Eating properly with fructose malabsorption
People who suffer from fructose malabsorption (intestinal fructose intolerance) must be particularly careful about what they eat. Exactly how sufferers must monitor the fructose content of their food depends on the specific extent of the fructose intolerance: many people with fructose malabsorption can still ingest small amounts of fructose with no significant complaints.
Obvious and hidden Fructose in foods - Fructose has long since ceased to be confined to fruit and vegetables, and is increasingly also used as liquid sugar in industrially produced foodstuffs. This is because fructose is around two and a half times sweeter than glucose, yet contains fewer carbohydrates. In addition, the food industry is keen to use liquid “industrial sugar” because it is cheaper to transport, store and process.
Obvious foods containing Fructose
Different types of fruit
Different types of fruit
As the name “fruit sugar” suggests, fruit contains a lot of fructose. There is a particularly high concentration in grapes, apples and pears, for instance.
Various types of vegetable
Various types of vegetable
As well as fruit, vegetables also contain fructose. For instance, peppers, brassicas and beets have a very high fructose content.
Fruit juices, fruit syrup and soft drinks
Fruit juices, fruit syrup and soft drinks
Drinking is important. However, caution is advised with juices: anything that contains fruit also comes with its fructose.
There are even larger quantities in soft drinks and fruit syrups, as fructose is added to these products as a sweetener.
The same applies to fruit compotes and jellies.
Candy
Candy
Fructose is widely used as a sweetener in confectionery of all kinds. Therefore, you should take care if you have fructose malabsorption - unfortunately, the same applies to “light” products.
Industrially processed foodstuffs
Industrially processed foodstuffs
Ready meals, seasoning mixes, potato chips and baked goods: the list of industrially sweetened products is a long one. In most cases, they also contain fructose.
Foods containing hidden Fructose
Top of the list of foodstuffs that contain fructose is honey, with 37.5 g of fructose per 100 g.
They are small and sweet – which is precisely why they are a risk to people with fructose intolerance: raisins have a fructose content of 32.3 g per 100 g.
Dates are regarded as extremely healthy, and with good reason. But at 31.3 g of fructose per 100 g, these sweet little fruits also contain a high proportion of fructose.
Grapes are full of healthy ingredients and contain hardly any fat – yet this is countered by a fructose content of 7.6 g per 100 g.
An old adage says that you should never compare apples and pears. But if you do, you will find that pears have the edge, at least in terms of fructose content: at 6.7 g per 100 g, they beat apples (5.7 g) by one gram.
