Letzte Aktualisierung am 11. December 2023 von Dr. Michael Zechmann-Khreis
The right diet for fructose intolerance
In the first few weeks after your diagnosis, please make sure you are accompanied on your journey by a state-approved nutritionist (dietician, …)!
Basic information on nutrition for fructose intolerance
If you have an intestinal fructose intolerance and deal with it correctly, you don’t have to worry about getting too few vitamins or minerals. You just have to choose your food more consciously and follow a few rules, then you can eat healthily even with fructose intolerance! Deficiency symptoms can occur especially when you are still looking for the right diagnosis. As the intestines are damaged, many substances cannot be absorbed properly. Deficiency symptoms may occur.
After the first few weeks (the period of abstinence or elimination diet), you can normalize your diet somewhat, i.e. you can consume small amounts of fructose and slowly increase these amounts. From then on, it is also possible to eat certain types of fruit and vegetables again and thus take in a few vitamins and fiber. Intestinal health should have improved or even normalized after the maternity leave. Pro- and especially prebiotic treatment can also be useful for this. This means that long-chain sugars such as inulin, oligofructose or other dietary fibers should be reintroduced into the diet plan.
In particular, the supply of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, magnesium and zinc can be at risk in people with fructose intolerance, as they consume little fruit and vegetables. Well-tolerated types of fruit should therefore be eaten regularly. It can also be useful to take vitamins via dietary supplements (prescribed by a doctor).
The aim should be to eat a balanced permanent diet again.
Do you have to give up fructose completely for the rest of your life?
No! Sugar, fructose and sugar alcohols should only be avoided as much as possible during the elimination diet. You can then experiment with small amounts until you have found your “dose”. Completely avoiding fructose (or sugar, sorbitol, oligofructose …) would only exacerbate the problem. You should also eat fructose (and other sugars) if you have intestinal fructose intolerance, but only in quantities that you can tolerate! These quantities change over time, so you can experiment again and again. It is important to learn to listen to your body.
Where can I find recipes?
On our partner site mitohnekochen.com you will find all kinds of tested recipes. You can also filter the recipes according to your intolerances.
What else can I eat with fructose intolerance?
Please note that the following list is not exhaustive and the foods are subject to natural variations. In addition, everyone reacts differently, which means you have to test for yourself what you tolerate well and what you tolerate less well! Our“Ask Ingrid!” app offers good help in any case.
Are well tolerated:
- Potatoes – do not need to be watered!
- Rice
- Cereals and products made from cereals: bread, pasta, gnocchi, … (no whole grains during the elimination diet)
- Dairy products without added fruit or sugar alcohols
- Eggs
- Salads: lamb’s lettuce (Austria: lamb’s lettuce), endive, cucumber, Chinese cabbage, zucchini, lettuce
- Vegetables well tolerated: spinach, avocado, bamboo shoots, celery root, chard, rhubarb, broccoli, Hokkaido pumpkin, zucchini
- Vegetables usually tolerated in a permanent diet: peas and chickpeas, cauliflower, kohlrabi, asparagus, white cabbage, peppers, fennel, carrots, radishes, radishes, beet
- Fruit that is considered tolerated (always test individually!): Bananas, papaya, mandarin, lemon, lime, coconut; apricots are sometimes well tolerated.
- Nuts (almonds, pecan nuts, walnuts, …) in small quantities (approx. a handful)
- Fish and seafood
- Meat and offal
- Oils (incl. butter, olive oil, rapeseed oil, …)
- Vinegar (preferably herbal vinegar; check the list of ingredients for vinegar too!); apple cider vinegar is also well tolerated; balsamic vinegar is poorly tolerated as it often contains grape juice or other fructose-containing additives.
Under no circumstances should you give up fruit and vegetables completely after the elimination diet.
How can I sweeten with fructose intolerance?
Instead of honey or sugar, you can use rice syrup, erythritol, stevia or dextrose (including rice syrup). You should not use any other syrups! Sugar is usually tolerated in small quantities, as it consists of equal parts fructose and glucose! If you are not lactose intolerant , you can also sweeten with lactose (milk sugar), but there is a risk of a laxative effect! Not all sugar alcohols are intolerable! Xylitol and erythritol in particular are considered to be well tolerated. Of course, this is not a license for excessive consumption.
Be careful with “fructose-free” or “light” claims on packaging
Recently, the industry has also focused on people with fructose intolerance. More and more often you read “without Fructose” or “fructose-free” on the packaging. So far we have been able to could not find a single product where this information was correct! So here is Caution advised! The devil is in the detail: sugar, i.e. sucrose, is broken down into glucose and fructose in the intestine. This is in small quantities – as mentioned above – unproblematic, but in larger quantities quantities, it almost always causes problems. 10g sugar therefore consists of 5g Fructose and 5g glucose. According to the law, “fructose” is something other than “Sugar.” I.e. foods that do not contain any additional fructose may be labeled as “fructose-free”, completely free from fructose. no matter how much sugar they contain. The law does not care what happens to the sugar happens in the body, which is also legitimate. And as long as he is outside the body, sugar is simply “sucrose” and not “Fructose”. Therefore, such products always require very precise Check the list of ingredients and the total amount of sugar to avoid unpleasant surprises. to prevent.
Short & sweet: Eating with fructose intolerance
- Deficiency symptoms are not to be feared during the elimination diet
- You should eat a balanced diet for the rest of the year
- Mineral-rich mineral water (preferably alkaline) and tap water should be drunk a lot.
- Soft drinks are poorly tolerated; light drinks are usually well tolerated
- Dietary fiber must be tested individually, but should never be completely eliminated from the diet; therefore, if tolerated, always use whole grain flour and whole grain rice (please test beforehand!)
- Prebiotic foods (containing oligofructose, inulin …) are good for the intestinal microbiome and can be consumed without any problems in a permanent diet, as the fructose is bound here and cannot be absorbed anyway
- Eat fruit and vegetables at least 3 times a week. The“Ask Ingrid!” app helps with this.
- Fruit is best consumed after a main meal and more in the afternoon
- Do not give up fructose completely after the elimination diet. This is damaging and exacerbates the problem. Find out individually how much fructose you can tolerate and keep questioning this amount and testing your limits.
- Dextrose improves the absorption of fructose. Caution: Do not use dextrose too often! It is better to avoid food containing fructose. Glucose should only be used as an “emergency solution”, as there is a risk of promoting insulin resistance.
- Enzyme preparations: Only use in exceptional cases! These preparations should not be used as permanent medication, as they convert the fructose in the chyme into glucose and so there is too much glucose (dextrose) in the digestive tract in the long term. This can promote intestinal colonization and upset the insulin balance. But that’s no problem when going out, on vacation or in exceptional cases!
- Any questions? Post in our Facebook group
Sources
1) Stryer, L., Biochemistry, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, 4th edition
4) Zechmann, M; Masterman, G; “First aid after diagnosis: fructose intolerance”, Berenkamp Verlag, 2013; 2nd edition
3) Kamp, A; Schäfer,Ch; “Gesund essen, Fruktosearm geniessen” Gräfe und Unzer Verlag, 1st edition 2007
4) Zechmann, M; Masterman, G; “First aid after diagnosis: fructose intolerance”, Berenkamp Verlag, 2013; 2nd edition
5) El-Kabbani, O.; Darmanin, C.; Chung, R. P.-T.; “Sorbitol Dehydrogenase: Structure, Function and Ligand Design”, Current Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 11, Number 4, February 2004, pp. 465-476(12)
