Diet question - Grains

How much has cutting out grains helped your UC?

My main question is, gluten obviously for many is a big no-no, but does cutting out rice, corn, oats and potatoes make just as big a difference as gluten? Or are you okay as long as you cut out gluten but continue to eat the other grains.

Cutting out gluten is tough, but as long as rice and potatoes can stay on the menu it'll be a little easier.

Each person seems to tolerate foods differently. For me I'm fine with rice, oats and sweet potatoes. White potatoes and corn cause me trouble.

My gut has problems with most grains including corn, rice and others. Jury is out on quinoa, maybe yes, maybe no. Potatoes however are LOVED by my gut, they are not grains at all. Potatoes provide starch which is generally beneficial to our guts, butyrate somehow involved but I forget the connection.

Even though my gut hates rice (tried all different kinds) it is OK with Rudi's GF white bread which uses rice flour. I can't explain why but at least I have one bread to eat.

I gave no problem with gluten. I also have no problem with refined grains or insoluble fibres (I.e., white bread ok, oatmeal ok, white rice ok). High fibre breads, seeds, whole wheat etc., all make things much worse for me.

Potatoes aren't a grain and my gut tolerates all potatoes, sweet potatoes etc., very well.

Note about gluten free- try not t buy all the gluten free processed stuff, it's just garbage. Read the labels of what they put in it to avoid gluten...makes my head spin. If you can't have gluten I'd suggest just eating foods that normally don't have gluten instead of the mega processed "gluten free option" for purchase.

The gut generally has trouble digesting grains. That being said some people will say grains are fine because they actually help firm up stool but they are not good for UC inflammation. Grains are not good for bacterial dysbiosis either. I have improved a lot on SCD, but there are some foods I think are better for UC than others. Cooked spinach, avocado, salmon, chicken and chicken soup should be on every UCers plate because these foods help healing so much.

I definitely get gas from whole grains....oatmeal is the worst. I have no other issues except gas.

q

Bull101 said...
Corn in general like corn tortillas etc. or just corn kennels (popcorn, corn on the cob etc.)?

No issues with processed corn such as corn chips or tortillas. Corn on the cop, sweet corn, popcorn all irritate pretty badly for me.

Coffeemate said...

iPoop said...
I have no troubles with gluten, dairy, or grains.

Yes but look at your signature. If I were on those big gun meds then we could all eat whatever we wanted too.

I'm fine with grains (and haven't needed to modify my diet at all since being diagnosed) and I'm not on any big gun meds. I don't think it's fair to say that iPoop's diet is responsible for him needing to use those meds. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

To the OP, diet, like response to meds, is very individualistic. You'll just have to find what works best for you. Some people find that diet modification helps, others don't. Some respond well to mesalamine-based meds, some don't. It certainly doesn't hurt to try diet modification.

Coffeemate said...
I don't think it's fair to say that iPoop's diet is responsible for him needing to use those meds.

No one is saying that. Diet works for some of us, not for others. I am just speculating that if I myself were on stronger meds besides Asacol then I might be able to eat beer and pizza again.

exactly what i was thinking - probably wrong thinking, but .....................

Coffeemate said...
I don't think it's fair to say that iPoop's diet is responsible for him needing to use those meds.

No one is saying that. Diet works for some of us, not for others. I am just speculating that if I myself were on stronger meds besides Asacol then I might be able to eat beer and pizza again.

Hate to say it, but I'm on a double dose of Remicade every 6 weeks, Azathioprine (150mg), Rowasa nightly, Lialda, and 20mg of prednisone and I'm still flaring badly and can't eat what I want. So big gun meds or not sometimes don't play a role.

I've been on SCD (grain free) for 6 months and have noticed increased energy and have not flared since starting. But without any real scientific evidence for us to follow, I think its impossible to say what diet changes work. I see people on HW all the time claiming this worked, or that didn't work, after trying something for days or weeks or even months (I've been guilty of this too). If I stubbed my toe on Monday, and my flare ended Tuesday, I would not tell everyone a barefooted kick of the end table is the cure for UC.

In the short term, I think you can manage symptoms like gas and bloating or fatigue by finding what foods bother you. I think we should all be careful to quantify our answers to questions like this one with a full explanation instead of saying this or that "didn't work" or that it "helped me a lot." We really don't know the long-term biological changes that occur from eating the foods we eat.

For example: we would all agree that smoking cigarettes is harmful, but that's only because of scientific evidence. Without the evidence we'd be saying "I've smoked everyday for 20 years and run marathons so obviously, smoking is good for me." Then others would say "it's individual, some find it helpful while others harmful." It's no different than the opinions we offer on this forum in regards to diet change and UC. Without the science, it's all just anecdotal.

That being said, I can't get enough of everyone's opinions and really enjoy reading about others experiences. :)