I know this topic has been done to death, but this version has a slight nuance to it.

We've all heard from vegetarians who developed UC, so it's not like vegetarianism is universally protective against this disease. My topic here is more geared toward meat eaters who are flaring and try vegetarianism during a flare, in order to recover.

I recently spoke with a medical professional online who has a huge amount of experience treating UC in her clinic. We talked about my genetics (23andme), and the things I've tried to get well in the past 5 years.

Interestingly, about 3-4 years before I developed UC, I was a vegetarian for 8 years. My sister also has the "UC gene" according to 23andme, but she has been a vegetarian her entire life. No UC. The reason I stopped being a veg was that I relocated to China, where it's impossible to be vegetarian. So I just started eating meat, and then didn't stop after that. Years later, I developed UC.

The medical person suggested that, based on my detox genetics, UC genetics, and my history, that I should try cutting out all meat. The reasoning is that meat promotes proteobacteria which are pro-inflammatory, and it lowers bowel pH to be more acidic. She said that a plant based diet (80% veggies or more) promotes butyrate and related bacteria, and will speed healing. Apparently if I stay on meat, my recovery will be a lot slower. She is not pro-veg, she's talking about my case only.

I know every person is different, so my question will have different answers. I'm just wondering if anyone here got some good results from switching to a plant based diet during their flare, even temporarily? (Plant based includes some animal products but is mostly plant.)

For me, meat has always been a safe food, so I eat it often... but it's the one food group that I've never tried cutting out in all my years of having UC. So now I'm wondering.

My sister has crohns and has had some relief by being predominantly vegan. While I don’t think food can resolve IBD I think it can help some people with symptom management and so is certainly worth trying.

High fiber intake can destroy some of us.

I have had success with a plant based diet.

I was diagnosed with UC in 2007. After six years, I was doing pretty well (no severe flares) but at least twice a year I had bleeding, pain, and exhaustion which I treated with rectal meds and increased doses of mesalamines.

I live in Columbus Ohio where Pam Popper's Wellness Forum is located. I joined about six years ago (2013) and changed my diet to follow her advice. I was very skeptical, but willing to try anything. I decided that I would try it for a year and if I didn't see results, then I would know that it was not helpful to me.

I did not specifically seek out her UC protocol, but followed the general advice that she gives everyone. (If I had been in worse shape, I think I would have needed her UC protocol.) I gave up meat (but I still eat fish 1-2 times per week). I avoid dairy as much as possible. I was already gluten free and still avoid gluten as much as possible. I eat a lot of vegetables, beans, rice,...

I have not had a flare up since I changed my diet. I stopped taking Lialda two years ago and I am not taking any medications. My scope last year showed no signs of UC.

I've eaten different diets throughout my life, and I've tried nearly fasting during flares without luck. I don't think diet can treat severe UC. I wish it could, but I don't buy it. I also don't like people putting the uninformed, unresearched ideas about vaccinations and their relationship to UC. That's a load of nonsense.

Then how come the most stressful times of my life I stayed in remission (like, more stress than most people go through ever) and how come I've been vegan for 8 years and it hasn't helped at all? Maybe I'm just an anomaly. I don't think if I cut down on fiber it would matter either. And when I was eating the worst I have in all my years of UC (tons of junk food, soda, etc.), I was in remission. It just doesn't explain anything for me. All it does is blame the patients.

a meat based plant diet has kept me off meds for the last 10 plus years -

Diet & UC has been discussed here several times.

So far we do not know:

1. is altered microbiom a cause ???
2. is altered microbiom a consequence ???
3. is there another hidden cause that causes UC and alters microbiom ???

Some research papers suggest that particular diet can be helpful (for example PBD, SCD)
but the evidence is weak. It is not easy to conduct double blinded randomized trials on diets.

We human beings have evolved to prosper on wide variety of diets during evolution. I thing we
should avoid extremes and listen to our bodies. Nearly everybody has some kind of food intolerance.
It does not make sense to eat food that bothers you even if it is super healthy food.

A true whole food plant based(forks over knives) diet eliminates meat, dairy, eggs, sugar and oils. I’ve been a lacto ovo vegetarian for 31 of my 47 years and I still developed UC. I believe stress brought out my UC since I carry the gene.

It’s widely believed that meat and dairy are inflammatory foods. Still, each of us are different and what works for one may or may not work for another. I’m on a few WFPB groups and sometimes I have to step back from them. Some people are so obsessive and too restrictive with their diet. So many people complain of hair loss and fatigue. They’re not getting enough nutrients. I can’t handle dairy much anymore so I’ve basically eliminated that. My iron and ferritin tend to run low and I don’t feel comfortable giving up eggs. More than veggies vs. meat as possibly causing issues, I think sugar and chemicals in food are what we should all focus on eliminating. Carageenan, food dyes, preservatives, etc... Eating as clean as possible with minimally processed foods(cooking home cooked meals) whether you’re a vegetarian or omnivore is the key to healing your body the best you can. Still, we need medicine. If I could only afford one supplement it would be probiotics. Anyone with UC has obvious struggles with gut flora. Without a decent microbiome you won’t absorb nutrients anyway.

The one thing I’ve learned from this disease is to slow my life down a lot and eliminate as much stress and BS as possible. Focusing on self care-running, relaxing, epsom salt baths, massage...those things, along with medicine are keeping me in remission.

Globetrotter said...
Actually the evidence of helpfulness of certain diets is not weak if you follow the research closely. These are just old statements being repeated for decades when in fact in recent years there is large number of high quality evidence-based research that addresses these questions. Many of these statements are already a work in progress initiative to be implemented as a part of standard treatment protocol across Europe. The problem however is that average specialist are not following latest research closely and are not involved with implementation of these guidelines and therefore this information doesn't reach patients.

I would suggest everyone to take time and read articles or take some courses on United European Gastroenterology website (ueg.eu). It's a non-profit organisation unifying all the leading European medical specialists that are in forefront of developing national treatment guidelines for each EU country.

The entire view upon gut health and health in general has significantly shifted during past couple of years. Previously the gut microflora was looked upon as a separate organisms not directly involved with host health. But recently gut microbiota (gastrointestinal tract, the nervous system, bacteria, viruses, fungi and their entire genomics) is considered as a single system whose homeostasis or perturbation is responsible for health or disease states. Basically the research has shown that microbiota is responsible for most of the diseases including IBD.

For example there is work in progress initiative now to implement FMT as part of standard treatment plan for C.diff – a method that just few years ago was considered controversial at best. There is no secret that C.diff and other opportunistic like Campylobacter etc. infections are a result of antibiotic treatments.

IBS patient gut profiles for example shows wide variations but with commonality of increase in gamma proteobacteria (campylobacteria, helicobacteria, esscheria etc). For patients with IBS the probiotics single handedly yield an average 95% improvement in symptoms.

What about IBD patient guts? They have an a common increase in enterobacteria and clostridium as well as gamma proteobacteria and decrease in diversity of firmicutes (see this image https://imgur.com/a/kUtD56K ). Regarding the ever asked question wether dysbiosis is the cause or consequence there are ever stronger evidence that alteration in the microbiota composition arises from infections, immune defects, metabolic alterations, diet or antibiotic treatment.

Campylobacter is not from antibiotics. I got a case of it that would not go away for months and I had to be hospialized. I had not been on any antibiotics. I dont know where you are getting your information.

This is a warning. Mods are watching this thread and will lock it if the infighting and accusations against each other continue. There's no problem with debates facts and describing your/my personal experiences with various treatments (which is encouraged), but once the personal attacks start that's when forum rules are broken (which is discouraged).

Sigh, another diet thread and more contention among us all here. This has been debated to death for many, many years on healingwell and this thread will not solve it once and for all. I understand people have strong beliefs on both sides of the aisle (diets/alternatives or meds) and when you are arguing against "beliefs" and "gut-feelings" of individuals then it gets ugly fast.

I like to read about different research ideas because it gives me hope that someday there will be a cure. Maybe too late for those of us already diagnosed and deep into biologic treatment — but maybe not if those stop working and we’re flaring again. So I hate to see threads have to be locked because of personal attacks.

I think we can all agree that UC strikes everybody in different ways and what works for one person may not work for another but that all views are valid right? It doesn’t mean one way is right and if you don’t follow that way then you’re wrong. I see a strong causative link between the onset of my disease and stress but maybe it’s in my genetic makeup to react to stress in that way. It doesn’t mean I’m to blame for my disease. Disease happens for whatever reason and I doubt we’ll ever figure that one out — but who knows?

What the world needs now is more kindness and less blame. Peace out everyone!

We should not confuse arguments with the evidence.

For example in this article:

https://www.ueg.eu/press/releases/ueg-press-release/article/ueg-week-plant-based-foods-and-mediterranean-diet-associated-with-healthy-gut-microbiome-research/

there are many good arguments for PBD (Plant Based Diet). Is this evidence that you can successfully treat UC with PBD? Unfortunately no. The real evidence is double blinded, placebo-controlled and randomized trial. There must be enough participants and no conflict of interest. Preferably the trial should be repeated by several independent groups with the same result. The results should be assessed and verified by peers. As I said it is not easy task. I have read somewhere that CCFA is conducting such trial with Crohn patients. UC patients have not been included in this trial, unfortunately.