Dietary fructose intolerance : General Health Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

#46 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 12:49

Valtor

Senior Member

Posts: 2,036

Plan: VLC 4 days a week
Stats: 337/258/200 Male 6' 1"

BF:
Progress: 58%

Location: Québec, Canada

I've been coffee free for a whole month now, including all sources of caffeine, even green tea is out. And I don't have headaches or fatigues anymore. The first 2 weeks were the worst. Now that I know how bad an effect this caffeine was having on me, I won't be touching the stuff again.

Patrick

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#47 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 13:23

PaleoCH

Senior Member

Posts: 127

Plan: Paleo Diet
Stats: 160/149/130 Female 5'5"

BF:
Progress: 37%

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Patrick were you struggling with fatigue before you went off coffee?

#48 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 13:30

lil' annie lil' annie is offline

Senior Member

Posts: 1,276

Plan: quasi paleo + starch
Stats: 153/148/118 Female 5'4"

BF:
Progress: 14%

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaleoCH

Patrick were you struggling with fatigue before you went off coffee?

I'm not Patrick, but I seem to recall that even the Merck Manual discussed that both insomnia and sleep disorders are associated with caffeinism. Maybe it wasn't Merck, but plenty of medical sites spoke of this, last year, when I did research.

Also, the author of Caffeine Blues wrote that it is almost impossible to be a coffee drinker and to NOT be very low on iron, or actually iron deficient, or even have iron deficiency anaemia.

There are MANY things associated with low iron, including restless leg syndome, poor nail growth &/or brittle nails, slow hair growth &/or hair falling out, extreme fatigue, extraordinary irritability, exercise intolerance, etc., and especially deep depression.

#49 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 13:32

Valtor

Senior Member

Posts: 2,036

Plan: VLC 4 days a week
Stats: 337/258/200 Male 6' 1"

BF:
Progress: 58%

Location: Québec, Canada

Actually I was more tired before stopping the coffee. Sleepy towards 22h00 or even 21h00 sometimes. The first two weeks, it was even worst, I would come from work and be tired enough to nap. But now I'm so energized that sometimes I can't sleep before midnight. This too is part of the cleanup, in a short while I should be properly regulated again.

Patrick

#50 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 14:13

PaleoCH

Senior Member

Posts: 127

Plan: Paleo Diet
Stats: 160/149/130 Female 5'5"

BF:
Progress: 37%

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Patrick your story gives me hope! I've been trying to resolve this fatigue issue for a long time, and if it's caffeine I'll be thrilled.

Lil' Annie I've had low iron before, I don't know if I have it now, I don't have symptoms now other than fatigue, as you listed. Thanks for the info, didn't know iron related to caffeine. I've been anemic before during my bouts with malabsorption. A couple years ago it was so bad I became obsessed with eating ice. Very strange.

Christy

#51 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 14:29

lil' annie lil' annie is offline

Senior Member

Posts: 1,276

Plan: quasi paleo + starch
Stats: 153/148/118 Female 5'4"

BF:
Progress: 14%

Both iron deficiency and copper depletion are associated with Fructose Malabsorption.

The connection of coffee (and tea) to severe iron deficiency is because whenever you drink coffee with a meal, or up to at least 2 hours after a meal, fully 75 percent of the iron cannot be absorbed - it's not because of the caffeine, but rather is due to the tannic acids.

Last year, I read lots of online comments that it took most people who quit drinking coffee TWO full months before they suddenly felt a deep well of pure energy spring up from within.

I've read that it takes several months of iron supplements to reverse iron deficency.

And I also read that people have been advised by doctors that it takes the body half a year to fully readapt to being coffee and caffeine free.

#52 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 16:13

lil' annie lil' annie is offline

Senior Member

Posts: 1,276

Plan: quasi paleo + starch
Stats: 153/148/118 Female 5'4"

BF:
Progress: 14%

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaleoCH

I believe I have dietary fructose intolerance, aka fructose malabsorption.

Here is the Univ. of Iowa's description:

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/.../whatisdfi.html

and symptoms:

Bloating
Abdominal pain
Diarrhea
Headache
Weight loss
Fatigue

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/...i/symptoms.html

I'm struggling to figure out what to eat! I have found a great table at the Paleo Diet website that lists fructose/sucrose/glucose content of fruit

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutriti...uits_table.html

but I'm wondering about other foods. Vegetables and nuts, in particular. I keep reading that some vegetables and all nuts have fructose, but I can't find anything that lists which vegetables have fructose and how much.

I've discovered I can eat bananas, at least in small amounts, but definitely NOT apples. This is all very new to me, so any help would be appreciated.

Since I've stopped eating fruit my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms have decreased dramatically, and some chronic stomach pain, which I had erroneously attributed to NSAIDs, has disappeared as well.

Have you been tested by a doctor - to see if you actually have HFI, Hereditary Fructose Intolerance?

If not, I really think that you should, because with FM, it seems that lots of people can tolerate lots of things, but you don't seem similar to that.

AND..... if you do have HFI, then you are missing the enzyme needed to digest ANY fructose whatsover, and it would be dangerous for you to eat stuff like Agave Syrup which is very fructose rich, indeed.

Also I found a website which might interest you, it's fun to play with -- you can find the foods with the most, or with the least fructose in all the different food groups.

Fineli : Foods containing most and least

http://www.fineli.fi/topfoods.php?c...on=100g&lang=en

#53 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 17:16

PaleoCH

Senior Member

Posts: 127

Plan: Paleo Diet
Stats: 160/149/130 Female 5'5"

BF:
Progress: 37%

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

I like that website! A nice concise list. I've gone back to thepaleodiet's website also (linked in my message that you just quoted) because I'm interested in the idea of sucrose mitigating the effects of fructose. I see from that website that bananas have more sucrose (I can eat bananas without too much joint pain), same with watermelon, but oranges have more sucrose but I can't eat them. A puzzle.

My understanding is HFI is something one is born with. I didn't have any problems with fructose until about 2.5 years ago. I've talked to a gastro doc about it, he'd never heard of it (surprise surprise) back then and so did not know anything about testing for DFI.

Christy

#54 ^

Thu, Apr-23-09, 17:23

lil' annie lil' annie is offline

Senior Member

Posts: 1,276

Plan: quasi paleo + starch
Stats: 153/148/118 Female 5'4"

BF:
Progress: 14%

Wow, the doc knew nothing about it, and it's supposed to be part of his specialty, that's really a shame.