diet for ulcerative colitis??

There is one diet called the SCD - Specific Carbohydrate Diet that has helped many. I tried it but it made me worse because I was too anemic and skinny at the time. I don't think anyone can tell you what exactly to eat or what to avoid because UC is so individual, what works for one, doesn't work for everyone.

There is no magic diet that works for everyone, although as Max points out, many diets developed to help UC are somewhat similar. I agree that a food journal to track what you eat and what symptoms result can be helpful; however, if you're in a bad flare, you may not be able to tell any immediate difference, no matter what you eat. Here are three recommendations in order from most to least restrictive.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is excellent. Many UC and Crohn's sufferers have success with it; however, it can be difficult to implement and it flies in the face of the Standard American Diet of high carb junk many of us were raised on, which can make it a difficult adjustment. The book is Breaking the Vicious Cycle and the website is http://www.scdiet.org.

The book Listen to Your Gut offers suggested diets in different levels, depending on your symptoms. For instance, there is a diet to stop bleeding, but once bleeding is stopped and healing has begun, you move to a less restrictive diet. The website is http://www.listen2yourgut.com/

If you're not looking for a "diet" so much as general guidelines, check out the book The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut. This book breaks foods into those that are generally considered safe or problematic for UCers. It also focuses on increasing omega-3 intake for reducing inflammation.

I have generally found diets designed for UC to be healthy overall. For instance the SCD diet prohibits grains, rice, complex carbs and refined sugars. Immediately this eliminates things like fast foods, take away (because they are usually loaded with white sugar), lollies, sweets, lactose products and chocolates. In place of these, one is forced to eat more fruits and vegetables (initially cooked but can be taken raw later on).

Thus one is forced to reduce intake of negative (processed) foods and intake more positive foods (fruits and vegetables), which is what a normal healthy diet should be in the first place. Of course, the diets don't work for everyone as already stated above. Furthermore, many of the diets can be difficult to introduce because you pretty much can no longer buy 'instant' meals (aside from raw fruits and veggies). Essentially you will have to cook most of your meals at home and read the fine print on all of the labels of the food you buy. It also means no more restaurant foods because you have to be absolutely certain of everything that goes into your food.   

 Many have partially followed some of the UC diets and 'augmented' them to suit them personally. Again, its a trial an error process. Good luck!

Post Edited (MaxMilian) : 12/30/2010 9:35:19 AM (GMT-7)

I disagree that carbs, specifically complex carbs should be removed from diets...much of our brain energy is derived from them.


q

I'm on an anti-inflammatory diet:

http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/a/antiinflamfood.htm
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02995/Dr-Weil-Anti-Inflammatory-Food-Pyramid.html

Here are some of the foods/drinks I've been consuming lately:

Spinach with turmeric powder added
Ginger teas (without cream and sugar)
Bananas with sunflower seed butter
Salmon
Sweet potatoes
Rice
Chicken
Green beans
Carrots
Rice cakes
Oranges
Pasta with a bit of herb butter added
Pasta with shredded cheese added
Pineapple
Strawberries
Salmon sandwiches
Tuna sandwiches

I personally need to stay away from beans and nuts when flaring, and can tolerate very few raw fruits or veggies (maybe a banana).... soft foods, no raw foods or "scratchy" things are key for me in a flare.

Here's the gist of the phase one antifungal diet I followed from www.knowthecause.com :

EGGS
FRUIT, berries, grapefruit, lemon, lime, green apples, avocado, fresh coconut
MEATS, virtually all meat including fish, poultry and beef
VEGETABLES, Most fresh, unblemished vegetables and freshly made vegetable juice (no mushrooms, potatoes, corn- a grain)
BEVERAGES, bottled or filtered water, non-fruity herbal teas, stevia sweetened fresh lemonade or limeade, freshly squeezed carrot juice (see below)
VINEGAR, apple cider vinegar
OILS, olive, grape, flax seed, cold pressed virgin coconut oil
NUTS, raw nuts, including pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds. Stored nuts tend to gather mold, so be careful! No peanuts or pistachios.
SWEETENERS, Stevia, Stevia Plus, birch tree extracted Xylitol
DAIRY, Organic Butter, Organic Yogurt, (use the following very sparingly) cream cheese, unsweetened whipping cream, real sour cream.