food tolerances

[Anna]

Hi to you all that have been doing this for a long time.  I'm really trying to tighten up my control to see if I feel enough better to try to get the genetic screen.  So, on looking up fructose contents of various foods, I have a few questions:

Oatmeal seems to generally be considered safe, but it seems to have 0.5 g fructose per 1/2 cup (dry measure) serving, which seems pretty high to me.

White pasta, when I check the nutrition labels, varies from 1 to 3 gm of sugars per serving...also seems high. 

White russet potatoes (which I've already noticed I definitely react to) are listed as anywhere from 1 to 3 gm of sugars per medium sized potato.  I wonder why this is listed as a safe food?  Seems that many of you don't tolerate it, either.

And is it safe to assume that bread made only from unbleached unenriched white flour (no malted barley), water, and salt, is zero fructose?

Shredded wheat is listed as zero sugars, but it says is made from 100% whole grain wheat, so doesn't that mean it shouldn't be as well tolerated as it is for many of you?

I'm limiting my diet to just meats, eggs, white rice, white bread, shredded wheat, oatmeal, a single small serving of steamed spinach, and a few mushrooms, but it seems with the above inconsistencies it may be actually quite a bit of fructose in terms of Hfi?  Yet, on reading practically all the posts that are on this site, this is what seems to work for many of you, or did I misinterpret?

Oh, and one last question:  can't seem to find much on chia seeds as far as sugar content.  I haven't used any yet, but was considering it as a source of fiber.  What do you think?

Thanks for any and all thoughts!

Ann

[Anna]

As an addendum, I should have also asked another question about the bread. I got a loaf of locally made sourdough, but the flour is enriched and has barley malt. Only other ingredients are water, salt, and yeast. After 3 days of trying to be ultra-careful, my round-the-clock stomach ache is mostly gone (comes back only after eating several slices of the store-bought sourdough), and I had a bad hypoglycemic response about four hours after eating the plain shredded wheat (but lunch was unavoidably delayed by about an hour and a half, so that might have done it anyway?).

Also, more of a "house-keeping" question: I keep trying to log-on as Ann, which was the name I used a couple of years ago or so, but whenever I put the cursor over the Login at the top right of the page, it disappears! Frustrating. And then, of course, as a guest, I can't use the name Ann because it's already taken. Any ideas on why this is happening?

[colormist]

"I'm limiting my diet to just meats, eggs, white rice, white bread, shredded wheat, oatmeal, a single small serving of steamed spinach, and a few mushrooms"

So out of these few things, the following contain small amounts of fructose: eggs, shredded wheat, oatmeal, spinach. My vote is still out on whether or not mushrooms contain fructose--but I eat them few and far between, so I'm not certain of their effect. If you're eating all these things on a daily basis, then you're going to have a cumulative reaction.

I seem to have less of a reaction with oatmeal than shredded wheat and it tides me over longer.

I'm not sure about your pasta. I've never seen a plain (dry, boxed/bagged) pasta that has any sugars listed in the ingredients.

I also tend to stay away from seeds (sunflower seeds, nuts, etc. all have fructose--so I tend to carry that over to other seed products). If you feel up to it and want to incorporate them into your diet... I have seen a few posts on here about chia seeds, but I didn't follow up on the results.

One of the challenges with the HFI diet is that the measurements of fructose/sucrose seem to be (at best) very inconsistent. I've even read that it's near-impossible to measure and distinguish between certain sugars (i.e. Fructose v. Dextrose). That's not even bringing in the factor of manufacturers contaminating the plain varieties of shredded wheat with the frosted varieties.

So we do what works best for us. What is easiest to maintain without having a reaction that impacts our daily functions. I would love not to be hypoglycemic, but I don't have enough time in my life to make sure every last ounce of food in my body is 100% free of fructose and sucrose.

As for your bread. I haven't personally had a reaction to barley malt. I would be curious as to the manufacturer's bread-making process. Are they baking it with other breads that have fructose? Are they prepping it in a room while fructose-containing foods are being prepped? I mean, I walked through a factory that was making safe & unsafe foods. There was SO MUCH sugar in the air! I got sick just from exposure to the sugar filled air. When I fill up my husband's sugar shaker or make him brownies from a mix, I have to be extra careful to pour things as slowly as possible so that I am not exposed to sugar-filled air. I guess, in short, maybe try a bread made at a different bakery or try a different bread at that bakery. Then again, maybe the barley malt they're using is a different variety than the barley malt my bakeries use.

And I almost always get hypoglycemic about 4 hours after eating shredded wheat for breakfast--sometimes sooner.

[colormist]

I just checked the login function. The words turn yellow on my browser when I hover (making them almost disappear on the yellow background), but I can still click. If you can't click, this is the login page for this board: login.proboards.com/login/1151239/1

[Anna]

Thank you for the input. Yes, I've been eating those things pretty much daily. I didn't know there was a cumulative effect (yikes!).

I'll alternate the shredded wheat with oatmeal and see what happens. The oatmeal on the package lists more sugars than the shredded wheat; maybe the contamination from the factory is at fault. Interestingly, this morning I had the shredded wheat again; opened a new box from a different store (Whole Foods versus Earthfare...my local Harris Teeter grocery no longer carries the plain Post brand I used to get a couple of years ago; they only carry the sugar frosted ones now...I guess another sign of our times and the food culture we live in) and did NOT get a hypo reaction, but then again, I had my lunch on time today. By the way, the package labeling on oat bran (which I've not tried yet, lists zero sugars per serving, whereas my oatmeal package lists 1 gm per serving, so maybe I'll try that. These are both Bob's Red Mill brand.

I think I'll save the chia seed experiment for some future date (like when/if constipation arises!).

By the way, your account of walking through that factory where the air was full of sugar dust is horrifying. I know the bakery that makes the sourdough bread I bought also makes sweet breads.

Regarding the login function, I just checked and I actually can login there even though the key seems to disappear...like you said, it's yellow on yellow and I simply didn't see it! So future posts will be as Ann.

Thanks again for the help,
Ann

[colormist]

I've noticed less of a reaction if I eat the big biscuit Shredded Wheat. The other (small bite-size biscuits) varieties always seem to have some amount of cross contamination with the flavored biscuits. I actually saw bits of frosting on the Trader Joe's Shredded Wheat bite-size biscuits AND the Kelloggs Un-Frosted Mini Wheats. Up to 1/4 of the box had partially frosted pieces and there were powdered sugar in the bottom of the bag!

Also, I've noticed that the instant oatmeal in single-serving packages tastes really weird and gross (again, maybe due to cross contamination?). I would recommend a giant canister of oatmeal (different packaging might make for a reduced opportunity for contamination) or buying a variety that doesn't have a flavored oatmeal option on the shelf.

You might still have a hypoglycemic reaction eating the big biscuit shredded wheat and the canister oatmeal, but my bet is that you'll notice it's way more manageable. There's also grits and cream of wheat that are decent alternatives (if you get tired of shredded wheat/oatmeal).

I haven't tried Bob's Red Mill brands yet. I'll have to check them out next time I'm in the store!

[ann]

Thanks again, Colormist. I was glad to have read your post BEFORE I went to Trader Joe's today...guess I'll never get shredded wheat there!!! Good idea on trying the big "bales" of shredded wheat. Makes sense that could have less contamination exposure.

Ann

[charlie]

Hi Ann, slowly catching up with folk so forgive me if I muddle things up a bit.

How far have you got with your diagnosis?

Only asking as alot of what you have listed that you react to will contain starch so could that be the issue?

Yes also cross contamination is a problem so source foods carefully while you are still working out what is going on

I see you mention Chia seeds. They are great to use, will be posting some recipes with them as been experimenting with them for a few months now for my daughter as she cannot have starch either. they are so versatile and she really likes them which was a very pleasant surprise. Great for energy too.