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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> Fructose can Reduce Tryptophan, Serotonin levels
        
(Message started by: floridian on Nov 30^th, 2003, 11:17am)

Title: Fructose can Reduce Tryptophan, Serotonin levels
Post by floridian on Nov 30^th, 2003, 11:17am

This is a repeat of a reply to a post from the general topics section, with new information added - the post dissappeared among the sports, politics, and miscellany, and I know some people that hang out on this side were talking about onions as a possible trigger ....

Most people have heard of lactose intolerance, but few have heard of fructose intolerance. Fructose intolerance is strongly associated with lower tryptophan levels in the blood, which leads to lower serotonin levels, which probably also lowers melatonin production. About half of the people with dietary fructose intolerance have no GI symptoms, but the other half get gas, bloating, and diarrhea.

I am testing for a personal link between sweets and stomach problems and mood, but only started changing my diet a few days ago. Soft drinks seem to be the worst for me, but (in retrospect) apple and orange juices have been associated with gut wrenching problems as well, along with restaurant food and processed food.

High prices for table sugar (sucrose) led to the development of cheaper high fructose sweeteners, and these are in soda and many other processed foods (lots in ketchup, Hersheys chocolate syrup, some salad dressings, breads, etc, etc). Some people have serious problems with 15 grams of fructose per day - a can of cola has 39 grams of sugar, much of it is fructose. Add a few grams of fructose to most of the processed foods you eat, and the daily total is pretty large. One statistic I saw indicated that nearly 1/2 of the total sugar consumption in the US is from High Fructose Corn sweetners.

Fructose also occurs naturally in fruits and honey, and some vegetables. Intolerance or malabsorption of sorbitol and lactose are somewhat similar in terms of the GI distress, and tend to co-occur with fructose intolerance.

Another source of fructose are the fructans and FOS - these are starch-like ingredient that are a chain of fructose molecules. FOS is a short chain (fructo-oligosaccharides), while fructans are longer. They are broken down into fructose as they pass through the gut. Some sources of fructans include onions, oats, barley, rye, leeks, garlic, chicory, jerusalem artichoke,

I don't think that this is THE CAUSE of clusters, but it could be an agravating factor in some people. Most people have no problem with fructose, but you could be one of the millions who do.

Quote:

Scand J Gastroenterol. 2000 Oct;35(10):1048-52.

Fructose- and sorbitol-reduced diet improves mood and gastrointestinal disturbances in fructose malabsorbers.

Ledochowski M, Widner B, Bair H, Probst T, Fuchs D. Dept. of Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Innsbruck, Austria.

BACKGROUND: Fructose malabsorption is characterized by the inability to absorb fructose efficiently. As a consequence fructose reaches the colon where it is broken down by bacteria to short fatty acids, CO2 and H2. Bloating, cramps, osmotic diarrhea and other symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are the consequences and can be seen in about 50% of fructose malabsorbers. We have previously shown that fructose malabsorption is associated with early signs of mental depression and low serum tryptophan concentrations. It was therefore of interest whether a fructose-reduced diet could not only improve gastrointestinal complaints but also depressive signs seen in fructose malabsorbers. METHODS: Fifty-three adults (12 males, 41 females), who were identified as fructose malabsorbers according to their breath-H2 concentrations, filled out a Beck's depression inventory-questionnaire, and a questionnaire with arbitrary scales for measurement of meteorism, stool frequency and quality of life for a 4-week period before dietary intervention and 4 weeks after dietary change as for fructose- and sorbitol-reduced diet. RESULTS: Depression scores were reduced by 65.2% after 4 weeks of diet (P < 0.0001), and there was a significant reduction of meteorism (P < 0.0001) and stool frequency (P < 0.01). Improvement of signs of depression and of meteorism was more pronounced in females than in males. CONCLUSION: Fructose- and sorbitol-reduced diet in subjects with fructose malabsorption does not only reduce gastrointestinal symptoms but also improves mood and early signs of depression.