The sweet blends, and why sugar works against you

These exist because stewed apple and porridge want cinnamon, not celery seed. But there's a real tension in them, and it would be dishonest to put them on the page without saying so.

Robin Tasker · lived experience

Read this before you make one

Concentrated sugar is osmotically active — it pulls water intothe bowel rather than letting it be absorbed. That's exactly why ileostomy guidance says to go easy on high-sugar food when output is running high, and why rehydration solutions are deliberately low in sugar.

So a sweet psyllium sprinkle is a compromise, not a win. The psyllium is thickening; the sugar carrying it is thinning.

Our own scoring says the same thing. A teaspoon of the sweet blends comes out about 2.2× the score of a teaspoon of the savoury ones — still gentle in absolute terms, because it's only two grams, but the direction is real and it's driven by the sugar.

Keeping them sane

Keep sugar as a flavour, not a bulk carrier — these all stay majority psyllium.
Use them on puddings you were going to eat anyway, so the sugar is a rounding error rather than an addition.
If output is already high today, skip these and use a savoury blend at dinner instead.

The three

Cinnamon Coconut Sugar

For stewed fruit and porridge.

1.4g

psyllium per level teaspoon

1.0

GASP score for that teaspoon

Likely gentler

Makes a 50 g batch

70% psyllium. A level teaspoon is about 2 g of blend.

Good on: Stewed apple, yoghurt, porridge, ice cream, banana, custard, French toast.

Coconut sugar tastes nicer but carries fructans and holds moisture badly. If fructans are one of your triggers, or your blend keeps clumping, swap it for plain caster sugar — less character, more predictable.

Mixed Spice & Ginger

Puddings and baked fruit.

1.4g

psyllium per level teaspoon

1.1

GASP score for that teaspoon

Likely gentler

Makes a 50 g batch

70% psyllium. A level teaspoon is about 2 g of blend.

Good on: Stewed fruit, rice pudding, pancakes, baked apple, vanilla ice cream.

Cocoa Dust

Cocoa is bitter and thirsty, so this one needs the sugar to work.

1.3g

psyllium per level teaspoon

0.7

GASP score for that teaspoon

Likely gentler

Makes a 50 g batch

65% psyllium. A level teaspoon is about 2 g of blend.

Good on: Ice cream, yoghurt, banana, hot milk, custard.

Sift it — cocoa clumps.

One more swap

Coconut sugar has the nicer flavour, but it carries fructans and holds moisture badly. It's the roughest-scoring ingredient in any of these blends. If fructans are one of your triggers — or your blend keeps clumping — swap it for plain caster or icing sugar. Less character, more predictable.

The six savoury blends →

Written and checked from lived experience with a J-pouch. Last updated August 2026. The GASP Score is a modelled estimate, not medical advice — always work alongside your own clinical team.