FYILACTOSE INTOLERANCE AND SMALL BOWEL BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH IN IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROMEhttp://ibsgroup.org/groupee/forums?a=tpc&s...06862#412106862
From "Dietary Fructose and Gastrointestinal Symptoms: A Review""Fructose is commonly used to sweeten processed foods, and the prevalence of incomplete fructose absorption (25 g, 10%) in healthy subjects is as high as 50%."So maybe Pimentel is right in being cautious?quote:If fructose intolerance is as widespread as Thiwan and Pimentel claim...
Your correction is well-taken. I should have been clearer. Gottschall claims that fructose is benign because it is does not require digestion. I should have stated clearly that Gottschall assumes that that which requires no digestion will be absorbed. It is the bolded statement which is refuted by the evidence of high levels in the population of fructose intolerance.quote:Originally posted by Kathleen M.:Fructose doesn't require any digestion before being absorbed. Lactose does, Sucrose does, but fructose and glucose do not.Frutose intolerance is all about not being able to absorb it normally, not at all about breaking it down.Fructose is normally best absorbed when it is in a 1:1 ratio with glucose, but even that doesn't help everyone.K.
Page 59 cites a study by Simren and Robson. I believe you have stated that your son had some improvement after Vivonex. If there is merit to Pimentel's explanations, one might tell a story like the following: some people have bacteria in the ileum and jejunum only, others have it in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Vivonex eradicates ileal and jejunal overgrowths but feeds duodenal overgrowths. Your son improved when his ileal and jejunal overgrowths were eradicated but some symptoms lingered and those are explained by the persistence of the duodenal overgrowth. Kathleen's forcing me to clarify Gottschall's claim that that which requires no digestion will be absorbed got me thinking. Pimentel, though he cautions us to minimize fructose intake, must subscribe to a similar thesis. That is why he claims that glucose breath tests provide no useful information: since glucose requires no digestion Pimentel claims it will be absorbed.The exact mechanisms of Pimentel's protocols are not totally clear to me. Does Pimentel believe he is sterilizing the entire gut or merely the small intestine? Since Pimentel's hypothesis is that bacteria that are safe in the colon are dangerous in the small intestine, one wonders why flatulence problems would be resolved when bacteria that exist in the colon are eradicated from the small intestine. One might assume, that a bacterium that causes flatulence in the small intestine would do so in the colon as well. Of course, that might be a faulty assumption. There might be something about the colonic environment besides bacteria (or the presence of additional bacterial species) which affects flatulence.quote:Originally posted by cynthia:Moises, Where does Pimental talk about duodenal bacterial overgrowth? I've been looking for information on this specifically, as I suspect that might be what my son has. Have you read anything about the protocol if the bacteria is in the duodenum? To google it gets me nowhere - results are all for duodenal ulcers. Thanks.
That's a very good question. Here's a tentative answer: the bacteria need food to produce gas. Bacteria in the small bowel have access to a great deal of undigested food. However, bacteria in the colon only have access to leftovers. So, the idea is to have as much carbs as possible fully digested before they hit the colon (and eliminate those pesky bacteria in the small bowel.)quote:Since Pimentel's hypothesis is that bacteria that are safe in the colon are dangerous in the small intestine, one wonders why flatulence problems would be resolved when bacteria that exist in the colon are eradicated from the small intestine.