Hi ! 

Recall that we’ve changed the format of our newsletter. Instead of briefly covering three distinct topics, each newsletter will focus on the same theme for one month. We’ll explore the who, what, where, when and why of topics dear to you so by the end of the month, you’ll have the information and confidence to make meaningful changes to eat and live better with IBD.

This month’s theme: Added sugar and IBD

Quick recap: Earlier this month we defined added sugar, gave examples of why too much sugar is bad for IBD, discussed why many people with IBD eat lots of sugar, recommended a cap for daily sugar intake and showed you how to identify hidden sugar in your diet.

This week Scott will share his up and down relationship with sugar and Crohn’s disease PLUS actionable tips for reducing sugar in your diet.

If you’re new to the newsletter, don’t worry! We’ll merge each week’s newsletter plus your questions and feedback into one easy-to-read blog post.

Scott’s sugar journey

I didn’t use to have much of a sweet tooth. As a kid, my Halloween candy would slowly decrease by a piece here and there, until ultimately it went bad before I finished it. Aside from indulging in an occasional dessert for a special occasion or at a restaurant, my dessert usually consisted of just a few bites of dark chocolate or fresh fruit. But when I moved to NYC, finding affordable high-quality fresh fruit became difficult, so I ate candy to compensate (yeah, it doesn’t make sense to me today either). It didn’t help that right next to my desk at work was the candy jar.

By the time I was diagnosed with IBD, I was regularly eating junk. And while I told myself I ate relatively healthy, the reality was my diet could have used some work. Sure, we ate a large chunk of our meals at home with fresh ingredients, but I was regularly buying candy and eating whatever caught my eye at restaurants, which was never what I would call healthy today.

This is my candy from final pre-IBD Halloween

Nowadays, it's an entirely different story.  I  keep my sugar to a minimum with little effort, and I find most candy and dessert to be overly sweet. As health conscious parents, we have the benefit of knowing what our parents didn’t, and we do our best to limit sugar in Kyla’s diet as well as our own. 

My Age of Confusion

Soon  after my diagnosis, I researched what to eat with Crohn’s. I quickly  learned that sugar isn’t great for IBD. Wait, what? My doctor had told me to eat pizza, milkshakes, and cake to gain weight! To add to my confusion, there were so many types of sugar -- were they all created equal? Were some better than others? Did I have to worry about sugar from fruit? What about FODMAPs? Nightshades? Histamines? OK, these aren’t all strictly sugar-related, but trying to navigate the “right” way to eat was incredibly challenging!

I was tempted to follow my doctor’s (terrible) advice to eat sweets because part of me, after months of denying myself anything tasty, desperately wanted to believe that the solution to my problems was pizza, cake and milkshakes. Fortunately, my spider sense was tingling, and I didn’t act on that impulse. Whenever I ate more than a small amount of sugar, I felt sick and ended up losing weight vs gaining weight.

As my condition deteriorated and I became fed up with feeling confused, I ultimately removed most sugar from my diet.

How did I go from a candy and junk food eating machine to a confused eater, to a sugar minimalist?

Becoming a Sugar Minimalist

Gatorade helped me minimize my sugar intake. I was a big fan of Gatorade and drank it most of my life until I got Crohn’s. Like so many of my favorite things, I left Gatorade behind, with one exception — the colonoscopy prep. At first, I saw this as a chance to indulge in a nostalgic treat. But I no longer enjoyed it. Now Gatorade is too sweet for me to drink. For my last colonoscopy, I had to dilute it to finish it.

This was huge! I realized that my taste buds changed - I no longer enjoyed many of the foods I desperately missed. Letting go of these cravings was liberating. 

I am fascinated by this experience because it means we can change the way we experience sugar. Let’s say you make a cake with half the amount of sugar it normally has — it might taste bland the first time you eat it. But as you gradually reduce your sugar intake, then your preferences for sugar, and the amount of sugar you need to taste sweetness will decrease.

I didn’t stop eating sugar to change my taste buds, but that was one of the best outcomes from my experiment. My Gatorade discovery extended to other sweet foods.

Overcoming sugar cravings

So, how did I stop eating so much sugar in the first place? Cold turkey. Not going to lie, it was challenging but highly successful. You can reduce sugar gradually over time as we recommended last week, but I had less success with that approach. For me, I was all in. If you want to try the cold turkey method, here’s what I recommend -- Eliminate all sources of added sugar for at least 2 weeks. Your taste buds should adjust.

Finding foods too sweet is a great way to eat less sugar, but sometimes I’m still tempted by sugary foods and I suspect many of you are too. I crave apple pie, cinnamon buns, peanut M&Ms, Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, and occasionally a good ole Coca Cola. Fortunately, I keep these cravings in check. 

Here are 4 tips to manage your sugar cravings:

• Remind yourself that eating sugar makes you want more sugar. Sugar feeds sugar cravings. 
• If you’re following a recipe that calls for sugar, it’s probably more than you need.
• Recognize that a little sugar is OK! Limit added sugar to less than 25 grams spread throughout the day (vs hitting your max with one sugar-sweetened beverage).
• Plan your sugar splurges, and make them worth it.

For comparison, this is what I had on Halloween a few years ago post IBD

Not sure how to start removing sugar from your diet? Here are some actions you can take immediately: 

• Remove obvious sources of sugar, such as soda, iced tea, lemonade and other sugary beverages. Seriously, if you do NOTHING else to modify your sugar intake, switch to water (plain or naturally flavored) and unsweetened tea. If you need a touch of sweetness, add a teaspoon of honey to your tea. It's way better than pre-sweetened versions.
• Track how much added sugar you eat over a few days. This is pretty easy to do if your foods have nutrition labels. Don’t change your usual intake, just track it. You want a number to set as a baseline so you can cut back.
• If you cook or bake, try a recipe you are familiar with but cut the sugar in half.

Now, we want to hear from you! What has helped you eat less sugar? What barriers stand in your way? Respond to this email with questions and comments. We can’t wait to hear from you.

-Scott

P.S. Even among folks with IBD and IBD professionals, breaking the norm is tough. For example, I went to an IBD Research event a few years back for patients with IBD. Here are the snacks they provided: Doritos, danishes and cupcakes. I was shocked! And adding to my surprise was that most people ate them. One woman and I made eye contact where our expressions clearly said, “Are you serious? THAT’S what you provide to people with IBD?” Sheesh.

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Remember, there’s no one perfect diet for everyone with IBD. If you or anyone you know struggles with what to eat with Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis, then check out our ebook, Eating with IBD: The Essentials.

Check it out

Do you have a question about these topics, or something else? Just reply with your question to this email and it may appear in an upcoming newsletter.

In good health,

Colleen, Bertina & Scott

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is in no way intended as medical counseling or medical advice. Results may vary