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Fructose Malabsorption Developing Post Whole30


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Hi Whole30 Family!

I completed my first Whole60 about a week ago. I was dealing with a gigantic and incessant sugar dragon so I decided to do a Whole60 instead of a Whole30. I was also trying to get to the bottom of my IBS issues (TMI alert: think sudden urges to run to the restroom about 30 minutes after eating). For the first 45 days my IBS symptoms drastically improved and I was a happy camper. Then those last two weeks of my 60 days I was dealing with constant pressure in my abdomen accompanied by a feeling of nausea and visible bloating. It was the worst! I preferred the immediate poos after a meal! Ha. I was in the midst of going through some breath tests with my GI doctor and turns out I tested positive for Fructose Malabsorption. Makes sense with my symptoms.

I have now have a very low tolerance of coconuts, green beans, and even almond flour (post whole60 I made some muffins with whole30 compliant ingredients and it tore me up) and am working my way through other fruits and vegetables to see what does and doesn't negatively effect me. Has anyone else experienced any digestive conditions actually getting worse after completing their whole30? Is this due to eating so clean for a duration and then your body needing to stay on that clean food to have a happy tummy?

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I'm on day 36 of a W60. I am in the same boat as you, except that I never had IBS symptoms before this program. Here's a good starting place, if you haven't already seen it:

https://www.thepaleomom.com/modifying-paleo-for-fodmap-intolerance/

I'm on day 6 of low FODMAP diet, and still getting diarrhea every 2 or 3 days. No bloating or wind. I don't know what to make of this yet, but I'm continuing with low FODMAP for now...I'm thinking that starting immediately I will also eliminate eggs in case I'm now sensitive to those, too.

Hope it's going better for you...

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The issue with FODMAPs or Fructose Malabsorption is that most people have a threshold. When you switch to a whole food diet you tend to be eating a lot more veg than previously, and often people rely on a small selection of veg meaning they're creating a build up of the sugars in their gut, so as time goes on the symptoms become more pronounced.

Cutting out the offending foods allows the gut to heal, and often you can successfully reintroduce some of the offending foods, paying close attention to portion size, food combinations, and regularity of servings. My day to day eating looks a lot like Whole30 and I must have been about 6mths into it when I started to have issues, and with an extended period of elimination, followed by extensive reintroduction I am eating pretty much ALL the offending foods on an occasional basis, although I rarely eat nuts.

Apart from eating from the green section only of the traffic light system in the link above you could also look to add in some fermented foods, or kombucha to help increase the friendly bacteria in your gut (or try a probiotic supplement - research shows this to be faster acting in the short term, but that fermented foods conatin up to 100 times more probiotics so are better in the longer term), and maybe add in a digestive enzyme (although personally until  my gut was healed I found this didn't  provide any relief from symptoms). Try eating more cooked veg than raw as they are more easily digested, and take a look for the monash university FODMAP app - they guys at Monash have done extensive research into FODMAPs and have developed an app to help with serving sizes etc and many people find it invaluable.

Any other questions just ask.

As a side note - apologies for no one having responded to this post sooner -  the mods here all volunteer and have full time jobs, so depending on time zone, and if the forums are busy new posts often slip under the radar.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm so happy I found this post! I am on Day 14 and have been trying to figure out why I suddenly have to run to the bathroom after eating fruit with a meal. I've been taking notes that on days I don't eat fruit, or have limited to less than 85 grams or so, I do really well. And it took me till today to realize what could have been causing the need to go and all the gas.

I haven't been taking into consideration the veggies that have higher levels of fructose in them. So I still don't know what my threshold is. Now I'm on to figuring that out! 

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I have SIBO (closely related to IBS), so I feel your frustration! The suggestions jmcbn made have worked well for me, and I hope they work for you. I take both fermented foods (kombucha or sauerkraut) and a probiotic, plus digestive enzymes, bitters and Iberogast prescribed by my MD. And I eat mostly lower fodmap, mostly cooked veggies rather than raw.

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