Food tables:
fructose |
 |
 Foods
high in fructose and fructans include many
fruits, berries, honey, some vegetables
and cereal products. In some countries
fructose is commonly used as a sweetener
in snacks and soft drinks, e.g. in the
form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Many healthy foods contain fructose or
fructans and it is important to maintain a
healthy diet despite the reduction in
fructose necessitated by a fructose
intolerance. To achieve this expert
assistance from a dietician is advised.
Vitamin supplements are often useful, if
the fructose intolerance is severe or in
case of a hereditary fructose intolerance
(HFI), where very strict exclusion of
fructose and sucrose is required.
Individuals with HFI also need to avoid
the newer sweeteners, such as tagatose and
isomaltose (read labels). Tagatose is
metabolized similarly to fructose and
isomaltose is made up of fructose and
glucose. These two sweeteners may be found
in: beverages (soft drinks, instant drink
preparations, teas, fruit or vegetable
juices / drinks), breakfast cereals and
cereal bars, confectionery and chewing
gum, fondants and fillings, jams and
marmalades, and diet foods. Levulose and
invert sugar on food labels signifies
fructose content.
Recent literature shows a diet with generally
reduced FODMAP content (see
Fructose and associated
literature) may be the most effective and practicable
diet to aim for. The following information will give you
details on how to specifically reduce fructose in your diet.
- Fructose is better tolerated in the presence of glucose.
This means food containing at least as much glucose at fructose
is often well tolerated (in the tables this is the F/G value,
which should be smaller than 1).
- Irrespective of glucose content, some foods naturally contain
a high load of fructose, i.e. over 3g per serving, or of fructans,
i.e. over 0.5g/serving.
These are the two criteria considered most useful in the selection
of food to avoid. See below for the food table and links to more
extensive food tables.
Based on these criteria, the following
foods are likely to be poorly tolerated and
should be avoided.
- Fruit and fruit juices: apple, cherry,
grape, guava, litchi, mango, melon
(honeydew and watermelon), orange, papaya,
pear, persimmon, pineapple, quince, star
fruit. Cooked fruit generally has lower
fructose content than uncooked fruit.
- Most dried fruit, including currant,
dates, dried fruit or health bars, fig,
raisin.
- Processed fruit: barbecue / braai
sauce, chutney, fruit from cans / tins
(often in pear juice), plum sauce, sweet
and sour sauce, tomato paste.
- Berries in larger quantitites:
blueberry, raspberry.
- Sweets, food and drinks with very
high sucrose (table sugar) content and
with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
- Honey, maple syrup.
- Vegetables in larger quantities (fructan
content): artichoke, asparagus, beans,
broccoli, cabbage, chicory, leek, onion,
peanuts, tomato, zuccini.
- Sweet wines: e.g. dessert wines,
muscatel, port, sherry.
- Wheat- based products: flour, pasta,
bread, whole-grain breakfast cereals.
- Whole-meal products in large amounts.
-
Sorbitol (E420 is sorbitol) and xylitol
(E967 is xylitol) containing foods:
diet / ‘light’ and diabetic drinks,
sugar-free chewing gum and sweets /
candies, stone fruit, dried fruits (e.g.
apple, apricot, date, fig, nectarine,
peach, plum, raisin). Beer may be a
problem in large amounts.
-
Inulin, a fructan (see
Fructose and fructan intolerance),
content is high in the following foods
generally known to cause bloating and gas:
Asparagus, dandelion leaves, garlic,
leeks, onion and wheat bran.
Examples of generally well-tolerated
fruit and vegetables are:
- Aubergine, banana, Brussels sprouts,
carrots, clementine / mandarine, corn,
cucumber, fennel, grapefruit, lemon,
potato, pumpkin, radishes, red currents,
rhubarb, sauerkraut, spinach and sweet
potato / yam.
The table below shows the fructose
and glucose content, as well as the
fructose / glucose ratio of common foods.
The figures are rounded, hence the
discrepancies between F, G and F/G.
General guidelines are:
First step: observe F/G value, which
should be smaller than 1.
Second step: absolute fructose content of
food product should not be over 3g per
serving. Small portions of borderline foods
can be tried, especially when your stomach is not
empty.
Foods outside of these suggested ranges
are shown in bold in the table. See links
below for more extensive food lists.
|
Content in gram / 100g product |
| |
Fructose (F) |
Glucose (G) |
Ratio F / G |
| Dried fruit: |
|
|
|
| Apple |
29 |
10 |
2.9 |
| Date |
25 |
25 |
1.0 |
| Fig |
24 |
26 |
0.9 |
| Plum |
9 |
16 |
0.6 |
| Raisin |
32 |
31 |
1.0 |
| Apple, fresh |
6 |
2 |
2.8 |
| Apple, juice |
6 |
2 |
2.7 |
| Apple, sauce |
8 |
4 |
1.8 |
| Apple, jam / jelly |
27 |
26 |
1.0 |
| Peach, fresh |
1 |
1 |
1.2 |
| Peach, can |
4 |
4 |
0.9 |
| Grapes, fresh |
7 |
7 |
1 |
| Grape, juice |
8 |
8 |
1 |
| Berries |
|
|
|
| Blackberries, fresh |
3 |
3 |
1.1 |
| Blackberries, jam |
20 |
22 |
0.9 |
| Blueberries, can |
2 |
2 |
1.4 |
| Blueberries, fresh |
3 |
2 |
1.4 |
| Blueberry, jam |
20 |
22 |
0.9 |
| Cranberries, can |
21 |
21 |
1 |
| Cranberries, fresh |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| Cranberry, jam |
20 |
22 |
0.9 |
| Currants, black fresh |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| Currants, red fresh |
2 |
2 |
1.2 |
| Gooseberry, fresh |
3 |
3 |
1.1 |
| Raspberries, can |
7 |
6 |
1 |
| Raspberry, jam |
14 |
17 |
0.8 |
| Raspberries, fresh |
2 |
2 |
1.2 |
| Strawberry, jam |
19 |
22 |
0.9 |
| Strawberry, fresh |
2 |
2 |
1.1 |
| Honey |
39 |
34 |
1.1 |
| Cherry, jam |
22 |
28 |
0.8 |
| Orange |
3 |
2 |
1.1 |
| Orange, juice fresh |
3 |
3 |
1.2 |
| Orange, marmalade |
15 |
17 |
0.9 |
| Star fruit |
8 |
7 |
1.1 |
| Rose hip |
7 |
7 |
1 |
| Cherries, sweet |
6 |
7 |
0.9 |
| Cherries, sour |
4 |
5 |
0.8 |
| Pineapple, can |
5 |
5 |
1 |
| Pineapple, juice |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| Pineapple, fresh |
2 |
2 |
1.2 |
| Kiwi |
5 |
4 |
1.1 |
| Grapefruit, juice fresh |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| Grapefruit, fresh |
2 |
2 |
0.9 |
| Melon, honey |
1 |
1 |
2.1 |
| Melon, water |
4 |
2 |
2 |
| Banana |
3 |
4 |
1 |
| Litchi |
3 |
5 |
0.6 |
| Mandarins, juice |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Mandarins, fresh |
1 |
2 |
0.8 |
| Mango, fresh |
3 |
1 |
3.1 |
| Plum, fresh |
2 |
3 |
0.6 |
| Artichoke |
2 |
1 |
2.3 |
| Tomato, juice |
2 |
1 |
1.3 |
| Tomato, fresh |
1 |
1 |
1.3 |
| Turnip |
2 |
2 |
0.8 |
| Lemon |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Lemon, juice |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Pumpkin |
1 |
2 |
0.9 |
| Beans, green |
1 |
1 |
1.4 |
| Carrots |
1 |
1 |
0.9 |
| Cabbage |
1 |
2 – 0.6 |
0.8 – 1.5 |
| Leeks |
1 |
1 |
1.3 |
| Bread, rye whole meal |
1 |
1 |
1.5 |
| Fennel |
1 |
1 |
0.8 |
| Broccoli |
1 |
1 |
1.1 |
| Eggplant / aubergine |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Zucchini |
1 |
1 |
1.1 |
| Cucumber |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Asparagus |
1 |
1 |
1.2 |
| Okra |
1 |
1 |
1.1 |
| Potato |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.7 |
| Potato, sweet |
0.7 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
| Papaya |
0.3 |
1 |
0.3 |
| Salad |
0.2 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
| Spinach |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.9 |
| Mushrooms |
0.1 – 0.3 |
0.1 – 0.3 |
0.7 - 0.9 |
| Salad |
0.2 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
Information nuggets
-
Non-carbohydrate sweeteners:
aspartame, acesulfame K, saccharin,
cyclamate, thaumatin are no problem for
HFI or fructose intolerant individuals.
- Sorbitol decreases and glucose
increase fructose tolerance. Glucose (e.g.
glucose / dextrose containing tablets,
drinks, syrup) can be eaten together with
fructose-containing foods to increase
tolerability.
- Fructose-containing foods are better
tolerated in several smaller servings
throughout the day and not on en empty
stomach.
- Fructose intolerant individuals may also be lactose
intolerant. They are likely to benefit most from a general
reduction of FODMAPs.
See
Food tables: sorbitol and
Food intolerances: fructose and
Food intolerances: sorbitol.
Links to extensive food content list
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/nuttab2010/nuttab2010onlinesearchabledatabase/onlineversion.cfm?&action=nutrientFoods&category=Proximates&nutrientID=FRU
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
(enter food you are interested in checking
sugar content of, e.g. apple)
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