A lot of what you hear these days about sugar is that it is public enemy number one, as it relates to our health. Our country’s media continuously likes to beat the drum over and over again about how bad sugar is for us and our children, because it makes us fat and it is not healthy for us to eat in general. Some so-called experts even suggest that sugar should be eliminated from our diets, recommending that popular restaurants like McDonald’s be mandated to replace their milk shakes with apples and carrots. That being said, how much do we really know about sugars? Are these people justified in making such a broad claim about them?

I discovered that there are many different types of alternative sugars available to sugar lovers, good sugars that are completely harmless for Crohn’s, Colitis, and IBS sufferers. Not only are many sugars harmless, but they have been found to be truly beneficial for us as they contain valuable healing properties, vital to our good digestive health! These sugars are not only harmless to our body, but also have healing properties.

It’s true that bad sugars, like the so-called “table sugar” that corn syrup contains, are really bad for everyone and should be avoided at all costs, especially if you suffer from Crohn’s, colitis, or IBS. This is especially true if you take steroids for your condition. If you are on steroids and are on a high sugar diet, you are setting yourself up for serious problems. Corn syrup sugar is one of the most toxic foods for the digestive lining and practically intolerable for all those who suffer from digestive disorders. The trickiest part about sugar is that it doesn’t cause intestinal pain or blockages like nuts or high-fiber foods do. Consequently, many people do not associate sugar consumption with stomach attacks and, as a result, continue to suffer from not knowing the truth.

So why is sugar so bad for Crohn’s disease and similar diseases? Sugar totally strips the intestines of its healthy bacteria and replaces it with an overgrowth of bad bacteria, leading to a condition known as Candida. Consuming sugar also leads to a serious pH imbalance in the body, making it difficult to recover from a recent outbreak. The side effects that sugar has in the intestine is that it causes gas, bloating, diarrhea and even ulcers in the mouth (even in those without digestive problems). To make matters worse, Sugar is obviously addictive (just ask millions) and a hard habit to break. Children and teens with Crohn’s disease can be especially difficult to wean from sugar because they see their peers eat it all the time without similar side effects. In addition to staying away from table sugar, even imitation sugars, such as NutraSweet and sorbital, should be avoided, as they have been shown to disrupt the digestion of almost everyone, even those without Crohn’s. Alcohol also behaves like sugar when in the body and should be consumed only in moderation, if not at all, depending on the severity of your digestive condition.

So what are the good sugar alternatives available to Crohn sufferers and what are their positive effects on your body? These types of sugars are found naturally in fruits and vegetables, even honey. Although honey can cause an allergic reaction in some and trigger attacks in people with ADD / ADHD, it is harmless for most people and healthy to consume. In reality, honey is much easier to digest than regular sugar, it can promote wound healing, kill bacteria, ease digestive upset, and even lessen allergy symptoms. The sugar found in the fruit called goji berry contains complex sugars called polysaccharides, or complex sugars, which have been clinically shown to help support the pancreas, boost immunity, build and tone muscles, and actually help support your pancreas. lose weight. In addition, this fruit stimulates your metabolism, which makes it strengthen the immune system, causing improvement and faster healing of the Crohn-induced breakouts you have. The sugar polysaccharides they provide have been shown to break down tumors and fight free radicals in the body. These are the toxins we ingest from polluted air, pesticides, and carbon monoxide fumes from vehicles that run on gasoline and diesel, for example.

Another healthy alternative sugar that you can use in your diet for Crohn’s disease, which also doesn’t have the negative effects that traditional table sugar has on your health, is xylitol. Like the polysaccharides found in Wolfberry, xylitol is also completely natural, coming from fibrous vegetables and fruits, as well as corn on the cob and various hardwood trees like birch. Actually, amounts of xylitol occur naturally in our bodies … up to 15 grams daily. It occurs daily as the natural glucose metabolism of man and animals, as well as of various plants and microorganisms. While the sugar derived from corn syrup wreaks havoc on the digestive system, xylitol actually helps heal and repair it. It does this by strengthening our immune system, which allows it to better protect us against the chronic degenerative diseases that we suffer from, such as Crohn’s disease, colitis or irritable bowel syndrome. Xylitol is considered a five-carbon sugar, which means that it is an antimicrobial that prevents the growth of bacteria. In fact, it makes the cell walls of our digestive system slippery to viruses and germs, allowing them to slide off and disappear. Xylitol also has no known toxic levels. Xylitol has even been credited with helping slow the aging process! But most of all, surprisingly xylitol tastes and looks exactly like sugar and leaves no unpleasant aftertaste! It is available in many forms. In its crystalline form, it can replace sugar in cooking, baking, or as a sweetener for beverages. It is also included as an ingredient in gum, mints, and nasal sprays. It was actually approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1963.

Another good sugar on the list is called acetylglucosamine. A more common name for this saccharide is glucosamine, which is found in supplements to relieve symptoms of joint and muscle pain associated with arthritis. Arthritis is a by-product of many people with Crohn’s disease. Glucosamine actually repairs cartilage and reduces swelling in the joints. This is just another sugar that defies critics’ claim that we should eliminate sugar from our diet.

So while there are sugars (processed sugars) that we really should stay away from as Crohn sufferers, there is an abundance of sugars, natural sugars, some of which have not been included in this article, which it would be foolish not to educate. ourselves, especially with the excellent access we have to the internet today. We can actually have our cake and eat it too (sorry for the pun), getting all the benefits of good sugar, meaning the good taste, but we still don’t have to be guilty of a food that we suspect is bad for our Crohn’s disease. disease.