Pectin

[antonia]

Is it safe? Can't seem to get away from it in yogurt these days.

[colormist]

Isn't that derived from fruit? I don't think I've seen it in ingredients before.

[ukbill]

Its a gelling agent made from fruit it's true but it should be safe. .it having been processed to death to make a homogenous product that is both tasteless and uniform.

I buy either Greek style (strained and much thicker) or natural set Probiotic Yogurt in 2.2Lbs (1Kg) packs, which lasts around 5 days.. I have to share it with the dog.. she expects a spoonful when I make my breakfast, and it really seems to reduce her bad gas problems.. and when your dog is a Great Dane.. thats important let me assure you!

I think it has similar effects on me too

[antonia]

Oh Great Dane. I can imagine! Super cute though.

Speaking of gas... We tried some yogurt with pectin and while no immediate reaction it seemed to cause some digestive discomfort a couple days later, pain in the low, low belly (large intestine), smelly gas and even some nausea. I can't be certain it was the pectin but it didn't seem like a stomach bug, and it's the only new food she tried. It is a digestible fiber, so I think we'll let that one alone, not going to try it again. 

There are plenty of yogurts at the natural food store without additives. We've become kind of yogurt connoisseurs, trying all the different brands, texture and taste is different among all of them. But when at the regular grocer it's hard to find them without gums or gelling agents. The brand we tried with the pectin Palmera wanted to try because the container had a cute picture of a cow on the front. Pfft.

[colormist]

Antonia, was that Stonyfield yogurt? I tried their plain yogurt and it made me very ill indeed. Not sure what the hell they're putting in plain yogurt, but it is not safe for HFI.

[antonia]

We tried Brown Cow plain yogurt. The cute cow on the front was, you guessed it, brown. I have seen Stonyfield yogurt before too and always passed it up. So I’m guessing, yes, it probably has pectin in it too.

Edit: I looked up ingredients on Stonyfield's website. Their regular yogurt has pectin but their Greek yogurt does not. Greek yogurts don't need thickeners because the liquid is strained out making it naturally thicker than plain yogurt. I can usually find f*ge Greek yogurt at the regular grocer but sometimes have a hard time finding the whole milk or full fat version. They also have 2% and nonfat which is not as good. Eating yogurt without added sugar or flavor you really need the fat to make it palatable.

Okay weird, this thing won't let me type f*ge. I mean that as the brand F-a-g-e Greek Yogurt.

[ukbill]

Ahh wow did not know it was a digestible fibre.. yes that would be really bad. Its going to be converted into sucrose when digested in the lower intestine!

Opps sorry I slipped up there. should have looked into it 1st .

[antonia]

Well I did look into it and read that it was a soluble fiber. Not sure if that means the same thing as digestible? Also, although it’s described as a polysaccharide, I could not find anything that told me what kind of sugars it was comprised of. Palmera does fine with some fibers like xanthan gum which I use all the time in gluten free baking. She also eats a lot of oats, including steel cut oats, and baked goods made with oat flour and seems to have no issue with them.

[ukbill]

Problems caused by digestible Fibre seem to occur later in life as a result of years of abuse of the gut. watch out for the start of IBS type symptoms. hopefully your daughter will be immune to the issues.

[Stefanie (Ziba)]

Thank you so much for this thread. My son says his "mouth hurts" when he eats yogurt and we recently switched from Stonyfield greek to regular. Maybe that is the reason. I do not see pectin in the ingredient list on the container, but I suppose they may add it without listing it...

[antonia]

I've been reading more about pectin and find there is nothing about it that should cause a HFI reaction. It's comprised mostly of galcturonic acid which is a derivative of galactose (galactose and glucose make lactose or milk sugar). So I don't think pectin releases fructose upon digestion (like we suspect fructans might do).

Ziba, I found this and thought it might be a possibility for your son's reaction to Stony Field. Since we know they use pectin in their regular yogurt maybe there is some cross contamination?

www.livestrong.com/article/411544-fruit-pectin-allergies/

Palmera also has allergies and since allergies sometimes only present with GI symptoms I think it might be a possibility for her as well. Or just regular old digestive discomfort, who knows? All I know is it was the first time in a long time I had to pull the sick bags out of the closet and it brought back a lot of bad memories. No more pectin for us. But, so greatful we're not in that place anymore.

[antonia]

maplehill.com/product/drinkable-plain/

One of my favorite finds in yogurt has been the plain, drinkable yogurt by Maple Hills. It's got more different cultures/bacterial strains than I've ever seen in any yogurt. Great for gut health. And easy to take on the go. Palmera drinks it everyday. Our natural foods store stocks just a small amount at a time. Whenever we go there we buy out whatever they have on the shelf. But they must have a wide distribution because they're based in NY, and we're on the west coast.

[Stefanie (Ziba)]

Thank you, Antonia. It is difficult not to attribute every symptom/reaction to fructose intolerance. He seems fine with greek yogurt (Stonyfield), but not the "regular" Stonyfield yogurt. I think he does have some food sensitivities (maybe pectin is indeed a problem) because he often says his "mouth/teeth hurt". As he becomes more verbal, hopefully all will be revealed. In the mean time, he subsists on Smithfield Low Sodium Bacon, Homemade Hamburger Patties, Oatmeal, Homemade Pancakes (made with greek yogurt as he gets reflux from plain milk), and Manchego cheese.....not the most diverse diet, but I have seen non HFI kids who are picky and only eat 5 foods by choice!!

[Stefanie (Ziba)]

Thanks for the drinkable yogurt tip. I will look for a health food store in this area who stocks it!!