Dietary simple sugars alter microbial ecology in the gut and promote colitis in mice

Refined sugar is basically poison. Nobody with IBD should be ingesting it, except maybe on special occasions cause we all have to live a little. In my IBD support group there was a new guy who is on a biologic and several other immune suppressants, and he was sitting there chugging a half bottle of coke in the 2 hours we were there. Couldn't believe it.

A few judgy know-it-all people around, who try to shame sick people because they can't eat "healthy"!


How do you know that guy didn't need some calories and some carbohydrates? Sick people can't always eat fiber and have trouble finding food when they are out. I sometimes grab a soft drink when I'm out, so I don't pass out from lack of energy. The last thing I need is some healthy food warrior trying to claim that a soft drink might cause my illness.

Yes, it would be nice if we could all eat organic unprocessed health foods. Groan.

Simple sugars such as glucose and fructose are present in many plants. More complex sucrose is present in many plants as well. I highly doubt that any of these sugars are "poison". We, humans, have been ingested these sugars for thousands of years. Our bodies are adapted to it pretty well. On the other hand, excessive intake can certainly change the microbiome in our intestines.