Pasta EVERY SINGLE DAY!?

[luisrodrigues]

For many years I have been scared to try pasta.
Yes, the regular Barilla semolina pasta. “Plain pasta”.
Simply because wheat products such as sourdough breads and beers allways caused a reaction.

I am a bit tired of only eating white rice and milk for my carbohydrates and Incas wondering if any of you guys ever had a problem with pasta.

If eating it everyday would be problematic for someone with HFI.

I never had an issue with white rice and can eat as much as I want without a reaction.
But I really would like to try it and replace the white rice everyday with pasta. Anyone here eats it everyday?
Have you ever had a reaction to semolina pasta?
The nutrition database indicates that pasta has fructose in it so that makes me a bit concerned.
Thanks in advance and appreciation for all contributors on this forum

[colormist]

Hi Luis!
I have never had any issues with plain (semolina) pasta or egg noodles. Whole grain/wheat pasta has given me issues and pasta sauces have given me issues, but never just plain pasta. I'm sure the fancy pastas they have out now with additives in them might give me issues too, but the plain stuff is the safe stuff.

The only issue you might have with a pasta-heavy diet is hypoglycemia as it will be difficult to keep your blood sugars steady. Definitely make sure you're eating protein with your pasta and you should be okay.

[ukbill]

Have you been positively diagnosed as HFI? CSID is 5x more common and in that condition Carbs cause a lot of issues (as dose Sucrose and starches).
It is a highly variable condition with lots of differing symptoms that may or may not be evident.

[luisrodrigues]

Thanks for all replies. I have been doing ok with the pasta, two meals a day the rest is mostly protein (beef,chicken) and fat (cold pressed olive oil, butter and egg yolks mostly)
Uk bill, yes I have been diagnosed with HFI after three genetic tests back in 2015. I was already an adult and it’s interesting how was able to “survive” this far simply by avoiding sweet tasting foods.. life is good. All of you stay blessed

[ukbill]

Have you tried ready made frozen mashed potatoes or powdered instant mashed potatoes?
These are ultra processed foods and like most ultra processed foods almost all the nutrient value (except calories) has been knocked out of the product in the processing.
I can eat many times the volume of Frozen mashed potatoes than I could ever do real mashed potatoes. Instant mash is really nasty stuff unless used as a cooking ingredient, for example as a thickener for a home made broth or soup.
Powdered mashed potatoes can also be mixed with wheat flour to make a heavy pastry that is nice if made into potato "cakes" for example, or as a wrapping for a pie or HFI safe pasty.
Suet pastry is great in the form of a pie crust or as dumplings in a stew or cooked in full cream milk (even with a little added cream) to make a nice "pudding".
In the Czech Republic they do a lot of potato dumplings stuffed with meats (and fruits not for us) which when served in a rich gravy is really good on a cold bitter winters day.
Suet pastry is also great if used to wrap meat or fish inside with lots of herbs. I have cooked beef and a pork fillet this way and a side of salmon too. Sometimes adding a little quantity of spinach leaves inside the pastry too.
Adding herbs to pastry also makes it far more interesting too as will egg washing the outside and sprinkling with cumin seeds or poppy / sesame / fennel / celery what ever you fancy, or just freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt crystals.
Fine or medium grain semolina makes a wonderful pudding too.. particularly if you add a little safe vanilla flavour to it and a grating of nutmeg / mace.
I have never got "on" with couscous at all, mostly I believe because it is all precooked in a vegetable "stock".
I hope these ideas get your creative juices going. not everything you make will be edible.. but always worth the effort to try.
Making your own safe bread is something that takes many attempts at to get an edible result (if not using a bread maker). However once you get it "right" then you will never want to eat shop bought bread again!
This is assuming you are not gluten intolerant of course.
Keep smiling and remember to eat safe!

[sar]

I had HFI symptoms all my life and assumed it was just some quirk. Then I took a DNA test and the results showed HFI.I eat lots of pasta, dairy and protein. Saw a dietitian recently who said I should cut back on pasta and have salad with it. Salads give me hypoglycemia within half an hour of eating them. How do you get enough fiber when you have HFI? All the diet advice about eating more fruits and veggies doesn't work for us. How do you have a heart-healthy diet when you've got HFI?

[antonia]

A balanced diet between carbs, protein and fat sounds perfect to me. I’ve not met a dietician that truly understands HFI enough to give sound advice. If vegetables are giving you hypoglycemia than any nutrients or fiber you’re receiving from them is not worth the trade off. It’s more detrimental to your health than beneficial. Animal based foods are much more nutrient dense than plant based foods anyway. If you are balancing your carbs with plenty of protein, fat and fiber it will lower the glycemic index of that carb, and this is what makes that carb “heart healthy”, and prevents diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, etc. All the bad things you hear about carbs are related to glycemic index (the rate at which glucose from that carb enters the blood stream) and carb load. Balance and moderation is key. Vitamin C is technically the only nutrient you can’t receive from the HFI diet, without vegetables, so you will need to find a safe vitamin C or multivitamin supplement.

Fiber is a tough one. My daughter does well with steel cut oats, so if you tolerate them that’s a great way to get fiber and it’s a lower glycemic indexed carb as well. I’ve heard others take psyllium husk. I would look towards whole husks as opposed to powder. It’s a more natural and gentle way to get your fiber. Our bodies were not designed to move finely ground, powdered fibers through our intestines. I’ve read about people taking a lot of powdered, fiber supplements actually ending up with a buildup of it in their intestines, and needing surgery to remove it.

[sar]

Thank you for the advice. Diet gets so confusing because I also have to make sure to increase calcium as my mother had osteoporosis and I have osteopenia. I asked my GP to send me to an endocrinologist because the HFI symptoms have worsened. I now have post-prandial hypoglycemia if I don't eat enough carbs at dinner. And my last blood tests showed a slightly lower than normal GFR rate. I don't know if this is related to the HFI, but my GP has ordered a re-test, plus a check of liver enzymes.

[ukbill]

it is posible you are still getting far too much Fructose in your diet. Hence more symptoms. few is any dieticians can get their head around HFI and understand that all sources of Fructose are poisonous to us.

[antonia]

Have you been tested for vitamin and mineral deficiencies? If you are taking extra calcium, monitoring iron would be a good idea. Talk to your doctor about the synergism between calcium, vitamin C and iron absorption. Symptoms of anemia can be similar to hypoglycemia. Or, of course, yes, you could just be taking in too much fructose. Especially if you’ve been eating salads every day.

[ukbill]

I get my blood tested every year for everything and it has always been fine. Only once was my Folic acid levels a tiny bit below normal range. Iron is fine.
Yeast extract sorts that out and also a decent beef steak has loads of folic acid in it.
I do take Vitamin D every day Winter and Sumer and a tiny amount of Psyllium husks... about 1/2 a gram a day is enough to keep my intestines working smoothly.
I also take slow release Vitamin C with additional Vitamin C and Zinc if I feel a cold or sore throat coming on.
That is all I have ever needed.