White Grapes?

[colormist]

I was talking with my friend about HFI and mentioned the sugar-balance equation we try to use to determine what foods are kind of safe. She mentioned white grapes and said "okay, so what if the glucose and fructose are equal, like white grapes? I just looked it up on dr sears. It says they are equal."

I tried to look them up on the nutritional database and couldn't find anything about white grapes there. So, I thought I'd ask you guys. Ever had any experience with white grapes? My initial thought is NO, but I thought I'd check with everyone here.

[olivias mom]

I only had one accidental episode with olivia and white grapes and she did not eat very many before she promptly started vomiting. I think I read somewhere that you tolerate black beans? I tried those once with olivia and she threw up with them too. What were the other beans that you eat?

[Tammy]

Regina has never tried any fruit, so white grapes are something that I would even think of trying.

Regina can eat green string beans, and yellow wax beans. That's it for her.

[colormist]

I do black beans, lima beans, green beans, kidney beans, lentils. I haven't tried yellow wax beans. I usually view grapes as a really sweet fruit. Before diagnosis, I used to eat the skin off the grape. That was about the extent of my tolerance of them. Maybe one or two, but I never really liked eating them.

[julienc]

I vaguely remember trying to eat grapes as a kid, but I think I'd only eat one before feeling sick. I wouldn't even think of trying them now.

I've always been confused on the bean thing - I think there are some HFI'ers out there who can't touch any kind of bean expect green beans and wax beans. I've always done fine, though, with lima, black, and pinto. I don't sit there and eat a huge pile of them, but a small, normal serving seems to do fine.

[colormist]

Speaking of huge piles of beans, I think I ate half a bag of limas at lunch yesterday (hey! I was lazy and didn't want to pay for a real lunch). No signs of a symptom.

[julienc]

I wonder why limas aren't on our safe food list? I think Sarah said she can eat them, and she is typically very sensitive. Maybe it should at least be part of the "in moderation" category like broccoli.

[olivias mom]

Not to jump on the splenda bandwagon but I still confused about what I read about it. Olivia seems to be pretty sensitive to most of the iffy things but she did tolerate diet soda with splenda without any issues. Of course it was'nt very often and we totally took it out of her diet when Dr. Tolan said no to splenda. I was just wondering if anyone has had splenda and if so was there a reaction? Also I'm sorry to be repetative if this question was already answered somewhere in here but what are your thoughts on nuts and seeds? I think I read in here someone eats peanuts but olivia doesn't want to eat them and of course I listen to her tastebuds so I don't encourage them. I also want to thank all of you regulars that reply on this website, I don't feel like I'm floundering on my own. You guys rock!!

[julienc]

Fred, thanks for the sugar data on Limas. That sounds a bit high, but maybe much of the 3 grams is in glucose. Do you eat them yourself?

Olivia's Mom: The only nut I eat on any kind of regular basis (once or twice a week with a small serving) are plain raw almonds. I've had them roasted, and they made me sick. I have no idea why, but I can only handle the raw ones. And to define small serving, I usually eat 10 to 15 of them per serving. I'll eat a few walnuts on occasion, and peanuts on the even rarer occasion.

As a kid I would eat a spoon full or two of the natural peanut butter (no sugar added), but I've just never been a big fan.

As for seeds, in the past I have eaten sunflower seeds in relatively large quantities and done fine. But it's tough to eat a lot of sunflower seeds when you have to shell them. I'll eat a few pumpkin seeds around Halloween since my husband loves to roast them, but again, we're talking just a few at a time. That's it for me in the seed family.

Can't help you on the Splenda thing. I've always understood that it's a "no", but I've never tested it out. Can you find soda sweetened with aspartame just to be safe?

Good luck.

[colormist]

Fred, It must have been something I read about DFI, then. I also thought I remembered reading something about white potatoes having fructose, but that they had enough glucose that they canceled each other out? I also try to drink lots of green tea and eat pixie stix whenever I have an accidental sugar ingestion. I don't know why, but it makes everything tolerable. I usually view it as my stomach/liver being preoccupied by the glucose--which probably isn't right. Also, when I get sick, I crave potato chips. I always thought it was somehow related. Maybe not.

I have tried splenda and it has made me sick. Splenda is sucralose, which is one of my triggers. I haven't been able to tolerate splenda or sucralose. It might just be a sweetness reaction, and not a real reaction. I also can't really tolerate aspertame. Here's a nice page about sucralose: sci-toys.com/ingredients/sucralose.html

[Tammy]

Regina tried the splenda and also got sick from it. In the very begining of Splenda's life, Dr Tolan's site said it should be ok. That's why we tried it. After awhile, Dr Tolan's site changed it. So I'm guessing more than just us didn't tolerate it after all.

Some of the diet sodas use aspartame and she does just fine on that. Watch diet coke. Sometimes its ok and sometimes its sucralose. We stick with Diet Pepsi, that way we know we're good. Except Pepsi One. That is the only Pepsi product to use sucralose.

Regina just loves her peanuts now. She eats them daily. We've been going through big containers of them. She did ok with the sunflower seeds as far as HFI, but wasn't a real big fan of them. I think they are too small for her to handle easily.

[lisa]

My DH likes to try things that I think are an absolute NO with Nate sometimes when I am not around. Last one he tried was 2 grapes which I discovered when trying to play sleuth on his most recent bout of BM and stomach troubles. Ugh! I couldn't believe it when he said "Well, it was only two."

Nate can't do sugar or splenda/sucralose. Sugar is the last ingredient in Cheerios and it gives him BM and stomach probs when he eats them. I did find an almost safe bagel with the last ingredient of sucralose though and if he eats them once or twice a week it doesn't cause big issues.

I'm still wondering if the berries that he seems to tolerate are really OK. He does have minor energy spikes and crashes when he eats them even if he doesn't have the usual troubles. Too many berries still do cause BM and stomach issues though.

I've decided that I'll probably never figure it all out and will just do the best I can and generally trust his judgement and reactions to strike the balance.

[Jane G]

About the potato chips, I think it is the salt in them as I have found out that it tends to cancel the "sweet" taste of foods and can settle a nauseous tummy. I use that trick when I'm in a situation where there is nothing else to eat but something with a bit of sugar in it.

[lisa]

To calm an upset stomach, I like to drink soda water with a spash of Angostura bitters. Unfortunately, it is billed as a "secret recipe" of herbs and spices, so I'm not entirely sure what's in it. Have any of you ever tried it? To me it tastes like unsweetened rootbeer. Makes the tummy settled in no time. Actually, it is good anytime. It is a flavoring that's readily available in most places with a full bar and probably in most full service liquor stores.