After effects of eating Fructose

[ukbill]

This is horribly long, sorry, but there is no way to really cut it down much.

There was a discussion in another thread (Avoid KFC I think) where HFI’s started discussing after effects and “binge eating” if we accidentally eat the wrong thing.

This started a train of thought. as follows:-

Those of us with HFI, if we eat wrong food we sometimes get very hungry and eat far too much.. next day get bad head lethargy etc..

From leaflets in my local Pharmacy I got the following:-

1/. Hypoglycaemia (blood sugar too low)

Symptoms , Headache, Aggressiveness, Hunger, Shaking, Feeling Weak or Faint, Dizziness, Sweating, Dry Mouth. (ring any bells anyone??? I'm familiar with all of them.)

2/. Hyperglycaemia (Blood Sugar too high)

Symptoms , Blurred Vision, Lethargy, Increased Urination, Increased Thirst, Cramps / Weakness, Dehydration, Ketones in Urine, Increased Likelihood of infection, Weight Loss.

At times I get all of the first 4 of the Hyperglycaemia and all of the Hypoglycaemia although sweating is not a common thing unless I really have a BAD reaction (like drinking a glass of Coke by accident).

So lets we develop this further..

My understanding of the reaction WHEN we eat Sugar or Fructose containing foods.

Firstly:- Our blood sugar level goes up as it should do as the body adsorbs the nutrients.

However we can only "burn" the Glucose so the Fructose stays in the blood stream and is not "burnt" so…

Secondly:- We run low on Glucose and we go Hypoglycaemic although our total blood sugar is OK by "normal" standards.

Follow me so far?

IF we then Binge eat to try to top up our glucose levels we can force our blood sugar up to its maximum and provide us some Glucose to help avoid the worst of the feeling really very ill through having very low glucose levels.

This is what I used to call "balancing" if I eat the wrong things or have to eat a meal that contains a small amount of sugar containing ingredients.

I suspect it is possible for us to override our own body’s control of blood sugar somewhat because we (well me for one) can suffer both the effects of having Low blood sugar and High blood sugar at the same time!

Sherri said in a posting “I too find that I will graze like cattle! I am so thirsty too”

Sounds like we are on the right track yes?

I certainly have to avoid getting thirsty and if doing any sustained physical activity have to drink lots of fluids to avoid going Hypoglycaemic.

This could be caused by the body using body fat to convert back into blood sugar.

Naturally our bodies like every one else’s (“Normals” or Non HFI if you prefer ) convert Body fat reserves back into Glucose and Fructose, when we do not have enough to eat.

So in effect we start poisoning ourselves!

Great! That makes dieting difficult so take care when trying to loose weight Ladies and Gentlemen!

However our biggest problem is not the initial reaction but the long term damage done when the body gets round to trying to dispose of all this Fructose in our systems and has partly broken it down.

The remaining by-products of the partially broken down Fructose damage the Liver and Kidneys on their way out!

So long as the Fructose episodes are infrequent the human body is fantastic at repairing itself.

However if Fructose is in the diet frequently then damage occurs faster than the body can repair itself.

So a child (or adult) with a resent diagnosis will frequently show signs of liver damage, if not a “Fatty Liver” then “and they also say that his enzymes are still elevated” as JDS Mommy2009 has reported in a posting

Since thinking about this and realising the main problem I had was the long term damage to my system as a result of “balancing” BAD foods with GOOD foods,

I have for about 12 months now been weaned myself of the little things we all like to “cheat” with.

In my case onion, particularly fried onion, nuts and beans (lentils and red kidney) and the addition of a very small amount of tomato concentrate in chilli beef, and peppers added to stews and stir fry’s, I remove the peppers before eating but obviously the sugars get into the stock.

I want to report I feel SO much BETTER!

Nearly permanently gone now are the cramps and “gut rot” that effected me for days particularly after eating lentils and Chilli

I also feel far more mentally "sharp" more of the time, although my friends will comment that I am starting from a very low point to measure from ie. I'm as thick as two short planks. Felt I had to get that one in before they did!

I would value your comments and experiences?

Am I on the right track or just round the bend? ;D

Sorry this is so long and please give yourself a gold star if you have managed to read it all the way through.

Keep smiling.

[colormist]

To emphasis Bill's point, last night I was cooking dinner (and eating a cube or two of cheese)--I hadn't consumed anything potentially unsafe in over a week and hadn't had anything that was really unsafe in over two weeks (asparagus)--and talking on the phone when I felt cold. I felt like I was coming down with a fever. Then I started sweating, shaking, weak, and became insanely hungry. I was going to make a pasta salad, but I needed something that would take 10 seconds to make, not 2 minutes, so I threw olive oil and Parmesan on my pasta and chowed down. I had two bowls before I felt like I could function.

This all happened within five minutes. I've never had it strike that quickly or severely. Usually the onset of hypoglycemia is about 15-30 minutes.

I've been pondering how to lose weight for a while. It usually involves eating more food--which is completely not helpful. I think for HFIers the only real solution is to eat smaller portions more frequently. That means eating safe, low glycemic food about every two hours. That's where the problem for HFI fits in as most of the low-glycemic foods are not HFI safe.

I think I was eating olives, triscuits, slimjims, and cheese cubes as snacks.

Going the low-glycemic route was easier than exercising. To exercise successfully (with glucose energy drink), I found I had to eat a small meal (half of your dinner) before exercising and eat another small meal immediately after exercising. I also can't exercise for a few days after a food-related mistake.

[anastazya]

I usually eat every 3-4 hours. This helps my weight because I don't have too much to eat at once and it helps to regulate my blood sugars so I don't go into hypoglycemia.

[esmee]

Dear ukbill

I consider your thinking here to be absolutely brilliant. Thank you for sharing you ideas. Very, very interesting indeed.

Esmée ♥

[gretchen]

I agree! UKBill, thanks for explaining all of this. It really helps me understand how this works and also to start to consider what would happen on different levels of fructose. I might function pretty well on X grams of fructose per day, but might I not feel much better if I went down to X/2?

It also helps me understand that a one-time exposure to more fructose than is healthy is at least better than repeating the slip-up again while my body is trying to detox from the first time.

[nlfitness]

Good Points... I however don't seem to get extremely hungry after ingesting fructose like some of you mention. However 5-10mins after getting something with fructose in me it hits me like a ton of bricks and I go though the shakes, sweats, chills, and terrible cramps! However the last thing my body wants is something else to eat. All it wants is it out as fast as possible, typically from the lower end, so how it gets through me so quickly I do not know!! Oddly enough it almost always comes in 3 waves. Like clockwork the first wave will come, then I feel better, but it is followed by 2 more almost equally spaced apart. This makes fun for driving down the road as I always hope there are exits evenly spaced or hang out in parking lots for a while! After the 3rd has come and gone I feel better, probably not 100%(although like I said in my initial post I have not felt "good" for a couple years now) but better.

To Colormist, as for helping maintain the weight, you are correct with eating smaller frequent meals through out the day. I typically eat 5-7 times a day and almost always have a protein and carb at each meal. I have never had a weight issue, but at the same time I have always been very active. I preach this same methodology to my clients as well, but I think it is more important for us to keep level.

[esmee]

nlfitness--I am sorry if this is a redundant question, but is it possible that you have FM and not HFI? as you bowel symptoms sound a lot more like FM.

[nlfitness]

Well that could very well be a possibility but unless the test results were wrong from Dr. Tolan at BU who confirmed I had HFI. And it's not something that always happens. Maybe I need to research it more but it seems to match up pretty close

[colormist]

Yup, I'm going to concur with esmee. Bowl issues are usually indicative of FM and not HFI. You mentioned your tests came back positive for HFI, though. I don't recall whether you indicated it was an oral, liver, or gene test.

If you have FM, nlfitness, I'm going to be super depressed. I was all prepared to pick your brain on how your diet/exercise regime worked.

[nlfitness]

It was gene tested...sent me the chart and everything with which genes were affected??? It has been a while since I have looked at the report but I have had a few personal talks with Dr Tolan about the subject and who I could see locally. I do remover him saying their were three variations of HFI and I had the "more common" of the three. Is this a correct possibility?? The bowl issues could be a separate issue I suppose as I have noticed sometimes it happens when I eat something I feel is safe, but a lot of the to
E it occurs when I have really binged or had a high fat/rich meal. So it may just be those incidences are a separate issue of pure gluteny . I would be more then happy to compare my typical diet and other thoughts because from what everyone says I pretty much match up with my food tolerances.

[nlfitness]

Sorry bill for hi-jacking your thread!!

I also had my son and wife tested at his birth and she is not a carrier but he is, therefor I would think that I would have to have HFI correct??

[colormist]

Do you remember if you have one or two of the HFI genes? You have to have two in order to be restricted by the diet. (Just checking!) My parents (both being carriers of one of the documented genes) both seem to have issues with fructose and blood sugar levels, but not as severe as my own.

On the other hand, it's a good possibility that you could also have another issue in addition to HFI. My husband has Celiac's and gets really bad bathroom issues after eating wheat. I would definitely recommend researching conditions which might cause IBS-like symptoms to see if you can match up any of the foods & symptoms to your own diet.

And yes, your son would definitely be a carrier if you had both genes. He would be half as likely to be a carrier (but it is still possible) if you only had one gene.

[esmee]

nlfitness,

if you went to dr. tolan, then i would think you got a correct diagnosis, but maybe you have something else going on also like you said. i have both gluten and lactose intolerance in addition to problems with fructose. i have not been tested for HFI yet, but have all the symptoms (though a bit milder than ukbill or colormist report), and i too have other GI tract issues (big trouble digesting most fats and proteins which makes a no-fructose diet extremely dificult for me to follow but i am working on it) and many fruits and vegies do cause bloating though not anywhere near as severe as people with FM report. i did not mean to question the veracity of your diagnosis, just wondered is you had in fact been tested. i think there is a lot of variety among us as to some of the symptoms we experience.

esmée ♥

[charlie]

Diarrhea can be a symptom of HFI, this I pasted off the genetics info board, I know foul smellling diarrhea used to be listed more as a symptom as that is one of the main symptoms Megs had and it came up over and over again in lists about HFI symptoms but I do notice now when re-googling it now it isn't listed so much as a symptom,

Hereditary fructose intolerance is a condition that affects a person's ability to digest the sugar fructose. Fructose is a simple sugar found primarily in fruits. Affected individuals develop signs and symptoms of the disorder in infancy when fruits, juices, or other foods containing fructose are introduced into the diet. After ingesting fructose, individuals with hereditary fructose intolerance may experience nausea, bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Affected infants may fail to grow and gain weight at the expected rate (failure to thrive).

[nlfitness]

Colormist,, I had two genes with HFI, it was the combination of the two that I do not remember. If I remembering correctly how the combination is set up with your X & Y determines what stand of HFI you have. As for another issue, I know lactose intolerance is not the case because as a child I literally drank about a gallon of milk a day as well as my share of cheeses. I don't drink as much cheese now, but do still eat a lot of cheese. Breads and pastas also don't seem to bother me and I was tested for celiac several years back with an endoscopy and that came back negative. So it leads me to believe it is either I am getting in sugar somewhere or just simply over eating, which I have always done on occasion since I was little. Thinking it through my brother and mother both tend to get sick a lot after eating out...lol it is always funny when we are together who would claim the bathrooms first. They are all ok with sugars though as I am not...so maybe there is something else hiding in our genes aside from the HFI
Esemee, please do not apologize, I appreciate the input!! That is what these boards are for. There is so much confusing about these diseases that had I not been diagnosed by Dr. Tolan then I probably would not know the difference. I have always just avoided sugar cause it made me sick, didn't really put some of the other conditions and everyday feelings into account until I started reading here on the boards.

Sadly I have just been neglectful in making sure I am abiding to our foodlaws

[esmee]

nlfitness

i have read that you can be lactose intolerant as an adult even though you were not as a child. all of us must be able to digest mother's milk if we are to survive, so we are all born with lactase enzyme production. but, as we grow older, some of us have bodies that lose this enzyme. so, i would not completely rule it out. i can eat yogurt (lactose is ferment out) but I cannot drink unfermented milk. it will literally just hang out in my stomach for about 6 hours, sloshing around, and make me miserable. I think I can eat some cheeses, but it has been a long time since I tried, as they tend to make me really constipated which i do not like. That being said, I strongly encourage you to get the "cleanest" animal products you can find, looking especially for products from grass-fed animals. They contain completely different fatty acids and are so much healthier for you.

esmée ♥