Please help! Good/bad foods for UC flares

[djDebs]

Hi guys

I had been flare-free for a few years until late last year/early this year when I had bleeding and constant pain in my colon. I've been trialling different kinds of food, reading about what is good/bad for UC sufferers, listening to my body etc but still have trouble really knowing what works and what doesnt. For instance, I dont eat bread much at all so I tried some corn wafer cracker things but since eating them I can feel my colon throbbing very distinctly - obviously that was a bad choice. Can you share what works for you during a flare? I normally eat low carb, meat and vege dishes and lots of eggs, some nuts and seeds, no fruit, some alcohol now and again, brown rice or rice noodles if having carbs. I love spicy food particularly - do I have to give up the spice? I've read that raw vege is bad, cooked is better for passing through the gut; I've read all kinds of things and now feeling a bit confused - please, could you share your experiences??

Thank you
Debs

 

[FrancisK7]

If you're looking to remove any and all stress brought on by dietary habits, temporarily or not, you can avoid dairy, gluten and fibrous food. Cook all vegetables, avoid salad, wholegrain bread and pasta, etc.

 

[scottsma]

Avoid nuts and grains.Fibre too,especially fruit skins.Spice is a nono for most people too.While flaring,bland foods are usually best.Chicken,white rice etc,then when your symptoms have settled,re-introduce foods gradualy,and take note of the results.Everyones different,and what works for some doesn't work for all.

 

[2thFairy]

I lived on mac 'n cheese for months at a time.

 

[alex_chris]

In a flare situation, that's what I eat (examples):

Light porridge: Cook water, take oats (has to be full corn oats, not shredded) and put into water, cook for a few minutes, put aside, put some milk in it, let rest for another few minutes. Just a tad of sugar, so it tastes like something. You can eat a few slices of apple to it. Don't put too much oats in there, otherwise it is too thick, it should be slightly watery/milky. It tastes neutral and if eaten slowly calms your stomach and intestine.

Polenta: cook water, put polenta in, cook a few minutes, put aside, add a tad of butter, let rest. Don't put too much polenta in, should be a bit watery, not hard. Eat as is (maybe add a tad of salt, just for a bit of flavor). It tastes neutral too (be careful that the polenta is properly cooked before eating. Also works with chicken chunks cooked with just a bit of veggie oil in a pan.

Rice with chicken: Cut chicken breast in pieces, cook in pan with a bit of veggie oil, add some parsley for flavour, just a tad bit of salt, maybe a bit of lemon for flavor if you like. Cook rice separately, don't flavor rice. Eat rice with chicken. Potentially eat a cucumber salad (no dressing) with it or some green beans.

Bread with butter and honey: Dark bread preferred, preferred to be one day old (there are certain types of bread that work, some don't), but some butter on it (not that much) and some honey. Eat, drink some water to it. Potentially some very light flavored cooked ham (no fat attached).

Semolina porridge: similar to polenta and oats porridge. Cook water, but some semolina in there, cook, steer some milk in it, but aside and let rest. Unfortunately, depending on your area, good semolina might be hard to come by. Add some sugar (only a tiny bit) for flavor.

Packaged things: here in Europe we got neutral wavers that are actually used to back cookies with (those white, very thin wavers). They are just made of flour, nothing else (no salt or flavors added). They are great as a snack and help with calming the intestine.

Liquid supplemental (or whole diet replacable) nutrition: basically those bottles that people drink after surgery to gain weight again. The trick is to not take any of the flavored ones, here in Europe we got Nutricia Fortimel. The neutral version of it tastes a bit like vanilla, but it is neutral enough (not sweet) to not make any problems with an active Crohn.

Hope some of this helps.

P.S. generally bad food: everything too salty, too fatty, too oily, too spicy, too sweet, too sour, too cooked, fried etc. Onions don't work, Pizza doesn't, popcorn, fast food, most processed foods that you can buy, certain nuts, chocolate, hard liquor, coca cola, things like dried tomatoes, garlic flavored meat, steak, hard boiled eggs, very strongly flavored soup, etc.

 

[djDebs]

If you're looking to remove any and all stress brought on by dietary habits, temporarily or not, you can avoid dairy, gluten and fibrous food. Cook all vegetables, avoid salad, wholegrain bread and pasta, etc.

Hiya - thanks for the advice; I dont eat dairy and avoid most foods with grains of any kind, they seem to stress my gut more. I did wonder about raw food - damn there goes my faves!! Thanks for the info!

 

[djDebs]

I lived on mac 'n cheese for months at a time.

Oh man I would totally love that!! I dont eat pasta or dairy tho, sigh

 

[djDebs]

P.S. generally bad food: everything too salty, too fatty, too oily, too spicy, too sweet, too sour, too cooked, fried etc. Onions don't work, Pizza doesn't, popcorn, fast food, most processed foods that you can buy, certain nuts, chocolate, hard liquor, coca cola, things like dried tomatoes, garlic flavored meat, steak, hard boiled eggs, very strongly flavored soup, etc.

Hi and thanks so much for all your suggestions; I do have problems eating anything wheat based, Im not gluten intolerant but wheat gives me indigestion and also seems to bother my UC so I've cut it out plus I get low blood sugar attacks when I eat carbs so I've pretty much cut them out, except for some rice now and again. I dont eat much processed food at all, I prefer to make from scratch but we do eat quite plainly except, of course, for spicy food which I see is a no-no!! I found out the hard way about popcorn recently too! Oooh, that was horrible. Pizza, although I love to make it, involves cheese and wheat so I just dont even go there. I do eat a bit of red meat, maybe 5 times a week? That should change though as I will go through a blanding of my diet!

Thanks again for your info, its very interesting what works for some and not for others!! I'm going to try a few different things I expect.

Debs

 

[sickinlk]

hi debs are you on any meds at all or are you trying to stop the flare with diet alone.
I had trouble accepting eating the low residue diet when I was flaring because it goes against everything ive learnt about being healthy, but keeping your energy up and weight on during the flare is more important. Once the inflammation has gone and the bleeding has stopped you can eat all your favs again.
ju

 

[djDebs]

Hiya Ju
Im on Pentasa and Colifoam at the moment after unsuccessfully trying to use diet to heal my gut once I realised the UC was back but really I just had my head in the sand! I never have problems keeping weight on but energy levels are difficult at times. Really though in terms of what so many people on this forum are having to cope with I think Im getting off pretty lightly. I just dont want my problem to escalate!
Debs

 

[jwfoise]

Sorry djDebs, but particular foods aren't usually a cause for my flares. My big trigger is mental stress. I do find that a pro-biotic is a big help for me and I take one daily. When I'm having a flare I will often supplement that with yogurt which helps.

 

[sickinlk]

Hiya Ju
Im on Pentasa and Colifoam at the moment after unsuccessfully trying to use diet to heal my gut once I realised the UC was back but really I just had my head in the sand! I never have problems keeping weight on but energy levels are difficult at times. Really though in terms of what so many people on this forum are having to cope with I think Im getting off pretty lightly. I just dont want my problem to escalate!
Debs

hopefully a combination of both diet and meds will do the trick. try and up your calories with some carbs as your body needs extra energy to heal.
did you try juicing. it might be a way of getting vitamins into you without the fibre.
ju

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Another thing that I've found that bothers me is greasy foods. Any time we eat out at any of the fast food places I have a hard time finding things that don't mess with my stomach.

 

[ellie]

My diagnosis is Crohn's colitis, so similar presentation to UC.
Biggest culprit for me is raw veges (esp lettuce, or raw cabbage) and fibrous fruits or fruit skins. Also grilled/BBQ beef seems to stir things up
So I no longer order a Thai Beef salad
However, steamed veges are fine, and I'm ok with tomatoes and seedless cucumber, and I can make a pseudo salad by lightly steaming then chilling an assortment of vegetables(broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower,snow peas, carrots, etc) and add salad dressing.
Lots of chicken and fish - usually fairly low fat and simple, tho spices don't seem to give me too much trouble. A glass or 2 of wine doesn't seem to be a problem.
I avoid citrus fruit, tho the juice without pulp is ok. Peeled apples, nectarines, grapes, etc, in small amounts
Staple breakfast diet is a big smoothie - banana, strawberries, pear nectarine or mango, (peeled).. All into the blender with yogurt, honey, vanilla.. Yummy I also try to minimise carbs, in the interests of weight control, so just a small amount of white rice/pasta/potato.. I seem to need a bit each day. I try to avoid bread too, but crispbread (wheat/rye/combination) seems ok
Hope this is helpful - good luck with finding successful diet choices


HD

 

[Smallville]

As for me, I think there is a few products that really affect my colon. Actually, it's just alcohol and spicy food. As for the rest of the products, I react equally bad on "allowed" and "not allowed" ones. I think the fact that something goes into my bowels makes me feel bad. Even if I drink water.

 

[PDXDave]

Foods that irritate your colon more during a flare-up are unique to you.

By all means get other people's input, but don't assume that because dairy or wheat or anything else is bad for someone ELSE, that it will be bad for YOU. in doing so, you could deny yourself perfectly good food that you may otherwise enjoy, or is nutritious and causes you no extra irritation.

It's been said a thousand times, but I will say it again anyway: Current medical consensus is that food does not cause flare-ups, period. Not ever, and not for anyone. If you are sensitive to a food under normal conditions, it may add irritation ON TOP of your flare-up, but anyone who says "this food causes flare-ups" is giving out false information.

So, by all means TEST foods that others report give THEM problems, but don't jump to conclusions. That food may or may not be an issue for you.