Why Does Our Body React: Watch Out for Hidden Fructose
Fructose is found in fruits and is known as "fruit sugar." Honey, molasses, grapes, tree fruits, the melon and watermelon family, and berry fruits contain large amounts of fructose. However, fructose is found not only in fruits but particularly in some root vegetables as well. It is a natural sugar found in different amounts in every fruit and vegetable. It is stored more slowly than glucose. In particular, when the same amount of fructose and glucose is consumed, blood sugar levels rise faster in those who consume glucose.
There are two commonly used types of fructose: crystalline fructose and corn syrup. These two types of fructose are often mistakenly assumed to be the same product. Crystalline fructose is a product produced from a fructose-rich type of corn syrup, containing only fructose and being a monosaccharide, while high-fructose corn syrup is a disaccharide obtained by mixing glucose and fructose.
Fructose is a sugar that is frequently claimed to cause, or be capable of causing, health problems. The liver has a constant tendency to convert fructose into fat. In addition, fructose causes damage in the human body similar to that caused by alcohol products.
WHY AND HOW DOES SENSITIVITY TO FRUCTOSE DEVELOP
Fructose sensitivity is a treatable condition, often overlooked, that develops due to the inability to make fructose absorbable and digestible—rarely congenital (familial, hereditary), and more commonly due to intestinal flora disorder.
Under normal conditions and within a healthy diet, we consume an average of 50 grams of fructose per day. However, in people with sensitivity, fructose—which will be difficult to digest—passes from the intestines into the blood only very slowly. When the fructose that cannot be absorbed and remains in the intestines is used by bacteria, gas and acid formation occurs, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea. Many foods contain not only fructose but also sorbitol, an alcohol, and sorbitol is also poorly absorbed like fructose, even further hindering the absorption of fructose by the tissues. For this reason, foods containing both substances (e.g., pears, plums) cause sensitivity complaints to occur more frequently.
CLINICAL FINDINGS IN FRUCTOSE SENSITIVITY
The most common clinical complaints in fructose sensitivity that develops later due to intestinal flora disorder are:
- Excessive gas formation
- Intestinal cramps
- Disruption of bowel movement regularity
- Weakness
- Abdominal pain
- Concentration disorder
- Fatigue
DIAGNOSIS OF FRUCTOSE SENSITIVITY
As with lactose intolerance, the diagnosis of fructose sensitivity is made through food and intestinal flora analysis. For this, the methods we commonly use are frequency comparison tests and holistic diagnostic methods.
TREATMENT OF FRUCTOSE SENSITIVITY
In treatment, fructose consumption should first be restricted. Otherwise, mucosal damage—particularly of the small intestine, which is highly sensitive to fructose—can continue and turn into an inflammatory condition. While the normal daily fructose consumption is 50 grams, this amount should be reduced to 20-25 grams per day in those with fructose sensitivity. Although an average restriction period of two weeks is considered sufficient, ideally this period should be determined individually and dynamically through follow-up of the diagnostic tests. Supporting the intestinal flora and ensuring intestinal nourishment through neural therapy are two other important pillars of treatment. Once it is determined that the sensitivity has resolved, the daily amount of fructose should be increased gradually, carefully, and slowly over time, with the same care given to infants transitioning to solid food.
To carry out fructose restriction, it is essential to know how much fructose different foods contain.
Foods that do not contain fructose:
- Milk, unsalted white cheese, cheese
- Eggs, red meat, fish, chicken
- Butter, margarine, vegetable oils
- Starch, rice, pasta
- Pastries such as white bread, cake, and buns (containing no glucose)
- Potatoes
- Spices
- Coffee, tea (except fruit teas), water
- Glucose, calorie-free sweeteners
Fruits with fructose content (g / 100 g):
- Grapefruit, quince, gooseberry 0.25
- Orange, apricot 4.3
- Sour cherry 4.5
- Kiwi 4.7
- Peach, tangerine 4.9
- Plum 5.1
- Currant 5.5
- Melon, cherry 6.1-6.2
- Pineapple, yellow plum 6.4-6.6
- Mango 7.1
- Apple 7.5
- Grape 7.9
- Rose hip 8.1
- Banana 8.6
- Pear 9.8
- Dried fig, plum, apricot 24-26
- Raisins 32
- Dried apple 38
Watch Out: Hidden Fructose (g / 100 g)!
- Sweets (confectionery) 30-95
- Household sugar 50
- Chocolate 20-30
- Diet jams, nut butter 25-50
- Ice cream 7.5
- Ketchup 12
- Tomato paste 6.5
- Salad dressings, grill sauces 2-4
- Beef 2.6
- Mustard, vinegar 0.3-0.4
To learn more about this and similar topics, you can benefit from my books "Beautiful, Happy and Healthy," "Discover Life," and "My Forgotten Body."