Fructose Malabsorption

[cybloo]

Has anyone been diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption (it's also referred to as Dietary Fructose Intolerance, but that's kind of an "old" term).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption

 

[Working Poor]

I don't need a doctor to tell me what is good for me and what is not because I pay attention to my body. I know my body hates HFCS and artificail sweeteners. These are big corpor's way of saying we want to kill you while making money they should be illegal.

 

[Icymudpuppy]

I don't need a doctor to tell me what is good for me and what is not because I pay attention to my body. I know my body hates HFCS and artificail sweeteners. These are big corpor's way of saying we want to kill you while making money they should be illegal.

Fructose is not necessarily HFCS.

There are many different kinds of sugars.

Sucrose is the kind that forms crystals at room temperature and is typically harvested from sugar cane and sugar beets.

Fructose is the kind that is a thick liquid at room temperature and is typically harvested from tree-fruits, apples, pears, mangos, peaches, etc. It is actually derived from flowers, thus Honey is primarily Fructose.

Glucose is blood sugar and is the chemical conversion that all hydrocarbons are converted into in an animals digestive system to be used for cellular energy. It can be harvested directly from any animal blood, and is the primary source of energy for vampire bats.

There are other types of sugars, but these are the three you hear about the most.

high fructose corn syrup is considered bad, but honey which is high fructose, and raw apple cider which is high fructose are considered good.

 

[cybloo]

The condition is easily diagnosed without a doctor (I'm not recommending anything...) but it's kind of one of those things one might want to be 100% certain because the changes to lifestyle are drastic. If you know a doctor whom you trust and think you have a problem with fructose, then a breath-test might be a possibility.

I only ask because I was diagnosed about 3 years ago and was misdiagnosed with IBS for 8 years. The whole experience showed me how much I should have not liked my doctors. The "formal" test for FM involves a hydrogen breath-test where they give the patient a solution of water and fructose to drink, then monitor the patient's breath for up to 6 hours (it was 4 hours in my case). The one people can do at home is go on a completely fructose-free diet, which is a difficult thing to do. After about a week, slowly introduce new food items that contain fructose or foodstuffs that break down into fructose. Keep a detailed journal of all portion sizes, types of food and research the fructose-to-glucose ratio. For example, I can eat a handful of raspberries or 2-3 strawberries once every few days but if I eat an apple, I've got to contend with stomach flu-like symptoms for the rest of the day.

My doctor, a gastroenterologist - who isn't my doctor any longer, led me on a wild goose chase for 3 months of medical test after medical test with the conclusion being a hydrogen test (they should have just given that to me first or told me to try the diet, which I was told about after the fact!). During that 3-month period, I lost about 40-50 pounds, had no idea why I was sick, and gained a whole new perspective of the medical complex. My FM story is pretty awful and totally falls under the TMI category, so I'm not going to go into details. I just wanted to know if there were any other FMers on the RPF and what some of their experiences were.