Diagnosis: fructose malabsorption / Diagnose: Fructose Malabsortion

Today i've finally been diagnosed having an fructose malabsorption (better known as fructose intolerance)! Why i say finally? I was so weary of having undefined stomachaches, stomachcramps and flatulence. Now i even know what causes all the pain and inconvenience. It are those fructose suckers! ;) Well, better said it is the less amount of GLUT-5, which is a transport protein based in the wall of he small bowel, responsible for reabsorbing fructose into the bloodstream. 

But due to the fact that there are not enough GLUT-5 proteins, not all the fructose can be reabsorbed and it continues its way through the digestive system and into the colon, where fructose actually isn't meant to be. In the colon the fructose needs to be fragmented by bacteria and that's were smelly gases and cramps come from.

The only thing you can do about it is, really, to avoid fructose.
Fructose exists mainly in all kind of fruit (most in apples, pears, cherries, dried fruits) and vegetables (most in onions, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots). But also normal refined sugar contains 50% fructose and alternative sweeteners like honey, agave, maple syrup are No-No's as well.

The first 4 weeks after the diagnosis are called abstention phase where you are encouraged to leave out fructose whereever you can.
I handle this by leaving out fruits and sugar completetly, i'm substituting sweetness by using rice and spelt syrup and by constraining the variety of vegetables i eat to only avocados, spinach, salad leaves and potatoes.

I hope my stomach and small bowel are feeling better soon from all the constant fructose intake and i'm willing to share some fructosefree recipes with you!

See you, xx Jenny

"Graze box" review I

Hey guys!

You've probably already heard about this snack/nibble boxes, that are called "graze box", at least in the UK they seem to be hyped, because they are advertising on many websites at the moment.
That's how i took notice of this adorable, with healthy nutritious snacks filled boxes and of course i desperately needed one! :D

So every monday I'm excited the whole morning until RoyalMail finally arrives at about 2pm with my snackbox... And to be honest, most of the snacks are already gone on the same day... 0:-)

Well anyway, this  is the graze site, where you can order the boxes. You can choose when and how often (every day, every week, every forthnight) you want to receive your box and they're gonna send it to you!
Every box contains 4 little plastic boxes with yummi contents, as you can see on the picture above.
What you can't see is, that they are quite small (they fit trough the letter slot) but certainly you can't expect a large size for £3.89 (including free delivery!).
If it appears you don't like a content of your box (or you like a certain one especially) , you've got the oppurtinity to let the graze people know that by just clicking "bin it" (or "like it") on the website.

pumpkin and ginger cake with an afternoon infusion

i like the idea it comes with an infusion,

the cake itself is solid but not remarkable      

Just to make you even more hungry, i'll show you the contents of my boxes every week with a little review on them.

cookies and cream

mini chocolate cookies, roasted hazels, white chocolate buttons and sunflower seeds

It was all right, it didn't knocked my socks of or anything

baked soy bits with sweet chilli sauce

the only thing of the whole range until now, i couldn't eat
the "bits" come with the distinctive soya flavour
and i just dislike sweet and sour/hot stuff

tutti frutti

blueberry infused cranberries, pineapple, cherry infused raisins and green raisins

OMG you never knew dried fruit can taste SO good!

The pineapple was heaven on earth. There are no artificial preservatives in the fruit, 

just pure nature's goodness.