Animal Protein and it's effect on UC

Hi Guys!
So I recently sat down with my GI - she took an hour of her time to talk to me and I was so appreciative!
I had a colonoscopy almost a month ago and it was much better than we had anticipated. I had only a slight bit of inflammation in my right colon so overall she was impressed and feeling positive!
We discussed future treatments as I am currently just on mesalamines but she also added in trying a vegan diet and trying to stay away from animal protein. I have done some research since seeing her and found a lot of stuff that makes sense. She told me that there are current studies based on animal proteins and it's effect on IBD as a whole. I have had this disease for nearly 7 years and have yet to have anyone agree on diet with me - this was the first time and she mentioned it, not me! I had long since given up on even mentioning it because I knew it would get shot down!

In my search I found this video on Nutritionfacts.org -- it is a good listen if you have time. :o)
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/preventing-ulcerative-colitis-with-diet/

I know there are is a lot of info out there on possible preventatives to IBD and "cures" and whatnot but the elimination of animal proteins makes sense to me.....in the video they state that the consumption of animal protein has escalated greatly since WWII and so has the occurrence of IBD. This may not help everyone at this point but I think Dr.'s are getting smarter and they are onto something!

Animal proteins are the one thing that keep my UC at bay. As per usual, the advice is everyone is different and staying away from animal proteins may or may not help you. You just have to try and see.

Yeah. You've got to realize that as with many things, you can find evidence and proof to "prove" whatever you want and it can even make sense. People do that all the time from religious fanatics to political fanatics, to diet fanatics, to medical fanatics. I could find evidence and proof, proving that the sky is not blue and make it believable. Thousands of books come out all the time that make sense for whatever they are trying to prove, with many of them contradicting a different book with a different viewpoint. I'm not trying to imply that you or your GI is a fanatic but, as I said before, you can find evidence to prove whatever you want and of course it makes sense to you as sometimes people find that Astrology makes sense to them, because you are kind of already open to suggestion. This diet approach might help and it might not but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

I also agree that whatever you are doing seems to be working so you shouldn't take that lightly. That doesn't mean that if you were to make this change you will get worse but you have to sometimes force yourself to be objective with these things as they are always presented from the prejudiced viewpoint of those presenting it and of course they will cherry pick their facts to prove their viewpoint. Also remember that there have been several on this website who lived this lifestyle all of their lives and then came down with UC. There are also several of them who found that switching to a meat eating diet improved their condition. So far no one anywhere has come down with a one size fits all explanation for this disease.

I know you said you will be working with a nutritionist but make sure to have your b12 and other iron ( Ferratin, iron, hematocrit and hemoglobin) checked to be sure you are not suffering from anemia
B12 is hard to come by for vegans
And some don't absorb non-heme iron ( plant based iron) properly so your iron stores may be used up and than eventually become anemic

The concern I would have is protein from things like nuts, seeds, legumes, and lots of veggies. Those things typically are problematic for those with UC. And soy is something I don't think anyone should eat.

Yes,i agree with zengrrl, that possibly a vegetarian diet might be ok.

But again my question is, if what you are doing is working, why take the chance of doing something different ?

If there is one thing older than humanity its eating meat. You could point to the way meat is "made" as a novelty in our recent history but eating meat, no.

There's two interesting articles on the Chimpanzee and Bonobo carnivore aspect. Mainly the chimpanzee one which I read long ago. The bonobo one is more so freaky which I stumbled on while looking for the chimpanzee one again........ not sure on the validity of that one though.

The Predatory Behavior and Ecology of Wild Chimpanzees
www-bcf.usc.edu/~stanford/chimphunt.html

Loving bonobos have a carnivorous dark side
/www.newscientist.com/article/dn14926-loving-bonobos-have-a-carnivorous-dark-side/

-------

One could look at it like this:

Perhaps in the past plant based diets were simply 'easier' than hunting. Nothing more. So we ate lot's of them. Hence the prevalence throughout our ancient ancestry. As we developed the ability to domesticate, breed, farm etc. a protein based diet has become far easier. Hence the prevalence throughout our recent ancestry. So we eat lot's of it.

Quick access to stuff we need.

I think what Freddy means is that we've been eating meat since before Homo sapiens - perhaps for millions of years prior in our genetic ancestors - but maybe not to the extent we do today.

Post Edited (Canada Mark) : 10/8/2015 9:58:24 PM (GMT-6)

Processed meats make my UC go crazy. Pork in particular, with beef not far behind. I mostly just eat chicken and fish. I don't agree with vegetarian or veganism at all, but that's a different conversation. I believe that we are omnivores.

I always wondered if an ex-smoker who got UC would have ever gotten UC if they had never smoked in the first place. I wonder if there is a way to study this, maybe with twins or something? Probably impossible.

Maybe red meat isn't good for YOU LondonRed, but it sure works swell for me

Ditto red meat for me too but it must be fresh and not aged. Sometimes I just don't believe in this inflammatory/noninflammatory food thing. Either your particular body likes a food or it doesn't. The rest is just hype for books.

Killer about the farm. Sounds awesome.

I was more veggie-based the last 6-months than ever in my life. It was ok but completely useless in the gym.

I switched to grass-fed beef and now instead of twice daily bm at sunrise and after driving home, it is once per day at sunrise.

My body likes meat. My immune system is not annoyed by it. I am limiting any form of bread which is tough because I like to eat burgers and even the gluten-free stuff is pretty gross but acceptable.

Salmon and grass fed beef work great for me. I believe in avoiding processed meats completely.