Processed white sugar in ESRF – ok or not?

[kristina]

Does anyone know if processed white sugar has any additives?

Is it harmful or beneficial to include processed white sugar

in the ESRF-diet, e.g. in tea, coffee, etc.?

Thanks, Kristina.

[jbeany]

As far as I know, unless you are diabetic, the renal diet doesn't tell you to avoid it.  Personally, I think you are better off with real sugar than artificial sweetners - at least it's a natural item.  It's still sugar though, and large amounts are bad for anyone's health, ESRD or not.

[kristina]

Thanks for replying, jbeany,
I am grateful you took the trouble,
because my question may not appear
at first important, but I feel my body
does not anymore feel right taking white sugar.
Why this might be I have yet to figure out.
(I am still pre-dialysis hanging on to what little kidney function I have left).
I just put the question to see whether anyone else
had similar experiences.
Thanks, Kristina.

[jbeany]

Just before I started dialysis, I noticed a change in what things tasted like.  After I'd been on D for a while and got the toxins cleared out, most of it went back to normal.  If you aren't getting adequate D, or are at that stage right before you start, it's common to get a nasty metallic taste in your mouth.  I always thought it tasted like chewing on pennies.

[Hanify]

Listen to your body Kristina - avoid it if you feel like you should.

[kristina]

Thanks for your kind replies, jbeany and Hanify.

I don't have a metallic taste at all (I am 10% GFR and I am aware that metallic tastes do
manifest when the GFR gets dangerously low),
I just have the sense that sugar has become too syrupy for me,
which is a new experience
as I have taken sugar all my life and there doesn't seem to be
any logical explanation why I suddenly cannot tolerate it any longer.

I go with Hanify and I have cut out sugar altogether, just in case
it is in any way detrimental to me.

Thanks again from Kristina.

[RightSide]

One problem with sweets, especially pure sugar, is that they are pro-inflammatory:  They increase chronic inflammation, which combined with hemodialysis and chronic malnutrition is known to be a lethal marker--significantly shortened life expectancy.  To compensate, it's worth consuming some anti-inflammatory foods (like oily fish); or fish oil supplements, which are highly anti-inflammatory.

[kristina]

Sorry Rightside for answering only now. 
I have not been here for a little while and did not see your answer.
Thanks for the information.
I have stopped taking sugar last December.
Having thought that sugar may not be as good for me as I thought
and it seems to be included in almost everything, 
I now have cut it out of my diet altogether. 
Thanks again, your thinking of letting me know is very much appreciated.
Kind regards from Kristina.

[Jean]

Kristina, I think you are a woman made of steel. The way you cut out things that are not good for you just amazes me. I wish I had that kind of will power.

[Sunny]

I would have a hard time cutting all sugar. I have cut back quite a bit though. I always make sure I use pure cane sugar when I indulge.

[kristina]

I also have a hard time cutting out the sugar as I have had a hard time cutting out many other foods and liquids.
I don’t think I have any special inner strengths, I think the reasoning comes from my experience of recovering when my kidneys first failed in 1971.
Now, I hope the same will happen again second time around.
Therefore, I just try very hard to give my kidneys the best possible chance.
I think the recovery, albeit partial of my first kidney failure does have an effect because I have already been there and done it.
Maybe my kidneys recovered for reasons which are beyond my understanding,
but that experience, I think, gives me a determination to see whether it can happen again.