HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Food Reaching Colon Time - Mild Flare Ups - Food Diary

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 6/16/2009 9:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hello All,

How much time it takes for the Food to reach the colon?

The reason I'm asking this because, I'm not able to identify my UC triggering foods.

Suppose if i eat ice cream or a cake or any food that may bother my colon today night, can it reach my colon after digestion by tomorrow morning?

Is it possible to stay for long time in the colon?

I'm little bit confused about this.

I want to maintain a food dairy and list out all the foods that are exactly bothering me and leading to a mild flare ups.

I read lots of people talking about keeping note of triggering foods.

How are you guys identifying them?

If you have any inputs or suggestions can you please advise?

Thanks for reading my post and helping me to identify and  understand this.

 

Posted 6/17/2009 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
A good question and one I've wondered as well. Anybody out there w/ a good response?
Posted 6/17/2009 2:39 AM (GMT 0)
i think it's three days.... so whatever bothers you at the moment... is from three days ago
Posted 6/17/2009 2:39 AM (GMT 0)
Hello There,

Anybody out there to answer my queries?
Please respond..

Thanks in advance
Posted 6/17/2009 4:15 AM (GMT 0)
Food doesn't trigger UC flares...but it can cause you some discomfort to be sure.

I find that any gas causing foods will affect me 6 hours after I eat it. It never fails...but that's gas, not the food digested in the form of stool.

I have bms where it's out in about 12 hours to 24 hours...sometimes I have them finished within 48 hours, but I don't think any longer than that..again depending on what I eat.

To find out, you can add some food colouring to something you eat and see when it comes out....or eat something that has high colouring in it that will change/adjust the colour ofyour stool....spinach or beets can do that.

Do the research.

I would say your supper could be out by the next morning or for sure by the next supper if you're flaring...but unless your inflammation is causing you constipation, you probably won't see in until a bit later.

quincy
Posted 6/17/2009 3:22 PM (GMT 0)

Bowel transit time can vary a great deal from person to person due to dietary habits, age, climate, exercise habits, immobility, medications and so on. Of course, being in a flare can greatly shorten transit time. A healthy person would probably have a bowel transit time ranging from 8 to 14 hours.

To a certain extent, I think this is irrelevant, though. Food sensitivities and reactions are often a part of UC and reaction time can vary greatly - from almost immediate to up to three days later. One of the best ways to track what works and doesn't work for you is to do an elimination diet. Limit yourself to a small number of foods you believe to be generally "safe" for you for at least a week or so. Then, gradually add one new food in every other day and track your reactions. A food journal will show trends over time.


Posted 6/17/2009 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
I think rather than worrying about transit time and whether it was the cake you at Thursday or the french fries you ate Friday that gave you D on Saturday morning, you should look at patterns...for instance, each time you eat cake, you get diarrhea a day later. I guess what I'm saying is to look for repeatable events, and not just single events.
Posted 6/17/2009 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
Transit times for a healthy colon are 24-72 hours. For those with UC it could be much quicker. I think the 72 hour timeframe is moving a bit toward constipation. If your going towards 72 hours you might want to add fiber to your diet. If you can't tolerate food fiber you might try some of the soluble fibers (konsyl, metamucil, benefiber, etc.).

I agree with Quincy. Food does not cause flares but it can make you uncomfortable.

Sue
Posted 6/17/2009 4:09 PM (GMT 0)
Bowel transit time depends on what types of food you eat and how much you drink. For example, people who eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains tend to have shorter transit times than people who eat mostly sugars and starches. Because different people have different transit times. Generally (even though it vastly differs from person to person) 3 days is considered "normal, so whatever you've eaten today makes it's complete appearance again 2-3 days from now, and that is obviously not saying you wouldn't be pooping during those 2-3 days. You can get tested for your own bowel transit time. It's not yet been proven one way or the other if foods/diet can trigger flares or not, according to the CCFC food/diet is still considered a possible trigger for IBD, it's known as a trigger for IBS so ruling it out for IBD doesn't make sense, it's just that researchers have not yet found concrete evidence supporting it one way or the other...and there's no saying that for some people that some foods can definitely trigger IBD flares.

:)
Posted 6/17/2009 7:20 PM (GMT 0)
While the facts are continually disputed, and with CD compared to UC...there are definitely variables....with respect to you pb4 (as always)...you always do state that you're kind of in a perpetual flare.

I want to stress that there are WAY too many people, especially newbies who only make it about food and become completely obsessed about just that....and miss important aspects of what's a flare, what's a food action in the colon and what's IBS.

I must also STRESS that a food eaten NOW will not have it come out in 15 minutes.

quincy
Posted 6/17/2009 8:18 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, Q, but don't forget I have complications with my CD (which is why I'm yet to reach a full remission, plus the IBS likely doesn't help me either)...and the CCFC is referring to diet/food in relation to IBD (either CD or UC), also tak into consideration with some stomach bugs food can definitely make it's way through extreamly quickly of course depending on the severity of the "bug", for some it doesn't take long when all that's comming out (anal or mouth) is bile only and not food. On average I don't believe food will come out within 15 minutes either, but as I mentioned stomach bugs can certainly clear a person out quicker than expected as well.

:)
Posted 6/17/2009 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
All,

I understand that we need to monitor the food that we ate.
For example yesterday and today i started having more BM's 5-6..But i use to have only 3 in general. The only change in my food was i ate Watermelon yesterday and day before yesterday. Now I'm not sure if it is what creating this problem or I had some food last saturday with some meat,sweets and more diary.
This is where I'm getting confused..
Please advise...

Thanks in advance for all your replies..

Posted 6/17/2009 10:19 PM (GMT 0)
I'm saying that you need to eat a food more than once to determine that it's causing your problem. For example, lay off the watermelon for a week or two, then try some again and see what happens.

This is what makes food journaling so tough...it can be *really* hard to identify exactly what it is that's causing your problem.

However, I'd be surprised if something you ate on Saturday didn't cause a problem until Wednesday.
Posted 6/21/2009 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
food does NOT trigger UC.
omg... its an auto-immune disease.

so many people are always saying... i ate a cheeseburger and 15 minutes later i had D and blood and in pain blah blah blah.
im never eating a cheeseburger again.

bs.. its not the cheeseburger.
when you put food in your mouth and you salivate, your colon starts moving the stuff in it from a few days ago to make room for new food. so your colons are getting rid of waste that is already waste, not food, thats already been there.

so its not what you eat 20 minutes ago etc....
and its not food that triggers your 'flare'. and some of you call a 'flare' a bad run to the can.
the flare is the symptoms of UC being present until they are fully gone.

i get so frustrated when i hear, as quincy correctly puts it, ''newbies'' always blaming what they just ate 2 minutes ago.
bah!

ive done the dietician thing with all the different diets for over a year and learned a lot. and i learned what i said above. its not the food you just ate that makes your UC worse.

some foods like corn and lettuce and seeds etc may be more 'uncomfortable' moving through your raw and tender and ulcerated and bloody colon, but thats it. it doesent 'cause' anything. it just hurts cuz its not smooshy poo yet. which is fair enuf since our colons are ruined.

and transit time is not less than 8-10 hours. physically impossible. its usually a lot longer. most of the time it takes longer than 3 hours to get out of your stomach alone, before it even gets to small intestines.
50% of stomach contents emptied 2.5 to 3 hours
Total emptying of the stomach 4 to 5 hours
50% emptying of the small intestine 2.5 to 3 hours
Transit through the colon 30 to 40 hours

so, there you go
its a matter of working out what makes you uncomfortable and then avoiding those things if you want.
Posted 6/21/2009 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
In general food spends about 4 hours in the stomach before being moved to the small intestine, where nutrients are removed. It takes around 8-12 hours for food to normally reach the large intestine where water is removed before the waste is expelled by you.
Posted 6/21/2009 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
My transit time must be faster than normal. Corn takes a day to go through me, even faster if I have diarrhea. I never get constipated. I guess that's why it was so easy for me to figure out what foods/beverages bothered my digestive system. If I get diarrhea after I eat something, I know it is from the last thing I ate/drank. In some cases, the food that comes out could be from food that is already in my system (being pushed out), but the cause nevertheless is from what I just ate/drank.

After I eliminated all foods/beverages that bothered me, I now have no diarrhea and bloating. I also have minimal gas (in other words, what's normal for most people). And my BMs are healthy looking. No more IBS :)

There is a pallet test that can be done to determine digestion time.

It normally takes 36 to 48 hours for food to be digested. More than 72 hours is considered slow. Diarrhea will usually result when transit time is less than 12 hours.

It is even faster in acute dehydrating diarrhea:

"The mouth-to-anus transit time was estimated in 24 young children admitted to an outpatient rehydration unit with acute dehydrating diarrheal disease by adding an oral fecal marker (brilliant blue) to the first draught of oral rehydration solution. Transit times ranged from 30 to 242 min."

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4468970

I have experienced this--having a transit time of about 30min (15 min from the last bite/sip to the first diarrhea coming out) to a few hours; so I know what it is like to eat/drink something and see it all come out.

I know it sounds impossible, but you must remember it's not food that it traveling through the system, it is pure brown water.
Posted 6/21/2009 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
I drank veggie juice and it came out of my rear in about 1 hour or so after feeling sick as heck. I mean like liquid coming out. Then once it was out I was back to normal again. So I would say it depends greatly on the food and the condition of your digestive track and how it handles it.
Posted 6/22/2009 12:09 AM (GMT 0)
liquids are different than food and this was not the question. transit time is in regards to food and solids.
liquids behave differently in your system.
Posted 6/22/2009 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
Ah. That might explain it. Why it can come out so quickly. The last time it was from bubble milk tea. I have also experienced having severe diarrhea from drinking V8 juice, that was before I found out tomatoes are pro-inflammatory. I no longer drink the stuff.

Foods contain water. I would gather that the more liquid a food has (all else remaining equal), the faster it can go through the digestive system.
Posted 6/22/2009 4:15 AM (GMT 0)
That is correct subdued which is why it IS possible for some foods to exit very quickly (circumstances like stomach bugs should also be considered as well)...nothing is written in stone and as I'v mentioned many times, according to the CCFC foods/diet have NOT been ruled out as causing flares/triggers for flares, therefore it's impossible for anyone else to either...people ae most definitely entitled to express their opinion but making it sound as if it's fact is different especially when there is no concrete evidence one way or the other to date on the issue.

:)
Posted 6/22/2009 6:51 AM (GMT 0)
For me, the wrong foods give me gas and diarrhea. They weaken my digestive system, making it easier for a flare to get triggered. Same with antibiotics. They mess up the balance of bacteria in my colon, making it easier for a flare to get triggered. I'm not sure yet what triggers my flares. It could simply be cold weather. I've gotten all of my three flares in the fall after a cold spell.

Anti-inflammatory foods reduce my colon inflammation. So do probiotics. Together, they gradually reduce the inflammation until I'm in remission.
Posted 6/22/2009 7:19 AM (GMT 0)
A gastro bug....well how does one know how long it's been in the digestive tract?? if it's in the stomach for up to the 4 hours and some has had time to get beyond that...one would have vomitting and then a short time later...diarrhea.

Keep in mind everyone....that a purgative that's swallowed won't have any effect on the digestive tract for up to 3 hours. That's to set the peristalsis in absolute high gear...so whatever is in the colon will clear first, then the small intestine, then the stomach....
Botulism...the most toxic of food poisoning will hit as soon as 6 hours but maybe not for up to a full day after it's been ingested. That's why it's difficult for many people who have food poisoning to pinpoint the culprits...because effects aren't the minute after they're ingested.

quincy
Posted 6/22/2009 8:06 AM (GMT 0)
You would think that after suffering with ulcerative proctitis for almost eleven years I would have this down pat. But I don't. However, I do know for certain what foods have been/still are (sometimes I'm a glutton for punishment) bothering me and if they don't "trigger" a flare, they certainly don't help any. These are: crabcakes, fried foods, spicy foods and gaseous foods, such as cabbage. Since I also have diverticulosis I have to stay away from seeds, corn etc.
Posted 6/22/2009 3:38 PM (GMT 0)
Actually, quincy, there are some bacteria that cause "food poisoning" that have very rapid onset. Staphylococcus, for instance, can cause symptoms as quickly as one hour after eating food contaminated with it. That's what I think I caused the food poisoning my SIL and I had back in April. We both had sour cream...it was the only thing the two of us both ate that my DH and MIL didn't also eat over a two day period. We were both feeling bloated and over full as we left the restaurant, and both started having D within two hours of eating.
Posted 6/22/2009 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
Q, take lactose intolerance as an example, symptoms begin about 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating or drinking foods containing lactose. The severity of symptoms depends on many factors, including the amount of lactose a person can tolerate and a person’s age, ethnicity, and digestion rate.

The same can go for those that suffer with an IBD (regarding certain foods they have issues with) a 24 hour gastro bug, food poisoning and food intolerances as well, as I said, nothing is written in stone, it all depends on the sensitivity of each individual.

My mom has UC, often the only thing she'll ingest in a whole day is coffee with plain toast and often as she's sitting and having this she'll get the runs before she's even finished eating/drinking her toast and coffee, so please don't argue that this cannot happen because although it may never have been your own perosnal experiance, that doesn't mean many others have not experianced it.

:)
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12