Intro

So after about two years of gastrointestinal issues, many doctors visits and lab tests* later, I decided I probably have fructose malabsorption.** My gastroenterologist, being the ever-so-helpful and clever person that he is, printed a chart of fructose-high foods to avoid that he found through a quick Google search after I told him about my theory. (Wait, you need to go to med school for that?) This is after he prescribed heartburn medication for me after I told him it wasn't heartburn. Thus began my attempt to be as fructose-free as possible.

Here's where I'm going to document all the fun things I learn from this! (Mostly for me to remember these things.)

This didn't start off well, because I had never grocery shopped with this in mind before. My sister sent a helpful article noting that Whole Foods was getting rid of items with HFCS, but I generally don't shop there because I'm a poor grad student. I'm also lactose intolerant and allergic to a whole host of foods (that I eat anyway, for the most part) so changing my eating habits was even more fun. I did come across a tip that eating SweeTarts would help, since it's basically pure glucose (dextrose = D-glucose).

My initial give away/throw out list:

• fruit & nut granola bars from Mom (honey)
• honey & oat granola bars from Mom
• granola with honey cereal
• gum (xylitol & sorbitol fail too)
• airborne from Mom
• acacia honey (I JUST BOUGHT FROM DIBRUNOS)

* I went through blood tests for ulcers, LFTs, lipid panels, Hep B & C; an abdominal ultrasound; and a HIDA scan. Along the way they also prescribed me various heartburn medications (zantac 75 and omeprazole aka prilosec) because doctors are convinced you're lying to them when you say it's not heartburn.

** For the less-inclined-to-Google-this-right-now, your body doesn't do a good job of absorbing fructose in your small intestine unless it has glucose to piggyback on (/a fructose transporter to move fructose via facilitated diffusion), so it goes into your large intestine and wrecks havoc. For most people this isn't that bad. But for people with slightly screwed up GI tracts like mine, it causes serious tummy pain.