Ever tried a strict no sugar diet?

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Irene3

Joined
Mar 3, 2012
Messages
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Location
Australia
Iv watched 2 pretty scary talks on sugar. Saying it's worse then basically anything we can consume. Scary...because I drank Coffey with 2-3 sugars all day, for years...then got crohns. Now I drink sustagen, so I don't dehydrate, but still have sugar all day, esspecially if I only have dinner, I'll just have sustagen all day. First time I saw a talk on sugar, it was through a candida forum, and I thought...yep, makes sence, no sugar= healthy. But then there's so many diff opinions...and statistically, dosnt matter if your a smoker/non smoker, fit/unfit, you can still have diabetes, crohns, heart disease, etc.
So my question.. Any of you tried 'no sugar' AT ALL. So no processed, no carbs, even Scd etc have some sweets I think. And if so, did it dramatically improve your health.
Funnily enough, because I'm down to 10mg of pred as of 2moro, I just started gluten free eating (for the most part) and less sustagen, today. With the idea that I need to reduce sugar/carbs over the next few weeks, for a proper Scd start. Any one tried it? Do you feel THAT much better....
 
i have about 1/2 teaspoon of honey some days,
don't miss sugar at all,
but no sugar is only part of my diet, (paleo with some dairy).

it takes a while to get used to it but well worth it.

vegetables are full of carbs, - but that's ok
carbs are ok, just not from many sources.
No "white carbs" sugar, grains etc.
1 cup of carrot = 12g carbs with lots of soluble fibre
1 cup white flour = 75g carbs with no fibre
 
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And your crohns symptoms? And I should of written bread etc, not naturally occurring carbs, and fructose for that matter. But are you symptom free? And if not (I figure it's chronic, so not having sugar may not be a cure), do you feel a major diff day to day. Like lethargy, headaches all those extra intestinal manifestations...
 
i'm almost symptom free, no meds, but everyone is different.
every time i slip off the diet (i love dark chocolate) i get cramps,D and mouth ulcers.

do your own google search, there's a world of information out there
 
Thank you, that's motivating. Iv googled candida/carbs/sugars, but a personal success story from a crohnie is much more motivating. :)
 
google auto-immune and paleo

pm me if you want links, some people get a bit iffy if you take up too much space
 
I've done a diet that avoids sugar and still avoid sugar here and there now. Without sugar you would simply die though, a diet without sugar doesn't exist, since it would kill you, minimalising sugar is best probably, but you need some. Most foods seem to have enough sugar in them that I didn't need any other sugar, it's just really hard to follow the diet, since so many foods are quite high in sugar, many fruits are actually quite high in sugar.
 
"a diet without sugar doesn't exist" -kiny

I think Irene3 is referring to additional sweeteners like sucrose (table sugar), HFCS, argave nectar and the like, not water-soluble crystalline carbohydrates that are common in most vegetables and without them we would probably die.
Fruits come with their own fibre, slowing absorption and limiting consumption
It's not hard to avoid sugar but takes commitment and the avoidance of All processed foods,
Basically you go around the outside of the supermarket shelves and avoid all the centre shelves, or better still, buy food from a butcher and a greengrocer
 
Hey Irene,

Sarah is in remission and is vegan. At the start of the year, after much research, she decided to try going sugar free (less than 1 gram of sugar per serving) and has been doing so successfully since that time.

She doesn't eat processed food and juices everyday. She prefers to eat her fruit whole and not juice them as it concentrates the natural sugars too much.

She looks well and says she feels much more energised since cutting sugar out of her diet.

I assume you watched 60 minutes? I did because I received a text from Sarah saying I must watch it! :lol:

Dusty. xxx
 
Thanks everyone.... Hugh-that is what I meant, but only butcher and greengrocer isn't possible. Iv got an 8y old daughter, and besides the breads ect I'll still be buying, at first I want to still have qunoia and a few gluten free pulses. I'm starting on rice, then as I have no refined sugar at all, just pulses, to see how much my health improves. Though humira takes 3 months, as does 6mp, (3more anyway), so all together with a good diet and bit of fitness, I hope it will bring about remission. If not, then less then 5 D per day, everyday, I'd still feel it's worth it. (and MUCH less gas, lol)

Hi Dusty, thanks for that...and yep, 60 minutes :) I think his the same person who I watched give the first 'sugar is evil' talk, but it was months ago, through a candida forum. His got a point though, about needing fats, but I still think all things in moderation, and I'm soooo glad vegan is working so well for Sarah. She's an inspiration, and it's great to read about others doing well without sugar, because as I said, half the time I don't eat at all during the day, and have sustagen sugar and milk. Not good!!
 
Irene3 said:
Iv got an 8y old daughter, and besides the breads ect I'll still be buying, at first I want to still have qunoia and a few gluten free pulses. I'm starting on rice, then as I have no refined sugar at all, just pulses, to see how much my health improves.
Click to expand...

From all i've read white rice seems to be the best tolerated, least troublesome grain of all
My son eats millet bread quite happily but will always eat wheat when we're out, thankfully so much less than i used to eat.
Vegan will be an improvement over the "Standard Western Diet", but she may want supplements to cover what she's not getting from meat

Irene3 said:
half the time I don't eat at all during the day, and have sustagen sugar and milk. Not good!!
Click to expand...

i agree, not good at all
best of luck
 
Thanks...the last comment is why I'm not going full Scd straight away. Bit by bit, and that way my osteoporoses shouldn't get worse (not having milk, just supplements which I'm not sure how well I absorb, as I was told I have the hips of a 50 y old(im 29), and also figured, just wheat and potatoes and sugar to stop first, then the rice, and after pulses. By then I should wean the pred completely, so it all makes sence that hopefully I won't need it to reduce inflammation anymore, thanks to the diet fitness and meds. :)
 
Hiya: I am reading this post with interest as my current goal is to stick to a low sugar diet (Dusty -- /1/ hi!!! and /2/ not sugar-free, or at least not yet, but perhaps working toward that goal).

I am working with a nutritionist from my GP's practice as it appears I may have somehow managed to develop insulin resistance alongside the Crohn's. It is our current working theory, anyway. Odd to develop insulin resistance at a time when I was a half marathon runner living on salad, but there you go. Anyway, sugar makes me voraciously hungry. And I'm pretty hungry all the time to begin with (bwahaha) so who needs added hunger from sugar? And sugar causes cravings for...more sugar...which is also an unpleasant state of affairs.

Consequence of eating very low sugar (low glycemic index foods, or *some* medium GI foods), I have significantly less hunger, fewer cravings for any kind of food including sugar, and I generally feel fantastic. Lovely for the weight loss, too.

Sample day: Bowl of oatmeal with lots of unsweetened soy milk (1 gram sugar per serving), two bowls of from-scratch soup containing diced tofu, canned tomatoes, well-cooked carrot and celery, and saffron for lots of flavour, cheese, maybe a chicken breast or some tuna with spices. I am on a very-low residue (no fibre) diet but my dietician and I have agreed to break from it just slightly to try to get my health improving, hence the oatmeal and carrots, which I am actually NOT allowed to touch, even cooked. Don't tell my GI specialist!!!

However. I did not do a very good job of sticking with my low-sugar plan yesterday, as I had about 1/3 cup of chocolate chips (that's a lot by any standard) and some brown sugar. But I do not feel better for having given in to an impulse for sugar (and I'm sure the impulse would have passed had I given it some time or reached for a banana) and am back on track for today.

Let me know how things go!
 
Hi Entchen, sounds like your doing great. I'm still having rice and even potatoes tonight, but I plan to have less and less of all carbs, over the next 2-3 months, by then, full scd. A friend I ran into the other day at my gp's, said he didn't recognize me, because I'd gained so much weight. Well, the next morning I was doing pilates and having brecky lunch dinner (the last 2 gluten free). Not that I want to loose weight (moon face thanks to pred still, but otherwise anyway), but more the fitness and healthy eating, for well being.

What do you have for brecky, if fully gluten free. I want to eat well, and meat n salad are no probs, but brecky I'm not sure of.

Anyway, will post once on scd, as to wether it really makes a big diff or not, and thanks...best wishes with all your diet changes too. And I even have raw carrot and veg, though apparently low residue is best, but I chew everything really well, and salad veg I chop fine, and I don't have obstructive symptoms (despite a 10cm small bowel stricture, with less then 5mm gap for food to pass through). :)
 
I've basically been on a no-sugar-added diet for something like 5 or so years now. I firmly believe that it's a very healthy way to go, but I don't have much to compare it to.

By no sugar I mean nothing with more fructose than a bell pepper. Though I do eat rice and potatoes and some pastas. No sugar, no honey, no fruits.

For me I have a fairly adverse reaction in my mouth first when eating these foods, so controlling them has controlled any symptoms in my mouth.

Also I started the SCD back in 2005 and was on it for roughly 1 year. I can confidently say that there is no way I could go back on it (can't eat any of the fruits, applesauce, honey, peanuts, etc. which are staples of the diet) but modifying it has been successful for me (eating rice / potatoes). So I wish you the best of luck with it!
 
Hi Dusty and Irene:

Thanks for the warm hello, Dusty!

Irene, delighted to hear that you are tolerating vegetables despite the stricture. Re. breakfast, I'll have watery oatmeal, or two eggs with cheese or avocado, unsweetened Greek yogurt (maybe add some pure maple syrup....oh well!), or even tuna mixed in with potatoes. So I'm not carb-free but banning anything high glycemic index. Was surprised to learn that potatoes and pasta are both ok even though bread and rice are not!

You can also have non-breakfast foods at breakfast if bacon and eggs is getting a bit boring for you. :)
 
Are there any chemists on this board? My understanding was that the body converted most of what you ate into sugars anyway. I'm not that familiar with the difference between fructose and glucose, but just know that "table" sugar contains both.

It's interesting that I've been told, as a person with Crohn's, that I should be avoiding fibre. But it seems that people here prefer fibre to go along with their sugars - which generally makes sense to me, and I do get stomach cramps if I eat refined sugar.
 
I've heard of some with Crohn' who completely eliminated sugars out of her diet(how that is possible, I have no idea) and now she is living a healthy life, free of all symptoms! If you can do it, more power to you! I know I could never do it, I don't tolerate protein well & am an all carb girl at heart!
 

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