I need some moral support. I've been on NSD for 4 1/2 months. I've had periods of seriously reduced pain. But the last month or so has been wavy. On the whole, yes, it's all better than before NSD, but this kind-of sucks right now, especially because I keep knocking off foods to try and find the culprit and am running out of things to eat.

Last week, I tried kicking ALL sugar, meaning I stopped eating raisins, berries, or honey. I've only managed that a couple of days; the other days I gave in. Of course, I noticed the morning after no-sugar days, I felt better than the morning after berries- or raisins- or honey- days.

I just bought pure leaf Stevia, but the iodine looks dark on it. That sucks.

Anyone else eat NO sugar, no chocolate, no dairy? Does it get any easier? Is this even a wise approach?

Current foods: grass-fed beef, no-sugar turkey, extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, balsamic vinegar, coconut, chia seed, uncured bacon, eggs, parsley, cucumber, brocolli, romaine, spinach, kale, alfalfa sprouts, sardines, fish. Also take Ultimate Flora probiotic and GNC Multigel multivitamin and 3 tablespoons of pure Cod Liver Oil.

What the heck could it be?

It took me two-three weeks of going cold turkey before the cravings left. I was a super cranky customer with a short fuse during that time.


I don't have any personal experience with Stevia, I just figured to eliminate all sugar.


I reluctantly chose to eliminate sugar and dairy. (With butter being the only exception.) When my progress plateaued, I tried an anti-candida protocol. I was reluctant to try this because candida/candiasis is a pretty controversial subject. Most critics think it is overly diagnosed. If you read the symptom list, pretty much every body has it. That being said, in the early days of my NSD, I noticed that fruits started giving me brain fog. I ran a one month no sugar experiment, and noticed that a number of other symptoms cleared up so I continued with it. (Later on, I found it interesting that a John Hopkins study said that many chronic sinus infections are a result of a fungal infection...candida being a fungus...)

Your question about whether this is a wise approach is the real question. All extreme diets carry a certain degree of risk. There's probably some study out there that links this type of diet to cancer, but there's probably some study out there that links just about anything to cancer. I did talk to my rheumy about it. He noticed the improvement with me, and definitely agreed with my assessment that a dietary approach was the best long term approach for management. I expressed my concern about dropping all sugars - would I be shooting myself in the foot. We agreed that the best approach was to continue with periodic blood work (kidneys, liver, etc.) to see if anything started changing for the worse.

So I can't give you a definitive answer on exactly what risks there are. The way I look at it, nothing is risk free. I've read accounts of numerous people who have gone with this approach and deemed it to be acceptable for me at this point in my life. I am content with the results to date, and I plan to start weening myself off next year by introducing occasional fruits. (Cross your fingers!)

If you do commit to boycotting all sugar, make sure you get enough carb grams and fat grams in your diet. I started eating an insane amount of protein and that was not a good idea in hindsight. After reading other accounts I believe I was not getting enough fat and/or carbs. (Remember, a no-starch/no-sugar diet is NOT a no carb diet.)


Most of the things seem pretty safe. I don't partake in balsamic vinegar (I think there's some sugar in it) and don't have any experience eating chia seeds. I don't eat coconut, but I do eat lots of coconut oil. I avoid bacon, not sure if that's something that you'd be willing to drop. Some people flare with probiotics.

I noticed that as I got better, I became more sensitive. Not sure if that explains your stalled progress.

The ultimate protocol I settled on was the intersection of the NSD and an anti-candida protocol outlined by Bee. I learned about the latter from another KA member who shared their experiences. I ultimately tried it, and did feel it was helpful in my quest to regain my life.

Here's that site:
http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/
Initially, I was very hesitant to embrace everything she outlined. Over time, every time I plateaued, I re-read things then continued to refine my approach until it became closer and closer to what she espouses.

No matter what you try, I hope you find something that works for you. Good luck!

Hi Steven,

Cutting the sugar is 'quite the thing', isn't it? I, like you, feel better on a restricted diet (one year into it), and I feel even better without sugar. Less bloating & brain fog, stable weight, etc. Because personally I have such a draw to sugar, it's easier for me to just not eat any at all. Mind you I use balsamic vinegar + spoonful of honey in my dressing.

My IBS problems are also much improved without fruit/overall sugar.

How do I maintain it? Pure stubborness...
My goal last year was getting back in the workforce. This year I want to get back on my mountain bike... not sure that will happen, I still experence radical increase in inflammation/stiffness/pain when exercising, and sitting in a car longer than 1/2hr.

I guess I use the no-sugar thing as a 'punishment' - take that, stupid immune system.
If you're going to be all bonkers dysfunctional, then I'll be extreme right back at you..!
Rather silly, yes, but stubborness is really all I've got going for me these days

I do think it is paying off, only at this point in time progress is less obvious, and I'm becoming greedy, I want to participate in activities again that other people around me enjoy.

I find alcohol also affects me, so have left even the wines behind for now (I drink, and I get severe calf muscle and plantar facii cramps, this never fails!).

What I eat: lettuces, spinach, kale, broccoli, radishes, long english cucumber, celery; fish, fowl, some red meat. That's it.
Since I've had IBS for a long time now I rejoice in this bland, limited food offering.

Works for me, for now. Hopefully things continue to improve over time, and by time I mean 'years', and some day surely I'll enjoy a more varied diet.

Obviously if I were more physically active my body might require more fuel. My portions on the other hand are large. I eat 3 large meals a day, and I don't have a need or cravings for snacks in between. Also take a bunch of supplements.

So, rather extreme, but at least something I can do myself, to feel better. Next for me is to find a GP so I can monitor kidneys, check for vit/min deficiencies, etc.

Just diving in here. I find that lettuce can really cause real gut problems - am told it has summat or other in it. Need to check it out...

Those probiotics - Ultimate Flora Probiotic - I would be leery of! Check it out with the iodine test. 'Flora' stuff is mainly crap, suggest looking at different probiotics, like Solgar, they are good. Life Extension brands, good. There are others, but Flora....Hmmmm.

TG I dislike sugar anyways - am lucky that way. Wish you the best - go well -

I am finding amazing success with keeping certain fruits (sugars) in my diet! I hit a wall a little while back, where I was afraid I might have to give up fruit. I did 3 things which changed my life:

1. I went on a 14 day fruit/veggie juice fast. This was the most amazing thing I have ever done for myself. Weeks later, I am still reaping the benefits. I eliminated all the inflammation in my body with this fast, and am now much less sensitive to foods & even starchy foods like certain nuts, fruits & spices..

2. I read up on food combining. The first rule of food combining is EAT Fruit with ONLY Fruit, (and leafy greens) and wait a few hours before consuming fats or proteins. Never eat fruits with anything but fruits (or leafy greens) while trying to heal your gut and beat candida. Seriously, this works. This is because fruit digests so easily & quickly on it's own, but proteins and fats take much longer to digest and a different balance of stomach acids, so when they are eaten all together, the fruit gets caught up with the proteins & fats and starts to ferment in the gut. I used to look 10 months pregnant each evening from being so damn bloated, and I blame it on incorrect food combining techniques.

3. Replace all concentrated sugars like honey, agave (this stuff is really bad for those with AS as it feeds klebsilla like wildfire), sugar, maple syrup, etc. and use DATES instead! Medjool dates are like a food from the heavens.

Dates do wonders to sweeten up raw cacao hazelnut or almond milkshakes. (this sorta breaks a food combing rule, but no one is perfect and since it's only the milk made from the nuts, well I think its much easier to digest)

Dates and mango smoothies give me amazing pleasure. I feel amazing when drinking them.

After following 1, 2,& 3 I no longer have ANY bloating or signs of candida. And I did test positive for yeast/candida last year, and its been a nasty little frenemy in my body for a while, but I no longer worry about it or think of it! I also feel as though my AS in in remission. My skin is glowing, I am standing up straigher, and I have so much more energy!!


For the first half of the day I usually drink fresh squeezed fruit & green juices and/or fruit/spinach smoothies. I have a salad with nuts for lunch. And dinner is usually fish & veggies OR a fruit smoothie. I am finding that for my body the more plant based my diet is, the better I feel. I seem to have a harder time digesting very much meat, so I limit my meat to just seafood right now, and only a couple times a week. I also use lots of RAW food recipes, where you soak and sprout the nuts and seeds before eating them, making them much easier to digest.

Best of luck & health!!
Andrea

'Frenemy'... that made me laugh

Interesting post, thanks for sharing Andrea.

I am so thankful that I decided to stop by this forum tonight. I haven't visited in months, but this was exactly the post I needed to read. My 10 year old was diagnosed with glucoamylase deficiency which basically means she lacks the enzymes to digest starches. I think she inherited it from me because 10 years of chronic pain disappeared when we did a radical elimination diet a year ago.

While much improved we are both still having issues, mostly IBS related, minor pain and as much as I hate to admit it, sugars seem to be the cause. I have been considering a green juice fast but as much as I love my green juice, have been overwhelmed at the thought of the labor involved in juicing on top of the labor involved in feeding a starch free family of five!

Reading about your results Andrea, might just be the kick in the pants that I needed! And the encouragement for going sugar free I needed as well. I may have mutiny on my hands, but I have been laying the groundwork for a sugar free trial for a while. Not sure how well I will do with a 7, 10 and 12 year old, but at the moment they all seem willing.

One thing I wanted to mention is that I have noticed we have a terrible time finding a probiotic that works. Every time I have attempted one in the past 4 months, my gut turns into a concrete factory. In reading up on probiotics, I have determined that I need to avoid anything with FOS or Bifidum. I just bought a brand new bottle of the Ultimate Flora 50 billion and the results were next to disastrous. Good Bellies seemed to work wonders a year ago when we first went gluten free, but it is full of sugar.

i love "uncured applewood bacon" but it has sugar in it (~1 gram per 2 strips)
balsamic vinegar has quite a bit of sugar in it (3 grams per tablespoon)
coconut naturally has some sugar in it (even the unsweetened kind)

yeh, sugar is everywhere! but not necessarily in everything, so don't give up hope, just read the labels.

i'm super aware of how much sugar is in everything because of the insulin resistance that gets just a little bit worse each year.

if you stick with proteins and fats and veggies, you can steer clear of sugar. maybe you can expand the veggies you eat for a little more variety, but ask those on the NSD for advice for the safe ones.

Hey there Samsplace15,

Yes, I think it's great advice to avoid synthetic/added FOS, fructooligosaccharides, in probiotics, everything I have read states that FOS will feed klebsiella like gasoline on fire, I learned this the hard way, as I started using agave a while back, which is loaded with FOS. It is included in lots of store bought probiotics as it feeds the good bacteria, but it also feeds bad bacteria like klebsiella!

I want to suggest 2 sources of probiotics I truly believe in:

1. Homemade water kefir. I started making this and it's SO easy. It is the only thing in my house that we use traditional sugar in. You basically buy the grains online ($15) and plop them into a giant jar of water with 1/2 cup sugar, or you can even use ALL canned or fresh coconut water, wait a few days, and you have a probiotic drink full of wonderful bacteria. And you can reuse the grains forever... http://waterkefirgrains.com/

2. Kombucha - I haven't started making this YET, but I do buy it in the bottle at our local health food store. I love this stuff, it's very similar to the water kefir.


I also take Dr. Ohhira's Fermented Probiotics, as far as I understand (but I don't know for sure), they don't add synthetic FOS to these, but there is some natural accuring FOS, in the fermented foods they use: http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Formulas...3234&sr=8-2

Also, there are so many ways you can use the left over pulp from juicing to incorporate it into starch free meals for your family - if you have a dehydrator. I have been making all sorts of raw carrot crakers mixed with flax seeds & sesame seeds. And I just started making these amazing cinnamon rolls: a couple cups apple pulp (left over from juicing - or you can just puree a few green apples), 1 cup ground flaxseed, 3/4 cup dates, 1 cup raisins, 1-2 cups dried coconut, sea salt, and cinnamon (which is not starch free - but I bet vanilla would work just as well) and add water as needed to form a dough I mix all that together, form rolls, dehydrate overnight, then I top with a mixture of coconut oil, coconut butter, dates & lemon juice for an icing. (this recipe doesn't really comply with the full food combining rules, but it feels wonderful in my body - other than this recipe, I really do strive not to combine fruits with anything but fruits or leafy greens. here is a photo of my new cinnamon roll recipe: http://media-cache.pinterest.com/upload/249809110550865147_NkojRIBg.jpg

I also mix lots of the left over pulp from juicing into my dogs' food, as I started making them all homemade dog food too Figure they might as well feel awesome too.

-Andrea