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It's been quite a medical journey this year! I've found out one of my kids has sucrose intolerance. There's been inflammation in his body and we took a blood test and found out that he is both lactose intolerant (which I already knew) and sucrose intolerant. Immediately finding out this information, the doctor prescribed some medication and I immediately changed his diet.

Many people know what lactose intolerance is, which is intolerance to dairy products. What not a lot of people know, including me before the diagnosis, is that individuals can have an intolerance to sucrose which a lot of products have like: table sugar, wheat and gluten-free pasta, and even some high sugar vegetables and fruits like carrots and bananas! Luckily, there are low sugar vegetables and fruits that are safe to consume and the grocery stores here in America have an abundant of substitutions like Stevia and Sweet'N Low! I have an older family relative who is diabetic so a sugar-free diet is not unfamiliar. However, many restaurants use sugar in their recipes. Therefore, I'm encouraged and determined to do more creative home-cooking!

The vegan snacks that we've been accumulating will now have to go in the trash. Since so many general snacks at the grocery store has dairy in it, in the past, we'd resorted to vegan snacks because they don't have dairy. However, they add a lot of sugar! I've looked at the ingredients list of the 5 boxes of vegan snacks in our cupboard and sugar was all there.

I'm going down this rabbit hole of researching for the best recipes and alternatives for my son and I'm going to collect all of my research and thoughts here so that I can always go back to this blog post and be able to share it with others as well. I know my son's situation is very unique because he is lactose-intolerant and sucrose-intolerant. However, for those who are sucrose-intolerant, it seems that dairy has to be omitted anyway because it's high in sugar!

Omitting Pasta (Even Gluten-Free), Grains, High Sugar Fruits Like Apples, and Table Sugar

I have what I call the "no eat" list for sucrose intolerance from our Dr.'s office that notes that he should avoid the high sugar items like: cereals, gluten-free bread, bread, rice, oats, polenta, arrowroot, millet, psyllium, quinoa, sorghum, tapioca, dairy milk, dates, dried beans (including soy bean), carrot, parsnip, potato, silverbeet, sweet potato, taro, banana, cantaloupe, grapefruit, honeydew melon, oranges, passionfruit, pineapple, tangelo, and of course, plain sugar or table sugar. I'm sure there is a bigger list in the universe, but as a popular food item list, this is what the doctor gave me, which I'm very grateful!

So many items on this list are perceived as healthy and very many are items that my son really enjoy eating, but he can no longer have them because of his sucrose intolerance. It's really sad. I had to have a talk with him and tell him that I wish he could have all of these so-called "healthy" items, but for his body, they are not healthy for him because of the intolerance to sucrose. I encourage him to make the right decisions for himself as he grows older, without needing me to constantly remind him because ultimately, his body pays for it with inflammation internally. I'm also going to encourage him to learn to cook beside me, even though he is currently only 11 years old, so he can learn to be creative with cooking with things his body can tolerate. I think this is something my son and I can creatively do together and bond over multiple discussions.

Using Stevia, Sweet'N Low as Sugar Substitutes

As mentioned earlier, many grocery stores have sugar substitutes which include Stevia and Sweet'N Low. Luckily, I already have some lying around in the house because I had ordered a big coffee box from Starbucks for a soccer tournament to share with other parents and Starbucks gave me so many of them. I had saved them!

I also noticed that a lot of restaurants have Stevia and Sweet'N Low on tables for coffee, and I appreciate that more than ever!

List of Vegetable and Fruits that Are Okay for Sucrose Intolerance

I had mentioned the list of high sugar fruits that my son should avoid already, but what's equally helpful is a list that he can actually have that is "safe" for his sucrose intolerance. Here is the vegetable and fruit list that his Dr. gave him that is safe for him to consume: alfalfa, bamboo shoots, bean shoots, green beans, bok choy, celery, chives, cucumbers, endive, ginger, lettuce, olives, parsley, pumpkin, bell pepper, green section of spring onion, spinach, squash (depending on the individual), tomato, blueberry, boysenberry, cranberry, grapes, kiwi, lemons, lime, raspberry, rhubarb, and strawberry. I'm sure there is a bigger list out there on the internet, but this is what our doctor's office gave us as a reference and I think it's a great starting point.

Substituting Grains with Shirataki Noodles and Almond Flour Baked Goods With No Dairy And No Sugar

This is where I have to be super creative with recipes as a mom of a son who loves pasta! He can't have any pasta which includes any with wheat, gluten-free, tapioca starch, arrowroot, millet, quinoa, sorghum, psyllium, rice or oats. It's a strict list! I'm very early in my journey on this, but I found out that shirataki noodles may be a good option, so I will be on the look out for that at my local grocery store! I've never had shirataki noodles before so I'm very eager to try it. I just have to make sure there is no soy bean (like miso) and other starchy ingredients in the labels as many of them have them for flavoring. Because I don't want my son to go through this journey completely alone, I'm going to eat with him when I cook these new dishes for him. Amazon is going to be my best friend for items that I can't find at my grocery store in San Luis Obispo County.

Luckily my son is not allergic to tree nuts, like almond, because I can definitely substitute baked goods that usually use wheat or gluten-free flour with almond flour. I've been baking with almond flour for a little while so, fortunately, this is something I'm familiar with doing! I baked a lemon almond cake for his birthday earlier this year.
See my clip below of the cake I baked as I put a Dog Man topper on top:

Recipes I've Found That Are Safe For the Sucrose Intolerant

As I stumble onto great recipes on the internet that is safe for sucrose intolerant individuals, I will add them to the list below. We are not a vegan family as my son will still continue to eat chicken and seafood. However, coincidentally, because we are avoiding sucrose (including dairy), some of the recipes are vegan. 

• Simple Grilled Salmon & Vegetables


• Seasoned Cod


• Inspired by this recipe: Almond Cookies, I made a couple of adjustments to make it sucrose-free. I swapped out Coconut Sugar for a smaller portion of Stevia. Here is my version and my list of ingredients to make sucrose-free (also dairy-free) almond cookies:
  • 1 cup of almond flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (that is wheat-free, and no corn starch, etc for sucrose-free diet -- This is trickier than expected.)
  • 5 small packet of Stevia (about 3/4 tablespoon of Stevia)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1.5 tablespoons of water
    Luckily my son is not allergic to any tree nut, so we're able to utilize almond flour. I mixed all of the ingredients together and baked it in the oven for 15 minutes for 350 degrees in the oven. This is how it turned out.
    Thankfully, my son likes them!

Part of making this journey successful is the sucrose-intolerant individual will need to learn to be open-minded with eating and expanding their food options to more things that their body can tolerate, and eliminate the items they can't anymore. I can only help him out so much with the incorporation of tolerable ingredients as I try to cook or make what I think will still taste good. However, this journey is an educational journey for both of us.

This blog entry will be actively updated so bookmark and come back and visit in a couple months for more updates.