Beware the Sunchoke

Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are a peculiar fall tuber from the sunflower family.  They look like fresh ginger and taste like a cross between a yellow potato and an artichoke – and they’re in markets now.  They also contain an extremely high amount of a polysaccharide called inulin.  Not insulin, inulin.  Inulin is itself a fructan, made of a lot of fructose molecules, so people who have trouble absorbing a lot of fructose can have serious issues with inulin.

All this is to say that sunchokes should be eaten in moderation.  Last year, before I knew all this, I decided to get creative and make a sunchoke soup.  Big mistake.  I won’t go into the details, but it quickly became clear that downing a whole bowl full of sunchokes was a gastrointestinal disaster.  I do not recommend making the sunchoke soup of death!

On the other hand, maybe I can blame my heritage.  Apparently 30-40% of Central Europeans suffer from fructose malabsorption, and I am a quarter Polish, so perhaps I got an unlucky draw of genes.  For people with the right intestinal fortitude, I suppose sunchoke soup could be just fine.  Still, as the Wiki says:

However, even in healthy people, only about 25-50 g of fructose per sitting can be absorbed. Persons with fructose malabsorption may absorb less than 25 g per sitting.

So go easy on the sunchokes.  Personally, I won’t touch them ever again.

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