gluten, nightshades etc. for years?

Gluten is no problem for me at all.

Nightshades are fine as long as I don't go overboard. Years ago when I grew tomatoes, I found that if I ate tomato sandwiches at lunch and salads with tomatoes at dinner and had for the main course something with tomato sauce I would start to experience symptoms after several days, but only if I ate a lot of them for days on end.

As you pointed out, we are all different. It would be easier if we had hard and fast rules that worked for all of us!

I can tolerate very moderate amounts of nightshade as long as I don't OD on potatoes, peppers, etc. Gluten is less tolerant for me. Gluten, nightshades, and dairy are only the most common food triggers but that doesn't mean everyone will have a problem with them. You need to discover for yourself which foods, if any, that might be causing you problems.

BTW I have been able to eat copious amounts of cruciferous veggies my whole life up until about 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with IBD. Something changed and now cruciferous are among my most powerful food triggers.

ex - I am not sure what you mean...? But I am pretty sure the answer would be "it is different for each person."

For me: some years back someone brought us a box of luscious, sweet, ripe tomatoes. We ate them every day for lunch and dinner. After 4 or 5 days I started to have urgency and blood. By the end of the week, I was sure it was a flare and not a fluke (for me, one or two days of symptoms is a blip, not necessarily a flare. Symptoms for 4 days in a row means a flare.)

Does this help?

With UC, we each need to learn to listen to our own bodies.

(Note about cruciferous veg: when my children were young and had strong likes and dislikes, we ate broccoli every other day, for years. It never bothered me, because I had become acclimated to it. Now if I eat it on a rare occasion, I am likely to have some discomfort and gas. But - I am sure it was the fact of being acclimated. Some day I may experiment to see if that's true....lol....)

Are you on meds? Are you flaring?

I have absolutely no issues with foods UC-wise.....but I do know that some foods can change stool consistency, gas discomfort...etc. Those are not related to UC. Not all foods agree with all digestive tracts, and it certainly varies with what we eat them with, how much and whether we are flaring or not.

Try not to make it all about food, but if foods make you uncomfortable, then either drop them, eat smaller amounts, change the time of day you eat them...etc.

But do learn and understand UC and its symptoms. They do change with the extent and degree of inflammation, and will change as healing or increase of flaring. Meds and supplements can also change symptoms.
q

I suspected.

Some have flares very seldom and only use meds when flaring. I know for a fact that my UC would have spread and I would have been in a mess without the meds I am using considering how it was before diagnosis. N

Some who use food and no meds have had no c-scope to confirm inflammation. Some have been successful, but did use meds previously.

It's your choice, but I suggest you have scopes at least every 2 years to make sure you have no simmering inflammation or polyps, precancer, etc.

What others do isn't subjective to you or your colon. Just don't neglect meds out of spite and misunderstand your symptoms or keep raising the bar for tolerance and lowering it for acceptance.

q