Sugar and colitis

With sugar being an inflammatory, it tends to cause many healthy issues, especially eating/drinking too much. Often people think they aren't eating that much and maybe they aren't but then they usually don't think about how much they might be drinking in a day and most don't read lables so they don't realize how much they're actually digesting. I cut sugar out and my energy, skin, bowels, mood, everything has definitely improved overall, I know many might disagree about sugar being bad (as I use to when I was a sugar junky) but it is, there's nothing good about it, it makes you crash, makes you crave more, makes you gain weight and many other negative things, afterall it has no nutritional value, eating fruits and veggies are the healthy places to get your sugar for your glucose levels.



:)

It seems for me that the fruits and veggies do a number on my UC, but maybe it's only certain fruits and veggies.  I do eat bananas which seem fine.  I don't drink sugar drinks but do eat sweets, so maybe I will certainly keep a check on this.  What about snacks, what do you tend to have

mollymcbutter said...
It seems for me that the fruits and veggies do a number on my UC, but maybe it's only certain fruits and veggies. I do eat bananas which seem fine. I don't drink sugar drinks but do eat sweets, so maybe I will certainly keep a check on this. What about snacks, what do you tend to have

Hi mollymcbutter,

Bananas are one of the few fruits I can eat, so are pineapples and berries. All three are okay for people who are fructose intolerant.

Diets high in sugar and starches like bread and potatoes are a risk factor for the development of IBD.

If you need help kicking the sugar habit, check out this list of how sugar can affect your health:
http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm

Princesa, when avoiding sugar what kind of snack foods do you tend to eat. Do you do well with lots of fruits and veggies (I don't )

Thank you Nor Tx, I will give it a try.

IndianaUC said...
I'm the type of person that would just die if I couldn't eat fruit or sugary foods. I bake cookies and cake all the time. It does seem to make D worse, but I don't stop eating sugar. That's my personal choice tho. I recommend doing what makes you feel better. If you think cutting out sugar is better for you then by all means do it.

I made cookies last night with an ungodly amount of sugar and I ate 2 cookies. This morning I had massive D. :( Today I'll only eat 1 cookie. :) :P

Me too, IndianUC. I thought I would never be able to give up sugar. The thing is, now that I rarely eat sweets, I don't get such bad sugar cravings.

What exactly do you guys mean who say you've given up sugar? I'd like to cut WAY back on my sugar intake- not because of UC, but I do eat a lot of it. Well, I feel it's a lot- a dietician would probably disagree. Anyway- when you read labels, what are you looking for, aside from the obvious grams of sugar? And do you only buy/eat things with less than xxx amount of sugar, or how do you work it? It's close to impossible to avoid all sugar- so how many grams per day do you allow yourself? Because honey, molasses, etc metabolize in your body the same way, so even if you just use honey, you're eating sugar. I don't get too much, I only buy cereals with 12-15 grams or less per serving, I don't use it in coffee, I don't bake all that often. But candy- my weakness!!!!!! Between Easter crap & the stuff I make at home, forget it.... I just can't eat one. but anyhow- PLEASE- tell me how you are doing it!

Same here. The bulk of what I eat is low in sugar or sugar-free by its very nature... lean meats, eggs, low carb veggies, etc. Again, fruit is somewhat different because the water and fiber content slow down the digestion of the natural sugars so you don't have a blood sugar spike like you do with candy and other sweet treats.

Sugar is addictive, so you really have to work at it. I found it helpful to read up on the bad effects of sugar and there are alot of books out there, like Sugar Busters, that will help you understand the seriousness of the issue and the amazing amounts Americans eat compared to what they ate even 20 or 50 years ago.

Once you're convinced of the health benefits, I'd suggest you start cutting back gradually and allow yourself a treat once or twice a week. I still have some little reward once a week, usually on the weekend. Chocolate's still my weakness, but the extreme cravings will get much better as you get used to eating less and less of the stuff. Then, when you DO treat yourself, you enjoy it alot more and you're satisfied with less.

so when you say no processed foods, what do you eat for bread, crackers, yogurt, etc? Because my current diet is very similar to yours, pb4 & princesa, but I eat candy also! I make almost all our meals from scratch, & we eat mostly protein in the form of fish, chicken or eggs, with a veggie & carb on the side- either rice or potatoes, & whatever for the veg. I snack on fruit, pnut butter crackers, Nature Valley granola bars or my homemade ones, string cheese, etc. And myd aily dose of candy or some other baked good sweet. Or frozen yogurt- I love it & eat it fairly often, & it doesn't have too much sugar per serving. So there is not much processed foods in that, but my daily Metamucil wafers are processed, my cereals are processed, our bread, saltines, etc. I'm totally convinced of the health benefits of drastically lowering sugar intake- I'm just weak in the face of it!

mollymcbutter said...
Princesa, thanks for all the good advice. So then is fruit what you generally snack on during the day.

 

Occasionally I'll have some fruit, but because I eat low carb, snacks are more often organic deli meats and hot dogs, canned chicken or tuna, nuts and nut mixes, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and veggie chips. If you tolerate raw veggies, they're a good choice with nut butters or hummus.

 

Eva Lou said...

so when you say no processed foods, what do you eat for bread, crackers, yogurt, etc? Because my current diet is very similar to yours, pb4 & princesa, but I eat candy also! I make almost all our meals from scratch, & we eat mostly protein in the form of fish, chicken or eggs, with a veggie & carb on the side- either rice or potatoes, & whatever for the veg. I snack on fruit, pnut butter crackers, Nature Valley granola bars or my homemade ones, string cheese, etc. And myd aily dose of candy or some other baked good sweet. Or frozen yogurt- I love it & eat it fairly often, & it doesn't have too much sugar per serving. So there is not much processed foods in that, but my daily Metamucil wafers are processed, my cereals are processed, our bread, saltines, etc. I'm totally convinced of the health benefits of drastically lowering sugar intake- I'm just weak in the face of it!

I generally don't eat bread, crackers and pasta because I eat mostly grain-free. I do occasionally bake muffins or cookies using almond flour and sometimes eat gluten-free cookies as a treat. I find that I feel better when I don't eat grains or starches, so no rice or potatoes either. I concentrate on lean meats and low carb veggies with healthy oils.

Watch out for hidden sugars in peanut butter, granola products and any kind of dried fruit. Peanut butter and other nut butters should just have oil and nuts... no added sugar or hydrogenated fats. Also, you can get the fiber you need through capsules - I use Citrucel and psyllium - that don't have added ingredients and sugar. If you're eating plenty of fruits and veggies, you'll be getting fiber there, too.

I understand the difficulty in cutting back on sugar. Some people can just drastically drop stuff, but alot of us do better with gradually eliminating the bad things and replacing them with good or at least "not so bad." My ex used to call it "making better bad choices."

Very informative read guys!
I'm trying very hard to quit sugar. ..have been trying for a few months now. Some weeks better than others lol
I love this forum I'm always coming back here when I still stuck or disappointed with my colitis. I love just reading what other people have tried and I are doing about theirs it gives me a bit of Hope knowing other people are going through the same thing.

I've definitely noticed over the last week how bad sugar affect my colitis I've been trying to avoid acknowledging it but I definitely know I have to give it up because it's causing Bad flares.
I never really thought of sugar is in addiction before but it's definitely something you have to overcome mentally to quit.

I tried to do the right thing today and bought a packet of sugar free cookies lol
I ate the whole packet which I now realise have a laxative effect. ..yay me!

Anyway I just want to thank you all for sharing your story is it give me motivation to keep going knowing that I'm not the only one going through it and that sugar is actually a problem when it comes to uc.
thanks