HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Soft drinks, mentos or chocolate? Which is safer?

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/27/2013 12:56 PM (GMT 0)
I have a problem when I work for a long time, my sugar level decreases and I need to recharge. Let alone when I have 3 running teaching sessions.
I started the week by eating chocolate, particularly, Twix as the chocolate layer is minimal. Two days after starting eating it, d returned and I had soreness throughout my intestines and large colon. After stopping chocolate, pain is still there. Chocolate is harmful coz of two reasons: it triggers my GERD to flare up and it irritates my proctitis. Whenever my GI knows I eat it, he quarrels w me.
I couldn't find a source to recharge my energy, so I drank soft drinks (seven up). This too hurts my stomach and can affect the bone density. Yesterday, I had two incidents of reflux, I had a nap and I woke up coz my pillow was wet w saliva. The other was when I was watching TV, all of a sudden, I threw up.
So, I'm left w mentos and candies but these contain sorbitol. This, in turn, triggers watery non-stop diarrhea.
What do you eat or drink to boost your energy while working? The only thing I can drink is tea w drops of milk but not in excess, no natural juices as I can't tolerate high fibers and the ready ones include preservatives which irritate my stomach.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated.
Posted 9/27/2013 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
Can you drink a cup of coffee without aggravating your IBD?

Iced tea sweetened with the minimum amount of sugar (real sugar, not processed tea with high fructose corn syrup(HFCS) or citric acid, etc.), or sweetened with stevia. McDonald's makes a good iced tea and sometimes I get the unsweetened and might add a little stevia or mix sweetened with unsweetened tea for only a small amount of total sugar.

Soda is completely verboten. It is either sweetened with HFCS or artificial sweeteners.

I can eat moderate amounts of chocolate because usually it is sweetened with real sugar and not HFCS or sorbitol like most candy. But Twix is problematic for me not so much for the chocolate but the gluten cookie that is surrounded by the caramel and chocolate. But in your case chocolate might be a problem because chocolate and caffeine has been known to cause GERD in some people.
Posted 9/27/2013 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
BabeInTheWoods, thank you very much. I'll try iced tea though I can't have it every day during work. Yes, all things are problematic for me. I'm trying to figure out something that can help me concentrate more.
Posted 9/27/2013 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
How about ensure or boost? My husband has those frequently when he needs an energy boost. There are lactose free versions of them as well, I think.

PV
Posted 9/27/2013 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
PV, thank you very much. I have to take Ensure daily based on my GI's orders and it is still not enough. I can take it only 2 times but he wants me to take it 3 times. I take it in the morning and at bedtime, I'll try to drink it in the middle of the day.
Posted 9/28/2013 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
How about tapioca pudding or rice pudding? Rice  turns to sugar in your system and gives you  a boost.  You can get those snack packs that you don't have to  refrigerate.  Or you can make your own with soy milk or whatever milk you can tolerate.
Posted 9/28/2013 6:35 PM (GMT 0)
OlderThanDirt, thank you very much. A great idea. I'll try to prepare mine and take them to work.
Take care :)
Posted 9/30/2013 5:02 PM (GMT 0)
I too was going to suggest Boost or Ensure. For a while I had been making shakes made of soy milk or almond milk with soy protein, banana and Stevia as a sweetener. Or what about even yogurt? I sometimes will have some plain greek yogurt with a little stevia in it. I am not sure how any of that might affect you but if it were me anyway I would stay as far away from any sort of carbonated soft drinks as possible. I think too that empty calories, chocolates and all of that don't really do much in the way of helping as a pick up. If they do at all it's usually only a temporary thing before you feel even more wiped out and this is for people who are perfectly healthy as well.
Posted 9/30/2013 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
How about something with B 6 and B 12 vitamins. Gumdrop type candy also easy on stomach.
Posted 10/1/2013 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
Pink and QuestionEverything, thank you very much. I'm trying hard to get Ensure and avoid carbonated beverages. Also, I'm trying to eat more balanced food (of course still no high fibers) to feel better.
Posted 11/3/2013 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hi minnietoty,

I'm not an expert in CD. I've been having it for a while though. The stuff that you have mentioned are junk food. There are really bad for GERD and CD.

You could have mild tea with ginger (ginger is anti-inflammatory. Not more than 2g should be consumed in a day, as too much ginger makes GERD worse). To get some energy you could make SCD yogurt shake (100g almond, honey, fruits, yogurt) and drink it through out the day at school. You can also add oats, if you are tolerant. This gives you more than 500 cal. You don't have to have any solid food.

If your stomach is too sensitive, you can do exercises daily like yoga, pranayama, meditation and some exercises to strengthen your gut. You could drink aloe vera juice in the morning on an empty stomach to improve digestion.

This is my routine. I've finally found a way to get myself sufficient energy. I'm 50% on SCD. I'm tolerant to gluten. But, anyway next year I'll go 100% on SCD to give my gut some time to heal and cultivate some probiotics in the gut.
Posted 11/4/2013 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
You shouldn't be eating anything with processed sugar in it.   Processed sugar is a food source for all the bad bacteria and yeast in your gut, and feeding these bacteria will just increase inflammation associated with CD symtoms.   If you crave sweets that much, then take a spoon full of honey, or buy cookies or foods sweeten with honey or artificial sweeteners.  The least processed sugar you eat, the better off you will be.

I stopped eating all sugar in 2007 when I went on the SCD diet and I have not had one flare or one symptom from my CD ever since. The only drug I take is pentassa  

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply