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Has Anyone Tried Cutting Out Sugar As A Cure for UC. It's Working For Me.

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Steve_A
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2016
Posts : 29
Posted 5/8/2017 4:59 AM (GMT -7)
I have tried a bunch of medications and many recommended remedies from various websites to try to cure my UC: Asacol, Lialda, Colozal, 6-MP, Azathioprine, probiotics of every strength, Tapioca flour, Amalaki, Creatine, Charcoal, Sunflower Lecithin, I've even tried cutting out Gluten but the only thing that has worked so far was Prednisone (Ug!) and now cutting out SUGAR!

I am a total skeptic when it comes to trying to find a cure for this evil disease as I have had my heart broken many times thinking this was the one, only to have a flair 2 days later.

I'm not a doctor, nor do I know what causes UC or any inflammatory disease but I thought that I might be able to help myself by getting rid of the fuel that feeds the inflammation. So I finally tried cutting out sugar. Now, it has crossed my mind on several occasions to cut out sugar but it's SUGAR! It tastes good and things made with sugar taste good but constant flairs (blood & diarrhea) and the fear of an accident was finally too much to take.

I have been off sugar for around 5 months and in the first 2 months I noticed little to no benefits and the cravings for sugar are really strong. I had to buy tiny Werther's candy just to keep me from going on an all out binge and eating everything in site. I should say that I never really had a sweet tooth so it might be more difficult for those to truly love sweets but not having stomach problems was so worth the sacrifice. I should also say that I am not fanatical meaning I eat BBQ sauce and ketchup and things that have some added sugar but you will never see me eat a donut or cakes or pies, ice cream, cookies or soda. Fruits are OK in moderation and no fruit juices of any kind (It just consecrated sugar) Also take it easy on bread and carbs. Now I understand that cutting out sugar is a huge sacrifice so a spoon of ice cream can be OK on occasion but I thought it's better not to tempt myself and just try to steer clear of the temptation.

Now, after writing all of this I'm still waiting for that flair to rise up and hit me any day now. And I have actually had the start of a flair a few weeks ago but what has never happened before was, without any medication the flair simply went away after only one day. This spurred me on to continue to boycott sugar hoping that I had finally found some relief to my symptoms.

I'm writing this because I am at the point that I need to share this information and find out if anyone else has tried this or is willing to try this and post their results. This is a horrible disease and I have found comfort on this site reading people post that I hope someone else will benefit from this information.

It helps me to think/say that I'm simply allergic to sugar, like all those people who can't eat gluten or allergic to peanut butter, because then I know that it's simply bad for me and I can't have it. (Which in some way may very well be true.)

Hope this helps someone. Post your thoughts good or bad and any result you might have.

Best of luck!

Steve
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TroubledTurds
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Joined : Jan 2004
Posts : 8580
Posted 5/8/2017 6:48 AM (GMT -7)
glad you found something that works - now just vow never to use prednisone again ! that stuff will kill your body !

the problem with sugar is it's in everything - so often it's hard to know if it's the sugar or some other ingredient in the foods we're eating that might be causing a problem - so bottom line, reduction when and wherever you can -

i finally gave Coke/Pepsi the boot after dealing with a month long flare - i started drinking it again after my surgery in January to help deal with sleepless nights and early mornings and it just kicked my butt - but again, is it the sugar, coloring, citric acid, or ........ ?

hope you continue to find colon contentment -
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Casey_LB
Regular Member
Joined : Mar 2015
Posts : 293
Posted 5/8/2017 3:57 PM (GMT -7)
It would be interesting if you got a food allergy blood test. You might be allergic and that contributes to symptoms. But if you found you were only allergic to one kind of sugar (e.g., fructose, sucrose, glucose) it might allow you more freedom in your diet.
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DBwithUC
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2011
Posts : 4545
Posted 5/8/2017 5:07 PM (GMT -7)
this is a manipulation of gut microbes. essentially a biotic treatment

try to find which kind of sugar feeds your bad microbes
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NiceCupOfTea
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 11009
Posted 5/9/2017 11:14 AM (GMT -7)
The "doctor within" has a 60-day program to sell, massive surprise.
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NiceCupOfTea
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 11009
Posted 5/9/2017 11:58 AM (GMT -7)
Yeah, but drug companies have an obligation to prove that their drugs work better than placebo before they can release them on the market. And doctors don't personally make any money from the drugs themselves either, unless they get kickbacks from the drug companies - which in the UK they definitely don't. Meanwhile any old quack with a fake degree to his or her name can set up a website on the internet and sell unscientific 'detoxifying' programmes. (Newsflash: your liver can detoxify sh!t better than any expensive supplement can.) It grinds my gears. Nobody needs to spend money to cut sugar out of their diets.
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notsosicklygirl
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Joined : Dec 2008
Posts : 17743
Posted 5/9/2017 5:08 PM (GMT -7)
Yes, I did try it, and nothing improved. I wouldn't say I regret trying it, as it didn't hurt, and it eliminated the idea that it was the culprit, but it was a waste of time for me personally.
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beave
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 2154
Posted 5/9/2017 5:49 PM (GMT -7)
Question: How can intake of simple sugars "feed" microbes in the colon when the simple sugars are all absorbed by the small bowel long before they ever get to the colon?
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Natof9
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2016
Posts : 81
Posted 5/10/2017 3:26 PM (GMT -7)
Yes eliminating sugar in my diet is usually the first factor in me gaining remission.
Personally I know my UC was caused primarily by Candida and chronic dehydration from consuming excessive amounts of sugar, bread, coffee and alcohol (coupled w/many other lifestyle factors) which led to the acidosis of my body and eventual inflammation of the gut.

Carbohydrates/sugars are still in the process of being digested when they enter your colon and if candida is continually being fed, it grows. Enter mitochondrial dysfunction (your colonic cells running on empty calories, expelling toxins). Enter leaky gut syndrome. Prolonged inflammation develops ulceration and so on.

Scientific literature showing an immunological link b/w candida and crohn's patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163673/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19439813
http://mbio.asm.org/content/7/5/e01250-16.abstract
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/1040841X.2013.810587?journalCode=imby20

Post Edited (Natof9) : 5/10/2017 5:29:47 PM (GMT-6)

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beave
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 2154
Posted 5/10/2017 3:49 PM (GMT -7)
Pseudo-science is FUN!!!

Post Edited (beave) : 5/10/2017 4:52:17 PM (GMT-6)

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Natof9
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2016
Posts : 81
Posted 5/10/2017 4:49 PM (GMT -7)

beave said...
Question: How can intake of simple sugars "feed" microbes in the colon when the simple sugars are all absorbed by the small bowel long before they ever get to the colon?

I'll give this question a shot.

Firstly there are different kinds of simple sugars and not all are digested in the small intestine. This could happen for several reasons, one being fructose malabsorption when the enzymes that usually break down these sugars are not working.
The simple sugars then pass into the large intestine and have to be broken down by the millions of bacteria living there. Some of these bacteria (for ex:Candida) produce toxic by-products as a result. These toxic by-products are responsible for instigating inflammation.
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TroubledTurds
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2004
Posts : 8580
Posted 5/11/2017 7:05 PM (GMT -7)
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hGcJA8fXvU


this just popped into my head -

actually not just lips, but pretty much all of my body parts ! how can we fight it ????
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Jane974
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2017
Posts : 376
Posted 5/11/2017 9:10 PM (GMT -7)
This may be why the SCD Diet works for many with UC---no sugar aside from fruit overall.
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Steve_A
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2016
Posts : 29
Posted 5/15/2017 9:20 AM (GMT -7)
Well for me it was out of complete frustration. Flairs suck and even without a flair just the fear of waiting for the next one to come up was too much for me to take. I never had a sweet tooth so the sacrifice wasn't as great as it is for people who love sweets. I have lost 8 lbs. and feel great. And it's all about feeling great. I don't need to take a test to see what sugars I am possibly allergic too because I'm happy giving it all up to feel better.
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Steve_A
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2016
Posts : 29
Posted 5/15/2017 9:26 AM (GMT -7)
On a side note: I don't trust the medical industry. They aren't interested in finding a cure, they simply want to manage diseases to keep you on drugs forever. My GI wanted me to take Lialda forever and I said forget that! But how come none of my GI's said give up sugar? They all simply wanted me to take a pill and have met pay a bunch of money forever and nothing worked.
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NiceCupOfTea
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 11009
Posted 5/15/2017 11:18 AM (GMT -7)

Steve_A said...
On a side note: I don't trust the medical industry. They aren't interested in finding a cure, they simply want to manage diseases to keep you on drugs forever. My GI wanted me to take Lialda forever and I said forget that! But how come none of my GI's said give up sugar? They all simply wanted me to take a pill and have met pay a bunch of money forever and nothing worked.

For most people with UC, Lialda works, it's a safe drug to take long-term, and it means they don't have to give up sugar. I'm not a sugar fiend but **** giving up all forms of sugar: I'm not about that life.

Also for most people with UC, giving up sugar wouldn't make the blindest bit of difference. The sugar doesn't even reach your colon.
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Steve_A
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2016
Posts : 29
Posted 5/15/2017 4:03 PM (GMT -7)
NiceCupOfTea - I'm sure Lialda is a fine drug. But GI's, well at least the ones I gone to only want to prescribe drugs. Not one of them gave me any alternatives or suggestions besides, don't smoke or drink which I don't do already.

I guess if you'd like to choose to mask the "possible" toxicity of sugar by taking a drug like Lialda, pound down that sugar like there's no tomorrow. But how do you know that "most people with UC, giving up sugar wouldn't make the blindest bit of difference". Do you know for a fact that "most people" have tried giving up sugar but have still have symptoms? Probably not. So you are really just speaking for yourself. And it sounds like you haven't tried it either, so really that statement is totally untrue.

I guess it's a matter of personal choice but my post is merely here to help anyone looking for an alternative spending tons of money and/or taking a hand full of drugs for the rest of your life that may or may not have side effects that are still unknown. Quitting refined sugars is something that has help me and will hopefully help others. And the price of this information is it's FREE! And hopefully it will help with many other problems that are associated with an over consumption of sugar like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, etc.

Good Luck!


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NiceCupOfTea
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 11009
Posted 5/15/2017 4:42 PM (GMT -7)
I couldn't care less whether sugar is toxic. We've all got to die of something, and I don't smoke and rarely drink: I may as well die from eating one chocolate bar too many.

On a somewhat more serious note I did try cutting out sugar and upping my veggie intake a few years ago. For my pains my Crohn's got worse and I developed a stricture, which meant that all the healthy veggies were now out. I then had surgery and ate tons of sugar and wasn't on any meds; I stayed in remission.

GIs don't give advice on dietary changes because there aren't any foods which are associated with getting UC. The vast majority of people who eat a ton of crap will never get UC. Likewise, eating healthily doesn't protect against UC. It's an autoimmune disease, although some here don't like to hear that and insist their body wouldn't do anything nasty to them like that.
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TroubledTurds
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2004
Posts : 8580
Posted 5/15/2017 4:53 PM (GMT -7)
i prefer to stay away from dr's, hospitals, procedures, and anything else having to do with medical stuff - if i can tweak my diet to obtain the same results, well that's what they call a no-brainer in my book -
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Steve_A
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2016
Posts : 29
Posted 5/15/2017 5:32 PM (GMT -7)
NiceCupOfTea - So even when you cut sugar your pains got worse? Huumm... How long did you try cutting sugar for?
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iPoop
Forum Moderator
Joined : Aug 2012
Posts : 16177
Posted 5/15/2017 6:38 PM (GMT -7)
Not enough is known avout diet modifications in rigorous scientific studies to proce what changes help. If you read foljs signatures you will see what works is very individual. I see no common thread.
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Natof9
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2016
Posts : 81
Posted 5/16/2017 2:35 PM (GMT -7)
Sugar is certainly one culprit of promoting IBD and there is overwhelming scientific evidence supporting it, however it is just one culprit. There's also the issue with antibiotics, bacterial overgrowth, toxin build ups or gluten allergies etc So it's true there is no one size fits all.

In my situation I discovered one significant CAUSE (candida overgrowth) of my UC and decided to focus on it instead of relying on "specialists" who don't even keep up to date with the latest research, who don't consider holistic approaches and only look at EFFECT.
People no longer want to do the research themselves or give up quickly when a protocol is not working fast enough. Digestion is such complicated function in an interconnected system. The lymphatic system, mitochondrial function, hormones etc all relate to it.

My friend who has Crohn's since 13 swore he tried every alternative possible, but when I was diagnosed with UC we experimented together with cannabis oil , intermittent fasting, juicing and drastically changed our diets consistently for more than 3 months. Both of us reached remission and have been there since, but if we stray for more than a week- IBD symptoms warn of relapse. At this point we know more about our condition than our GI's.
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Red_34
Forum Moderator
Joined : Apr 2004
Posts : 23581
Posted 5/16/2017 8:37 PM (GMT -7)
I've cut 90% of my sugar intake about 6 years ago. Meaning no cookies, sugary snacks, cake, brownies etc. The other 10% of my diet is found in most foods so to eliminate 100% is kind of unrealistic. But since eliminating most sugars overall, I have felt better. Did it have an impact on my UC? Yes and no. It stopped some of my bathroom trips but I never could achieve remission until I tried Remicade.

We are all so indivualistic that not one thing will help all because after all, there still is really no known cause for UC. But I think if you can find works for you than great! Keep at it smile

I've had UC for a long time, have read of many remedies, have tried everything under the book. Uc'ers don't respond the same as the next but I'm glad you shared what works for you.
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