Saturday, July 27, 2013

Daily Allowance of Sucrose

When Sarah first saw Dr. Poley in 2003, he suggested she restrict sucrose (sugar) as much as possible.  Since Sarah was the first patient Dr. Poley had recommended this diet to for treating Crohn’s disease, a guideline of a daily sucrose allowance had not been determined.  Through reading labels we decided that allowing 3 grams or below seemed reasonable.  It would drastically reduce the amount Sarah had been eating previously, but she did attempt to reduce the amount more than that.

In recent time, we have tallied up Sarah’s usual intake of sucrose added to processed food.  (This is only referring to the sucrose that has been added to foods, which can be identified in the Ingredient label and the Nutrition label.)  For the past 10 years and today, the amount of added sucrose that Sarah has adhered to and Dr. Poley highly recommends is between 5 and 10 grams as a daily allowance. 

I realize that this total may sound very rigid, but if you begin reading labels, you will find this guideline is very workable to follow.  It may take a little time to walk through the aisles at the grocery store checking out the products that are available, kind of like a treasure hunt.  If this diet helps your health, it truly may be a treasure to find the right foods.

This is an example to further explain:
For Breakfast—cereal (1 or 2 grams for a cup)
For lunch—sandwich bread (1 gram of sugar in each slice = 2 grams)
Snack—choices of pretzels, potato chips, corn chips, and a variety of crackers, (0 - 1 gram)
For Dinner—roll or bread (1 gram in one serving)
These would add up to 5 or 6 grams.
Sarah usually has 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a day, and maybe occasionally, 3.

I will include a chart below of the sucrose content in some fruits to give you an idea of which fruits contain the most sucrose. It’s from an article by J. Rumessen (Scand J Gastroenterology 1992;27:819)  Also below that, I'll add a recipe for oatmeal granola. Enjoy!

May you be blessed with good health!
Martha

Sucrose Amounts in Fruits:
(These amounts are per 100grams of edible portion of fruit)

Apple—1-5 grams
Cherry-- .02 grams
Banana—6-14
Grape—0.5 grams
Orange—4-7 grams
Pear—1-2 grams
Plum—1-5 grams
Prune—2 grams
Strawberry—1-2grams
Honey—2 grams
Carrot—4 grams
Melon—1.5 grams 



Recipe for Granola:

3 cup oats
1 cup coconut
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup raisins
Optional ingredients: chopped pecans, almonds, coconut

Combine all ingredients except raisins. Spread out on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 min. stirring in pan after first 15 minutes.


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Side Effects of Medication or a Flare?



Side Effects of Medication or a Flare?

There have been times when I have wondered if a person’s relapse into a flare has actually been from the disease process in Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis, or has it been from side effects of medications?  It seems that this is a difficult question to answer since many of the medicines prescribed for Crohn’s disease carry the risk of causing adverse reactions that are similar to the symptoms of the disease itself.
If your health has improved by following a restricted-sucrose diet and taking Culturelle, while still taking medication, and if you later begin to have symptoms of a flare-up, it would be wise to talk to your doctor about the possible occurrence of side effects from the medicines.  Even if one is listed as rare, it is worth considering, because obviously someone in the past has experienced a reaction since the drug company documented it in their literature.
I'll add some websites below with information about medications that are frequently prescribed for IBD. 
Following the list is a recipe for a delicious quiche!
Blessings of good health to you!
Martha

These are the links about medications:
Pentasa, Asacol, Lialda, Apriso are brand names for the drug Mesalamine...
Entocort is the brand name for drug Budesomide…
Imuran is the brand name for Azathioprine...
This is a link about Humira injections….
This is a link about Methotrexate...
Remicade is brand name for Infliximab...

Here’s a recipe for a quiche with a unique crust made with grated potatoes created by Esther Beachy that I came across online. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/meat-and-potato-quiche   I have changed a few of the ingredients according to our family’s likes. This works well if you are trying to stay away from gluten as well.  Enjoy!
Meat and Potato Quiche
3 tablespoons oil
3 cups shredded peeled potatoes, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar)
¾ cup cooked ground beef
¼ chopped onion (optional)
1 cup milk
3 eggs
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Combine oil and potatoes in a 10 inch pie plate.  Press mixture down evenly to form a crust.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Layer with beef and cheese and onion.
Mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour over beef mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.