Eating healthy-low sugar-I just can't do it

So I've been in a great remission for the past five months or so. Back last summer I stopped Ensure to cut out an additional 23 grams of sugar from my diet. I also stopped excercising (jogging ~3 miles/day-5ish times a week.) Even cutting out the jogging and being in a great remission the past five months, I've dropped from 158 to 146. I want to start drinking Ensure or something sugary like it to put that weight back on. I've always ate like I'm starving and have definitley the past five months to no avail. What to do?

Not exactly. If forced to say exactly what it was tied to I would say the DMSO I started in October. But, I would also say the low sugar is helping and sugar is probably detrimental to my Crohn's.

So I'm bascially wondering "how much difference is 23 grams going to make to me?" I guess I have a stop loss-if I get to 140 I'm going to go back and start Ensure even if I think it's detrimental and don't want to.

Edit-I'm sure I'm not doing my heart or other organs any good by not really exercising either. Jogging should even be beneficial for my Crohn's. Ugh. Catch-22 from any angle.

Oh yeah that's right I've been eating those Ghirardelli 86% cacao occassionally latley. They've got tons of fat in them and like two grams of sugar per square. Maybe I'll snack on those some throughout the day.


I even heat them up and use them as syrup for my Paleo banana waffles *drool*


Thanks!

You need healthy sugars from fruits and veggies...honey is also a great alternative as well as Stevia but stevia has no calories...avocado is high fat, healthy fat of course, so you could add them into your diet for some weight gain.

I would keep up with some form of daily exercise though, for muscle mass and it's healthy/necessary for optimal health.

Try some healthy smoothies too, with fruit and yogurt and pure juice.

galil said...
Ripe with plenty of black spots are best for sensitive digestion.

Yea, and like this they are also high in TNF-alpha cytokines. darned if you do darned if you don't

I love using ripe bananas in my smoothies, I add honey and yogurt and a bit of pure OJ which helps with the texture of it.

yes, 23 grams of sugar could effect your IBD. I like the Metagenic medical foods like UltraInflammX for situations like this they add sugars and inflammation fighters synergistically.. in addition to your daily food intake. Im not the hugest fan of paleo as a long term solution tho and it is definitely not Paleo..http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-InflamX-Chocolate-Orange-Ounces/dp/B001ECXG8G/ref=pd_sim_hpc_8

Thanks Levi. But I still don't understand, is TNF beneficial or harmful for the general population?

galil-I don't think it poses a problem for 'normal' people. Not that it's healthy to have more like to supplement it, they just don't produce an overabundance of it-my understanding.

Ima-I've cut out pasta, breads, and other grains also. Cut out potatoes, not sweet potatoes. I was eating almond flour like a champ-25 lbs in about five months but I have pretty good evidence that I do better without it. Coconut flour seems OK so I may need to look at buying it in bulk.

If you are on a full Paleo diet then I suppose you must get your carbs from vegetables and fruit such as bananas. But if you are like most of us and only need to avoid gluten foods then that gives you many more options for complex carbs. I love buckwheat pancakes, quinoa, rice, wild rice, and corn. I am one of the few here who can eat popcorn. But a slice of pizza with gluten flour is poison for me.

As far as craving sugar, we are all familiar with glutamine and how it is supposed to repair intestinal tissue. I take it once in a while. But according to Dr. Robert Atkins, the Atkins diet guru, not only is glutamine effective for healing the digestive tract, but that it also snuffs out cravings for sugar.

On page 168 in his book, 'Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution', he talks how glutamine "maintains the structural integrity of the intestines to such an extent that it is dubbed 'intestinal permeability factor.' No other nutrient is as important for gastrointestinal integrity."

Page 169 Atkins says he uses 12 grams (3 teaspoons) daily to curb alcohol cravings and 1-2 grams to curb cravings for sweets. I cannot vouch for Atkins but I have heard about the benefits of glutamine from other sources as well.

It's not that I want sugar-sugar is just a means to an end-more weight.

Ill be eating more dark chocolate for starters see if that does anything, maybe smoothies for snacks

ya, what pb say -

and the yummy dark stuff can, especially in our situation, cause or exacerbate the big D !

probably not what you need L man -

Not to sidetrack the thread, but whow much and in what form are you taking DMSO, Levi? i used to use it topically in flares, but the oozing body odor (a sort of rotten fish smell) the next day is just unbelievable, I am told (and that's from my wife, who got used to the smell) so unless I was a total recluse it became completely impractical. Plus, I started to think maybe it reduced UC pain a bit merely by causing burning pain on the skin i e just diversion of pain.