Most promising "Food religions" ??

Am number 4 and 5 on your list and its working for me. I think that was your question.

I take everything from 1-6 that has worked. I have tried them all and took a little from each. I've never had any problems with gluten so I just limit refined carbs as much as possible and uncooked doughy breadstuffs.

Corn is worse than poison to me

Don't let yourself be paralyzed by options and conflicting information. I see you've posted alot of threads on this lately, sometimes asking the same questions. Some of these are actually subsets of the others or are overlapping. SCD is a very strict form of antifungal diet. It also is gluten free.

You've done the smart thing... you've compared the approaches and have found the common thread among them. That should be your base. From there, you can experiment with eliminating and adding foods back in and see what works for you personally.

princesa said...
Don't let yourself be paralyzed by options and conflicting information. I see you've posted alot of threads on this lately, sometimes asking the same questions. Some of these are actually subsets of the others or are overlapping. SCD is a very strict form of antifungal diet. It also is gluten free.

You've done the smart thing... you've compared the approaches and have found the common thread among them. That should be your base. From there, you can experiment with eliminating and adding foods back in and see what works for you personally.

Yes, I know I've asked a lot lately, trying to figure this out.

My problem is that I don't really react directly to anything it seems. I can about eating everything for like 6-12 months, even sugar and stuff. But then suddenly I flare can I see in the toilet. No stomach reactions etc. to reveal it though - just mush or a little blood.

So far..... my fear of course being that it will worsen in the future!!

I can see where u are coming from with the assumption that it may be diet-based. When I was first dx'd with UC I was almost certain it had something to do with stuff i was eating. It comes from some primitive inner feeling that when something is coming out wrong, the stuff going in must be the problem.
You must, in fact, come to realize the bigger scope of this disease. The all-out efforts to find just the right diet is merely scratching the surface of this disease. Other pieces of the puzzle are being left out by focusing too much in one area and this eventually leads to frustration and desperation.

My solution to your current dilemma: Try them all. Use what works for you. Experiment. Put it all on paper. Time will give you the answers you are looking for.

Don't concern yourself with testimonies, power diets, and finding the perfect ones. Take advice from the people here and there, but use it as a guideline to format your own plan of action.

ucwarrior said...
The all-out efforts to find just the right diet is merely scratching the surface of this disease. Other pieces of the puzzle are being left out by focusing too much in one area and this eventually leads to frustration and desperation.

Hmm, what else can it be besides "food allergy"? I mean, now I am confused. Are there other recognised variables than
- Diet and
- Stress/lifestyle?


I have read of people getting help from zone therapy/acupuncture .... but assumed that is just because it strengthens the immune system ....?

My own theory is when I eat too much sugar combined with a lot of stress. Last 2 flares where following a period of long term stress + eating much candy and stuff.
So if that's the case, then I think that fixing my diet will allow more stress - which is really difficult to avoid with my job + 3 small children + my personality in general ........

If you think its food allergies, get tested.

If you think its intolerances or enzyme deficiencies, see a naturopath.

If you think its stress, meditate and/or learn ways to handle stress positively.

It could be all. It could be none. Welcome to the ugly mystery that is UC!

I have had many many many theories on my own personal Dr. Jekyl, Mr. Hyde battles with UC and they all come up bust. But I learn from them... you will too.
After many years with this disease it could even be caused by phases of the moon. Instead of turning into a werewolf, I turn into a bathroom hog.

I understand your confusion. I didn't know anything about these diets until I got on this forum. I always eat what I want unless I am flaring. Although, I do stay away from fried and super spicey foods (I love jalapenos though and eat them a lot! :)). My GI has always told me that my diet will not affect my UC and to just eat healthy, smaller portions, etc. I don't know if I totally buy into his opinion as I know if I eat the wrong things I feel it in the days to follow (not always, but sometimes). That being said I don't think that ,for me , going on a special diet would keep my UC from flaring again. I just think that this is a highly individualized disease. Unfortunately what works for some does not work for others. It would be great to say "eat this" or "take this" and that would be the end of our problems. I guess that's what keeps us looking and hoping. I've read it hundreds of times here, " you have to find what works for you," which can be quite frustrating and confusing! Keep in mind that you aren't the only one in this situation - that is the beauty of HW!!!
As for the age thing - I was diagnosed 3 years ago at 35 and it was the first time I had even heard of UC! Lucky ME!!

ucwarrior said...

Don't concern yourself with testimonies, power diets, and finding the perfect ones. Take advice from the people here and there, but use it as a guideline to format your own plan of action.

Very well said, uc warrior.... Anecdotal, and for that matter, even evidence-based therapies are meaningless if they don't work on us personally.  Ultimately one has to do some trial and error, and ideally one must keep some other variables fixed.  Ironically, when most of us become desperate enough to try some wacky treatment, we have already been pounding down some powerful meds and it's hard to really know what made the difference.  Or even worse, one tries five or six new things at the same time and then you never have a clue which was the magic bukllet.  If you start and stop something and start it again, you can often notice the correlations better.  For example, I noticed this with pig whipworm (TSO)- just as I notice it with low carbing- they both help (helped in the case of TSO) and dampen the UC substantially for me, but just not enough to prevent full blown flares without (unacceptable, I know) maintenance levels of prednisone.