If you feel bloated, it might be from eating too much fructose, a fruit sugar. Fructose is a common ingredient in many foods and it is found in the sweetener high fructose corn syrup.Your body slowly absorbs fructose in the digestive tract. If you eat more fructose than your body can tolerate, the excess begins to ferment and can cause gas and bloating.
Function and Significance of Fructose
Sweeteners are listed in many ways on food labels so it helps to understand the different ways fructose may be listed. When combined with glucose, another sugar, the the combined substance is called sucrose. When fructose is combined with glucose, fructose is better tolerated and might not cause as much bloating, according to European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations.
Fructose Bloating Causes
Fructose malabsorption is a common condition that affects about one out of three people, according to the website Foodintol. Epithelial cells on the surface of the intestinal walls do not function properly and impede the digestive process. Another condition called hereditary fructose intolerance is much more rare and affects about one in 10,000 people. People with HFI do not produce an enzyme that breaks down fructose.
Foods with High Fructose Content
Foods with a higher fructose to glucose ration and may cause bloating include apples, pears, menons, papaya, watermelon, and unripe bananas. Dried fruits such as raisins, figs and apricots are also higher in fructose and juices, wines and relishes, sauces and jellies and jams made from fruit containing fructose may upset your stomach if you are sensitive to fructose. Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup may also cause bloating.
Additional Considerations
Limiting and reducing the amount of fructose you eat usually helps with bloating, if you have a malabsorption problem or sensitivity to fructose. If you have hereditary fructose intolerance, however, you must avoid fructose entirely.
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