I recently saw a nutritionist to see if my fructose malabsorption could be cured through treatment of a leaky gut. I never believed that it was a permanent condition, and that if I addressed the underlying problems that are causing that symptom, then maybe the fructose malabsorption would go away as my gut healed. I can’t tell you yet if this is true or if I’m just deceiving myself, because I’ve only been following her protocol for a couple of weeks now. But I wanted to share the first steps in the program to anyone who might be looking for a starting point.
The Cure Fructose Malabsorption Diet
I had already been restricting my diet quite a bit, so there were only a few changes I needed to make. I will list them all, though, for the benefit of others.
Image via PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini – PhotoAlto Agency RF Collections – Getty Images
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Corn Free
- Foods should be organic; meats should be free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic-free and not corn-fed. Seafood should be wild caught, not farmed.
- Drink filtered water to reduce the toxic load on your body (you could install a reverse osmosis filter, but I’ve been buying filtered water at the grocery store for home use, because it’s cheap and we have a filter at work).
- And obviously, following a low FODMAP diet is important here, to avoid any fructose malabsorption triggers like onions, beans, artificial sweeteners, etc.
I also chose to restrict the following foods, because they are known triggers for me:
- Soy
- Chocolate
- Caffeine
Fructose Malabsorption Meal Ideas
So what do I eat? This is the part that I struggle with, because I end up eating the same safe foods over and over again until I’m completely bored with eating. But I buy my meats from Fresh Market or local free range farmers. Vegetables come from the organic section of the grocery store, or from Fresh Market. I buy organic gluten-free crackers to snack on in the afternoon. The things that are nearly impossible to find in an organic version are gluten free breads and dairy free cheeses that don’t have another fructose malabsorption trigger in the ingredients. So this is where I fudge on the diet. I’ve been subsisting on the following foods with much success in the digestion department.
- Gluten free pizzas with dairy free cheese, with varying vegetables and either ground chuck or chicken.
- Gluten free spaghetti with organic pizza sauce and ground chuck.
- Lots of variations on eggs (scrambles, sandwiches, casseroles, etc.).
- BLT’s on gluten free bread.
- Wild caught tuna sandwiches on gluten free bread with chipotle mayo.
- Curried tuna salad that I make at home.
- I buy a bag of bite sized organic potatoes and a head of broccoli or bag of carrots, and roast them in the oven with olive oil and spices and eat it as a side dish all week.
- I’ll make a pot of quinoa and eat it like rice with meat and vegetables over the top. I also add it to my oatmeal for a little extra protein with breakfast.
- Gluten free pasta with chicken and veggies.
There are other things, but these are my staples. And I feel well if I stick to this diet. I have eaten out twice since I started this diet, and both times I was ill. I’ve discovered that a small amount wheat only gives me minor digestive trouble, but the fatigue, headache and irritability that follow for a week are worse than a bout of diarrhea.
Supplements To Help Cure Fructose Malabsorption
Along with a special diet, my nutritionist gave me a whole list of supplements to take. And this is just for the first three months. After the follow up, there could be a lot more. This part sucks, because it’s expensive as hell. But I’m willing to do what she says if it will fix my problems, and her opinion was that I am nutrient deficient, due to my damaged intestinal lining. So here are the FDA approved Metagenics brand supplements I was told to take:
- GI Sustain (2 scoops, twice a day) – This is a medical food that is made specifically for treating a leaky gut. It tastes alright and my stomach seems to like it, but it’s the most expensive of the supplements. It’s about $70 a week at a full serving twice a day. But I guess you could justify a part of the cost by saying I don’t need to eat much for breakfast or for an afternoon snack, because it’s like a meal in itself.
- Hemagenics (2 per day) – This is an iron supplement, and since I am always borderline anemic due to a genetic trait, this was added to my regimen. I also have restless legs, and she thought this would help with that. TMI extra: this will turn your poop a dark grey. Don’t freak out about it.
- Azeo-Pangen Extra Strength (3 per day) – These are digestive enzymes. I take one with each meal to aid in digestion.
- D3 5000 (1 per day) – This is a vitamin D supplement. Most people are deficient in this, and even without a blood test, it was safe to assume I was, too.
- Omegagenics EPA-DHA 750 – (2 per day) his is a triglyceride form of Omega 3’s. This means it is more bioavailable. The American diet has an imbalance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. This supplement helps to correct that, and it’s also good for the intestinal lining. TMI extra: this will make your burps taste like orange juice (which is better than fish, in my opinion!).
I know that probiotics are in my future, but the nutritionist wanted to wait until I’d been taking the GI Sustain for a period of time first, so I wouldn’t have a negative reaction to them. I am also waiting for the results on an organic acids test and yeast culture to see if anything else about the protocol will have to be adjusted.
The important thing here, is once you begin — don’t cheat. The supplements are too expensive to just keep starting over again. And every time you have a food reaction, you are damaging your intestines again. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist for guidance, because this protocol was developed for me based on some pretty extensive questionnaires and my medical records for any previous tests I’d had for these problems (these included gallbladder screenings, thyroid checks, a breath test and more). And don’t expect to get many real answers from your traditional doctor, because most of them just want to throw pills at you for your symptoms. I can’t tell you how many times a doctor tried to put me on antidepressants for this. But I digress.
How much does all this cost?
I didn’t even want to do the math, honestly. Because I knew I wasn’t going to like the numbers. Here is what I came up with:
The first month cost me almost $498. I say almost, because I wasn’t taking the full dosage of the GI Sustain for the first couple of weeks. But, in a nutshell, it’s been very expensive so far. I had a follow up visit with my nutritionist after 30 days, and I will discuss that in my next post: Curing Fructose Malabsorption, Tweaking the Protocol.
Have you been able to cure fructose malabsorption through the guidance of a nutritionist? How long did it take? Was your protocol different than mine?
The post Trying to Cure Fructose Malabsorption, The First Steps appeared first on Find Wholeness.
