New To the Boards

[nlfitness]

Hey all,

I wanted to drop in a line and ask for a welcoming to the boards. I came across the boards a few years ago but for WHAT EVER reason never really dove head first into it all. I am currently 28years old and I guess the fact that I have not really felt all that great the last couple years and some recent decisions to try and further "clean" up my already reduced diet led me back here!

I have HFI that has been confirmed by Dr. Tolan and was diagnosed when I was a Freshman in college so about 21. Like all of you I always knew something was different but we never knew what it was other then I could not eat sweets(minus the ever mentioned crack of a.ka. pixie sticks, gobstoppers and smarties!!) So it was a relief to finally know that I wasn't crazy and there was a real reason why I had always been so cautious throughout my life.

I have always been active and even now I am a personal trainer and from the outside no one would ever suspect anything was wrong with me health wise. However as mentioned above I have over the past few years really fallen into a lull and have not felt right. I currently live in Nashville, TN and even went to the Vanderbilt Children's hospital here and met with one of their specialists and a nutritionist yet with no avail. They had not heard of HFI and the nutritionist pretty much presented me with the food pyramid and the other HFI info available from BU website. Needless to say I was frustrated with the time and money spent to meet with these individuals. On top of that they ran all my blood work and it all came back perfect...so why was I always slightly sick, tiered and felt like I was losing my memory?? I'm starting to think after reading most of your posts I see that it is simply because of my lack of personal dedication to keeping my diet fructose free.

The issue is I feel like I have always kept a pretty good eye out for sugars and avoided anything that tastes sweet to me...however it appears that is not enough to really keep ourselves feeling top notch. I uses spices, eat manufactured chicken, chips, and I am assuming other things that have hidden sugars in them.

So although none of you know me...yet i know you feel and know where I am coming from so a well deserved THANK YOU is offered up for all the information you guys are sharing on here. I am tiered of not feeling my best and hope that this will be the start of me really learning what to watch out for with HFI.

I look forward to continuing to read and learn more about all of you and I hope you feel as inclined to do the same with me!

[charlie]

Hi nlfitness

welcome to the board, great to have you on and I hope you find it useful as well as adding your experiences to hopefully help others. We are a friendly bunch on here - honest - all looking for the same goal, answers and a better life.

Good luck with your new year resolution! Its funny actually, mine has been to get fit and lose weight and although I don't have a fructose problem I have started just eating what Meg eats and I already feel better and fitter after a week as it has cut out cakes and biscuits and wheat (as she can't have that on the FM diet). So maybe there is some good.

Get very experienced in reading food labels, its amazing what slips through a first read, second read and even a third read, then when you have eaten it, reacted and re-read the label you realise what you missed. also recheck regularly used brands, they have a habit of changing their recipes suddenly and what used to be OK now isn't.

[colormist]

It can never be said often enough to read food labels. Even for things that aren't a sugar, like "natural flavorings" and "vegetable/chicken/beef broth" or "caramel coloring" all contain sugar.

I usually do a skim for sugar/words that end in "-ose", then a double check for other sneaky petes, like molasses, honey, cane juice, carrots, and onions.

Also, get ready to always be sad and angry at the grocery. Sometimes your favorite food will sneak in fructose and you'll have to find an alternative or just go without.

[nlfitness]

Thanks for the responses!

I guess I have kind of been in a state of denial the last couple years and thought I could just eat food that did not taste sweet to me(my pallet, as i'm sure most everyone's on here, is very sensitive to even the smallest amounts of sugar). But I have come to realize the symptoms that most of you feel after ingesting sugar is on a mild level what I have been experiencing the last couple years. I thought i had it all under control avoiding the "SURE" foods I couldn't have but haven't really paid much attention to the little additives and small doses of things that are in my typical staples. I was always told/thought I could handle small amounts of sugar so if I didn't get REALLY sick from something then it was ok to have. But it makes sense that the constant accumulation of small amounts can keep me in that constant state of low. From my stomach always being uncomfortable, tiered, spacey and even depressed at times.

So for all you guys and especially the newcomers from here on know that even someone who prides them self on keeping their health top notch, HFI has gotten to the best of me as well cause I thought I could not be as strict as I needed to be.

[esmee]

charlie,

You may want to read two very interesting books for your self that pertain to your recent experience.

The Sugar Fix by Dr. Richard Johnson

www.amazon.com/Sugar-Fix-High-Fructose-Fallout-Making/dp/B0068EOT7C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326215112&sr=1-1

The books explains how fructose is metabolised by normal people and why too much is not a good thing. there is an enzyme in the cell called fructokinase (this is totally separate from the aldolase B issue), and when it breaks down the fructose you have eaten is creates uric acid as a by-product. some people produce more fructokinase than others and those who do are actually at a disadvantage health-wise becaue they also create more uric acid (there is no disadvantage to not having this enzyme and there actually appears to be many advantages, i.e. there is no high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, or obesity in low fructokinase producers). The increased fructose consumption over the past 30 years is THE primary reason for the current high levels of obesity in the US. So, too much fructose is really not good for anyone, with the exception of people who produce only small amounts of fructokinase enzymes.

Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis

www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326215005&sr=1-1

I have not read this book yet, but it is getting really good reviews.