The official diagnosis has come in and, as I strongly suspected, I have fructose malabsorption but not lactose. This means a radical change in how I think about food. Fructose, as I have mentioned, is in almost everything but mostly in the “healthy” foods like whole grains, fruit and vegetables. The foods that doctors all my life have been telling me to eat more of. This does work for most of the population but not for those with fructmal.
This means my recipes will be changing as I go down this new path towards a healthier me. Fructose malabsorption has increased dramatically since manufacturers started piling high fructose corn syrup into almost every processed food, which has resulted in an increase in the amount of fructose that we are all consuming, and that is not good for our health on many levels, not just for those like me. If you want to eat healthy, the best advice, at least in New Zealand, is to shop around the outside aisles of a supermarket store. The central aisles all have the processed food while the outside has the fresh food. Check it out next time you are shopping for food.
So, I have been scouting around the net for good recipes and coming up sadly short. I found a muffin recipe which a mother had made for her fructmal child. I made it and wish I hadn’t. To say it was bad is an understatement. As my son said, they looked and tasted like the ones he used to insist on making when he was five years old without a recipe. They were solid, doughy and tasteless. I took them to my fortnightly visit to my mother’s, more as a joke than anything, and my sister thought they were hilarious, so I guess they served some purpose.
I then found a recipe for crackers on Anja’s Food 4 Thought blog and tried them. She has a delightful blog, by the way, and I visit it often. She lives in Dubai and I suspect some of the key ingredients for these crackers may be of a different consistency there because the resultant dough was far too wet to roll out so I added about 1/4 cup of tapioca flour to firm it up and, even though it was still sticky, I managed to get it rolled out thin. I scored it with a knife along where I would want the crackers to break but didn’t move it from the baking paper I had rolled it out on because it would have been impossible to get it up whole. I placed the whole sheet onto a baking tray and cooked it that way. The resultant crackers broke apart easily along the score lines and were tasty and crisp. But it is another of those recipes that you have to eat fresh. The next day, today, they are still tasty but less crisp though still edible.
If you want the recipe, visit Anja’s blog and try her recipe but you might have to add some more dry ingredients or less wet depending on your resultant dough. But, if you are gluten-free, they are worth trying.
Hello Suzanne,
Whenever I go shopping I always read the labels and it is indeed shocking how high fructose syrup has found its way into everything!
What you are going through is not easy for sure but I am sure with your creativity and talent you will come up with great recipes that really work
It is rather shocking to see the number of ingredients you don’t understand on processed foods. For me that is a warning sign.
Thanks, I hope my creativity and talent are up to the challenge.
Hey there 🙂 Have you tried using xylitol for sweetening? I’m finding it really helpful for replacing fructose-containing products (like honey, etc.) in recipes.
Also, I’m just wondering where you were able to get your breath tests done? I’ve read about it (in an American book), but my doctor didn’t know of a place where I could get it done in NZ.
Thanks
I have discovered that fructose and fructans go hand in hand so any of the artificial sweeteners which end with “tol” are to be avoided, unfortunately.
It took a bit of research to find someone who knew what I was talking about with the breath tests but a gastroenterologist should be able to do it for you. I went to the MacMurray Centre in Auckland. Phone: 09 550 1080. If you are not in Auckland, they may be able to point you to someone in your area. Good luck.
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and I am sure you will come up with some great recipes that will suit your diet. Feta quinoa crackers sound so good! I just checked Anja’s blog – it’s lovely!
It’s just one of those little challenges life throws your way. It’ll be what I make of it.
Anja is a very athletic lady and eats healthy to fit her lifestyle. That’s always inspiring.
Wow, that must be a tough diagnosis…. I do try to limit my intake of processed foods but I never really pay attention to fructose levels… I didn’t even know that you could intolerant to it…
It’s my first time here but I’ll be back for sure to see how your handling it. These crackers sound pretty good!
Simone, I hadn’t heard of up until about a month ago when I came across it while surfing the web. It just clicked into place with my symptoms and it sure has changed my life.
I look forward to seeing you back here.
Even though I’m originally American, my mother always made things from scratch and that’s what my sister, brother and I have always done. Moving to Australia saw differences in how the food stores looked but I never bought much from the inny aisles anyway. I look forward to seeing how your recipes change and I’m off to check out these crackers.
I was brought up on a farm so we also always cooked everything from scratch and knew where everything came from. It blows my mind to think of the hundreds of thousands of processed food products that are the shelves these days.
Aw, bummer! I know you figured you were fructmal, and the way you described things I thought so too. But it’s still a disappointment. But as I’ve said, you’re an extremely creative cook, and I know will figure things out. You’ve got a tough assignment, though. Supermarkets are the same in the US – all the healthy stuff is on the perimeter. I don’t buy that much processed stuff, but I’m definitely reading labels more. Back in the 1980s, at least in the US, loads of people became very aware of fat in food, and tried to limit it. It’s at that time that most of the manufacturers started really adding sugar in all forms to things – when you remove fat from products you remove so much taste, so they substituted sweetness. One wonders if it’s at that time that fructmal started becoming a problem. Anyway, thanks for sharing the news with us.
Thanks, John. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. I oscillate between the two. That was a good piece of information in your comment. I wonder if you would mind me quoting you in my next post?
Well at least now you know what’s wrong and can take full charge. You have such a talent for cooking and I know you’ll manage it all just fine. The crackers sound really good. I love to make them at home so I can tweak to my cravings. Going to go check it out, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Nancy. It is good to get a good base recipe and then to change it up every time you make it with different extra ingredients.
I like to limit my intake of processed foods, so making my own crackers would be a wonderful place to start. I love the herbed feta addition!
The feta was a great addition. It gave a salty flavour without being too obvious in the cheese department.
Well, I guess it is good to get an official confirmation…but I’m still sorry you were dealt this card. But what a service you’re doing for others in your shoes…like making crackers! They sound great. I”m sure you’ll come up with a muffin recipe…ones that won’t cause spontaneous laughter. You’re a super sport, my friend.
Thanks, Liz. It will take a bit to get used to the idea of what this entails because it sure is complicated. There’s not much out there on the web about fructmal so I hope I can educate a little as I learn about it myself.
Oh, yes, the muffin challenge is one I won’t let beat me.
Sorry to hear that. I went ahead and read a couple of articles about your condition (the more you know). At least now you know, and you can do something to feel better.
Good luck in your new life, and happy cooking.
That was very supportive of you to read up on it, Clara. Thank you. I will always be happy cooking but just in a more limited way now.
Hi Suzanne, feeling very honored that you tried and posted about my crackers. Sorry to hear though that the dough turned out too wet. Perhaps you try it with just one egg next time? I personally would prefer that to adding tapioca flour. Those kind of wettish doughs are better to be rolled between two sheets of parchment paper. Once it’s rolled out, you remove the top paper, and transfer the dough with the bottom paper to a baking sheet. Maybe I wasn’t very clear in my instructions. As for crackers getting soggy after a day – that’s an ongoing problem for me here in Dubai. Apparently if humidity is above 40%, that happens to any homemade, once-crispy cookies/crackers. Try roll them out thinner next time. My photo is a little misleading. I usually roll them much thinner. Will redo my picture in the next couple of days. If my crackers/cookies get soggy, I often put them into a warm oven for 10 minutes or so. That usually makes them crispy again.
Please keep up the recipes so I can try some more. You have a lot of gems of information in this comment so thank you for that. New Zealand is also very humid at the moment. I have known it to rain here with no clouds because the humidity can reach 100%. Hence the baking losing its crispness. Great tip about sticking them in the oven again.
I thought your photo was beautiful, by the way.
Suzanne I am very sorry for the diagnose, but it can be an adventure as well. I keep my fingers crossed for you and all the new recipes.
Thanks, Marta. That is the best way to see it – as an adventure.
I’m so sorry to hear about your fructose malabsorption. At least now you know what are you dealing with. I can imagine it is difficult to find good recipes without fructose. I will keep my eyes open for some good recipes. Now I will hop over to Anja’s blog.
It is a relief to know what it is. I am finding it almost impossible to find good recipes but there will be some out there. Otherwise I will be inventing everything. Thanks for looking out for some. That would be very helpful.