How to Make Exciting Food From a Low Fructose Food List

Making Low Fructose Interesting

Step one in making your low fructose diet more interesting is to look at all the items in your regular diet that can be replaced by something else. Make a simple low fructose food list that reminds you off all the foods that you know you can eat, or that your body will tolerate in small amounts.

Make a straight trade to bring back in to your regular diet as many meals as possible that you can already cook, by simply relying on food choices such as low fructose fruits and vegetables (strictly speaking these are called fructans rather than fructose) and foods that you know will not cause problems with fructose malabsorption for you. Here are a few suggestions:

• replace coconut cream with evaporated milk which is flavored with coconut essence flavor
• replace coconut cream with the above but add a little corn flour to thicken it
• replace cos lettuce with iceberg lettuce or baby spinach leaves
• replace tomato based pasta sauces with cream based sauces (try using a light thickened cream to reduce fat content a little)
• make your own vegetable stock or chicken stock etc or go for a commercial variety which does not contain onion

By making the above replacements, you can at least ensure that anything you already have in your standard recipe collection at home can still be made, just with a few adjustments.

More Than Just Meat and Vegetables

Meals have to be more than just meat and vegetables, otherwise we all tend to go a little stir crazy. Unfortunately on a low fructose diet, the craziness is perhaps knocking a little louder at the door, so here are a few tips to get you through those nights when inspiration has left you guessing about what to put on the plate next.

• Whip up a risotto which uses some strong flavored vegetables such as sweet potato, broccoli and eggplant, then boost the flavor with a good tasting stock and some quality Parmesan cheese or a splash of good white wine (providing you can tolerate wine as part of your diet).
• Bend the budget and add smoked salmon to a cream based pasta dish (or dilute it with a little milk if the cream flavor is too heavy for your taste).
• Grab some free range eggs and do an omelet, quiche or Spanish tortilla with a few baby spinach leaves and other vegetables and fruits that are on your low fructose food list.
• Give shellfish (providing you can safely consume shellfish) a try and attempt some mussels in a light tomato and chili sauce, perhaps with a touch of red wine.
• Add some jasmine rice to your rice based meals (such as curries) so you have an extra flavor hit and the added bonus of a lovely, light jasmine aroma as well.

Break your week up a little so there are some nights where you attempt something new, and others where you go for an old favorite with a low fructose twist to it. That way your cooking doesn’t become a chore, your friends will still come to visit and your body will thank you for sticking as closely as you can to your low fructose diet.

As a word of caution - a low fructose diet and eating from a low fructose food list is quite restrictive, so ensure you follow good advice from a doctor or dietician before embarking on it. A dietician can help make sure you get all the nutrients you need as part of a balanced diet, and can give you ideas about how to make nutritionally sound food choices that will keep your fructose malabsorption and any other health issues under control. They can also help you stay on top of other dietary issues such as Celiac disease, which requires a gluten free diet (no wheat, rye, barley or malt and their various derivatives).