After suffering from symptoms my whole life (38 years), I was finally diagnosed with MC last week. 9 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease, so I am familiar with the idea of having to make dramatic changes to your diet and lifestyle. That being said, this is so overwhelming. I wish I had a crystal ball to see what I will be able to eat in the future. This forum has been so helpful. I am on an elimination diet now, so this question is really something I want to know for later (maybe because I need to see the light at the end of the tunnel). The big question: Are some folks able to tolerate regular sodas?
Juli
Soda
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Juli
welcome to our group - apologies you had to find us, then again after having symptoms all your life, there is an element of relief to know 'why'
when inflammed i dont tolerate carbonated drinks very well so have tended to avoid them for the past 7 years or so.
I would be cautious of diet soda - as the chemical sugars are known irritants to MC.
too much sugar is also not ideal for gut health...
good luck with elimination diet and figuring out your safe foods.... it can be overwhelming at first but I can assure you is worth every ounce of effort!!
hang in there....
welcome to our group - apologies you had to find us, then again after having symptoms all your life, there is an element of relief to know 'why'
when inflammed i dont tolerate carbonated drinks very well so have tended to avoid them for the past 7 years or so.
I would be cautious of diet soda - as the chemical sugars are known irritants to MC.
too much sugar is also not ideal for gut health...
good luck with elimination diet and figuring out your safe foods.... it can be overwhelming at first but I can assure you is worth every ounce of effort!!
hang in there....
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Hi Juli,
Welcome to our Internet family. It sounds as though you're a self-starter and you're well on your way toward finding your personal path to recovery. Good for you.
As Gabes mentioned, most of us react to most artificial sweeteners. I had to avoid all mainstream soft drinks when I was recovering because I couldn't tolerate corn (corn was no longer a problem after my gut healed for a year and a half). However, I could tolerate Virgil's Root Beer just fine, because it does not contain any of the common allergens.
But it seems that in general (as Gabes pointed out) we have to minimize sugars during recovery, because our compromised digestive system is unable to completely digest substantial quantities of most sugars until the inflammation is resolved, and the gut has had enough time to do some healing. And fructose (the sugar found in fruits and most soft drinks) seems to be the worst offender in the sugar category, so avoiding the more substantial sources of fructose is usually beneficial for most of us during recovery, even if we aren't sensitive to corn (the source of the high-fructose corn syrup used in most non-diet soft drinks).
FWIW, I did my part to keep the Coca-Cola company production lines busy for most of my life, so giving it up during recovery was tough. But I avoided it for several years altogether, and guess what? After my gut had healed for a couple of years I decided to try them again, to see if I could tolerate them. I didn't have any problem tolerating them, but I found that their taste no longer appealed to me.
After minimizing sugar in my diet for a couple of years, they tasted way too sweet for me (because of the HFCS and the way that it exaggerates sweetness). The old original Dublin, TX formulation of Dr. Pepper however, tasted great (because it still used cane sugar). 
So yes, you should be able to drink soft drinks after your gut recovers, but as a reformed Coke drinker, I can tell you that the caffeine in coffee works just as well as the caffeine in soft drinks, and coffee has numerous proven health benefits. I'm not aware of any health benefits for soft drinks, but maybe that's just because no research team has ever bothered to check out the health benefits of soft drinks.
Too many people (especially physicians) assume that just because no published research data are available for a given concept, that means that the concept has no merit. That's nonsense — the lack of published data simply proves that no one has ever bothered to research the topic. A lot of researchers have researched negative attributes of soft drinks, but have any investigated any possible positive attributes of soft drinks? Not that I'm aware of.
Sorry about the sidetrack — I just like to keep an open mind, because sometimes the greatest discoveries in science can be found in the least likely places. Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
Welcome to our Internet family. It sounds as though you're a self-starter and you're well on your way toward finding your personal path to recovery. Good for you.
As Gabes mentioned, most of us react to most artificial sweeteners. I had to avoid all mainstream soft drinks when I was recovering because I couldn't tolerate corn (corn was no longer a problem after my gut healed for a year and a half). However, I could tolerate Virgil's Root Beer just fine, because it does not contain any of the common allergens.
But it seems that in general (as Gabes pointed out) we have to minimize sugars during recovery, because our compromised digestive system is unable to completely digest substantial quantities of most sugars until the inflammation is resolved, and the gut has had enough time to do some healing. And fructose (the sugar found in fruits and most soft drinks) seems to be the worst offender in the sugar category, so avoiding the more substantial sources of fructose is usually beneficial for most of us during recovery, even if we aren't sensitive to corn (the source of the high-fructose corn syrup used in most non-diet soft drinks).
FWIW, I did my part to keep the Coca-Cola company production lines busy for most of my life, so giving it up during recovery was tough. But I avoided it for several years altogether, and guess what? After my gut had healed for a couple of years I decided to try them again, to see if I could tolerate them. I didn't have any problem tolerating them, but I found that their taste no longer appealed to me.
After minimizing sugar in my diet for a couple of years, they tasted way too sweet for me (because of the HFCS and the way that it exaggerates sweetness). The old original Dublin, TX formulation of Dr. Pepper however, tasted great (because it still used cane sugar). So yes, you should be able to drink soft drinks after your gut recovers, but as a reformed Coke drinker, I can tell you that the caffeine in coffee works just as well as the caffeine in soft drinks, and coffee has numerous proven health benefits. I'm not aware of any health benefits for soft drinks, but maybe that's just because no research team has ever bothered to check out the health benefits of soft drinks.
Too many people (especially physicians) assume that just because no published research data are available for a given concept, that means that the concept has no merit. That's nonsense — the lack of published data simply proves that no one has ever bothered to research the topic. A lot of researchers have researched negative attributes of soft drinks, but have any investigated any possible positive attributes of soft drinks? Not that I'm aware of. Sorry about the sidetrack — I just like to keep an open mind, because sometimes the greatest discoveries in science can be found in the least likely places. Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Vanessa,
FYI, the original Dublin products are now expensive collector items. It became so popular, that the Dublin plant began distributing their product outside their allowed production area, which of course upset the other bottlers. Some of the other Dr. Pepper bottlers began using cane sugar again after it became popular because so many consumers began to distrust HFCS. In the dispute that followed, Dr. Pepper eventually bought out the Doublin plant's bottling rights, and the plant was closed. Here's a link to a follow-up article:
Dublin Dr Pepper’s Last Obit
If you're interested in all the gory details, links to other Texas Monthly articles are also on that page. But you should be able to find some of the "fake" Dublin Dr. Pepper online. I believe that it's only available locally in Texas, but for all I know you might be able to find some elsewhere. The cans display the text "Made with Imperial Cane Sugar" on the design. Look for 12 oz cans, and avoid the small glass bottles, because even though they have better (close to the original) flavor, they are way too expensive. Mexican Coca-Cola was also made with cane sugar, and for a while, in some places in Texas, Mexican Coca-Cola was available (under the counter, because importation was illegal), but alas, that has recently fallen by the wayside also.
It's available on Amazon at a price approximately 50 % above the local grocery store prices (plus an outrageous fee for shipping, of course).
Here's what the cans look like:
Dr Pepper Made with Pure Cane Sugar (Not Dublin Dr Pepper), 12 Fl Oz., (Pack of 24)
Tex
FYI, the original Dublin products are now expensive collector items. It became so popular, that the Dublin plant began distributing their product outside their allowed production area, which of course upset the other bottlers. Some of the other Dr. Pepper bottlers began using cane sugar again after it became popular because so many consumers began to distrust HFCS. In the dispute that followed, Dr. Pepper eventually bought out the Doublin plant's bottling rights, and the plant was closed. Here's a link to a follow-up article:
Dublin Dr Pepper’s Last Obit
If you're interested in all the gory details, links to other Texas Monthly articles are also on that page. But you should be able to find some of the "fake" Dublin Dr. Pepper online. I believe that it's only available locally in Texas, but for all I know you might be able to find some elsewhere. The cans display the text "Made with Imperial Cane Sugar" on the design. Look for 12 oz cans, and avoid the small glass bottles, because even though they have better (close to the original) flavor, they are way too expensive. Mexican Coca-Cola was also made with cane sugar, and for a while, in some places in Texas, Mexican Coca-Cola was available (under the counter, because importation was illegal), but alas, that has recently fallen by the wayside also.
It's available on Amazon at a price approximately 50 % above the local grocery store prices (plus an outrageous fee for shipping, of course).
Here's what the cans look like:
Dr Pepper Made with Pure Cane Sugar (Not Dublin Dr Pepper), 12 Fl Oz., (Pack of 24)
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Speaking of Kosher, Whole Foods is planning to expand their Kosher selections of GF and DF foods for Passover:
Whole Foods Market Expands Kosher For Passover 2015
Tex
Whole Foods Market Expands Kosher For Passover 2015
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.