Bad Bellies and Different Cuisines

This past weekend, my partner and I met some friends for lunch at a Chinese Yumcha restaurant, and it made me think about my experiences with FM and other cuisines. In some ways, different cuisines can be better for my belly, and others can cause problems. 

This week, I would therefore like to share my experience with FM and different types of foods.

ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT FOODS

I have found so far that the main advantage of different cuisines, particularly Asian-based cuisines, is that there is very little reliance on wheat products. For example, rice flour is used in noodles, such as in vermicelli, which is particularly common with Chinese and Vietnamese food. Additionally, rice flour is used in batter with Japanese tempura. In Middle Eastern or South American cuisines, it is also more common to find other types of grains with meals, such as quinoa.

I have also found that although they still tend to contain wheat flour, French and Turkish breads seem to be made differently to other “regular” bread, and are often slightly better for my belly.

CHALLENGES WITH DIFFERENT FOODS

On the other hand, one of the main challenges with other cuisines is that in comparison to in “Western” cultures, there is less acceptance, or perhaps awareness, of different dietary needs. In fact, I have been told that in some Asian cultures, having a bowel condition is seen as “embarrassing” and “troublesome.” This means that it is often harder in these types of restaurants to find gluten free or fructose friendly meal options. Additionally, I have found that menus in these restaurants seem to have less complete ingredient lists for their dishes, which can make it hard to determine whether they are fructose friendly.

Along with this, I have found that across most cuisines, onion and garlic tend to be very popular, and this of course makes things difficult with FM. In particular, lots of different sauces use both of these ingredients. Onion is also very common in dishes such as Chinese stir fry, and Koren bulgogi, or in fillings for different types of dumplings.

One of my weaknesses when it comes to Asian food is Thai green curry, and as I’m sure you can imagine, this can be problematic – curry can be a problem for people with “regular” bellies, and the effect can be much worse with a belly like mine!

MANAGING CHALLENGES WITH DIFFERENT FOODS

While it can be challenging for people with FM to eat foods, I have found some methods that can help to manage this when eating out:

Ask questions – If you are unsure about the dish, ask for clarification on the ingredients. I find in this situation that rather than trying to explain my FM, I just ask whether the dish contains onion, for example.

Request for problem ingredients to be removed – Sometimes, if you make a special request, the restaurant may be able to accommodate you. I have previously had some success with asking for onion to be removed, and simply explaining that I am not able to eat it.

Before going to a new restaurant, particularly if you are not very familiar with the food, do some research – I often look up the menu online if it is available, or ask around about the food served there. This can sometimes just help me to prepare for what I can expect in terms of the food, and what to look for that will be more suitable for my belly.

Do you have any tips for FM and foods from different cuisines?

Eating Out - Special Occasions

As you would all probably know, eating out for any special occasion, be it an anniversary, birthday, or even Christmas dinner, is a very different situation than just going out for a meal with friends.

When you are going out for a casual meal with friends, there is generally much more flexibility in where you go or what you eat, so I find it can be easier to choose a meal that will be okay on my belly, i.e. with a limited amount of fructose content. However, with special occasions you may not be able to choose the restaurant, or in the case of something like Christmas dinner where your grandmother is cooking all the food, you will likely not have much control over what ingredients are used. Even if you do get asked about your dietary requirements, sometimes there is not too much they can do, especially since fructose is in a lot of foods. I find that in these situations, it can be especially hard to find that balance between being able to enjoy good food, and at the same time trying to minimise the impact on my belly. I often find that it can be a disappointing experience, as for some dishes the only thing I can do is to avoid them altogether.

My partner and I had our anniversary last month, and we went out for a fancy dinner to celebrate. The issue in that situation was that the restaurant had a seasonal tasting menu, so I didn't know what to expect with the food. I did tell them I was fructose intolerant, and asked them to avoid putting in too much onion and garlic, or apple for the dessert, as these are my top three problem foods, but I still didn't know what would happen.

As it turned out, they only changed one dish for me, as the original dish was crackers made with onions as the topping. The dessert did have some apple in it, but only a little bit in the sauce, so it wasn't a big deal. However, this still indicated to me that like most people, they did not understand fructose intolerance. In general my stomach was okay at first, but this was then ruined by the fact that something later caused both my partner and I to have diarrhea – we still can’t work out what it could have been. My partner was fine within a few hours, but it took about 24 hours for it to clear up properly for me. That is another thing that I have noticed - the effects with something like food poisoning are often worse for me than for others without belly problems, which must be because mine is generally more sensitive and unstable.

Have you had similar experiences when eating out, or have any tips to share? Please comment below.