Good question.  I generally eat healthy but enjoy my share of sugar sweets, but making an effort to cut down.  

I have been wondering about this myself.  

I am wondering this too. I don't eat a lot of sugar and gluten but last night I had gluten, sugar filled cookie. Unlike my UC days, my body didn't seem to make much of a difference (and this has been the case in the past) maybe I was a little bloated. I could have imagined that since sometimes I feel  bloated when I don't eat junk food. But long term does it make a difference to eat junk? Some people say it does, other don't. I am new to my jpouch and want to help my jpouch last, but is there truly anything that I can do?

Its a great question..But one, that in my opinion, is very individual.

If you had UC,  IBD, IBS of Crohns you guts may be more sensitive to things like glutens, lactose or sugars...then again maybe not.

I have a 37yr old pouch. The first few years I ate very little other than animal proteins, some easily digestible fruits and veggies and almost no sugars or fats.

I juiced a lot, exercised regularly and tried to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle...Then life interrupted my plans.

I moved to Europe, discovered French bread, cheese & pastries and became poor all in the same day...and lived off of carbs and milk products  for the next 10 years.

My pouch didn't hate me, it adjusted.  It wasn't optimum but I survived.  Now I eat better but still indulge daily in sugars (I am hooked). eat breads but only whole grains, avoid whites most days (white flour, sugar, fats & pasteurized milk products) and do my best to keep some sort of balance.

Weight is my pouch's enemy...So is lack of exercise and flabby muscles. Ditto for too much sugar or fat (diabetes and liver disease are no fun)...so balance is my friend...I am not the type of person who has clad iron willpower so I do everything in moderation...eat a little fat one day, sugar the next but not both the same day...fried foods and burnt oils are mostly out...they are bad for anyone but maybe a bit more so for people without colons and sensitive systems.

I lived long enough in fear of food. I couldn't eat, digest or leave my house. Now I live and try not to allow my pouch to run my life.  I am more careful than most people but less than I used to be...When I travel I take extra care because I cannot count on finding help if I need it...(I tend to get occlusions so I eat nothing that could block me up while away)...I stick to proteins and liquids.

Our pouches are not synthetic, they are made out of us...our guts. They should last a lifetime, in as much as our guts are meant to last us...but I wouldn't go haywire forever, that is just good sense...but do not put on a straitjacket food-wise...you survived a disease and major amputation and surgery...do not live the rest of your life like you are in gastronomic prison.

Sharon

Following. 

Thank you Sharon. I have read so many things but what you said was very encouraging. I am hoping to find a path where I can relax about food, still eat healthy when I'm at home and in general but not freak out to just eat sometimes.

My opinion (take with a grain of salt):

Strictly speaking, junk food is no more harmful to your pouch than the rest of your gut. 

There is no one-size-fits-all in regard to diet. In regard to your gut, it is about tolerance and function. We do not need to treat the pouch like a baby needing coddling. Certainly, allergies, intolerances, etc., need to be heeded. But that is all.

For overall health, limiting junk is necessary. But to say never eat this or always eat that just leads to cravings and will make you crazy. Still, if you want to go the FODMAP or paleo route, all junk is out. But, it is about function rather than harming your pouch.

We are only on Earth once (in this form if you believe in reincarnation). I choose to enjoy my time on it (within reason).

Jan

Jan Dollar posted:

My opinion (take with a grain of salt):

Strictly speaking, junk food is no more harmful to your pouch than the rest of your gut. 

There is no one-size-fits-all in regard to diet. In regard to your gut, it is about tolerance and function. We to not need to treat the pouch like a baby needing coddling. Certainly, allergies, intolerances, etc., need to be heeded. But that is all.

For overall health, limiting junk is necessary. But to say never eat this or always eat that just leads to cravings and will make you crazy. Still, if you want to go the FODMAP or paleo route, all junk is out. But, it is about function rather than harming your pouch.

We are only on Earth once (in this form if you believe in reincarnation). I choose to enjoy my time on it (within reason).

Jan

You have made me smile Jan God bless you  

Yeah, I eat absolutely anything and everything, pizza, hotdogs, lamb kebabs, cheese burgers, BBQ chicken, pasta, bacon, eggs, chips (French fries); I also drink lots of full cream milk, which I also add to my Cornflakes.

I also eat pankcakes with blueberries or black cherries,  ice cream and maple syrup or any other kind of syrup; in fact, I eat ice cream and cream cakes often, sometimes together.

However, although regarded as junk food, if ate within moderation, it hasnt done myself any harm; I've certainly not piled on the pounds, I'm not overweight.

Since my initial diagnosis of UC during 1993, I've never discovered a food that caused a flare up and I've never been told not to eat specific foods or drinks.

When I had my colon removed after a flare up during 2005, my Stoma Nurse did provide a long list of all the foodss to avoid, a list which contained nearly every food I was eating daily. 

The " avoid" list was more a list of foods to prevent blockage, rather than foods to avoid that woukd aggravate my condition.

Since my takedown surgery during 2015, the only food I've been told to avoid are mushrooms, although as long as chopped up and chewed thoroughly, they haven't caused any issues either; I currently eat now all that I did prior to my initial diagnosis and what I did for roughly 9 years with a Stoma.

Only issue I've ever experienced was when I ate a large whole bag of dry roasted peanuts whilst I still had the Stoma; my output was the consistency of thick peanut butter, lasted a couple of days, no pain but caused discomfort.

I've ate dry roasted peanuts since and since takedown without issues, although never a full bag in one go, especially a large bag.

I eat a lot of junk food on occasion, but I love my carbs..lol. I cant put on weight at all, which sucks. I still have issues with dairy though. It makes me very gassy and many bathroom trips. I have tried the lactose free milk, and it is a lot better but still causing some issues. I have since tried Almond milk, works even better for me but I just cant get used to the taste. I miss drinking whole Vitamin D milk..lol

@Former Member posted:

Yeah, I eat absolutely anything and everything, pizza, hotdogs, lamb kebabs, cheese burgers, BBQ chicken, pasta, bacon, eggs, chips (French fries); I also drink lots of full cream milk, which I also add to my Cornflakes.

I also eat pankcakes with blueberries or black cherries,  ice cream and maple syrup or any other kind of syrup; in fact, I eat ice cream and cream cakes often, sometimes together.

However, although regarded as junk food, if ate within moderation, it hasnt done myself any harm; I've certainly not piled on the pounds, I'm not overweight.

Since my initial diagnosis of UC during 1993, I've never discovered a food that caused a flare up and I've never been told not to eat specific foods or drinks.

When I had my colon removed after a flare up during 2005, my Stoma Nurse did provide a long list of all the foodss to avoid, a list which contained nearly every food I was eating daily.

The " avoid" list was more a list of foods to prevent blockage, rather than foods to avoid that woukd aggravate my condition.

Since my takedown surgery during 2015, the only food I've been told to avoid are mushrooms, although as long as chopped up and chewed thoroughly, they haven't caused any issues either; I currently eat now all that I did prior to my initial diagnosis and what I did for roughly 9 years with a Stoma.

Only issue I've ever experienced was when I ate a large whole bag of dry roasted peanuts whilst I still had the Stoma; my output was the consistency of thick peanut butter, lasted a couple of days, no pain but caused discomfort.

I've ate dry roasted peanuts since and since takedown without issues, although never a full bag in one go, especially a large bag.

The only things I can't eat are corn and peanuts. Corn causes stomach pains because it blocks me up and I find that peanuts make my butt itch really bad and hurt if I eat to many of them.

@Former Member posted:

I also eat pankcakes with blueberries or black cherries,  ice cream and maple syrup or any other kind of syrup; in fact, I eat ice cream and cream cakes often, sometimes together.

I never knew anyone in the UK ate pancakes.  Are they made with a buttermilk batter like the American version? I figured the typical English breakfast is English muffins, tea, blood pudding, and baked beans with a fried tomato.  I do not even see any blood pudding or tea in your diet - are you a culinary rebel? LOL.  When I went to the famous English pub Burgundy Lion in Montreal QC, they were serving a very, very thick slab English style bacon, not at all like American style bacon.  The English bacon seemed more fatty to me. I got the "Full English breakfast" which also had that bacon and blood pudding, and it was very very filling to say the very least:

https://www.burgundylion.com/en/breakfast

I will definitely say yes in the long run. Having cheat days will not hurt at all. The reason why eating crap can hurt the pouch in the long run is because we need great gut microbiome to keep our pouch healthy. Eating crap food all of the time with no nutrition will not keep up the gut microbiome, which will cause constipation, pouchitis, even ulcers, and deterioration among other things.

My diet is vegetarian, vegetarians naturally have probiotics and prebiotics in there so I am pretty much good. I love having cheat days lol like icecream, chips and pizza