Vegetables?

[boron]

OK, in this article...
www.allhealthsite.com/211/hereditary-fructose-intolerance-hfi/

...I'm trying to make three lists of not allowed, possibly problematic, and safe foods in HFI.

Do you agree with these vegetables "ranking":

SAFE: celery, chick peas, green beans, spinach, white rice, yellow wax beans, lettuce(?), cucumbers (if not sweetened)

TO TRY: asparagus, chicory (in coffee substitutes), Jerusalem artichoke, leeks, onions (all these contain FRUCTANS), potatoes, rhubarb, carrots, green cabbage.

NOT ALLOWED: tomatoes, brown rice, sweet potatoes

What about lettuce, green peas? Any other suggestions?

I'd appreciate if anyone can check these polls also:
About safe foods, symptoms, and other intolerances besides HFI.

[julienc]

Cool link.

As for the list...I'd move carrots and green peas to the "not allowed" list. I'm also skeptical of having onions on the "to try" list. Most should be "not allowed", but as we've discussed here recently, many of us do fine with green onions which would put that variety of onion in the "to try" list. I think lettuce is fine, though I'm not much of a salad eater.

I have had issues with cucumbers in the past, so I'm suggest moving that to the "to try" list.

[pulsari]

I have had a look at this link and am suprised at the mention of "non wheat pasta"... Pasta is one of the only foods I eat frequently with no problem.

Does anyone else agree/disagree with this one?

[Tammy]

Regina eats a lot of pasta. It's one of her staples. She also does fine on all the items in the middle list, the one that says "MAY" be problematic.

One thing that was nice about this link was that when I clicked on the "recipes", it sent me to this proboard site.

[colormist]

I think I have pasta at least once a week. When I'm not having pasta, I eat SF bread or Shredded Wheat.

I would move lettuce and cucumbers to the to-try list. Dark green is the color you look for in veggies. Cucumbers are white on the inside, lettuce (ice berg especially) is mostly white. Dark green lettuces are fine on the safe list. The only reason I'm saying to move cucumbers to the to-try list is because I just grew a lot of cukes and have been eating them quite liberally. I got sick the other day from eating too much. It might have been because I let them ripen (and riper fruits and veggies have more fructose.) Anyway, you'll probably be fine if you don't eat a whole one or don't eat more than one whole one a week.

I'm agreeing with Julie that carrots & green peas are definite no-nos. White onions are also no-nos. Green onions/chives seem to be fine on the to-try list.

[boron]

Erm...what's dark green vegetables...beside spinach and shallots?

[colormist]

Tops of brocolli?

Not much, really.

[pulsari]

Its so funny how you say the tops of brocolli! As it is one of the only veggies I eat my mum used to give it to me in abundance and would make me eat stalks and all. As I did not like the stalks i used chuck them out when she wasnt looking ... now I know why! I just though I was being fussy in this case.

Does anyone else have issues with certain roast potatoes? I am finding that sometimes I can eat them fine but other times they taste very sweet and I cannot. I noticed the list saying that if they are overcooked or stored for a long time they can become sweet which I find very interesting.....

[ukbill]

Definite NO's for me, Jerusalem artichoke, leeks (raw or cooked) and carrots, also any root veg is generally out as most are in the sugar beet family. For example Parsnips, Turnips, Radish, Beetroot.

However I can, if I can get hold of them eat the leaves of all these providing I remove the stalks and the larger "veins" in the leaf.

Out too are most beans, peas, white cabbage, Tomatoes, Potatoes.

Pumpkin is out for me too.

Some varieties of Cucumber (the smooth skinned ones) are far too sweet for me, I used to be able to eat Cucumbers with no problems but for the last 20 years or so ever greater problems with Gas..

Perhaps farmers are growing varieties that are sweeter? Most commercial veg seed producers are constantly looking for sweeter tasting varieties. Peas are a classic example.

A very old variety called Marrofat Peas (used in tinned "mushy" peas, and sold in bags as dried peas) If boiled are not too bad I can eat a few but they are an OLD variety.. new ones are all far too sweet. (they add sugar when they tin them )

I eat Marrofat peas that are boiled and then dried and almost dry fried in spices and added to an Indian snack I can eat called "Bombay Mix". I have to look carefully because some varieties add sugar and most contain Peanuts, which I can remove, but they also contain chick peas and Lentils cooked the same way with a very tasty fried spicy extruded pastry noodle type thing.. difficult to describe. It is not very oily at all and extremely tasty I eat this if I need a snack to boost my Blood sugar while cooking or if food is going to be some time before its ready.

OK a bit off thread there sorry

Green Cabbage in the form of "Savoy cabbage" (crinkly dark green leaves) is good if veins (while bits of stalk that form the support for the leaf) are cut out. as is "Spring Cabbage" which is a leafy variety too.

I separate the leaves, wash and then remove the largest "veins" with a sharp knife, shred the cabbage and steam or stir fry in my Wok.

If cooked lightly in the Wok it is very tasty I am not keen on it if it is boiled soft.

Purple sprouting ( a form of Broccoli) is good but mostly stalk so very expensive given the amount that is edible.

Brussel Sprouts are very "iffy" I used to get fed them constantly as a child because my Mum, bless her, thought I needed the vitamins..
They are like very small cabbages that grow on a tall vertical stalk.

They are an essential ingredient in the "traditional" UK Xmas dinner.

Only one or two varieties of Potatoes are now edible to me so I mostly avoid now.

Again over the years they have become more sweeter as the varieties have changed.

The Oldest variety still available in the UK is "King Edward" a flour variety used to make Mash Potatoes, and is generally fine.

Ireland Is blessed with hundreds of really tasty old varieties of potatoes not found in the UK or even in France (another good place to find nice edible potatoes)

Most baking potatoes in the UK are far too sweet for me to eat even with loads of butter and melted cheese to try to mask the taste.

Spring onions (scallions) and shallots I use all the time .. I know I should not but I LOVE the taste.

The beauty of shallots is that they contain massive amounts of flavour for their size so a very small shallot (very small plum size) will give as much flavour as a large (cricket or base ball) sized onion.

I Hope this helps?

[billiejh]

HI Bill, just read your post about vegetables. We have boxes of marrowfat peas, and I think I've seen them in bulk too. Our neighbors are from England and got us onto "mushy peas" many years ago. So you think they are a possibility to try? In small quantity? I can't find much info on the sugar content of these, but just that they are left to dry and mature well beyond other types of peas, and the sugar content decreases as they age. How much can you eat? A tablespoon or two?

[ukbill]

Something like that.

I sometimes add them to a soup as well but not too many.

I also use Yellow dried peas in Pees Pudding by putting them in a cloth bag and boiling them with a Ham joint. You need to allow for room to expand in the bag as the peas swell up a lot!

If you have problems getting a bag to suit try a new un-dyed cotton dish cloth.. cut open one seam and then boil for 20 min before use.

1 un-dyed cotton Cloth bag,
250 g Split yellow dried peas, or marrowfat peas,
1 large Raw Ham or Gammon Joint
5 or 8 black pepper corns
5 Bay Leaves
A small amount of Cumin seed and ground Coriander
A few cloves (spice)
2 or 3 cloves of Garlic if liked

Put Gammon / ham joint into the large pan cover with water and bring just to the boil, Remove joint and change the water (this gets rid of the overpowering saltiness)

Then add the herbs and spices to the fresh water put the bag of peas and meat into the pan.

Cook slowly until joint is cooked through and the peas have turned into a mush (like mushy peas).

If the peas are not fully cooked (soaking them for 12 hours before hand is a good idea) then remove the meat when cooked and continue cooking the peas in the stock until mushy.

Eat with creamy mashed potatoes lightly boiled or steamed spring cabbage leaves and parsley sauce.

A little gas is the only side effect I get.. although the wrong variety of potatoes can cause a lot of problems..

Anything left can be made into a nice soup for the next day providing the stock is not too salty.

Add left overs (holding back the meat just for now.) potatoes, Peas pudding, cabbage and parsley sauce into the stock after removing the spices and bay leaves.

Heat up and blend with a hand blender to mix all together.. chop remaining ham into small chinks and add to soup. I add a little Soy sauce as well (although it is salty so not if already on the edge)

IF too thin then before adding the meat add some pearl barley and cook for 20 min then blend again, then add meat.

Enjoy!

Opps this should be in recipe section sorry !

[boron]

fred: I did accept most of your proposals.

But these stay on TO TRY list: white potatoes (since new or overcooked p. may cause problems), lettuce, green cabbage, rhubarb.

[lisa]

I would move stevia to the "to try" list. I don't remember seeing that anyone has tried it and had a bad reaction. I believe it is on the no list because of the inconsistent regulation of its production. (That's why US producers can't call it a sweetener, but it is sold as a food supplement.)

[millan]

For me, the list would read as follow:

SAFE (I can eat any day): rhubarb, potatoes, spinach, white rice, lettuce (both green and ice berg), cucumbers (if not sweetened).
I also eat avocado. Don't know if you've left it out deliberately since it's a fruit, but I think it should be in this grouping, for me it's safe, don't know about the others.

TO TRY (i.e. I could eat a little once in a while but not every day): brown rice, asparagus, green beans, leeks.
I also eat radishes sometimes, I sometimes try to nibble on broccoli but always end up throwing it away.

NOT ALLOWED (most of these I have tried once or twice and found the taste to be too sweet to even consider, sweet potatoes I must admit I haven't eaten, I just assume they're not ok): tomatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage, green peas, onions.

Then there's those I either haven't tried, don't know what they are or have simply assumed they are not allowed:
yellow wax beans, celery, chick peas, chicory (in coffee substitutes), Jerusalem artichoke.

[ruskiny]

Try eating just brasecea - broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, brussels sprout- basically all the bitter tasting ones, I agree if it is very dark green it seems to be ok. Green beans - apparently these 'may' release fructose at the cooking stage so if in doubt leave them out. Onions are full of suger and I would avoid all like the plague - garlic is the same family approx 20% weight is sugar.

[swimfitnut]

I did a month long test to see what veggies and some fruits that I can tolerate. I tried cooking them different ways and eating them raw. My conculsion: no fruits and veggies ever. I do want to try yukon potatoes as home fries. The naturopath that I've been talking to over the phone said that yukon potatoes have 45% less fructose (from starch) than other kinds. So, I want to try that. I wonder if cooking them in peanut oil would be ok??

[tikitavi]

I seem to agree too, pretty much ALL fruits and veggies cause me problems. I haven't found anything safe!