Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Increasingly Frustrated!!!

The variety in my diet is rather meager.

Breakfast - regular oatmeal made with 2 tbsp pure berry juice in the cooking water, 1/2 banana and a sprinkle of brown sugar

Lunch - 1/4 chicken breast, 6 shrimp, boiled carrots and peeled zucchini stir fried in olive oil and sprinkled lightly with curry. It is covered in a sauce made from tomato paste, corn sugar and a couple tbsp light coconut milk and served on a bed of rewarmed Basmatti rice.

Supper - chicken, turkey, fish or seafood with boiled carrots and white rice, potatoes, pasta or couscous

My snacks are based on homemade sourdough bread, matzo, peanut butter, jam, Kettle light potato chips, homemade chocolate sauce and peppermints with no artificial flavors.

Fructose molecules are only a problem when unaccompanied by an equal number of glucose molecules. The body handles a molecule of fructose differently when it is accompanied by a molecule of glucose than when it occurs alone. For example each molecule of white and brown sugar is composed of a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose joined together. As you have probably noticed table sugar is not an IBS trigger. On the the other hand foods like honey, apples, pears, melons, high fructose corn syrup contain more fructose than glucose. The body handles free fructose in a different way. Frequently, the excess fructose finds its way to the bowel where is it acts like fast food that is rapidly fermented by colonic bacteria producing gases and by-products that can be IBS triggers.

When you go to the dietitian it might be worth while taking copies of the two papers. Something else you might direct the dietitian to another paper published by the Australian group who published the other papers. They found there was little reliable information on the amount of free fructose and fructans in various foods for the dietitian to provide guidelines for IBS patients. They did a study of a large number of common fruits and veggies in the Australian diet and recently published it (reference below). Unfortunately, it isn't publicly available and you have to get from a library. I refer to it from time to time. It is quite helpful.

Reference
Muir, J. G., Shepherd, S. J., Rosella, O., Rose, R., Barrett, J. S., & Gibson, P. R. (2007). Fructan and Free Fructose Content of Common Australian Vegetables and Fruit. J. Agric. Food Chem., 55(16), 6619-6627

--------------------
STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS

The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS

Print Remind Me Notify Moderator