Fructose-Free Foods – What You Can Eat If You Are Intolerant

 

Fructose-free foods – is that necessary?

Intolerances are now part of everyday life for many people. Such intolerance can be very stressful:

• Fructose intolerance can either be present from birth or develop over the course of life, usually as early as adolescence. Those affected notice this through severe digestive problems after eating fructose-containing foods. Fructose is simply fruit sugar.
• When most people think of fructose, they first think of fruit and vegetables. This is also correct and yet this natural sugar is also found in many other products. Because fructose is also often used as a sweetener in light products. Processed foods such as jam, fruit yogurt, or ready meals, in particular, contain a lot of fructose.
• How much fructose is tolerated is individual for each person affected and cannot be determined by a specific number. Since half of the usual household sugar consists of fructose, it is not tolerated or only poorly tolerated in severe cases.
• Unfortunately, fructose intolerance is usually only recognized relatively late, since doctors often do not take it seriously enough and simply do not think of it as a possible cause of the patient’s symptoms. The intolerance can be diagnosed by means of a breath test.

Fructose-free foods – you can eat them without hesitation

After the intolerance has been diagnosed and you have kept a food diary, if necessary, you should change your diet:

• When changing your diet, it is advisable to seek professional help in the form of a nutritionist or dietitian. You can find out in detail which foods are suitable or suitable to a limited extent and which products you should avoid.
• You can safely eat pure grain products such as pasta, rice, quinoa, or amaranth. Potatoes and nuts are usually not a problem either. With dairy products, however, you should make sure that no sugar is added to them, such as natural yogurt or quark, for example.
• Fresh meat, no matter what kind, is just as easy. However, they should be careful with sausage, because it often contains fructose. Cheese, on the other hand, is usually safe to eat. In addition, you can always eat eggs, they contain no fructose.
• Water and coffee are good drinks. Juice spritzers are often poorly tolerated. Instead of fruit tea, you should rather choose green, herbal, or black tea. Fructose is also added to many wellness drinks, so always check the list of ingredients here.
• There are some types of vegetables that are quite well tolerated, for example, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, red cabbage, carrots, and pumpkin.
• Despite intolerance, even fruit can be eaten to a limited extent, above all: tangerines, bananas, acerola cherries, oranges, rhubarb, and lemons. However, you should only eat the fruit in small amounts.
• In addition, most spices such as cinnamon or pepper are very well tolerated, especially since they are only consumed in small quantities. You don’t have to do without chia or flax seeds in your muesli either. You can also enjoy a salad with arugula, lettuce, and an apple cider vinegar dressing.