Can This Be the Holy Grail of the 'Safe Foods' Lists?

[Aksel's Dad]

A detailed and downloadable list that is available on the following address provides the sugar content of various foods:

www.food-intolerance-network.com/food-intolerances/fructose-malabsorption-intolerance/fructose-table-in-alphabetical-order.html

The list seems to have been prepared having 'fructose malabsorption' in mind. I would have a few questions regarding this list:

1) Can this list also be used for HFI patients? Especially for children between 5 and 12 years of age?...

2) The list contains a value that is novel for me: 'the ratio of fructose to glucose'. It is claimed that "if this ratio is less than or equal to 1, then the food tends to be more tolerable". Is this value of use to HFI patients?

Apologies if this list and/or my questions have been brought up on the forum earlier... I use the Search facility of the forum before asking my questions. 

As usual, many thanks in advance for your replies...

Armagan

[ukbill]

OK firstly Fructose Maladsorption (also called Fructose intolerance incorrectly) is a totally different condition.

Other than the word Fructose it has no relationship to HFI at all

Many Doctors and parents have mistakenly confused the two conditions.

This has never worked out well for the one with HFI!

With HFI we HAVE to avoid all Fructose, Sorbitol or Sucrose (table sugar which is 50% fructose 50% Glucose)

To us with HFI Fructose is a poison plain and simple..

A poison.

Think of it like that and you are on the way to understanding HFI.

I have not looked at that list because I have seen many like it for FM people it is totally unsafe for those with HFI.

Sorry if this appears abrupt and hard but it is essential that this is FULLY understood by all parents and carers of HFI babies, children and adults.

[colormist]

I looked over the list very briefly. It was not what I was expecting! It does list all the foods and their fructose levels, so you could use this list to find foods that no fructose (like mozzarella) and it would be considered a safe foods list.

As for your #2, any amount of fructose means your body eventually has to process it. With HFIers, that means a ratio close to one means the food will have a delayed HFI reaction. So an HFIer will not be sick within the hour, but it might take a few hours or even a day for a reaction to occur.

This is a very neat list, so thank you for sharing it! The one thing missing from the list is the other unsafe sugars. HFI boards tend to focus on Fructose, but there's a laundry list of other unsafe sugars (things like sorbitol and sucrose). For example, on this list it has red wine with 0 fructose, but it is definitely not safe for people with HFI.

[Aksel's Dad]

Apr 20, 2021 14:21:11 GMT -5 ukbill said:

OK firstly Fructose Maladsorption (also called Fructose intolerance incorrectly) is a totally different condition.

Other than the word Fructose it has no relationship to HFI at all

Many Doctors and parents have mistakenly confused the two conditions.

This has never worked out well for the one with HFI!

With HFI we HAVE to avoid all Fructose, Sorbitol or Sucrose (table sugar which is 50% fructose 50% Glucose)

To us with HFI Fructose is a poison plain and simple..

A poison.

Think of it like that and you are on the way to understanding HFI.

I have not looked at that list because I have seen many like it for FM people it is totally unsafe for those with HFI.

Sorry if this appears abrupt and hard but it is essential that this is FULLY understood by all parents and carers of HFI babies, children and adults.

Many thanks, as usual, Bill... I am still trying to understand the basics.

[Aksel's Dad]

Apr 21, 2021 8:27:10 GMT -5 colormist said:

I looked over the list very briefly. It was not what I was expecting! It does list all the foods and their fructose levels, so you could use this list to find foods that no fructose (like mozzarella) and it would be considered a safe foods list.

As for your #2, any amount of fructose means your body eventually has to process it. With HFIers, that means a ratio close to one means the food will have a delayed HFI reaction. So an HFIer will not be sick within the hour, but it might take a few hours or even a day for a reaction to occur.

This is a very neat list, so thank you for sharing it! The one thing missing from the list is the other unsafe sugars. HFI boards tend to focus on Fructose, but there's a laundry list of other unsafe sugars (things like sorbitol and sucrose). For example, on this list it has red wine with 0 fructose, but it is definitely not safe for people with HFI.

Dear Colormist,

Thank you so much. Your reply answered some of the persistent questions in my mind. Since the diagnosis of our son, I was wondering why HFI patients could not use the fructose lists that are used by FM patients. After all, weren't both groups of patients supposed to stay away from fructose? Now, thanks to your explanation -and especially the red wine example- I clearly see the reason why.

Your explanation about the connection between the fructose/glucose ratio and the timing of the emergence of the adverse reactions is also very valuable.

I and my wife are already benefiting from the recipes you kindly made available on Pinterest. However, almost none of the those brands are available in Turkey. Thus, we are in need of a list of plain ingredients, and that's why the list I posted had seemed attractive to me. My very limited experience on this forum tells me that there is no such a thing as a comprehensive, dependable and valid-for-all list. I have learned that Boston University or the Addenbrooks lists were not as 'safe' as they claim. I have also noted Ukbill's very useful revised version of the Addenbrooks list. Nevertheless, while being in touch with you, I would ask if there is such an alternative list you would recommend. Because, our room for maneuver in preparing our HFI patient son's meals seems to be frighteningly narrow, and we do not have the luxury of making mistakes considering the young age (5.5) of our son.

Many thanks in advance for your answer...

Armagan

[ukbill]

It is a steep learning curve.

Yes you are right to start from basic foods.

Some foods might be "tolerated" however this does not mean "safe" It means some HFI people can just about eat them, however any quantity will cause problems.

With FM people it is the ratio as you say and also sucrose is not an issue for them.. it is for us.

Leaf herbs are safe in any quantity they are likely to be used in food. This adds a great addition to the flavour of what is basically a meat, dairy and starch diet.

Cheese are also used by almost all of us as a key food source.

Cheese is high in all the good things growing children like and need.

At one time many HFI'ers were dying from eating large quantities of glucose which it turns out was contaminated with Fructose.

Glucose is supposed to be "safe" however all of it is made from vegetable origin.

No attempt is made to remove any fructose in any plant material used to make the glucose (usually Sweet-Corn also known as Maize) in the manufacturing process.

They thought it was safe because they did not get any immediate reaction..

However after an hour or so they would feel very unwell and hypoglycaemic so would have some more.

Because of eating so much Glucose their teeth all rotted away quite quickly too.

One good benefit from being HFI is we never get any tooth decay at all unless we eat glucose.

Keep smiling all will be fine.

[Aksel's Dad]

Apr 21, 2021 16:20:11 GMT -5 ukbill said:

It is a steep learning curve.

Yes you are right to start from basic foods.

Some foods might be "tolerated" however this does not mean "safe" It means some HFI people can just about eat them, however any quantity will cause problems.

With FM people it is the ratio as you say and also sucrose is not an issue for them.. it is for us.

Leaf herbs are safe in any quantity they are likely to be used in food. This adds a great addition to the flavour of what is basically a meat, dairy and starch diet.

Cheese are also used by almost all of us as a key food source.

Cheese is high in all the good things growing children like and need.

At one time many HFI'ers were dying from eating large quantities of glucose which it turns out was contaminated with Fructose.

Glucose is supposed to be "safe" however all of it is made from vegetable origin.

No attempt is made to remove any fructose in any plant material used to make the glucose (usually Sweet-Corn also known as Maize) in the manufacturing process.

They thought it was safe because they did not get any immediate reaction..

However after an hour or so they would feel very unwell and hypoglycaemic so would have some more.

Because of eating so much Glucose their teeth all rotted away quite quickly too.

One good benefit from being HFI is we never get any tooth decay at all unless we eat glucose.

Keep smiling all will be fine.

Your posts are always informative, encouraging and empathetic, Bill. Many thanks, as usual.