29 replies to this topic

[alternativista]

Good Things for Fructose/Carb Malabsorption for people who find they break out from fruit.

-Note that this condition often coincides with/stems from/causes digestive issues like IBS/Leaky gut and celiac and such. Be sure to consider and address those issues. Good Things for digestion: http://www.acne.org/...dpost&p=2574119

Not listed in order of importance:

Fructose is primarily processed in the liver and the ability is affected by the circadian cycle and various nutrients involved in liver function and the making of the neurotransmitters that govern the circadian cycle.

Natural circadian cycle with the consumption of nutrients needed to make seratonin early in the day, then plenty of bright light during the day, limiting artificial (esp blue spectum) light in evening to start the conversion of seratonin to melatonin for sleep. And no light during sleep which should include the hours between 10-11pm to 4-5 am. Exercise also boosts seratonin production.

Studies:

-Effects of dim or bright-light exposure during the daytime on human gastrointestinal activity. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12638695
-Effect of evening exposure to dim or bright light on the digestion of carbohydrate in the supper meal http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/14535358
-Effects of dim or bright-light exposure during the daytime on human gastrointestinal activity. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12638695 'These results support our hypothesis and indicate that dim-light exposure during the daytime suppresses the digestion of the evening meal, resulting in malabsorption of dietary carbohydrates in it.' http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11336160
-Fructose malabsorption is associated with decreased plasma tryptophan. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11336160

Avoid blue spectrum light sources at night. LEDs, PC displays, TV, etc. There's a software called Flux that adjusts the spectrum of your computer towards the red automatically every evening.

Nutrients for the seratonin/melatonin cycle:

Nutrient precursors to seratonin: methionine, folate, B12, B6, TMG (betaine) and zinc, and maybe some calcium and magnesium. And of course, amino acid tryptophan. (However, there is research that you want foods with a good ratio of tryptophan to other amino acids. See below for more info.)

Tryptophan is also converted to niacin (B3). If you have a niacin deficiency, all the tryptophan you consume will be used to make niacin.

Nutrients that benefit liver function, because fructose is metabolized by the liver. Sulfur containing aminos such as Methionine/cysteine and the nutrients the body makes from them: Taurine, GLUTATHIONE. Other sulfur phyto(plant)chemicals: indole-3-carbinole (I3C) and sulforaphane. CALCIUM D-GLUCARATE, LIPOIC ACID, QUERCETIN, Molybdenum, Glutamine. Milk Thistle, BETAINE. ---Basically, eat your greens, brassica veggies, onions, garlic, apples, etc. Animal proteins are also high in sulfur- eggs, chicken, fish, dairy...

Some people don't make as much Taurine as they need and may benefit from supplementing, especially if they break out from fruit/fructose. Or maybe they just need to consume the nutrients needed to produce taurine: methionine and cysteine (from sulfur containing veggies and animal protein) with Vitamin B-6 a key cofactor in this process. As is molybdenum, a mineral you only need in trace amounts but is essential in the catabolism of proteins - the breakdown of protein into amino acids to be used to make new proteins which is how the body uses protein. (okay, I can't find them now, but I know back during the big taurine fad, there were studies and articles linking taurine to fructose metabolism)

Also, avoid excessive amounts of fructose and glucose, such as that in High Fructose Corn Syrup in processed foods and drinks and large/large amounts of fruits with a poor ratio of fructose to glucose. List of fruits and the types/amounts of each sugar: http://www.nal.usda....ther/herr48.pdf Fruits begin on page 7. Table sugar, sucrose, is half fructose. Honey is also half fructose. Agave Nectar is almost entirely fructose. Nutritiondata.com list of foods highest in Fructose: http://nutritiondata...0000000000.html

-Avoid pure fructose sweeteners such as Agave nectar. They are not healthier and despite not elevating blood sugar, cause even higher insulin spikes. Pure fructose is used to induce insulin resistance in lab rats.

Nutrients/Things that help sleep:
Melatonin (help your body make it as explained above), magnesium, Omega 3 EFAs, DHEA (made by healthy adrenal glands), Camomile Tea, green tea (but only early in the day). Vitamin D regulates the melatonin cycle ...
Avoid Progestin - synthetic progesterone in birth control pills.

Other organs/factors:
- Manage Stress, Sleep, exercise, get/give hugs, sex. Good Things/Nutrients for Mood
-Intestinal mucosa - take steps to heal
-Adrenal Health

Also the wikipedia page on the subject says to avoid/limit some other sweeteners:

• 
  
• Foods and beverages containing greater than 0.5g fructose in excess of glucose per 100g and greater than 0.2g of fructans per serving should be avoided. Foods with >3g of fructose per serving are termed a ‘high fructose load’ and possibly at risk of inducing symptoms. However, the concept of a ‘high fructose load’ has not been evaluated in terms of its importance in the success of the diet.^[10]
• Foods with high fructose-to-glucose ratio. Glucose enhances absorption of fructose, so fructose from foods with fructose-to-glucose ratio 1, like apples and pears, is often problematic regardless of total amount of fructose in the food.^[11]
• Foods rich in fructans and other Fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Mono-saccharides and Polyols (FODMAPs), including artichokes, asparagus, leeks, onions , and wheat-containing products, including most beers, breads, cakes, biscuits, breakfast cereals, pies, pastas, pizzas, and some noodles.
• Foods containing sorbitol, present in some diet drinks and foods, and occurring naturally in some stone fruits, or xylitol, present in some berries, and otherpolyols (sugar alcohols), such as erythritol, mannitol, and other ingredients that end with -tol, commonly added as artificial sweeteners in commercial food

Edited by alternativista, 27 February 2012 - 10:20 AM.

[mds-pi]

Good post, an informative collation of research and suggestions.

[alternativista]

More on tryptophan from foods and seratonin production:

Serotonin levels can not be increased by diet or supplements of tryptophan alone. For example, increasing foods rich in tryptophan (eg, meats, proteins) does not increase serotonin levels, due to competition with other amino acids.[49] What is required to increase serotonin production is an increase in the ratio of tryptophan to phenylalanine and leucine. Fruits with a good ratio include dates, papaya and banana. Foods with a lower ratio inhibit the production of serotonin. These include whole wheat and rye bread[50]

From wikipedia. (Dairy is very high in leucine and amino acid that is insulinemic.) Citing an article that says this:

The body actually doesn't need much tryptophan to compose serotonin. And yet you can consume lots of protein containing lots of tryptophan, with serotonin production remaining far too low simply because protein also contains amino acids inhibiting serotonin production, like leucine and phenylalanine in particular. Optimizing serotonin metabolism therefore is not about consuming protein high in tryptophan, but about consuming protein containing relatively more tryptophan than leucine and phenylalanine. Consuming such proteins improves serotonin metabolism, allowing you to feel happy, and sleep well Great 'happy' and 'sleepy-food' are fruits like dried dates, -figs, papaya, banana, strawberries, sweet cherries, orange, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and hazelnuts, combined with fresh raw egg yolk (because of the cholesterol), alternated with fresh raw salmon (because of the vitamin B3).Of course the best 'happy-foods' are easy to digest and should be consumed raw. Mushrooms and potato crisps are best 'happy'-munch-food (crisps combine well with egg yolk and avocado), but consuming mushrooms can cause cramps. Because these foods are high in tryptophan and low in leucine and phenylalanine. (and contain cholesterol, fats and sugars when combined). To know what foods can improve your sleep and happiness, you have to look at their SPF. SPF = 'Serotonin-Production Factor' = tryptophan / (phenylalanine + leucine). For example : if the SPF of a certain food-protein is 50%, this protein contains exactly as much tryptophan as the average of phenylalanine and leucine, strongly improving serotonin production. All foods with a SPF below 10%, more or less inhibit serotonin production. Whether these low-SPF foods actually do inhibit serotonin production, depends on how much protein they contain.

As this is a pretty goofy article, I'm looking for a better source of info on the SPF or Seratonin-Production-Factor of foods to see if that's a real thing and/or someone has made a useful chart of common foods.

And this is from webMD:

Protein-rich foods, such as meat or chicken, contain high levels of tryptophans. Tryptophan appears in dairy foods, nuts, and fowl. Ironically, however, levels of both tryptophan and serotonin drop after eating a meal packed with protein. Why? According to nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, when you eat a high-protein meal, you "flood the blood with both tryptophan and its competing amino acids," all fighting for entry into the brain. That means only a small amount of tryptophan gets through -- and serotonin levels don't rise.

But eat a carbohydrate-rich meal, and your body triggers a release of insulin. This, Somer says, causes any amino acids in the blood to be absorbed into the body -- but not the brain. Except for, you guessed it -- tryptophan!

Yeah, don't eat a carb rich meal. Eat a balanced meal. Or have a small amount of tryptophan containing fruit.

And elsewhere:

When the brain produces serotonin, tension is eased. When it produces dopamine or norepinephrine, we tend to think and act more quickly and are generally more alert. Eating carbohydrates alone seems to have a calming effect, while proteins increase alertness. Complex carbohydrates, which raise the level of tryptophan in the brain, have a calming effect.

Protein promotes the production of dopamine and norepinephrine, which promote alertness. Protein meals containing essential fatty acids and/or carbohydrates are recommended for increased alertness. Salmon and white fish are good choices.

Edit
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, I'm not finding any chart of any Seratonin Production Factors (SPF) of foods. Besides, I've found lots of info that says that tryptophan competes with many amino acids, not the two mentioned in the wikipedia seratonin article.

whfoods.org says:

Vitamin B6, vitamin C, folic acid and magnesium are necessary for the metabolization of tryptophan. In addition, tyrosine and phenylalanine compete with tryptophan for absorption.

Tyrosine. Not luecine like the above articles referenced on wikipedia said.

Also:

In its most recent 2005 public health recommendations for amino acids (published as the Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients), National Academies Press, 2005), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) established a general principle for tryptophan intake. The NAS recommended that all individuals 1 year of age or greater consume 7 milligrams of tryptophan for every 1 gram of food protein. Here is how that recommendation would look for each age and gender group, assuming RDA-level protein intake for each group:

Children 1-3 years: 91 mg of tryptophan
Children 4-8 years: 133 mg of tryptophan
Males 9-13 years: 238 mg of tryptophan
Males 14-18 years: 364 mg of tryptophan
Males 19 years and older: 392 mg of tryptophan
Females 9-13 years: 238 mg of tryptophan
Females 14 years and older: 322 mg of tryptophan
Pregnant or lactating females: 497 mg of tryptophan

But we should all know by not to take RDAs with a grain of salt. They say we need way more calcium and no where near as much D as we need.

On a blog all about foods highest in tryptophan, it says:

Tryptophan constantly struggles with other amino acids such as tyrosine, methionine, histidine, and leucine to access the brain and eating a high protein diet increases the blood levels of these amino acids and results in an actual decrease in tryptophan.

Eating a high carbohydrate diet of pasta and pastries can help to increase the level of tryptophan in your body. Foods high in carbohydrate cause the release of additional insulin from the body which in turn wipes out the competing amino acids. This allows the absorption of more tryptophan in the brain. This procedure may work in the short term but sustaining a high carbohydrate, low protein diet is not recommended by health experts as the body needs protein to survive.

In order to avoid these dilemmas there are a few steps that can be taken:

* Using a supplement - although tryptophan supplements have not been banned by the FDA but several states have banned this supplement due to the confusion caused by FDA. Today, you can buy tryptophan supplements or you can use the 5-HTP as an alternative.
* Consume foods high in tryptophan on an empty stomach as this aids absorption
* Take foods high in tryptophan on their own with no other proteins or amino acids

It seems that tryptophan competes with all kinds of other amino acids and that it's best to consume a food that is not particularly high in other amino acids. And to consume that food alone. Like a small banana. And/or in little bits from a variety of foods throughout the day.

In a paper from colorado state: Benefiting Brain Chemistry with L-Tryptophan

TRP occurs in low concentration (<1%) in most protein sources. In order to gain access to the brain, it must compete with other large neutral amino acids (LNAA) via a common transport mechanism. Low-protein diets sway the ratio of TRP to LNAA in favor of TRP, so that more TRP is transported into the brain. Dietary supplementation of TRP can likewise increase the ratio of TRP to other LNAA’s, and afford TRP an advantage when vying for entry into the brain. Tryptophan hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme that converts TRP to serotonin,

http://csuvets.colos...LTryptophan.pdf TRP = tryptophan

There's also the enzyme TPH (Tryptophan hydroxylase involved. Your body can't convert tryptophan without it and can only convert so much...

http://mothernatures...lly-part-2.html

Edited by alternativista, 08 July 2011 - 04:06 PM.

[alternativista]

Ah. I found references to SPF on the wai diet site: http://www.13.waisays.com/. That figures. Much of the info in that article I referred to as goofy seems to come directly from here. All that talk of happy and sleepy foods.

So, Here's the chart for what it's worth. Higher numbers are better and numbers lower than 10 inhibit seratonin production supposedly.

That doesn't mean you avoid them, necessarily, just don't count on them for the tryptophan at least not for the purposes of the production of seratonin. I notice it lists egg yolk. But not the whole egg. Is the ratio of the whole egg a problem with all the protein in whites?

SPF* Food



95% edible boletus

48% hemp seed, commercial ***

43% date, dried

32% papaya **

32% chanterelle

29% banana

22% strawberries

21% sweet cherries

17% mango **

17% cashew nut

16% pineapple **

16% grapefruit

15% fig, dried

14% hazelnut

14% carrots

13% potato crisps

13% orange

12% guava **

12% mushroom

12% crawfish

12% egg yolk

12% apricot **

11% oyster mushroom

11% wheat whole meal bread

11% peach

11% tomato

11% oriental sesame

10% sunflower seed

10% chicken breast

10% salmon

10% mackerel

10% beef, muscles only

10% goose

10% rolled oats

10% green peas, canned

10% Brazil nut

9% walnut

9% peanut

9% tuna

9% turkey, young

9% Soya bean

9% crisp bread

9% mandarins

9% cow’s milk

8% apple

8% lamb, muscles only

8% rice

8% white bread

8% coconut

8% Lamb’s lettuce

8% quark, fresh cheese

7% lentil

7% avocado

7% cheddar cheese

7% yogurt

6% almond

6% bread rolls

6% oyster

6% white beans

6% rye bread

5% horsemeat

5% pasta made with eggs

5% lobster

4% shredded wheat bread

3% sweet corn

3% corn flakes

Well, regardless of what you think of the credibility of the info I found, I found plenty that says tryptophan competes with other amino acids to get into the brain where it's converted to seratonin. So, I think it's clear that you ideally want to consume a low protein tryptophan source by itself at least once a day. Or throughout the day.

The wai diet people also mentioned that tryptophan is damaged by heat which would also mean that fruit is a better source.

Edited by alternativista, 05 July 2011 - 11:28 AM.

[Phresh]

Awesome information. You're the most helpful person on this board.

[Thehoper]

Yeah great info. Different info brought to the table then the same old stuff. Its too bad oats and coconut are down on the list. I like making porridge from grains, coconut milk and oil, with banana and date. Looks like I should throw in some hemp seed too.

[alternativista]

Yeah great info. Different info brought to the table then the same old stuff. Its too bad oats and coconut are down on the list. I like making porridge from grains, coconut milk and oil, with banana and date. Looks like I should throw in some hemp seed too.

Yeah, I like whole oat groats with coconut, dried currants and chopped apple. The oats are ok, but apple and coconut would push the breakfast into the seratonin inhibiting end according to this. Banana or plantain would make it better, but I don't like banana so much with the oats.

I wish there were some other foods on this list. You'd think the wai diet people would have quinoa, for example, but they don't. But they have canned peas and horse meat. Isn't that weird?

[Thehoper]

haha yeah I was thinkin the same thing. Huge thing I believe with any kind of sugar is having a healthy liver. Following a regimen to benefit your liver can clear people up dramatically.

Edited by Thehoper, 05 July 2011 - 12:36 PM.

[lollypolly]

Good Things for Fructose/Carb malabsorption for people who find they break out from fruit.

1) Natural circadian cycle with the consumption of nutrients needed to make seratonin early in the day, then plenty of bright light during the day, limiting artificial (esp blue spectum) light in evening and no light during sleep which should include the hours between 10-11pm to 4-5 am. Exercise also boosts seratonin production.

Tryptophan is also converted to niacin (B3). If you have a niacin deficiency, all the tryptophan you consume will be used to make niacin.

Study: Effects of dim or bright-light exposure during the daytime on human gastrointestinal activity. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12638695

Avoid blue spectrum light sources at night. LEDs, PC displays, TV, etc. There's a software called Flux that adjusts the spectrum of your computer towards the red automatically every evening.


2) Nutrients:

Nutrient precursors to seratonin: methionine, folate, B12, B6, TMG (betaine) and zinc, and maybe some calcium and magnesium. And of course, amino acid tryptophan. (However, there is research that you want foods with the right ratio tryptophan to other amino acids. See below for more info.)

Nutrients that benefit liver function, because fructose is metabolized by the liver. Sulfur containing aminos such as Methionine/cysteine and the nutrients the body makes from them: taurine, GLUTATHIONE. Other sulfur phyto(plant)chemicals: indole-3-carbinole (I3C) and sulforaphane. CALCIUM D-GLUCARATE, LIPOIC ACID, QUERCETIN, Molybdenum, Glutamine. Milk Thistle, BETAINE

Basically, eat your greens, brassica veggies, onions, garlic, apples, etc. Animal proteins are also high in sulfur- eggs, chicken, fish, dairy...

Nutrients/Things that help sleep:
Melatonin (help your body make it), magnesium, Omega 3 EFAs, DHEA (made by the adrenal glands), Camomile Tea, green tea (but only early in the day). Vitamin D regulates the melatonin cycle ...

Also, avoid excessive amounts of fructose and glucose, such as that in added sugars, HFCS in processed foods and drinks and large high fructose fruits.

List of fruits and the types/amounts of sugar: Sugars found in various foods. http://www.nal.usda....her/herr48.pdf Fruits begin on page 7. Table sugar, sucrose, is half fructose. Agave Nectar is almost entirely fructose.

Nutritiondata.com list of foods highest in Fructose: http://nutritiondata...0000000000.html

Other organs/factors:
Adrenal Health
Manage Stress - exercise, get/give hugs, sex. Good Things/Nutrients for Mood
Avoid Progestin - synthetic progesterone in birth control pills.

More on tryptophan from foods and seratonin production:

Serotonin levels can not be increased by diet or supplements of tryptophan alone. For example, increasing foods rich in tryptophan (eg, meats, proteins) does not increase serotonin levels, due to competition with other amino acids.[49] What is required to increase serotonin production is an increase in the ratio of tryptophan to phenylalanine and leucine. Fruits with a good ratio include dates, papaya and banana. Foods with a lower ratio inhibit the production of serotonin. These include whole wheat and rye bread[50]

From wikipedia. (Dairy is very high in leucine and amino acid that is insulinemic.) Citing an article that says this:

The body actually doesn't need much tryptophan to compose serotonin. And yet you can consume lots of protein containing lots of tryptophan, with serotonin production remaining far too low simply because protein also contains amino acids inhibiting serotonin production, like leucine and phenylalanine in particular. Optimizing serotonin metabolism therefore is not about consuming protein high in tryptophan, but about consuming protein containing relatively more tryptophan than leucine and phenylalanine. Consuming such proteins improves serotonin metabolism, allowing you to feel happy, and sleep well Great 'happy' and 'sleepy-food' are fruits like dried dates, -figs, papaya, banana, strawberries, sweet cherries, orange, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and hazelnuts, combined with fresh raw egg yolk (because of the cholesterol), alternated with fresh raw salmon (because of the vitamin B3).Of course the best 'happy-foods' are easy to digest and should be consumed raw. Mushrooms and potato crisps are best 'happy'-munch-food (crisps combine well with egg yolk and avocado), but consuming mushrooms can cause cramps. Because these foods are high in tryptophan and low in leucine and phenylalanine. (and contain cholesterol, fats and sugars when combined). To know what foods can improve your sleep and happiness, you have to look at their SPF. SPF = 'Serotonin-Production Factor' = tryptophan / (phenylalanine + leucine). For example : if the SPF of a certain food-protein is 50%, this protein contains exactly as much tryptophan as the average of phenylalanine and leucine, strongly improving serotonin production. All foods with a SPF below 10%, more or less inhibit serotonin production. Whether these low-SPF foods actually do inhibit serotonin production, depends on how much protein they contain.

As this is a pretty goofy article, I'm looking for a better source of info on the SPF or Seratonin-Production-Factor of foods to see if that's a real thing and/or someone has made a useful chart of common foods.

And this is from webMD:

Protein-rich foods, such as meat or chicken, contain high levels of tryptophans. Tryptophan appears in dairy foods, nuts, and fowl. Ironically, however, levels of both tryptophan and serotonin drop after eating a meal packed with protein. Why? According to nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, when you eat a high-protein meal, you "flood the blood with both tryptophan and its competing amino acids," all fighting for entry into the brain. That means only a small amount of tryptophan gets through -- and serotonin levels don't rise.

But eat a carbohydrate-rich meal, and your body triggers a release of insulin. This, Somer says, causes any amino acids in the blood to be absorbed into the body -- but not the brain. Except for, you guessed it -- tryptophan!

But don't eat a carb rich meal. Eat a balanced meal.

And elsewhere:

When the brain produces serotonin, tension is eased. When it produces dopamine or norepinephrine, we tend to think and act more quickly and are generally more alert. Eating carbohydrates alone seems to have a calming effect, while proteins increase alertness. Complex carbohydrates, which raise the level of tryptophan in the brain, have a calming effect.

Protein promotes the production of dopamine and norepinephrine, which promote alertness. Protein meals containing essential fatty acids and/or carbohydrates are recommended for increased alertness. Salmon and white fish are good choices.

You are fucking stellar! Thank you so much

[GreenEyes33]

Good Things for Fructose/Carb malabsorption for people who find they break out from fruit.

1) Natural circadian cycle with the consumption of nutrients needed to make seratonin early in the day, then plenty of bright light during the day, limiting artificial (esp blue spectum) light in evening and no light during sleep which should include the hours between 10-11pm to 4-5 am. Exercise also boosts seratonin production.

Tryptophan is also converted to niacin (B3). If you have a niacin deficiency, all the tryptophan you consume will be used to make niacin.

Study: Effects of dim or bright-light exposure during the daytime on human gastrointestinal activity. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12638695

Avoid blue spectrum light sources at night. LEDs, PC displays, TV, etc. There's a software called Flux that adjusts the spectrum of your computer towards the red automatically every evening.


2) Nutrients:

Nutrient precursors to seratonin: methionine, folate, B12, B6, TMG (betaine) and zinc, and maybe some calcium and magnesium. And of course, amino acid tryptophan. (However, there is research that you want foods with the right ratio tryptophan to other amino acids. See below for more info.)

Nutrients that benefit liver function, because fructose is metabolized by the liver. Sulfur containing aminos such as Methionine/cysteine and the nutrients the body makes from them: taurine, GLUTATHIONE. Other sulfur phyto(plant)chemicals: indole-3-carbinole (I3C) and sulforaphane. CALCIUM D-GLUCARATE, LIPOIC ACID, QUERCETIN, Molybdenum, Glutamine. Milk Thistle, BETAINE

Basically, eat your greens, brassica veggies, onions, garlic, apples, etc. Animal proteins are also high in sulfur- eggs, chicken, fish, dairy...

Nutrients/Things that help sleep:
Melatonin (help your body make it), magnesium, Omega 3 EFAs, DHEA (made by the adrenal glands), Camomile Tea, green tea (but only early in the day). Vitamin D regulates the melatonin cycle ...

Also, avoid excessive amounts of fructose and glucose, such as that in added sugars, HFCS in processed foods and drinks and large high fructose fruits.

List of fruits and the types/amounts of sugar: Sugars found in various foods. http://www.nal.usda....her/herr48.pdf Fruits begin on page 7. Table sugar, sucrose, is half fructose. Agave Nectar is almost entirely fructose.

Nutritiondata.com list of foods highest in Fructose: http://nutritiondata...0000000000.html

Other organs/factors:
Adrenal Health
Manage Stress - exercise, get/give hugs, sex. Good Things/Nutrients for Mood
Avoid Progestin - synthetic progesterone in birth control pills.

More on tryptophan from foods and seratonin production:

Serotonin levels can not be increased by diet or supplements of tryptophan alone. For example, increasing foods rich in tryptophan (eg, meats, proteins) does not increase serotonin levels, due to competition with other amino acids.[49] What is required to increase serotonin production is an increase in the ratio of tryptophan to phenylalanine and leucine. Fruits with a good ratio include dates, papaya and banana. Foods with a lower ratio inhibit the production of serotonin. These include whole wheat and rye bread[50]

From wikipedia. (Dairy is very high in leucine and amino acid that is insulinemic.) Citing an article that says this:

The body actually doesn't need much tryptophan to compose serotonin. And yet you can consume lots of protein containing lots of tryptophan, with serotonin production remaining far too low simply because protein also contains amino acids inhibiting serotonin production, like leucine and phenylalanine in particular. Optimizing serotonin metabolism therefore is not about consuming protein high in tryptophan, but about consuming protein containing relatively more tryptophan than leucine and phenylalanine. Consuming such proteins improves serotonin metabolism, allowing you to feel happy, and sleep well Great 'happy' and 'sleepy-food' are fruits like dried dates, -figs, papaya, banana, strawberries, sweet cherries, orange, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and hazelnuts, combined with fresh raw egg yolk (because of the cholesterol), alternated with fresh raw salmon (because of the vitamin B3).Of course the best 'happy-foods' are easy to digest and should be consumed raw. Mushrooms and potato crisps are best 'happy'-munch-food (crisps combine well with egg yolk and avocado), but consuming mushrooms can cause cramps. Because these foods are high in tryptophan and low in leucine and phenylalanine. (and contain cholesterol, fats and sugars when combined). To know what foods can improve your sleep and happiness, you have to look at their SPF. SPF = 'Serotonin-Production Factor' = tryptophan / (phenylalanine + leucine). For example : if the SPF of a certain food-protein is 50%, this protein contains exactly as much tryptophan as the average of phenylalanine and leucine, strongly improving serotonin production. All foods with a SPF below 10%, more or less inhibit serotonin production. Whether these low-SPF foods actually do inhibit serotonin production, depends on how much protein they contain.

As this is a pretty goofy article, I'm looking for a better source of info on the SPF or Seratonin-Production-Factor of foods to see if that's a real thing and/or someone has made a useful chart of common foods.

And this is from webMD:

Protein-rich foods, such as meat or chicken, contain high levels of tryptophans. Tryptophan appears in dairy foods, nuts, and fowl. Ironically, however, levels of both tryptophan and serotonin drop after eating a meal packed with protein. Why? According to nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, when you eat a high-protein meal, you "flood the blood with both tryptophan and its competing amino acids," all fighting for entry into the brain. That means only a small amount of tryptophan gets through -- and serotonin levels don't rise.

But eat a carbohydrate-rich meal, and your body triggers a release of insulin. This, Somer says, causes any amino acids in the blood to be absorbed into the body -- but not the brain. Except for, you guessed it -- tryptophan!

But don't eat a carb rich meal. Eat a balanced meal.

And elsewhere:

When the brain produces serotonin, tension is eased. When it produces dopamine or norepinephrine, we tend to think and act more quickly and are generally more alert. Eating carbohydrates alone seems to have a calming effect, while proteins increase alertness. Complex carbohydrates, which raise the level of tryptophan in the brain, have a calming effect.

Protein promotes the production of dopamine and norepinephrine, which promote alertness. Protein meals containing essential fatty acids and/or carbohydrates are recommended for increased alertness. Salmon and white fish are good choices.

You are fucking stellar! Thank you so much

I agree!! There are a lot of people here who have helped me clear up and get healthy, but no one so much as Alternavista. Even though I studied genetics and biochem in uni, she is so indepth it sometimes even goes over my head and I have to read it through twice. It takes a lot of effort to compile and sift through all this information, and we're lucky she takes the time to give it to us.

[AutonomousOne1980]

there is research that you want foods with the right ratio tryptophan to other amino acids.

which foods are these?

Edited by AutonomousOne1980, 06 July 2011 - 09:35 AM.

[AutonomousOne1980]

What is required to increase serotonin production is an increase in the ratio of tryptophan to phenylalanine and leucine. Fruits with a good ratio include dates, papaya and banana. Foods with a lower ratio inhibit the production of serotonin. These include whole wheat and rye bread[50]

The body actually doesn't need much tryptophan to compose serotonin. And yet you can consume lots of protein containing lots of tryptophan, with serotonin production remaining far too low simply because protein also contains amino acids inhibiting serotonin production, like leucine and phenylalanine in particular. Optimizing serotonin metabolism therefore is not about consuming protein high in tryptophan, but about consuming protein containing relatively more tryptophan than leucine and phenylalanine. Consuming such proteins improves serotonin metabolism, allowing you to feel happy, and sleep well Great 'happy' and 'sleepy-food' are fruits like dried dates, -figs, papaya, banana, strawberries, sweet cherries, orange, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and hazelnuts, combined with fresh raw egg yolk (because of the cholesterol), alternated with fresh raw salmon (because of the vitamin B3). SPF = 'Serotonin-Production Factor' = tryptophan / (phenylalanine + leucine). For example : if the SPF of a certain food-protein is 50%, this protein contains exactly as much tryptophan as the average of phenylalanine and leucine, strongly improving serotonin production. All foods with a SPF below 10%, more or less inhibit serotonin production. Whether these low-SPF foods actually do inhibit serotonin production, depends on how much protein they contain. As this is a pretty goofy article, I'm looking for a better source of info on the SPF or Seratonin-Production-Factor of foods to see if that's a real thing and/or someone has made a useful chart of common foods.

it doesnt seem like that ratio exists in these foods.

bananas
http://nutritiondata...t-juices/1846/2
tryptophan 20mg
Leucine 153mg
Phenylalanine 110 mg

dates
http://nutritiondata...t-juices/1882/2
tryptophan 17mg
Leucine 123mg
Phenylalanine 73.5 mg

papaya
http://nutritiondata...t-juices/1985/2
tryptophan 11 mg
Leucine 22mg
Phenylalanine 12mg

Edited by AutonomousOne1980, 06 July 2011 - 10:42 AM.

[HeadUp]

some intresting ideas here. I do believe that diet does have a big part in adult acne.
I've tried cutting various things from my diet and my skin has improved but it's far from perfect.

I keep meaning to try a liver flush but i haven't as yet. When i'll give it a go i'll give my review.

[alternativista]

it doesnt seem like that ratio exists in these foods.

Well, that ratio/SPF thing comes from the Wai diet people so...

But other more credible sources mentioned that other amino acids compete with tryptophan to get into the brain like WebMD and whfoods. And whfoods says it's tyrosine and phenylalanine that compete with tryptophan, not leucine. There are some studies cited at the bottom if you want to try to find more. I saw that one study was about the enzymes involved in 'processing' tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylalanine being members of a 'family' so perhaps that has something to do with why they compete.

Edited by alternativista, 06 July 2011 - 04:31 PM.

[alternativista]

some intresting ideas here. I do believe that diet does have a big part in adult acne.
I've tried cutting various things from my diet and my skin has improved but it's far from perfect.

diet and lifestyle affect acne in many ways. More info on the many ways and what to do about it:http://www.acne.org/...od-t230714.html This was just a consolidation of the info that impacts people's ability to digest fructose for the many people who say they break out from fruit.

Edited by alternativista, 06 July 2011 - 04:28 PM.

[AutonomousOne1980]

it doesnt seem like that ratio exists in these foods.

Well, that ratio/SPF thing comes from the Wai diet people so...

But other more credible sources mentioned that other amino acids compete with tryptophan like WebMD and whfoods. And whfoods says it's tyrosine and phenylalanine that compete with tryptophan, not leucine. There are some studies cited at the bottom if you want to try to find more.

perhaps it may be true that they do compete with each other, in some way, but perhaps just making sure you actually get the amino acids into your body in the first place, is maybe the first important thing to achieve, rather then getting some ideal ratio, that seems much harder or even impossible, unless you are making your own ratios with supplements, which is probably not worth the time.


that list was surprising because milk or cheese isnt even on it, and milk has twice the amount of tryptophan then all the foods listed.

Edited by AutonomousOne1980, 06 July 2011 - 04:31 PM.

[Riddled]

Looks good - commenting so i can read it later.

[alternativista]

Interesting thing. If you go to the wikipedia article on fructose malabsorption and scroll to the references at the bottom, there's studies and articles mentioning low levels of folic acid (B9). Perhaps it has a role in addition to being a precursor to seratonin and thus important to the circadian cycle? I know it's important for the synthesis and function of many enzymes, but so are many other nutrients. And is important for methylation.

http://en.wikipedia....e_malabsorption

Edited by alternativista, 13 October 2011 - 03:44 PM.

[moonbase]

[EDIT]

Edited by moonbase, 07 October 2011 - 06:02 PM.

[alternativista]

Note for most people, the issues aren't with fructose from fruit. The body is fully adapted to processing the sugars in fruit. It's added sugars in processed foods and so-called healthy pure fructose sweeteners like agave nectar that are harmful. (and alcohol, which I'm not going to get into, but there's some info on how that is processed in the liver in one of the references).

Also, note that HFCS has only been around for one generation. It was invented in the late 60s and began being adopted by manufacturers in the 70s. I'm fairly positive that New Coke was a cover up for Coca cola's first attempt at the switch from sugar to HFCS in the 80s.

The below is a mess of stuff I copied from some Mercola articles and their references. I am working on consolidating into a more concise explaination

The difference between sugar from fruits and veggies, table sugar, HFCS and pure fructose such as Agave.

First:
-Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, every living thing on the Earth -- uses glucose for energy.

-Sucrose (Table sugar) is fructose and glucose bound together and must first be metabolized into glucose and fructose in your intestine. Then the body proceeds to use the glucose for energy and sends the fructose to the liver.

-Fruits and vegetables contain a combination of free fructose and free glucose and sucrose (bound fructose and glucose) and sometimes other sugars.

-HFCS is fructose and glucose (in varying ratios that manufacturers don't have to report) Not bound together. HFCS is a highly processed product that contains similar amounts of unbound fructose and glucose. Sucrose (table sugar), on the other hand, is a larger sugar molecule that is metabolized into glucose and fructose in your intestine.

most fats are formed in your liver, and when sugar enters your liver, it decides whether to store it, burn it or turn it into fat. Fructose, however, bypasses this process and simply turns into fat. Additionally, there’s hard empirical evidence showing that refined man-made fructose like HFCS metabolizes to triglycerides and adipose tissue, not blood glucose.

Glucose Metabolism

Once you take in glucose from a meal -- like, say, from two slices of bread -- 80 percent of it is used by all of the organs of your body -- every single cell. The remaining 20 percent goes to your liver to be metabolized and stored.
The following is what happens to that 20 percent, once it reaches your liver:

• Whatever glucose your body doesn't need immediately gets converted into glycogen for storage in the liver. Glycogen is your body's non-toxic short-term energy storage package, where it can be easily converted to energy when you need it. Your liver has no limit to how much glycogen it can store without detrimental effects. (That is what athletes take advantage of when they "carbo-load.")
• A small amount of pyruvate is produced, which ends up being converted to ATP (the chemical storage form of energy) and carbon dioxide. An even smaller quantity of citrate is produced from this process through the "citrate shuttle," which ends up as VLDL (very low density lipoproteins, the 'bad' ones) in a process known as de novo lipogenesis -- but we're talking about a very small amount (less than one calorie from two slices of bread).
• Insulin is released by your pancreas in response to the rise in blood glucose (i.e., blood sugar), which helps the glucose get into your cells. Without insulin, your cells would not be able to process the glucose and therefore would have no energy for movement, growth, repair, or other functions. Insulin is key to unlocking the door of the cell to allow the glucose to be transferred from the bloodstream into the cell.
• When you consume 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie contributes to adverse metabolic outcomes.

This is all very normal, and it's how you were designed to operate.

-------------------------
Article on the badness of the amount of sugar in our diets today: http://articles.merc...20227_DNL_art_1 of course going off into the particularly bad-ness of HFCS. And even better, see: http://articles.merc...Metabolism.aspx

When you consume fructose, 100 percent of it goes directly to your liver to be metabolized. This is why it is a hepatotoxin -- it overloads the liver. Fructose metabolism creates the following adverse effects:

• Fructose is immediately converted to fructose-1-phosphate (F1P), depleting your liver cells of phosphates.
• The above process produces waste products in the form of uric acid. Uric acid blocks an enzyme that makes nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is your body's natural blood pressure regulator, so when it is blocked, your blood pressure rises -- leading to hypertension.Elevated uric acid levels can also cause gout.
• Almost all of the F1P is turned into pyruvate, ending up as citrate, which results in de novo lipogenesis, the end products of which are FFAs, VLDLs, and triglycerides. The result -- hyperlipidemia.
• Fructose stimulates g-3-p (activated glycerol), which you will recall is the crucial molecule for turning FFAs into triglycerides within the fat cells. Remember, the rate of deposition of fat into fat cells is dependent on the presence of g-3-p. The more g-3-p that is available, the more fat is deposited. Fructose is the carbohydrate most efficiently converted into g-3-p11. In other words, fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate.
• FFAs are exported from the liver and taken up in skeletal muscle, causing skeletal muscle insulin resistance.
• Some of the FFAs stay in the liver, leading to fat droplet accumulation, hepatic insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)[xiii][xiv].
• Insulin resistance stresses the pancreas, which pumps out more insulin in response to rising blood sugar as your cells are unable to get the sugar out of your bloodstream, and this can progress to type II diabetes.
• As with a bolus dose of ethanol, a 120-calorie bolus of fructose results in a large fraction (again, about 40 calories) that directly contributes to disease.

Fructose Metabolism Basics

Dr. Robert Lustig http://articles.merc...Metabolism.aspx Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:

• After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.
• Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is "burned up" immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
• The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.
• Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.
• When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!
• The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
• Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.

If anyone tries to tell you "sugar is sugar," they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.
The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.

Fructose -
Whereas the glucose in other sugars are converted to blood glucose which is used for energy by every cell in the body, fructose is processed entirely by the liver which converts it to fat in the form of triglycerides. It does not stimulate an insulin response or trigger leptin that controls your appetite.

Elevated triglycerides means elevated levels of Pattern B LDL (or VLDLs) -- smaller, denser LDLs that are able to wedge themselves under your epithelial cells and therefore roughen surfaces and stimulate plaque formation.


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If we got our sugar from fruits and vegetables, we'd consume about 15 -20 grams per day. The average American today consumes over 70 which sounds low to me considering how much is in a soda that people might drink multiple times per day, on top of what they eat.

Also, I've read that the USDA recommends people limit their added sugar intake to 40 grams per day. The CDC recommends you limit it to 25 grams per day. There's 39 grams of sugar from HFCS in one can of coke.

(It's important to understand that the USDA is a much bigger advocate for the sugar and corn growers than it is a protector of your health. And the CDC is a member of our medical 'let's treat everything with a drug' establishment. That said, since I consume some added sugar possibly every day, I'm probably in the CDC camps' idea of healthy limits)

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It also says that elevated uric acid levels, can be used as a predictor for fructose toxicity. I haven't found details on what is meant by the term fructose toxicity, but I gather they are referring to being particularly sensitive to it and/or having impaired ability to process it.

According to the latest research in this area, the safest range of uric acid is between 3 and 5.5 milligrams per deciliter, and there appears to be a steady relationship between uric acid levels and blood pressure and cardiovascular risk, even down to the range of 3 to 4 mg/dl. ...Uric acid drives up your blood pressure by inhibiting the nitric oxide in your blood vessels. Nitric oxide helps your vessels maintain their elasticity, so nitric oxide suppression leads to increases in blood pressure.

Anyway, fructose elevates uric acid and elevated uric acid is a sign/contributor to numerous health conditions. It's also processed entirely in the liver where it's converted to triglycerides. http://articles.merc...d-pressure.aspx, http://www.newswise....e%3A+MedNews%29 So in other words, routinely drinking sodas and other HFCS filled drinks causes high blood pressure.

The difference between HFCS and table sugar and Sugar from fruit.

HFCS is a highly processed product that contains similar amounts of unbound fructose and glucose. Sucrose (table sugar), on the other hand, is a larger sugar molecule that is metabolized into glucose and fructose in your intestine.
And whereas the glucose in other sugars are converted to blood glucose, fructose is a relatively unregulated source of fuel that your liver converts to fat and cholesterol. The danger of that is that fructose does not stimulate your insulin secretion, nor enhance leptin production, which is thought to be involved in appetite regulation.

Chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS were found to have ‘astonishingly high’ levels of reactive carbonyls. Reactive carbonyls are undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules, and are believed to cause tissue damage.
By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar because its fructose and glucose components are “bound” and chemically stable.
Reactive carbonyls are elevated in the blood of individuals with diabetes and are linked to the health complications of diabetes. It is estimated that a single can of soda contains about five times the concentration of reactive carbonyls than the concentration found in the blood of an adult person with diabetes.

fructose also does not contain any enzymes, vitamins or minerals so it takes these micronutrients from your body while it assimilates itself for use. Unbound fructose, found in large quantities in HFCS, can interfere with your heart's use of minerals such as magnesium, copper and chromium. ... and is almost always made from genetically modified corn

Chart on ratio in several sweeteners Fructose Glucose Sucrose Other sugars
Granulated sugar 0 0 100 0
Brown sugar 1 1 97 1
HFCS-42 42 53 0 5
HFCS-55 55 41 0 4
HFCS-90 90 5 0 5
Honey 50 44 1 5
Maple syrup 1 4 95 0
Molasses 23 21 53 3
Corn syrup 0 35 0 0

---------------
Another explanation of glucose, fructose and alcohol metabolism from Mercola:

Carbohydrate Biochemistry 101

To further explain the differences between glucose and fructose, and the similarities between fructose and ethanol (alcohol), let's review how each is metabolized in your body.
Glucose Metabolism: Glucose is a product of photosynthesis and is found in rice, corn and other grains. Once you take in glucose from a meal, 80 percent of it is used by all of the organs of your body; 20 percent goes to your liver to be metabolized and stored. The following is what happens to that 20 percent, once it reaches your liver (this is normal, and how your body was designed to operate):

• Whatever glucose your body doesn't need immediately gets converted into glycogen for storage in your liver. Glycogen can be easily converted to energy when you need it. Your liver has no limit to how much glycogen it can store without detrimental effects.
• A small amount of pyruvate is produced, which ends up being converted to ATP (the chemical storage form of energy) and carbon dioxide.
• Insulin is released by your pancreas in response to the rise in blood glucose (i.e., blood sugar), which helps the glucose get into your cells. Without insulin, your cells would not be able to process the glucose and therefore would have no energy for movement, growth, repair, or other functions. Insulin is key to unlocking the door of the cell to allow the glucose to be transferred from the bloodstream into the cell.
• When you consume 120 calories of glucose, less than ONE calorie contributes to adverse metabolic outcomes.

Fructose Metabolism: 100 percent of the fructose you consume goes directly to your liver. Fructose metabolism creates a number of adverse effects, including:

• Fructose is immediately converted to fructose-1-phosphate (F1P), depleting your liver cells of phosphates. This process produces waste products in the form of uric acid. Uric acid blocks an enzyme that makes nitric oxide, which is your body's natural blood pressure regulator. Hence your blood pressure rises, leading to hypertension. Elevated uric acid levels can also cause gout.
• Almost all of the F1P is turned into pyruvate, ending up as citrate, which results in de novo lipogenesis, the end products of which are free fatty acids (FFAs), very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs are smaller, denser LDLs that get stuck beneath your epithelial cells and stimulate plaque formation), and triglycerides. The end result is hyperlipidemia.
• Fructose stimulates g-3-p (activated glycerol), which is the crucial molecule for creating triglycerides within fat cells. The more g-3-p that is available, the more fat is deposited.
• FFAs are exported from your liver and taken up in skeletal muscle, causing skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Some of the FFAs also stay in your liver, leading to fat accumulation, hepatic insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
• Insulin resistance stresses your pancreas, which pumps out more insulin in response to rising blood sugar as your cells are unable to get the sugar out of your bloodstream, and this can progress to type 2 diabetes.
• When you consume 120 calories of fructose, about 40 calories contribute to adverse metabolic outcomes.

Ethanol Metabolism: After consuming an alcoholic beverage, 10 percent of the ethanol gets broken down by your stomach and intestine as a "first pass" effect, and another 10 percent is metabolized by your brain and other organs. The fact that ethanol is partially metabolized in your brain is the reason you experience that familiar "buzz." The remaining 80 percent is broken down by your liver, causing the following metabolic cascade:

• Your liver converts ethanol to aldehydes, which produce free radicals that damage proteins in your liver. Excess citrate is formed in the process, stimulating the production of FFAs, VLDL and triglycerides.
• The resulting lipids, together with the ethanol, create a cascade of inflammation, causing hepatic insulin resistance, liver inflammation and cirrhosis. Fat accumulation in your liver can also lead to fatty liver disease.
• FFAs cause your skeletal muscles to become insulin resistant. This is a worse form of insulin resistance than hepatic insulin resistance and can lead to type 2 diabetes.
• When you consume 120 calories of ethanol, about 40 calories contribute to adverse metabolic outcomes—the same amount as fructose.

Liver Toxins Cause Identical Diseases

As you can see, in nearly every way, fructose is metabolized the same way as ethanol, creating the same toxic effects in your body. However, while Dr. Lustig uses the term "liver toxin" to describe fructose, he's also careful to note that it's not fructose per se that is toxic. There are instances when your body can use it. The problem is that people consume so MUCH of it that it turns toxic by virtue of the fact your body cannot use it. It simply gets shuttled into your cells and stored as fat. So it's the MASSIVE DOSES you're exposed to that make it dangerous.
When you compare the health outcomes of fructose versus alcohol consumption, you end up seeing a very familiar pattern—the diseases they cause are virtually identical! According to the chart included in the video above, these include: Chronic Ethanol Consumption Chronic Fructose Consumption Hypertension Hypertension Cardiomyopathy Myocardial infarction Dyslipidemia Dyslipidemia Pancreatitis Pancreatitis Obesity Obesity Hepatic dysfunction (ASH) Hepatic dysfunction (NASH) Fetal alcohol syndrome Fetal insulin resistance Addiction Habituation, if not addiction
How Much Fructose is Safe to Eat?

If you want to shed excess pounds and maintain a healthy weight long-term, and RADICALLY reduce (and in many cases virtually eliminate) your risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, then start getting serious about restricting your consumption of fructose to no more than 25 grams per day. If you're already overweight, or have any of these diseases or are at high risk of any of them, then you're probably better off cutting that down to 10-15 grams per day.
I've also included a chart below of fructose levels in fruit to give you an idea of what 25 grams a day looks like. Just remember fruit is only [i]one source, as fructose is a staple ingredient in the vast majority of sweetened beverages and processed foods of all kinds, from pre-packaged meals to baked goods and condiments.
In the past many have objected to my position on limiting fruit intake and I am fine with that, BUT if you are convinced, for whatever reason, that you can have unlimited fruits than I would strongly encourage you to have a blood uric acid level drawn. High uric acid is a potent marker for fructose toxicity, so if your levels are above:

• 4 mg/dl for men
• 3.5 mg/dl for women

... then you would be wise to avoid all forms of fructose until your levels have normalized—just as you would with high insulin levels. Here's a quick reference list of some of the most common fruits that you can use to help you count your fructose grams:

Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose Limes 1 medium 0
Lemons
1 medium
0.6
Cranberries
1 cup
0.7
Passion fruit
1 medium
0.9
Prune
1 medium
1.2
Guava
2 medium
2.2
Date (Deglet Noor style)
1 medium
2.6
Cantaloupe
1/8 of med. melon
2.8
Raspberries
1 cup
3.0
Clementine
1 medium
3.4
Kiwifruit
1 medium
3.4
Blackberries
1 cup
3.5
Star fruit
1 medium
3.6
Cherries, sweet
10
3.8
Strawberries
1 cup
3.8
Cherries, sour
1 cup
4.0
Pineapple
1 slice
(3.5" x .75")
4.0
Grapefruit, pink or red
1/2 medium
4.3

Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose Boysenberries 1 cup 4.6
Tangerine/mandarin orange
1 medium
4.8
Nectarine
1 medium
5.4
Peach
1 medium
5.9
Orange (navel)
1 medium
6.1
Papaya
1/2 medium
6.3
Honeydew
1/8 of med. melon
6.7
Banana
1 medium
7.1
Blueberries
1 cup
7.4
Date (Medjool)
1 medium
7.7
Apple (composite)
1 medium
9.5
Persimmon
1 medium
10.6
Watermelon
1/16 med. melon
11.3
Pear
1 medium
11.8
Raisins
1/4 cup
12.3
Grapes, seedless (green or red)
1 cup
12.4
Mango
1/2 medium
16.2
Apricots, dried
1 cup
16.4
Figs, dried
1 cup
23.0

Edited by alternativista, 17 July 2012 - 01:43 PM.