Doctor's orders: how to combat a fruit intolerance

Allergic to fruit? Think again 
More people are experiencing intestinal problems when they eat fruit due to fructose intolerance
Alamy Stock Photo
Kira Kubenz30 July 2018

We all know fruit is healthy: it has many vitamins, minerals and dietary fibres. But it also has a lot of sugar and calories.

Therefore it’s best to eat fruit as part of a meal in the morning or at lunch, rather than at dinner. Blending fruit into smoothies leaves few fibres in them but plenty of sugar, so it is healthier to eat fresh fruit.

More and more people experience intestinal problems when they eat fruit. Our intestines are said to be our second brain; indeed, many even say they are our primary brain. Hence, like the brain, they can also develop symptoms such as tiredness and fatigue .

These can be the signs of fructose intolerance, though it is worth noting that fewer than one person in 130,000 has a genetic fructose intolerance. In other words, it is rare and means that these people cannot eat fruit for their entire life. If you enjoyed eating fruit as a child without a stomach ache, you most probably aren’t fructose-intolerant.

Dr Kubenz
Matt Writtle

On the other hand, more than 30-40 per cent of all Europeans have poor intestinal absorption of fructose, and more than half of them suffer from these symptoms. It’s an intolerance, not an allergy, but fructose intolerance rarely comes alone. Their microbiome (the combination of up to 100 trillion good and bad bacteria in the intestine) is imbalanced. This leads to a change in the intestinal mucosa (inner surface), which becomes more sensitive and irritated, resulting in inflammation. The mucous membrane that is supposed to protect us opens up for particles, such as proteins, which should not pass through.

Suddenly, things that your body has tolerated for years, such as fructose, lactose and gluten, are no longer tolerated. What measures should you take? Go to your doctor and get it checked. The doctor can measure the fructose levels with a breath test, a food intolerance test or a stool analysis. There is often a deficiency of folic acid, zinc and other vitamins and minerals in the blood. Perhaps the doctor will recommend a special diet, like abstaining from lactose, gluten and fruit for up to three months.

Try avoiding food that releases histamines. Take probiotics for three months, plus some vitamin B and zinc. It’s certainly worth trying, and your doctor can help.

Dr Kubenz’s column appears monthly. ihregene.de, kira.kubenz@tenharleystreet.com

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in