Why Fructose Malabsorption Causes Gas, Cramping, and Diarrhea and How to Beat It

Fructose Malabsorption can cause gas, cramping and diarrhea. If you have any of these symptoms, then this is probably the most important article you will ever read. When I first learned about Fructose Malabsorption (FM) and realized that the horrible gas, cramping, and diarrhea was from the sugar in the fruit I was eating… I had no idea what to do about it. In this article I am going to explain what I learned about FM and how it caused my symptoms. I’m also going to share how I stopped my symptoms and ended the cycle of FM. If you follow along and learn what I share with you about FM, you can follow the same steps that I used to stop your diarrhea, gas, and cramping.

What is Fructose Malabsorption?

Fructose Malabsorption really just means… not being able to absorb fructose. Fructose is a form of sugar and readily available in almost everything we eat, including fruit and vegetables. Both fructose and glucose are different forms of sugar and they are in the most simple form… but that’s the tricky part. Both forms of sugar require no digesting at all; they are already broken down into the most simple form for the body to soak right up. Therein lies the problem behind fructose malabsorption; the fructose is not being soaked right up into the body.

When fructose doesn’t get soaked right up into the bloodstream through the intestinal wall like it’s supposed to, it is shipped further down the bowels and gobbled up by hungry bad bacteria. When the bad bacteria eat, they make by-products such as methane and hydrogen gas that cause bloating, cramping, gas, diarrhea, and wicked bad breath. In fact, there is a test for Fructose Malabsorption that measures the level of hydrogen in the breath. This is because the bad bacteria release hydrogen after digesting fructose which gets absorbed into the bloodstream and removed by the lungs, finally expelled from the body through the breath.

So, Why Can’t the Body Soak Up Fructose?

There are several scenarios that would prevent the body from soaking up fructose. The first is a genetic disease that is hereditary and does not allow the body to deal with fructose, which is very rare. If there isn’t a genetic defect behind all of this, there are really only three things that could be going on. The bowels could just be moving way too slow in which case the fructose sits around not getting absorbed, allowing bad bacteria to feast on it. But this is also pretty rare for the small intestine (constipation takes place further along in the intestinal tract). The second thing that could be going on is the GLUT5 and GLUT2 transporters could be deficient. GLUT5 and GLUT2 transporters are little escorts that guide the fructose across the intestinal wall and into the blood. If they are not around to escort the fructose, it cannot be absorbed. This too has been found to be somewhat rare. The third and more likely scenario is that small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is in full swing and the bad bacteria are gobbling up the fructose in the small intestine before it has a chance to be escorted to the bloodstream in the first place.

This is what was going on in my case. All the sugar I was consuming was being feasted on by severe small intestinal

bacterial overgrowth which was causing horrible gas, cramping, diarrhea, and unbelievable bad breath. The only way to stop this out of whack cycle that is causing the bacterial overgrowth and digestive unrest is (i) to stop eating sugars temporarily to starve out the bacteria and (ii) only eat things that the body can easily absorb to replace the nutrients you need to heal.

That’s where the SCD Diet comes in and accomplishes both of those things by eliminating complex carbohydrates (sugars, starches, and grains) and providing simple foods so the body can replenish the nutrients and begin to heal. I had already been on the SCD Diet when I was experiencing really strong symptoms of FM and decided to go even lower with my fruit/honey intake (I was binge eating on SCD Legal fruits all day long). Once I stopped the fruit I was able to break the cycle and kill off the bacteria… within a few days of a lower fruit version of the SCD diet my fructose malabsorption issues were gone and I could slowly bring the fruit back in (this time keep it in moderation).

Without the SCD diet, I would have never been able to pinpoint that my bacterial overgrowth symptoms were related to fructose. Being on the diet assured me that none of  my symptoms were related to any other food allergies or intolerances. That is most likely why I had such dramatic results the first day I stopped eating fruit. If I was eating complex grains, sugars or starches I would have had to eliminate each one slowly until I figured out the answer… which would have taken months to connect the problem (FM) to the amount of fruit I was eating. The SCD Diet once again showed me new levels of health I didn’t realize were possible, so I really hope that if you have any digestive problems at all that you give it a shot! Ready to get started?

So, How Do I Properly Start the SCD Diet Anyway?

Here’s a 3 step process to properly start the SCD Diet and stop the gas, cramping, and diarrhea from fructose malabsorption in 30 days:

Step 1: Start making some SCD legal foods and experimenting to see how it goes over a few weeks… ease into the lifestyle.

Step 2: Pick a day that you are officially going to be on the diet and follow the intro diet to start it off right.

Step 3: Strictly follow the SCD diet for 30 days, and keep the fruit intake in moderation to keep the fructose/glucose down until you start to heal a little.

If you follow these 3 steps carefully to properly start the SCD Diet and give it a shot for 30 days, you can stop the gas, cramping, and diarrhea from fructose malabsorption like I did. Here’s what to do right now to make sure that you properly start the SCD diet:

Download our free guide here: “How to Properly Start the SCD Intro Diet”

Once you have it downloaded, make sure to try SCD legal foods and recipes for a few weeks to get used to cooking those meals before you decide to jump in 100%. Then, print it out and do what it says to get started on the intro diet and begin taking control of your fructose malabsorption. If you download the free guide today and get started on the SCD Diet in the next few weeks, you could have the gas, cramping, and diarrhea from fructose malabsorption taken care of in a little over a month.

-Jordan