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Fructose may cause uninterpreted abdominal pain

by Medindia Content Team on Oct 24 2002 5:54 PM

According to the latest study done by the researchers of University of Kansas it is observed that poorly absorbed fructose may be the cause if you have abdominal pain, gas and diarrhea. Often people suffer from bowel symptoms like bloating, gas, rumbling, and diarrhea and no obvious reason can be found. They have found out that a high proportion of healthy people with these symptoms may be unable to digest fructose.

Found in honey, fruits and soft drinks, fructose must be one of the principal sweeteners in the Western diet. If it is not absorbed, it will pass into the colon, where bacteria feed on it, producing copious amounts of hydrogen gas. It is the gas that can cause the unpleasant symptoms described above.

The researchers gave a group of patients 25 grams of fructose - about the amount you would get in a can of drink sweetened with high fructose syrup. Breath testing showed an abnormal amount of hydrogen in the breath - a telltale sign of fructose malabsorption. So people with unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms should always be given a fructose breath test, say the researchers.


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