molecule, formed from fructose, with glucose as the final molecule.  Fructans are a food fiber which humans do not have the enzymes to break down and absorb in the small intestine.  The bacteria in the large intestine is able to digest them, in the process producing gas.  For many people this is not a problem, but for those with IBS the gas can cause painful bloating, diarrhea or constipation. 

The largest amount of fructans are consumed in wheat, and the second largest would be in onions, followed by garlic and unripe bananas.

Excess Fructan  Foods:

  • Artichokes (Globe & Jerusalem)
  • Asparagus
  • Banana’s (green) – can eat well ripened bananas
  • Beet
  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Chocolate
  • Chicory
  • Dandelion leaves
  • Fennel
  • Garlic
  • Leek
  • Legumes
  • Okra
  • Onion (brown, white, & Spanish)
  • Peach
  • Peas
  • Persimmon
  • Radicchio lettuce
  • Shallot
  • Spring/Green onion (white section) – green section is okay to eat.
  • Watermelon
  • wheat
  • rye
  • inulin
  • FOS

 

It seems that fructans and fructose can cause different symptoms in individuals.  It is certainly so for myself.  Fructose creates excess gas for me.  When we first began on our low FM diet we worked on fructose only and reduced our wheat intake to one serving every other day.  While the gas symptoms did reduce I was still having episodes that I couldn’t explain and was not able to get my constipation under control as well as I had hoped.  Matthew continued to have his bright green loose stools inconsistenly without being able to put a trigger on what was causing it.  Rebecca was struggling emotionally and we didn’t know if it was because of something she was eating.  The final straw came when I became so tired all the time.  At first I tried to dismiss it as needing more rest, but soon it became apparent that something was not right.  After a decent nights sleep I would be exhausted by 9am and need to lay down.  My mind couldn’t focus and I wasn’t able to process things.  It was slowly getting worse and I was getting more and more frustrated.  For a period of time I suspected wheat but I didn’t want to take it out of my diet.  I like food, I love food, food is such a social aspect of our lives.  I guess I just had to get bad enough to realize that wheat wasn’t worth feeling like crap and that’s the point I hit.  I was determined to go a month without wheat.  My first attempt made it to not quite two weeks, a family tragedy found me at the hospital quite a bit and receiving meals from people and it was just too difficult to stick to the diet change at that time when it was all so new to me.  I gave up saying the two weeks hadn’t made a different so wheat must not be the issues.  But a couple months later I found myself thinking it was time to do another trial and that this time I was going to stick it out for a month.  We made it through the month (and let me say it wasn’t easy at times) and it became apparent that wheat (or fructans) was the cause of some of my unlying issues.  While it didn’t cause the immediate obvious symptoms that fructose was, it did make me groggy, tired, fatigued, brain fogged … and constipated. 

I will not say that I never had wheat.  The first months I gave in more often, usually on the weekend.  I stuck to the wheat-free diet at home but had a harder time when we went out.  I struggled to accept that there was one more odd thing about me.  I just wanted to fit in and enjoy my food.  I wasn’t ready to give up the wheat all the time.  We’ve been wheat-free for over a year now.  Again, I cannot say I never have wheat, but I would say it’s usually about once every three weeks or so.  I notice the different and don’t like the after effects of having wheat.  I can’t stand that brain fogged feeling, walking around in a haze unable to think and the headache that comes with it.  Often if I give in to having some wheat it will be later in the day or in the evening when I know I don’t have much more to do for the day and can relax and sleep it off later. I will have to deal with slight constipation the next day or so, but as long as I don’t eat too much or do it several days in a row it’s okay.  After a year I have had the time to learn more ideas to replace wheat and this had made being wheat-free easier, we have simply learned to pack along food whenever we go out. 

Marietta is not so fortunate to be able to sleep of her brain fog, she has actually had episodes of brain fog in her sleep/dreams.  She is the most sensitive in the house to fructans and also the most dedicated to staying away from them.  She knows it makes her feel unwell with almost instant brain fog and she also hates feeling that way.  I will give her credit, she has much more willpower then I to reject food and stick to the diet.  Rebecca’s willpower is not quite so strong, but neither are her symptoms.  She does not get immediate symptoms nor the excess gas the Marietta and I get.  It’s often hard to tell where to draw the line with Rebecca so she has to stick to the same diet as the rest of us.  While Rebecca will give in much easier when we are out, she will also faithful eat the appropriate food if it is provided.  As long as I pack a lunch or snack for her she sticks to that and might only have a nibble of something else.  It’s not easy being 10 or 11 and having to always explain why you can’t eat what others are eating.

Similar to our situation I have also heard of others that withdrew fructans from their diet later on when they realize they had not gotten rid of all their symptoms and could be feeling even better then they were.  I wish I could say that I am symptom free now, but that would be a lie.  I do have occasional bouts of diarrhea that I haven’t pinpointed yet and then there are just the days where something is off or not right and I can’t figure it out.  But overall I’m happy with where I am.  It’s a bit of a balancing act to find a point that you are content with. I’m not 100% but I am so much better then I was that I’m happy with being 80% there.  Maybe someday I’ll figure out the rest of it, but for the time being I can still eat a good variety and can better enjoy the life God has given me.

 

More information on Fructans

17 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing, i recently was told by a doctor to follow a similar diet by elminating wheat and rye based breads and it has really helped but i too feel as though im not 100% there. I have elminated garlic, onions and all legumes but i still feel like i have days where i experience diarreha eventhough i havent had any food that i was aware of containg fructan. I hoping to go to a dietician soon so i can see what suits me

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  2. I do find that while I feel much better I do still have some ups and downs as far as IBS-C and IBS-D are. This is usually because I tend to "cheat" from time to time, or I overdo it on the amount of onion or garlic spices we have. We can tolerate small amounts of these, but if I do it a little too often it begins to add up and cause problems. The thing is that the word spices on the ingredient list covers so many items and I do have a hard time giving up my flavours as I'm not to fond of bland things. I hope you are able to figure out what it is that is still causing you issues.

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  3. sounds very ayruvedic diet.. no garlic, no onions etc .. 'joyful belly'.. i'm beginning to believe...

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  4. Thank you so much for sharing this information - solves a lot of issues for me.

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  5. Thank you for the info. I am curious about brown and white sugar. Can I eat this?

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  6. Your ability to tolerate brown and white sugar will depend on your tolerance level. White sugar is made of 50/50 glucose/fructose. For our family we have more trouble with fructans than fructose, so we can tolerate a fair amount of fructose and white sugar is the sugar that we use. When baking I always try to reduce the sugar that the recipe requires, often aiming from 1/2 of what is called for. I do use brown sugar in recipes, but often reduce it and instead put some white sugar in. In general, brown sugar is not adviseable due to the molasses in it, but we seem to be able to tolerate it in moderation. In the end, it's like everything else in FM ... trial and error.

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  7. thank you this is helpful. I have been searching for several years to understand my IBS which started after I had children. I have been on the SCD diet and read about FODMAP but I am convinced now it is fructose and fructans which I can't digest. I am seeing a gastroenterologist and he says it is rare and highly unlikely. However, the reading I have done recently would suggest this is not the case.

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  8. Thank you so much...I have suffered for 30 years and never once thought it was fructans or fructose, although I did have a violent reaction to Manuka honey - which i tried along with a plethora of other natural remedies over the years to cure my constant syndrome of being violently sick with diaherea every 3 days... and for 2 days at a time. It had become a web of total insanity and I was left with nothing to eat - I had already eliminated yeast and gluten and dairy and chicken and eggs and vegetables and fruits and nuts and seeds...and the list goes on. I ended up eating plain flat coolies...all the time. Bingo, now I have made the connection - the wheat and the high fructose corn syrup. I will try this and give up the wheat immediately and avoid high fructose corn syrup forever.

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  9. I appreciate the details you have written. I have few comments you must read care fully since I have also studied on IBS and found that some points are missing in your narration. First you did not mention which bacteria is that who eats fructans and where it live. In fact it is Candida Albican and it lives in large intestine..When we eat large ammount of Fructans it goes directly in large intesting and growth of CA becomes large, CA colony extend toward small intestine and then all problems of IBS starts, like Gas, Bloating, diarrhea, constipation etc. There fore to avoid it take "steel cut wheat porridge" I mean large grain wheat porridge. CA will try to catch it but since it Carbs are in the chamber they will pass out along with CA clinging with it and you will soon be free with IBS symtoms. One more thing, take less food, very less we do not need much of food but remain healthy even then. KazmisBioscienceLabs

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    Replies
    1. interesting idea, about the CANDIDA ALBICAN; some report that an over growth can contribute to "brain fog". And CA does like to be fed sugars but I do not think it is a bacteria but rather a fungi.(think yeast starters in baking as an example) Some also claim that an overgrowth can reside in other areas of the body. You will have to do the "Evidence Based" research on that.

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    2. Why steel cut WHEAT since wheat is considered one of the high FRUCTAN containing foods?

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  10. Hey Steph. Thanks for publishing these details, there seems little consistent information on this despite it is now several yeas after you wrote it. I'd love to quiz you, if you are still working on this blog.

    I don't know for sure if I am fructose intolerant or not. All I know is that I have symptoms similar which have stayed with me my whole life. Brain fog fatigue tiredness which results in ultimately sitting in bed staring at a wall most of my life. It seems to be linked to food, but I cant work out what it is. I dont have any major GI issues, no pain gas or discomfort, but I am mildly constipated and only go once every few days. And what appears is not consistent.

    I'd always known, low carb improved my condition, but I felt my body needed carbs and that it wasnt quite the answer, it made me function but not thrive. I started reading about this the other week, I started added white rice and felt better and better, then without checking I started adding soy sauce (had sugar in it), and a few meals out which could of set me off.

    White rice tends to constipate me more so on monday this week I thought id try brown rice thinking it would be legal also, I later found out that brown rice shells are loaded with fructans. I've felt the symptoms bad all week, it is now thursday and I feel like im going to fall over when I Stand such is the fatigue, and confusion. I did eat like three cups of brown rice, and as my transit time is so slow I guess it could still be affecting me...

    Do you find that when you eat fructans the symptoms last this long? Or is it all in my head?!

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  11. Hey Steph. Thanks for publishing these details, there seems little consistent information on this despite it is now several yeas after you wrote it. I'd love to quiz you, if you are still working on this blog.

    I don't know for sure if I am fructose intolerant or not. All I know is that I have symptoms similar which have stayed with me my whole life. Brain fog fatigue tiredness which results in ultimately sitting in bed staring at a wall most of my life. It seems to be linked to food, but I cant work out what it is. I dont have any major GI issues, no pain gas or discomfort, but I am mildly constipated and only go once every few days. And what appears is not consistent.

    I'd always known, low carb improved my condition, but I felt my body needed carbs and that it wasnt quite the answer, it made me function but not thrive. I started reading about this the other week, I started added white rice and felt better and better, then without checking I started adding soy sauce (had sugar in it), and a few meals out which could of set me off.

    White rice tends to constipate me more so on monday this week I thought id try brown rice thinking it would be legal also, I later found out that brown rice shells are loaded with fructans. I've felt the symptoms bad all week, it is now thursday and I feel like im going to fall over when I Stand such is the fatigue, and confusion. I did eat like three cups of brown rice, and as my transit time is so slow I guess it could still be affecting me...

    Do you find that when you eat fructans the symptoms last this long? Or is it all in my head?!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great Blog! I have been diagnosed with IBS-C. My husband and I did our research, and found FODMAPs, which I have been stickiing to for the past 3 -4 month. I am now in the reintrodution phase. Must admit, that it's interesting, and it has helped. Thank you so much for the information, excellet job!

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. Hi everyone!
    I wanted to put this post on here because I too have dealt with fructan and fructose intolerance since 2009. When I first found out about my intolerance I started reading different blogs, such as this one! I have of course tried to stay away from these items in my daily life but as you all may know it can be very hard to do completely full-time.
    About 2 months ago I decided to try something different for my gut flora than I had in the past. After a lot of research and talking with people I purchased Plexus from one of my long time friends that is an Ambassador for them. I figured why not, they offer a 60 day money back guarantee, at this point I had nothing to lose. I purchased Triplex which consists of the Plexus Slim drink, Probio5, and BioCleanse. Needless to say, after just 26 days of taking the Triplex regime consistently I went out to dinner with friends and had nachos with an onion salsa mixture. This normally would create a not so fun rest of the evening for me. To my surprise I did not have any pains or any constipation or bloating side effects!
    Hestitant that this may have been a fluke I tested the waters later that week with some of my mom's garlic mashed potatoes. Again, something that I have tried to stay away from since learning of my intolerances. To my surprise AGAIN, I was absolutely fine!
    I am now in my second month using the Triplex combo and I am seriously feeling so great. Back to my normal self and energized like a person should be.

    If anyone would like to discuss this with me I am SO WILLING to talk to you about it because it has changed my life. I became an ambassador with them and have a website where you can purchase the product because I really am moved by this change in health and there are so many people that can benefit from these products. I cannot believe that I am painfree again and don't have to constantly check the ingredients list in anything and everything I am going to buy from the store or eat at someone else's house. Might I add, I no longer have that weird fog feeling that you get when you eat items that have fructans and fructose in them! : )

    My email: amjhnsn13@gmail.com
    My website: http://shopmyplexus.com/amandamjohnson13

    I do encourage you to at least reach out to me first as I would love to talk with you about how I started and the changes I noticed.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I just found out I have Fructose Malabsorption. I’m glad to find this blog! My Doctor is truly a gift from God it is SO hard to find a doctor that will look at prevention and nutrition! He wrote The Lyons Lifestyle and others and has a website where he tries to help people. I’m thankful for Dr. Lyons and now this blog to help the new walk I have before me. http://www.lyonsmedicalnews.com/ See what he says about Omega 3 and 6 maybe that could be a missing part for you.? Thanks again for this blog I just started reading and look forward to reading more.

    ReplyDelete