Good Dookie, Step 6: Avoid sugar

Step 6 of 12 Steps to Good Dookie

Next to a low-fiber diet, sugar is Enemy Number One of the daily bowel movement.

In an article by Frances Sheridan Goulart called Are You Sugar Smart?,  one researcher explains,

"As sugar and sugar-sweetened products make their way through our ascending, transverse and descending colons, the bulk that our gut is superbly adapted to process isn't there. The results of a sugar-filled intestinal tract are disastrous to say the least...the food mass doesn't move as fast as it would if it were bulky, so more sugar is absorbed into our bodies..."

"Since the bowel has less to work with, more pressure is placed on the muscles of the gut wall itself, and food bacteria living in the colon are denied pectins and food roughage. As a result, they take what they can get, which is the mucous lining of the gut itself, which can lead to ulcers, colitis and other common gastrointestinal disorders."

My best advice is to replace sugar with natural sweeteners and use sparingly. To find out what my favorite natural sweeteners are, visit this next post.