Ulcerative Colitis (UC) dietary options -any suggestions?

SamandaIndia

Folks, anyone here followed a specific carbohydrate reduction diet or any diet that has really helped them with UC? I am ideally looking for a magic fairy wand to tap on an ever shrinking friend that will make her healthier again. One thing to want to loose weight, scarier when your body refuses to take in nutrients and looses to underweight levels without you wanting it to.

Dragonwolf

Bare minimum, cut out grains. They're one of the big culprits in most of the autoimmune diseases. Paleo is a great template for dealing with eliminating grains, as is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The Autoimmune Protocol also takes Paleo a step further if standard Paleo doesn't completely work.

http://paleozonenutrition.com/2013/07/26/nz-nutritionist-jess-shares-the-diet-that-put-her-ulcerative-colitis-into-remission/
http://robbwolf.com/2009/02/03/ulcerative-colitis/
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2013/03/ulcerative-colitis-tamed/
http://aiplifestyle.com/what-is-autoimmune-protocol-diet/
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

The types of foods, themselves seems to be the big key. I'm finding less information about LCHF/keto for UC, and I suspect that most of the benefits will come from cutting out grains. That said, here are a couple of related resources on that topic that might prove useful.

https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/29demp/crohns_disease_experimenting/ (this one is interesting, too, because it talks about fiber and how reducing it helped some people with GI issues)
http://www.scdiet.org/7archives/lutz/lutz7.html (lengthy academic paper, but talks in depth on the role of diet in healing UC)

SamandaIndia

@Dragonwolf thank you for this rich set of resources. Sincerely appreciated.

ShootingStar72

I have a cookbook by Danielle Walker, who has UC and wrote it for others with the same condition. It is called Against all Grain. Gluten, grain and dairy free recipes. I have tried many of her recipes and they are very good! I think she has a website too...

DittoDan

This is a gut flora digestive issue. That's what I've been studying for the last 3 months. YouTube/google any of these three diets (they are titles of books):

GAPS diet < highest recommedation
Microbiome Diet
The Happy Gut

The Gaps diet is closest to low carb (I am not saying it is a low carb diet).

The above diets are for these digestive conditions:

constipation,
diarrhea,
I.B.S.,
I.B.D.,
UC,
C'Dif,
Crohns,
Colic (babies),
Bloating,
Gas,
And many other problems....

Although the "GAPS" diet is known for healing Autism in young children, it also corrects the above digestive problems. If you've ever heard that a Ketogenic diet cure epilepsy in children... but the Ketogenic diet is good for health in general and for weight loss. The same theory goes for the Gaps diet. The author of the GAPS diet has another book that dispels the myth that saturated fat is bad for you.

The diets all start by eliminating certain foods (similar to Keto/lo carb), less processed foods/more organic, then transitioning to probiotics and fermented foods.

I hope this helps,

Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / The Recipe Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program

SamandaIndia

Thanks @DittoDan always interesting and informative. Helps!

mandycat223

Ditto on ditching grains. I went low carb to get both my weight and my blood pressure under control. I was about six weeks into the plan when I realized my Crohns symptoms were very much improved.

Which reminds me to reiterate: Most doctors are nutritional illiterates. I had an appointment with my gastroenterologist last month for a regular checkup. When I told him about my exciting success, he reacted pretty much the way you would expect if I had recounted my experiments with a magic wand and pixie dust. "Well, if it makes you feel better, but ....." For Pete's sake, why would the stuff we put in our digestive track three+ times a day not matter? Apparently, if it doesn't entail a prescription pad or a scalpel, it doesn't count.

SamandaIndia

@mandycat223 thanks. Happy taking the pixie dust here. Sounds like you are benefitting from yours

Dragonwolf

ShootingStar72 wrote: »

I have a cookbook by Danielle Walker, who has UC and wrote it for others with the same condition. It is called Against all Grain. Gluten, grain and dairy free recipes. I have tried many of her recipes and they are very good! I think she has a website too...

Oh yeah! I can't believe I forgot about her! Here's her website -- http://againstallgrain.com/

SamandaIndia

Thanks @ShootingStar72 and @Dragonwolf I suspect my friend and others here will have a lot of reading lined up for this weekend. Love informed choices. Thxs everyone for helping.

readyornot1234

Lots of good information here. Thank you all.