Natural Sugar - avoid completely or just minimize??

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Hi there,
I've been on a wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diet for about 6 weeks now. I have been quite strict with this diet (only a couple of tiny cheats). I have been feeling really good (much fewer crohn's-related symptoms) and not craving sugar as much as at the start. The reason I am avoiding sugar is to restore my body to a more alkaline state (rather than acidic, which derives from wheat and sugar) and encourage growth of healthy bacteria in the gut.

Lately, I have really been struggling with regards to sugar - specifically, natural sugars. I wonder about fruit and small amounts of dried fruits - whether these can contribute to acidity and bad bacteria, even if eaten in moderation...?

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas? I suppose I can always try adding in fruit and see if there is any change in my symptoms, but I always appreciate hearing from other crohnies in addition ;) I've also thought about buying those pH strips...

Thanks.
 
Natural is certainly better than the refined sugars; but as with all, moderation? Keep reading up on it. You may find refined sugar may constipate or harden the stools; if you are off it and have some (holidays, etc.). However, you will certainly be more in tune with your body! Doc told me to balance fruit with a protein (nuts perhaps), so it will reduce way sugar breaks down. Or, you can bake/saute fruits, which changes the way it breaks down. Keep reading up; you may find dietary changes will help you with symptoms and reduce inflammation. Good luck!
 
Hi Mickey,
Thanks so much for your response. The tip about adding it with protein is interesting, haven't heard that one before.

At the start of this new diet, I actually did have a bit of natural sugar and it WAS paired with protein - banana with natural yoghurt, raisins with my raw nuts... I wonder if that's why I was still feeling really good at that time (there was zero other sugar in my diet).

And yes, reducing inflammation is number one on my agenda! (FYI - I'm also doing other dietary changes aimed at reducing inflammation such as incorporating ginger and turmeric.)

Thanks again for sharing!
p.s. we share a name! :biggrin:
 
i would minimise all sugars at the beginning and reintroduce as you feel better.

fruit is pretty safe in moderation,
dried fruit is a bit worse,
fruit juice not so good --all the sugar without the fiber.

It is sugar (both complex and simple sugars) that causes inflammation

I eat fruit when i feel like it, maybe up to two apples and two bananas a day.
 
Hi Hugh,
Thanks for chiming in. I'm well aware of the fruit-sugar 'hierarchy' from fresh to dried to juice so I'd be looking to add in fresh first then, if tolerated, add dried (in moderation of course). I've been on this diet of no-sugar for 6 weeks, so I'm thinking it may be ok to start experimenting - does that sound like a reasonable timeline or should I be waiting longer? I feel great, by the way (i.e., symptom-free).

To your point about complex sugars also contributing to inflammation, it sounds like you're alluding to complex carbohydrates - in which case you are likely endorsing the SCD? Is that what you follow?

On a side note, two bananas and two apples per day sounds like a lot to me! Before I got my fistula (and thereby my crohn's diagnosis), I ate one apple and one banana every day. I'd happily go back to that level of 'sugar' if I can :)
 
puppylove,
yup, i'm paleo and swear by it.
(to be honest - paleo template with mods, I tolerate aged dairy (hard cheese) and i eat rice every couple of weeks, i get more carbs than i need from tubers but not potatos)
we're all different so i don't know how you will go...
some reactions are immediate but some may take weeks to manifest so it becomes hard to know what is causing what.

you might want to check out fodmaps to see what fruits are better tolerated too

i'd be more concerned about the grains than the fruit.
 
hi again hugh,
in a related post titled 'contradictory diet advice everywhere' one member talked about how s/he followed a specific diet and felt great but a colonoscopy revealed high levels of inflammation despite a lack of symptoms. this kind of freaked me out because part of how we tweak our diet is based on symptoms! any thoughts on this?!

i'm thinking of trying paleo because while i've already cut out wheat, dairy and all forms of sugar - it does make sense that all forms of grains would contribute to inflammation. but i have a few questions:

1) where are you getting your carbs from?

2) how did you go about discovering your 'mods' - like, what was your specific procedure for figuring out how much hard cheese and/or rice you can tolerate?

3) how can i incorporate more protein into my diet if i am a 'moderate' meat-eater? tofu and soy products are not allowed, neither are beans/legumes, and nuts/seed are only allowed minimally. i can certainly eat 'a bit more' meat products and can easily eat more fish and seafood - but for ethical and environmental reasons i don't want to be eating a ton of meat... any suggestions would be really helpful.

thanks so much
~puppylove
p.s. i now have an avatar because my husband and i finally got a puppy!!! :)
 
My daughter has taken processed sugar out of her diet and as part of that process has moved to a raw vegan diet. She is also very careful about natural sugars. She juices very little fruit, perhaps the odd lemon, due to the concentration of sugars it produces and also eats very little dried fruit, if at all, for the same reason.

Dusty. :)
 
Hi Dustykat,
Thanks for your response - what about whole fruit? Does your daughter eat raw (or cooked) fruit and if so, how much per day and/or what kinds?

I would happily eat fresh fruit in moderation and the occasional dried fruit. I'm just unclear on how exactly I will know what's "good for me"...? For example, would I be looking out for acute symptoms within 1-7 days of introducing/eating fruit OR is it possible that I will feel ok but still be contributing to inflammation in my gut without knowing...?

~puppylove
 
hi again hugh,

i'm thinking of trying paleo because while i've already cut out wheat, dairy and all forms of sugar - it does make sense that all forms of grains would contribute to inflammation. but i have a few questions:

1) where are you getting your carbs from?

2) how did you go about discovering your 'mods' - like, what was your specific procedure for figuring out how much hard cheese and/or rice you can tolerate?

3) how can i incorporate more protein into my diet if i am a 'moderate' meat-eater? tofu and soy products are not allowed, neither are beans/legumes, and nuts/seed are only allowed minimally. i can certainly eat 'a bit more' meat products and can easily eat more fish and seafood - but for ethical and environmental reasons i don't want to be eating a ton of meat... any suggestions would be really helpful.

thanks so much
~puppylove
p.s. i now have an avatar because my husband and i finally got a puppy!!! :)

1/ paleo has no restrictions on carbs, just on their origin.
Having said that most paleo-dieters restrict their carb intake by choice.
One you have made the change to burning fat you will need far less carbs than at present
I eat sweet potatoes, pumpkin and turnips (all roasted in lamb fat :) ).
All veg contain some carbs.
I eat rice once or twice a fortnight because it makes the chicken curry go alot further.

2/ A lot of reading and trials,
For cheese i ate no dairy for a month or more and then added hard cheese with no effect.
The same can not be said for yogurt, and i have decided not to see how far i can push it - I ate some Camembert 3 weeks ago and felt fine but i will not be doing it regularly.

3/ I don't know how much protein a body needs, but if you are a 'moderate meat eater' then i wouldn't stress, just up the amount of saturated fat that you eat, I eat alot of Ghee, coconut oil and lamb fat.

But that's just my opinion:thumleft:
 
Hi puppy love,
Glad to see you are taking your diet more seriously. It is SO VERY IMPORTANT! and not enough people take it seriously. As for fruits in your diet. I am vegan and once more stick to a 80+% raw diet. I do incorporate fruit into my diet but it wasn't until about two months ago that I actually started to. It is important, for when you are trying to achieve an alkaline base and grow healthy bacteria, to avoid high sugar fruits as much as possible early on. The truth is you probably, like most north americans, have high levels of yeast in your gut. By eliminating sugars, even natural sugars you are giving your body the best chance of removing the yeast and replacing it with beneficial bacteria. The best thing you could do is eat high levels of vegetables and let your body naturally create an acceptable environment for the bateria. Once the beneficial bacterias are in place you should notice a major difference. Your gut will be able to assimilate all of the nutrients that were otherwise blocked by the yeast overgrowth. Along with that your immune system will respond and strengthen helping you avoid illness as well as avoid future flare ups :).

While on this quest of achieving healthy bacteria in your gut it is important you stay away from yeast promoters and bacteria killers. Yeast promoters would be sugars of course but also yeasts in breads and mushrooms. Bacteria killers would be antibiotics which in turn help create a yeast empire if you will with all the healthy bacteria un-able to control the rogue yeast. Antibiotics are actually found in high quantities in meats. So if you want to take this seriously, either cut out meat entirely for the for-seeable future or only eat and purchase organic meats.

During your journey it is important to keep track. So a quick test that you can do once a week to check your yeast levels is immediately after you wake up, DO NOT drink or eat anything and fill up a glass of water. Then collect saliva in your mouth and spit into the glass. If your saliva sinks all together then you have a large amount of yeast, if your saliva sinks in streaks, like ropes falling then you have a moderate amount of yeast and if your saliva stays afloat then you have minimal yeast :)

And by the way I wouldn't recommend mixing fruits with nuts like a member posted above. Nuts along with grains and such have a much different digestive rate than fruits. Fruits digest very fast and Nuts and grains digest slowly.. if you combine them the fruits will stay behind with the protein and cause quite a bit of gas.

And to answer your question about whether or not you would feel acute symptoms in 1-7 days if you had fruit. no you wouldn't it would be a slow contribution to inflammation.

The hardest part is staying inspired on such a quest. So continue to stay active in forums and remain active in researching ways to achieve your optimal health. Update this thread because seeing other achieve personally keeps me inspired. Good luck!
 
Hi Dustykat,
Thanks for your response - what about whole fruit? Does your daughter eat raw (or cooked) fruit and if so, how much per day and/or what kinds?
~puppylove

Yikes! Sorry about the delay in answering puppylove! :redface:

I don't know the amounts she eats, she doesn't live at home, but it is quite a bit going by the amount I do see when she visits.

Being raw vegan it is uncooked and she eats anything and everything that is in season! :lol:...tropical fruits, stone fruits, melons, berries, citrus, dates, you name it.

Dusty. xxx
 
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