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Grains & Legumes' effect on UC

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Posted 1/23/2012 9:06 PM (GMT 0)
Alinus,

I agree with everything you've said.

Alot of it is cultural indoctrination, and a big push by Agra-culture that grains are healthy for us, but they're not.

Trojen and killcolitis,

I came around to the Paleo diet, through trial and error, and lots of medical research which backed up my experiences. For me, it was truly an evolutionary process (no pun intended). It started out one day, when there was a sale at the local store for lobsters. So I spent the week eating lobsters with lots of drawn butter (boy those were delicious!), and some shrimp too. And low and behold, that week I had very little fibromyalgia, bone and joint pains (which came with the UC) - that made me wonder what was so different to cause such an enormous difference. After lots of research, I found out that the foods I was eating that week were all very low in Omega 6's. And so the progression began...Finally putting together the equation of what causes inflammation (which causes UC and many other diseases), and finally going Paleo. Experienced great success with it, and I truly believe it is based on diet= inflammation.

I'm sorry killcolitis, that your daugher wasn't helped by SCD or Paleo. It's tough.

Posted 1/23/2012 9:38 PM (GMT 0)

trojen said...


I want to know who out there consumes grains without issues, despite having UC.

Me. I eat plenty of whole grains and have had UC since 2007.
Posted 1/23/2012 9:52 PM (GMT 0)
@sara

i believe trojen thought to ask who consumes grains withouts issues - and his UC is in remission. this questions is more appropriate i think.
didn't you trojen?
Posted 1/23/2012 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
I consume grains without issues and my UC is in remission. Am i missing something?
Posted 1/24/2012 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
Here is the direct link to what I was referring to: www.ccfa.org/about/news/scd. Not sure why its not linking properly.

Basically doctors are worrisome of patients doing SCD without having a doc. monitor and keep up with blood work, because apparently the diet restricts getting short chain fatty acids (starchy vegetable & grain sources), which help fuel the cells in the colon and keep them functioning properly...
Posted 1/24/2012 1:26 AM (GMT 0)
Interesting that article fails to consider sprouted grains, which is what people used to eat before the industrial revolution hit.

A lot of you here with grain sensitivities might give sprouted grains a try. The sprouting process breaks down a lot of the indigestible starches that cause so many problems, as well as de-activates a lot of the 'anti-nutrients' that InSoFla's article mentioned.

Something you'll notice is that sprouted breads are a hell of a lot denser than good old white, fluffy, starch ridden white breads. Common white bread is measured at 97% starches and 3% proteins, whereas whole sprouted wheat bread is about 50/50.

Food for thought :-)
Posted 1/24/2012 1:28 AM (GMT 0)

stereofidelic89 said...
Here is the direct link to what I was referring to: www.ccfa.org/about/news/scd. Not sure why its not linking properly.

Basically doctors are worrisome of patients doing SCD without having a doc. monitor and keep up with blood work, because apparently the diet restricts getting short chain fatty acids (starchy vegetable & grain sources), which help fuel the cells in the colon and keep them functioning properly...

Those doctors must be mal-informed then. Beans are one of the best sources of resistant starches that gut bacteria use to create SCFAs and butyric acid (colon cell fuel). Beans are completely allowed on the SCD as long as you prepare them yourself.

So much misinformation about diet out there.
Posted 1/24/2012 1:29 AM (GMT 0)
See that's my thought too. In my geography class today we watched a video on the world 7,000 years ago leading to today, and somewhere in between falling asleep, the narrator mentioned how the Romans were benefitting from an easy crop: grains. So its not that unusual to our bodies, I just think that its the soil that has been so depleted of nutrients that is not giving our grains what is necessary to help us break down the food. =/
Posted 1/24/2012 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
it is a well written article from what i see.

there's a lot of good sense pros and cons there. i do agree with most of them.
Posted 1/24/2012 11:35 AM (GMT 0)
I concur with badslinke and I did TONS of research. Resistant starch and beans are great for colon health but prepared the old fashioned way that has been done for centuries - soaking overnight in warm water to replace phytates and changing the water several times during cooking. Gluten, oatmeal and other grains are not with the exception of corn (for me).
It's also very difficult to pinpoint a "bad" food unless one introduces one food at the time and waits for a couple of weeks to see if it creates inflammation. And a completely random thought that was also confirmed by my GI - people on highly restrictive diets (no gluten ever, no grains, no sugar, no wine, no beer) stay in remission longer than people that eat everything. My GI has a CD patient on remission for 25 years without any medication whatsoever but he's been doing SCD every single day for 25 years. It's incredible hard. I don't want to bore people with my research. Diet will not kill a flare IMO unless one has the mild form but definitely helps with remission. But again, it's 100% commitment every single day.

And trusting doctors without doing the research is a very dangerous thing IMO. Killcolitis, I saw that you are a big vaccination supporter and I'll tell you my experience. I vaccinated my toddler but only for school requirements, broke down the vaccines and waited at least 2 weeks between them. Last year stupidly I got cornered into vaccinating my child for H1N1 and the flu. His pediatrician knew my IBD history and assured me that the vaccine is safe and there are limited side effects and they are listed on the CDC website. Guess what? One week later for 5 days he had bloody diarrhea. And also guess what? Look at the research that was done and shows IBD risk. So I trusted the doctors and I put my child in danger and pray every day that I didn't start something horrible.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21994316
Posted 1/24/2012 12:28 PM (GMT 0)
Alba29,

Sorry to hear about your toddler. How is he/she doing now? I hope it was just a temporary thing, and that no permanent IBD resulted from it?

What kind of diet have you put your child on to prevent the inflammation?

To me, what your doctor said about longer remission with SCD diets, is another big plus to the data that with those of us suffering from IBD, those kinds of foods are inflammatory. And why keep re-inflaming the gut/colon every day?

But IMO, it isn't just an issue of grains and legumes, but also there are so many foods out there that have been genetically engineered... including many grains and legumes, which are now making their way to under-developed nations and guess what, IBD is rising there too now.

Posted 1/24/2012 12:38 PM (GMT 0)
Rice is a gluten-free food, as is corn. I never ate corn when I was flaring but do not have a problem with it now in remission. I don't think grains made a difference when I was flaring. However, I went gluten-free a few months ago (remission for almost 3 years) to improve my fatigue. It did not make a difference for the fatigue but helped IBS (less cramping, firmer BMs).

I cannot handle beans, flaring or not. If I eat more than a couple spoons, the IBS acts up (gas, loose BMs). Raw veggies give me the same symptoms, even if they're chopped and blended.

I think we just have to decide what the best diet is for us individually--everyone is different.

Alba29--The H1N1 vaccine is new, so I can understand your concern. But all other vaccinations (including the regular flu shot) are safe. I read the paper you linked and it said that there was an excess risk of IBD with children vaccinated in the first 45 days of the program, and those children were more likely to already have an autoimmune disease. And we know that once you have one autoimmune disease, your risk for another increases. Was the H1N1 vaccine a trigger? We don't know, but it could be (would need more studies). I believe that if one parent has IBD, then the risk of IBD for a child is 10%. So the pediatrician probably thought that the benefits outweigh the risk.
Posted 1/24/2012 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
Alba,
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter and I sincerely hope that it's NOT IBD. As a parent with a chlld with IBD it's something I wish on no one.
I'm not a "vaccination supporter" in that I don't blindly give my children every vaccine. I have chosen not to give H1N1, flu shot etc and have had to exempt them from school requirements, which is allowed where I live though a complicated process. However, I have given them the DIPTAP etc and don't regret it. I do think the risk of complications following a vaccine is rare but if we are genetically inclined toward something like IBD, it can be a trigger like many other triggers.
There are risks to every decision we make and I have had to make some horrible ones for my daughter. Just as you regret giving your child the flu shot, there are parents who thought they were protecting their children after the Wakefield incident by not vaccinating them with the result that they died of a Measles outbreak in their school.
I do believe both "sides' in these debates are often very dogmatic and simplistic. As I am frustrated by a GI who discourages me from trying diet, herbs etc, I am equally frustrated by those who claim to "cure" by those methods. Sure you can have one patient who is in a long remission due to SCD, but there are many others who it failed for. On the website dragonpack for children of parents who have IBD, there is a parent who put her son on SCD for three years just follownig his CD diagnosis. It did not work for him and he is now doing very well on Remicade (we was on meds plus scd). There is another woman who put her very young child with CD on SCD for years and it did not put her in remission. She then put her on exclusive elemental for years without remission. She continues to be med free, drinking elemental, but not in remission and delayed in growth etc. There is no guarantee and I'm increasingly frustrated by the dogma of the "naturopathic route" because who wants to put toxic meds in to their or thier child's body? It's easy to prey on the desperate.
Anyway, my "vaccine" comment was not about vaccination in general but Dr Andrew Wakefield. who is a bonafide quack and a crimial (don't know if you've researched his story). So, that's what I was commenting about.

I hope your child gets well very soon.

Post Edited (killcolitis) : 1/24/2012 6:47:06 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/24/2012 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
My son is fine but the doctors completely ignored my worries - they thought it was unrelated and he bled because the D irritated his colon. But again that 10% or whatever really is (nobody knows) worries me. I'm doing everything in my power to prevent it - I nursed him for 2 1/2 years, don't ever feed him sugar, fast food, processed foods, has yogurt daily, probiotics, broccoli, blueberries, only grass fed beef, has never been on antibiotics.
By the way, I had the perfect gut for 32 years.
Posted 1/24/2012 2:54 PM (GMT 0)
Alba29, How do you avoid ever giving your child abx? What if they get strep throat for example...what do you do? Not to get off subject here.

Alinus, Yes, that is what I meant to say...thanks for clarifying.

This thread is a perfect example of how difficult IBD is too manage.  There are so many variations. My advice is never give up, support one another, and pray like hell there will be a cure in our lifetime. In the meantime, explore all options and do your OWN research.

Post Edited (trojen) : 1/24/2012 7:58:56 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/25/2012 4:02 PM (GMT 0)
I was never once on antibiotics until I was a senior in high school and had to take them when I got my wisdom teeth out. I never got strep (or if I did, i didn't know it and it went away on its own)...so it's not impossible to never give your child antibiotics. obviously, you can't choose if your kid gets an infection or not but I'm just saying not everyone has to take antibiotics growing up. I've had to take them more since getting UC than in my 23 years before getting diagnosed.
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