Ulcerative Colitis Diet

Sometimes you may feel helpless when facing ulcerative colitis. But changes in your diet and lifestyle may help control your symptoms and lengthen the time between flare-ups.

Ulcerative Colitis Diet - Colitis Diet

There's no firm evidence that what you eat causes inflammatory bowel disease. But certain foods and beverages can aggravate your symptoms, especially during a flare-up in your condition. It's a good idea to try eliminating from your diet anything that seems to make your signs and symptoms worse. Here are some suggestions that may help:

• Limit dairy products
  Like many people with inflammatory bowel disease, you may find that problems, such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and gas, improve when you limit or eliminate dairy products. You may be lactose intolerant — that is, your body can't digest the milk sugar (lactose) in dairy foods. If so, try substituting yogurt or low-lactose cheeses, such as Swiss and cheddar, for milk. Or use an enzyme product, such as Lactaid, to help break down lactose. In some cases, you may need to eliminate dairy foods completely. If you need help, a registered dietitian can help you design a healthy diet that's low in lactose. Keep in mind that with limiting your dairy intake, you'll need to find other sources of calcium, such as supplements.

• Experiment with fiber
  For most people, high-fiber foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, are the foundation of a healthy diet. But if you have inflammatory bowel disease, fiber may make diarrhea, pain and gas worse. If raw fruits and vegetables bother you, try steaming, baking or stewing them.
  
  You may also find that you can tolerate some fruits and vegetables, but not others. In general, you may have more problems with foods in the cabbage family, such as broccoli and cauliflower, and with very crunchy foods such as raw apples and carrots.

• Avoid problem foods
  Eliminate any other foods that seem to make your symptoms worse. These may include "gassy" foods such as beans, cabbage and broccoli, raw fruit juices and fruits — especially citrus fruits — spicy food, popcorn, alcohol, caffeine, and foods and drinks that contain caffeine, such as chocolate and soda.

• Eat small meals
  You may find you feel better eating five or six small meals rather than two or three larger ones.

• Drink plenty of liquids
  Try to drink plenty of fluids daily. Water is best. Alcohol and beverages that contain caffeine stimulate your intestines and can make diarrhea worse, while carbonated drinks frequently produce gas.

• Ask about multivitamins
  Because ulcerative colitis can interfere with your ability to absorb nutrients and because your diet may be limited, vitamin and mineral supplements can play a key role in supplying missing nutrients. They don't provide essential protein and calories, however, and shouldn't be a substitute for meals.

Gut Bacteria and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Bacteria are present in the normal gut (intestines) and in large numbers the lower parts of the intestine. They achieve concentrations of several billion in the colon. These "normal' bacteria have important function in life:

• They protect against infection by "bad", or pathogenic, bacteria
• They help the immune system of the gut to develop
• They produce a variety of substances, including some essential vitamins, that have an important nutritional value

Together, the normal bacteria are often referred to as the gut flora. A variety of factors may disturb the mutually beneficial relationship between the flora and its host, and disease may result. For example, temporarily suppressing the normal flora in the colon can be a side effect experienced by a susceptible person after taking a course of antibiotics to treat an infection. This then provides the opportunity for bacteria that can cause disease to take hold.

Many consider a different disturbance in the interaction between the flora and the host to be the fundamental cause of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. In these instances, the type or quantity of bacteria in the gut may not be abnormal' Instead of peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence, the host responds to the normal bacteria as if they were disease causing. The result is intense inflammation.

Do Bacteria Play a Role in IBS?

The possibility that gut bacteria could have a role in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may surprise some; there is indeed, now quite substantial evidence to support the idea that disturbances in the bacteria that populate the intestine may have a role in at least some patients with IBS. What is this evidence? It can be summarized as follows:

1. Surveys which found that antibiotic use, well known to disturb the flora, may predispose individuals to IBS,
2. The observation that some individuals may develop IBS suddenly, and for the first time, following an episode of stomach or intestinal infection (gastroenteritis) caused by bacterial infection,
3. Recent evidence that a very low level of inflammation may be present in the bowel wall of some IBS patients, a degree of inflammation that could well have resulted from an abnormal interaction with bacteria in the gut,
4. The suggestion that at IBS may be associated with the abnormal presence, in the small intestine, of types and numbers of bacteria that are normally found only in the large intestine: a condition termed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO),
5. Accumulating evidence to indicate that altering the bacteria in the gut, by antibiotics or probiotics, may improve symptoms in IBS'

Stress & Ulcerative Colitis

Stress reduction

Stress can worsen symptoms of ulcerative colitis. When a person experiences stress, the stomach empties more slowly and secretes more acids. Regular exercise, yoga, massage and meditation are just a few ways to reduce stress.

Deep breathing technique promotes stress reduction, reduces inflammation, eliminates tension throughout the body, and gives you a peaceful state of mind.

How do I start?

• Lie down and get comfortable. While learning the technique, it may help to keep your eyes closed to help concentrate on your breathing.
• For now, place your hands on your belly. This helps you feel your belly rise and fall. Once you learn how to deep breathe you can then position your hands where most comfortable.
• Take in a deep breath to the count of four either through your nose or mouth and feel your belly rise.
• Pause for a moment at the peak of your breath and then exhale through your relaxed mouth counting to four again. Be aware of your tummy falling.
• Pause again before taking the next breath.
• Continue doing this for ten minutes.

Points to remember:

• Do not try to hurry or breathe fast.
• Focus on the air you are taking in and how it is cleansing and refreshing your body. When exhaling, release out any tension, anger, or stress you are feeling.
• Once you are comfortable with the technique of using your belly to deep breathe, try other comfortable positions such as sitting or even standing.
• Start using deep breathing anytime during the day you are starting to feel stressed. Use it at work when the computer breaks down, at the store while waiting in a long line, or when running late for an appointment and the phone rings! Just get in the habit of using it!
• You can do deep breathing exercises for longer periods. You can also do just ten deep breaths anytime you need to regain a sense of calm.
• Belly breathing is so easy to do that once mastered you might also try adding meditation, praying, mental imagery or progressive muscle relaxation during the exercise.

Join the Walk to Cure Crohn’s and Colitis

At walk sites across the country, thousands of people will gather to join the fight against digestive diseases. Together they'll raise money for important research and raise awareness of two painful and unpredictable diseases that afflict millions of people.

Help raise funds for important research and help raise awareness of Crohn’s and colitis—register now for the Walk with your local chapter and join in a nation-wide effort to Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis. On walk night, you’ll gather with other walkers and help to be heard in your community and across the nation.

Find Local Florida Chapters

Becoming a BRAT

A Strategy for Managing Diarrhea

If you suffer from chronic diarrhea, you may or may not have been advised to try the BRAT diet. This stand for:

Banana, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast.

These food choices may help to prevent over-stimulation of the bowel, and slow down the frequency of bowel movements.

BRAT diet recommendations are boring, and hardly nutritionally adequate. So as a starting point, here are some extreme nutritional strategies that are not recommended:

• Do not eliminate all fiber
• Do not limit your diet to only liquid
• Do not cut all liquids ( you can become dehydrated)
• Do not exclude foods with sodium and potassium. These are electrolytes, which become depleted if you have diarrhea.

If you are trying to control the frequency of the bowel movements, there are certain foods you may need to be cautious with. Sometimes it is the temperature of food, or portion eaten, that may increase the frequency of the bowel movements. If you have chronic diarrhea, it is a good idea to keep a food diary so that you can identify problem foods, difficult times of the day, and symptoms.

Supplements that may help (follow the links for target specific information)

• Psyllium
  
• Blackberry root bark (used as a tea)
• Probiotics
• Pectin

Probiotics may help prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. They are mostly readily found in yogurt that contains Live Active Cultures. If you are on antibiotics, you need to consume dairy products 2 to 3 hours apart from your medications.

SEROVERA® has been used with great success by individuals with chronic diarrhea. SEROVERA® contains Aloe Mucilaginous Polysaccharides - healing molecules - which create a better GI environment over time. SEROVERA® is 100% organic, which means it does not contain harmful toxins. SEROVERA® will not conflict with your existing meds or cause side-effects. Learn more about SEROVERA® AMP 500.

Should you be worried about colorectal cancer?

For people with UC, there are two factors affecting the risk of developing colon cancer. The first factor is that risk increases after 8 to 10 years of active UC. The second is the extent of the disease in the colon. People with disease only in the rectum have the lowest risk; disease in part of the colon involved carries an intermediate risk; disease in the entire colon has the greatest risk. Patients whose disease has been quiet have the same risk as those who have more active disease.

However, more than 90% of IBD patients never develop colon cancer.

Colonoscopies will need to be repeated at regular intervals as determined by the gastroenterologist.

After 8 to 10 years of UC, the doctor may recommend a colonoscopy every year or every two years. A gastroenterologist can make an individualized assessment of colon cancer risk based on history, other risk factors, and the extent and duration of UC.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! A special thanks to all of our readers, customers, partners, developers, contributors, and everyone else who has made SEROVERA possible.

Again, thank you!