Is Sugar Bad?

5134 Views 9 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Panacea, May 25, 2002

Lora

Discussion Starter · May 22, 2002

I went to the doctor today, now this is only my family practice doc,but he told me to try to cut out sugar. I have been on many different diets since I was diagnosed and I never really noticed a big difference with sugar. I do love my sweets and if anyone has any ideas on this issue please share.

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A-HappySpiritBuddy

· #2 · May 22, 2002

Sugar is bad for you whether you have IBS or not. Also carbonated drinks. I also have a huge sweet tooth and sometimes just can't help myself, but I pay the consequences later. I've never liked carbonated drinks, so I don't have an issue there, but others might.Try not ingesting ANY sugar for a week (you can do it for a week) and see if there are any changes. Also, if you drink carbonated drinks, stop them for a week to see if it makes a difference.If you do see a marked improvement by cutting those out of your diet, it will make it easier to not eat sweets or drink carbonation.

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mamamia

· #3 · May 22, 2002

Well maybe I'm nuts, but I tolerate sugar better than anything else!! If it weren't for sugar, I'd probably weigh 30 pounds!I know that on the whole, sugar is a poor food to have in the diet, but as far as IBS-D, it's no problem at all for me.Go figure. love to all, mama-

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Lindatharp

· #4 · May 23, 2002

Dear Lora, Try honey instead of sugars. Make sure it's pure honey, most are. I've stopped Sugar almost completely, and now use honey when my sweet-tooth demands it. For my D, I stopped Sugar, glutens and wheat. I am so much better now, it's worth it to me.Best of luck sweetie! Keep posting.

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DommieDo

· #5 · May 23, 2002

fruits are a good natural sugar - apricots and melons and mangos etcPLus a top tip - havent tried it myself but apparently if everytime you have a sugar craving you sniff vanilla the craving goes!!

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Kathleen M.

· #6 · May 23, 2002

Cutting out sweets help some people, but that may also be because most sweets are also loaded with either fat or refined starch. The fats and starches may be the trigger rather than the sugar. However cutting sweets may reduce the total carbs in the diet and that can be helpful for soem people, but I think refined starch may be the culprit rather than table sugar.We rarely eat pure sugar.Honey may be a bad substitute for some people with IBS. It is high in fructose. If you have any deficiency in absorbing fructose then honey may increase symptoms. Fructose is best absorbed when it is with glucose and the way you do that is with table sugar which is 1 glucose for every 1 fructose.Apricots (and apples, pears, peaches, plums/prunes) are all very good sources of Sorbitol a sugar alcohol and this can cause diarrhea in some people.In general during the summer people tend to have looser stools because of the additional fructose (fruit sugar so many fruits have it) and sorbitol from the abundance of fresh produce.Cooking fruits will reduce the sorbitol.K.

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Anna2

· #7 · May 23, 2002

Hi Lora! You might want to talk to your doctor about getting a high fructose breath test done. I had this done a little over a year ago, and needless to say I had to cut out almost all sugar. I am fructose intolerant, which is found in almost everything, fruits,vegetable,candy, & even bread. Cutting it out has helped my Ibs-D alot though so I can't complain to much. I can tell when I have to much of it because the next day sure enough the diahhria is back. I can still have table sugar and thats about it. I agree with kmottus to stay away from pure honey if they think you may have a sugar problem, honey will set it off more. Good Luck! Anna

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Audrey Fussell

· #8 · May 23, 2002

Lora - what is a frutouse breath test. I would like to have my DR check during my next visit. Might be an important discovery. I have improved somewhat with cutting out fat, red meat, diary and reducing wheat. I have not cut out sugar especially in peppermints as they do seem to help. Adding in antispasmatic med and anti anxeity has been helpful as well. All I can say is if someone doesn't suffer from IBS they have no clue as to the misery and heartach it causes. Even thought I know you are supposed to eat small meals all day long, if I could only figure out how to forget I want to eat it seems life would be less complicated. (nothing going in then maybe nothing going out)

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BethL.

· #9 · May 24, 2002

Sure, we all know that sugar is not exactly good for anyone. But it is SO MUCH better than any artificial sweeteners! I have never encountered any artificial sweetener that did not give me diarrhea.

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Panacea

· #10 · May 25, 2002

Sugar is actually okay for most people w/IBS! I've been reading the book "Eating for IBS" and the author notes that sugar does not affect the digestive system one way or the other. Now, what will affect the digestive system is sweet desserts which are usually full of FAT! Fat is the culprit in many cases; our intestines just can't handle too much of it.And as someone noted, artificial sweeteners are worse than real sugar, because many of them do tend to have a laxative affect. I'd really recommend ordering the "Eating of IBS" book (or going to the bookstore) - it's only about $15 and so far it seems to have a ton of good, concrete suggestions. (NO, I'm not getting paid to say that

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