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I'd like to eliminate all fructose from my diet. So the question I have is, what do I eat if I want to eat carbohydrate? I also want to adhere to a paleo diet, so that would mean no gluten grains or legumes. All I can think of is drinking milk for lactose, but are there other options?

Note, this question is hypothetical, so answering with things like "but why would you want to", or "some fructose is ok with fiber" is unnecessary. I'm wondering what carbohydrates exist that don't have any fructose?

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Why? Assuming you're of reasonable health you're perfectly equipped to deal with the small amount of fructose you would get from a low carb paleo diet based on vegetable carb sources. And if you're very active the same would apply to a high carb paleo diet. Not that I'm anti-dairy but I would lean towards a small amount of fructose from veg vs consuming dairy just so you can get the carbs in. – Rhubarb Apr 21 2011 at 1:28
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Rhubarb, please read the question. – Wozza Apr 22 2011 at 23:28
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Please close this question. The comments from the OP are seriously rude. – ben61820 May 28 2011 at 0:47
Why not work on minimizing fructose. While glucose is a safer carbohydrate, there are very few (any?) real foods that contain only one carbohydrate to complete exclusion of all others. If that is what you want I'd suggest spending some search time here: nutritiondata.self.com/tools/nutrient-search – Karen Jun 3 at 20:58
starchy vegetables and tubers! – Pecan Mar 11 at 18:51

9 Answers

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White rice or white rice syrup is starch that breaks down to glucose with virtually zero fructose (0.00194 grams per 100g). Tapioca/Tapioca syrup has similar lack of fructose, but has a higher GI. The only other 'carb' I can think of that will guarantee zero fructose is pure dextrose.

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I eat white rice with butter as a meal about every other day. – dorchid11 Apr 18 2011 at 16:05
What are the sources of pure dextrose? – Wozza Apr 19 2011 at 14:41
Dextrose powder is sold on its own, bodybuilders use it as a supplement, usually PWO. Dextrose == glucose. – haig Apr 19 2011 at 17:19
Potatoes, Onions, Radish, White Rice, Tapioca, Dairy all of which have some satiety, dextrose powder, not so much. – Bill1102inf Jan 20 2012 at 20:09
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You'll struggle to find a carbohydrate source with exactly zero fructose besides eating pure starch. That being the case, try eating things that are, well, pure starch. White potatoes come to mind as the only calorically significant option. Green veggies and leafy greens have very little fructose as well, but neither provide much energy at all.

So yes, milk and starch are the only significant caloric sources of fructose-free carbs that come to mind, even though most of the milk calories come from fat.

Not a creative or insightful answer, but I'm not so sure there's much out there to pursue.

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I think potato does have fructose, perhaps a very small amount, and sweet potato has more. But your answer "pure starch" made me think about white rice. – Wozza Apr 18 2011 at 5:37
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Just avoid all fruit and you will only get a minimal amount of fructose. That leaves you with grain/beans/vegetables for carbohydrate sources.

If you want to get as close to 0 as you can, then drop sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet corn, and tomatoes in addition to the previous suggestions. (physically eating a significant amount of sugar from these would be very difficult however). Most nutritional sites will also give you all the information on how much sugar a item has. Unless you are looking at milk/dairy, sugar refers to a glucose/fructose combination.

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Thanks, but the question was not about how to get a minimal amount of fructose. – Wozza Apr 18 2011 at 5:36
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White potatoes and white rice

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Whouldn't we be concerned with G.I of foods also(if diabetes and fat gain are to be avoided as well as having a sustainable source)? – PersonMan Apr 18 2011 at 20:48
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@person, no the GI of foods is not an issue for a metabolically healthy individual. For a healthy person you can put down a lot of potatoes repeatedly year in year out with no ill effects. The deciding factor is how the body is using that potato fuel. If you are fit, active, muscled, then your engine will run perfectly on higher GI foods. – ben61820 May 28 2011 at 0:45
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Your question has been answered.. meat and dairy. That's it. (Obviously not everything that can be CONSIDERED dairy --many yogurts are nearly pure sugar for an example-- but naturally-occuring, unsweetened dairy).

You're pretty snipey about people trying to help you out.. Only really understandable when someone says "why would you want to?", but when someone's giving you advice (without understanding your specific motivation), you don't have to take it, you can just ignore it. There are many things, when eaten whole, whose fructose doesn't have a chance to do the bad things that it does as it's naturally packaged in with fiber, which eliminates it from your system.. That's why many fruits and vegetables were included in responses. You didn't specify whether the goal was eliminating fructose so as to reduce/be rid of the bad effects (which makes sense and why the question was answered as it was) or just not eating fructose period (which only makes a little sense and sounds far more dogmatic than practical and beneficial, as eating, for example, berries, isn't gonna result in the kind of ill effects that would result from juice- or pop-drinking)

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Oh, forgot, fats would also be considered fructose-free in most cases.. – Maria May 27 2011 at 20:20
**Dairy is the only thing that is fructose-free that would be considered a carb. Also your question was illogical -- you said "I'd like to eliminate all fructose" and then you said "This question is hypothetical" -- how do you mean? Just to point out, in case you werent aware, that you'd be ridiculously vitamin-deficient if you do switch to only meat and dairy.. And before you jump all over it, I know that's not what you asked. But we're not in a court room where one is on a witness stand and the other is asking the questions. – Maria May 27 2011 at 20:23
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Black salsify and celery root are very low in fructose.

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I wonder if you read the question? – Wozza Apr 18 2011 at 5:40
Yes, they have carbs but not many fructose. I am not english speakign but i think that is what was asked. – Jan Apr 18 2011 at 7:34
celery = full of nitrates – Xyz Apr 20 2011 at 21:53
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I have been doing a similar nearly fructose-free diet for a while now. I found it useful to search for foods here :

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/

and at NutritionData they have fructose content. (edit : I remembered the usda database as listing fructose, but I can't find information about that now since the website has a new layout. Maybe they changed that or my memory was wrong. NutritionData still has fructose content, not on all foods, but lots, and you can search by fructose content.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

I think nutritiondata relies on data from the USDA's database, the data has been the same numerically for all searches I did in the past. If separate tests were done, there would be small differences in unprocessed foods.

This table might be useful , search for "Comparison of cassava with other major staple foods" about 3/5ths of the way down the page. :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava

The only other non-grain starch that comes to mind is arrowroot.

Berries have unusual kinds of monosaccharides. The ones I remember all had fructose, less than most other fruit, more than most vegetables. Dextrose is independent of fructose and is not converted into it by the body. It is glucose extracted from corn. Maltose is independent of fructose and is not converted into it by the body. It is made of two molecules of glucose joined into a disaccharide. You can make some by melting dextrose powder for example in a pan. You can read about simple sugars here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosaccharide and about how starch is converted into glucose here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch

Useful stuff to look for : amylopectin, amylose, glucose, glycogen, also Section 5 : "Food"

I haven't been able to find anywhere anything about dietary need or lack of need of fructose for humans. Glucose is necessary though, whether it's from conversion from starch, in free form, or from other conversions.

I check the nutrition fact label of everything, lately I have seen pure fructose as an additive even along with sugar substitutes, so it helps to read closely.

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Here is some info I found on an Australian site that might help. When you are on a fructose-free diet you need to avoid all fruit and fruit juices, sweetened milks, honey, cured meat products, maple or corn syrup, table sugar (beet and cane), confectionary, muesli bars, sugary breakfast cereals. Choose breads and yoghurt without any added sugars of fruit. Avoid processed foods as they notoriously contain high levels of sugar. Go for natural, unprocessed foods that don’t contain added sugars or fruit. Always read food labels carefully for hidden sugars or added fruit.

Try this fructose-free meal plan Breakfast

Oats porridge with almonds, milk, cinnamon and natural yoghurt (check that it's sugar free); Wholegrain toast (check no added sugar) with flaxseed oil, and egg and avocado; Nuts and Seed Bircher muesli – soak oats overnight in unsweetened almond milk, add mixed nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, stir through natural yoghurt, sprinkle with cinnamon; Scrambled eggs with basil and milk, with rye toast with flaxseed oil and avocado.

Snacks

Make your own hummus or babaganoush with vegie sticks or sugar-free rice crackers or rice cakes; Mixed nuts and seeds; Puffed rice cakes with cottage cheese or slice of cheese topped with rocket and sprouts.

Lunch

Big salad with some protein such as chicken, turkey, tinned salmon or tuna, boiled egg or tofu; Salad sandwich (sugar-free bread) with lots of salad, avocado and some sort of protein.; Homemade nori rolls with plain rice, with salmon, chicken, tofu or egg with cucumber, avocado, carrot and lettuce.

Dinner

Grilled fish, chicken or lean meat with steamed vegies and baked pumpkin; Stir-fry with fresh herbs and spices and lots of vegies, with brown rice. Vegie frittata with green avocado salad; Salmon or lamb skewers with couscous and roast vegies, serve with some tatziki; Patties made with salmon, or minced chicken or lamb, with quinoa or brown rice, and fresh herbs. Serve with a salad or steamed vegies; Pasta drizzled with olive oil, garlic and chilli with roast pumpkin, crumbled fetta, pine nuts and baby spinach.

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If you, like many other people, are considering starting the Every Other Day Diet most likely you will want to do a bit of research on it first!

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I haven't got a clue what you're talking about. This answer seriously does not address the question. – Wozza Apr 22 2011 at 23:28
And if your talking about every other day fasting, its a big fail. Adherence will be abysmal and the results will not be worth it. There are plenty of studies that back that up. – Bill1102inf Jan 20 2012 at 20:05

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