Poll: Shout if you are a vegetarian suffering from UC

Are there many vegetarians on this forum who are suffering with flares of IBD? I came across a recent theory that inflammatory diseases such as UC may occur when the body is saturated with arachidonic acid (ARA) that the body converts into inflammatory agents. Most ARA comes from eating too much meat, eggs, and FARMED, not wild, fish.

I am too old and suffered too long to follow down yet another primrose path to nowhere but it would seem to me that if there is any truth to the ARA hypothesis then there should be very few vegetarians on this forum.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 3/2/2010 12:44:05 PM (GMT-7)

my daughter was a vegetarian from birth, diagnosed with pancolitis. actually, there's a whole school of thought that says grains and starches are actually inflammatory and hard on the gut or reult in bacterial imbalance (ie. "Dangerous Grains", "Breaking the Vicious Cycle", "Life Without Bread", etc).

I can give you a list of life long vegetarians (east Indian) who had UC and since had surgery for UC! UC doesn't care if you're a vegetarian or not.

Sue

The only bad thing with eating meat as far as colitis goes is that many animals have been treated with antibiotics. That's why I buy all my meat from Whole Foods.

I've never been much of a eat meater though. I rarely eat mammals, and I used to eat only fish until I got colitis and found out that much of the fish I was eating wasn't healthy. Now I eat mostly vegetables, grains, certain fruits, nuts, and some chicken.

I was a vegetarian for a good 15 -18 years or so while I had UC. This past year I have gradually moved away to a more omnivorous diet. This was driven in part by a serious flare I experienced last year (brought about by a flu shot) and my search for foods that I could tolerate. I have also become much more interested in a Mediterranean style cuisine for general health reasons - as mentioned in a previous post - and the slow food movement (one of the best Italian exports).

For me, I don't think it really matters if you are a vegetarian or not. I would wager that it has more to do with the types of food eaten relative to their nutritional value (which I take to be the thrust of Weston Price referred to by killcolits) and the overall enjoyment and pleasure it provides.

If you want to have meat in your diet, I do think it matters what kind you have, in what proportions, and how it is prepared. I'm with Subdued in being wary of meat (also eggs and fish) produced in the factory system that predominates today. If you can find a local producer, or an organically produced source, then that is the route I would take.

In the final analysis, the food we share at table should be a source of comfort and celebration, not trepidation.

I think "western" diet and race have been blamed for both UC and osteoporosis simply because people in northern climits get the disease more and eat a meat based diet and are light skinned.

I eat meat but a pretty healthy diet with many vegetarian meals. Interestingly I moved south to the Mexican border 3 years before being diagnosed. I also have always spent a lot of time outdoors year round. I guess I don't know what is going on.

Osteoporosis is now being observed in Somali immigrants in far northern areas and it doesn't exist in Somalia. Fine bones and lack of sunlight? Vitamin D maybe?

The major difference in our diet is not meat actually but too many calories, too much sugar and too much fat. I know a couple vegetarians that put butter on everything and eat more sweets in a day than I do in a month. I eat more vegetables than they do also.

I was never sicker last year that when I tried to cure myself by eating a healthy diet with plenty of raw mustard greens, kale and oatmeal