I want your design

[clevermanka]

Thanks to anomali for this very handy website that lists fructose malabsorption trigger foods. Of course, most fruits and sweeteners are off the menu (no surprise), but there are a few things I'm going to be Very Sad to see go. Asparagus, leeks, and onions are in the Very High Risk category. High risk foods include cabbage, tomato, and zucchini. Sweet potatoes are in the Moderate Risk section. Other websites indicate some vegetables that this list don't include: artichokes, eggplant, broccoli, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, celery, Brussels sprouts, lettuce (no huge loss there) turnip greens, mushrooms, okra, beets, spinach, and carrots. But a website that redheadfae sent lists spinach as okay, but puts kale in the danger list.

I need to figure out how to deal with that, seeing as I have a big old bag of baby kale in the fridge right now, and I had a bunch of it with supper last night. Should I just finish the bag and not buy more this month?

For the month of June, I'm eliminating the vegetables listed as problematic for people with fructose issues, and will not eat any fruit at all. I need to think about if I'm going to worry about the small amounts of date syrup and pomegranate concentrate that I use in my beef jerky marinade. I use about a quarter cup of date syrup and a tablespoon of pomegranate concentrate per batch (usually around 3.5lbs of raw flank steak). I've tried making jerky with no sweetener and it tastes...not so great.

This means I can't eat my kimchee, either, which I find Oh So Amusing. Its ingredients? Cabbage, carrots, and leeks. I also saw coconut milk on that second website. So, no coffee for me for this month, either. *headdesk*

It's...a little overwhelming. And when I say the number of foods I'm eliminating is overwhelming? It's Pretty Damn Overwhelming.

I'm cutting way back on the drinking, too. I figure I'm going through all this, I might as well have a secondary goal. So I'm going to see how much I can lean down in thirty days by eating super squeaky clean. I'm not calling this a Whole30, because I'm still going to allow myself a glass of wine or three on the weekends. But other than that, I'll be adhering to a fairly strict Whole30 schedule.

This morning's stats: 156.6lbs; waist=30"; navel=38"; hips=41". Let's see if those numbers change by July 1.

ETA: Hm. I'm now reading things that say to stay away from pro- or pre-biotics. So I guess taking my probiotic supplement this morning wasn't the best thing I could have done. Does this end? Seriously. Does this ever end?

Updating this as I read more websites: There is a staggering amount of conflicting information out there. Food lists on one website directly contradict food lists on another. Very frustrating. Why can't I find a website that lists foods by fructose/glucose ratios? I'm sure one is out there. My internet search skills suck.

There also appears to be conflicts between acceptable foods for fructose malabsorption and those trying to keep to a diet that avoid FODMAPs. Looking at how these two overlap and conflict, I'm getting a little worried that if I eliminate the problematic foods from both lists, there will be no vegetables available to me--or the list will be so small and limited as to make me concerned about becoming malnourished. This is frustrating.

And now, to end with something less depressing. You and me could have a bad romance, baby.

Comments

[miischelle.livejournal.com]

oh honey....

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yeah. I don't use this phrase very often, but I think at this point it's appropriate:

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's a lot to eliminate. I'm curious to see how your experiment goes.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

ME, TOO. =D

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that fruits and veggies can either accumulate or not (word missing here I can't find) fructose, such as new potatoes=high fructose; older potatoes=less fructose, and some go the opposite, so *baby* kale, like baby spinach may be just fine.
Remember: NOTE: the above list of safe foods is pretty strict. A person with mild fructose malabsorption will be probably able to safely eat most foods from to try list and even some foods from to avoid lists. aaaand... I've seen other lists differing.
This first list doesn't take into consideration the ratio of fructose/glucose, which is something I've read into, and it makes a difference to all but the most sensitive folks, so... it's a personal experiment/decision, I think.

Read more about it on this site (http://sites.google.com/site/fructmal/diet), which goes into much more explanation than just eat this/don't eat that. It offers suggestions that have worked using Dextrose as a supplement for the problematic foods.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

*baby* kale, like baby spinach may be just fine.

Interesting! And good to know. Thanks for pointing that out. I missed it on the other info websites. I know I'm going to be reading about this pretty much all morning before I go to the grocery store, so feel free to post or email me any other links.

[anomali.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about that new/old bit myself and the difference between, say two species of the same veg. I know that these both make a difference in the glycemic index, so I suspect that it does here as well.

The more that I have learned about nutrition over the years, the more questions I have, which always seems to be the way, doesn't it? I guess that is why we all continue to research and experiment.

(I am totally bookmarking that Shepherd-Gibson article to share with a friend with IBS. You never know, it might help her.)

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

SRSLY... plus, new discoveries and old myths are busted every year.
I found most of the really good info I get is from Aussie websites, they aren't biased by our FDA. It's where I first found out a lot about the myth of soy as Health Food, ha!

Sue Shepherd is considered an expert on all this, but there are others who don't agree with all her findings.

From what I've read, a lot of this is very helpful for IBS, including eliminating glutens.

[shrijani.livejournal.com]

Sweet shrieking jumped up Jesus.

I will see if my Google-fu is working this morning, while I try to wake up. I suppose it is only barely morning, but whatever. I will let you know if I find anything.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Any and all links are much appreciated. I'm too depressed and emotionally exhausted at this point to do more research myself.

[shrijani.livejournal.com]

I am not having much luck finding anything that provides information other than what you have been given. =( I will keep looking... perhaps, buried deep in the thirteenth page of hits for my carefully crafted search terms, lies the answer...

[shrijani.livejournal.com]

Well, except for conflicting information that doesn't make any fucking sense, that is.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

For. Real. The amount of conflicting information out there is staggering.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

Ugh. Well, I am buckling down to eating super strictly for the next month myself so I'll be in solidarity with you. Not the same thing, I know, since nothing dire happens to me if I fall of the wagon (other than REMAINING FAT STILL. I mean, STILL. how long has it been now that i've been buckling down Real Soon Now? Fuck.)

Er, sorry, side-tracked by my own MEMEMEMEMEME ME obsession.

I would, however, be a very sad thing had i had to give up onions.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

SOLIDARITY FISTBUMP YO

Ha! No apology necessary. I have a tendency to MEMEMEMEME all over people, too,

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

http://www.ibsfree.net/ibsfree_at_last/

You might have already seen this site; I was googling to find out what the heck fructans were, and this was one site....

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thanks! All the websites are starting to blur, but I don't think I've seen that one. Much appreciated.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

I don't blame you for getting sort of cross-eyed reading all of it, let alone getting cross!

I think the hardest part is that from the different sites, it appears to be a very variable set of triggers. If you look at the tummytrubble list, the amounts of fructose in each item don't really have any particular correlation to where they are in the list. So you can't just say "No fructose" and you're home free!

I'm not contradicting the list, but I have a feeling that a person's trigger foods are pretty specific to that person.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right. Which is why I'm leaning more and more toward forking over the dollars to work with someone who has an education in this sort of thing.