What’s the worst offender?

I vote for secret choice "4 - none of the above are inflammatory at all" as some of us tolerate those without issues at all. I would urge you to get back on UC medications, like the mild anti-inflammatory mesalamines.

Caffeine can stimulate bowel movements - sometimes i drink a strong coffee deliberately to "get it out" if i feel things are stuck. Not sure it's particularly inflammatory though.

When I'm flaring, all of those will wreck me.

Food and drink are not one-size-suits-all, you need to find out what your gut tolerates.
That took me quite a while, 2 steps forward one step back, until reaching remission.
Some foods definitely make my gut irritated and it rejects them, sometimes violently, they are not on your list.
I quit artificial sweeteners 10 years ago along with other chemical ingredients.
My gut loves carbs but not maize (never tried powder).
Why not eat regular food, not powderized food?

Being able to drink coffee again was a happy day but if my gut was unhappy I'd skip it until happier.

A preflare.....IS a flare. Early stages.....but a flare. No such thing as preflare.
Just sayin,
q

Do you guys avoid caffeine for the most part?

I quit coffee long before I got UC but I still have tea occasionally and chocolate on a fairly frequent basis even when I'm flaring hard. (Note: I only go for chocolate without milk or emulsifiers such as soy lecithin, the latter because IIRC they are associated with all sorts of gut problems)

still flaring, actually its much worse and colonoscopy on wed, I cut out whey protein, got some unflavored virago powder added that today I think that's making it worse, problem is I try to hit the carb totals for the day and some of them around the workout are powder form, vitargo is barley based but it says gluten free... hard to say at this point, had some formed Bms a few days ago , now nothing except liquid .

been off caffeine for a week now too, , so eliminated caffeine, whey isolate I switched to a grass fed beef isolate

here is what I eat , maybe you guys can see something that I don't?

sups- CBD oil caps (this I feel got me in remission 7 weeks ago) , berberine just started 3 days ago, DGL licorice, multi vitamin, turmeric, ginger, PB8 probiotic

Meal1- 5 oz lean beef roast, 1 cup jasmine rice.
m2- 7 oz ground turkey 1 cup rice
m3- protein shake 1 scoop karbolyn 1 tbs almond butter
m4- protein shake 1 scoop karbolyn
m5- protein shake 1 scoop karbolyn
m6- 7 oz chicken plain, 1 cup rice
m7- 7 oz white fish 1 cup rice
m8- 7 oz 7 oz chicken 1/2 cup applesauce

I guess I’m just waiting to
Start on prednisone, xeljanz (spelling) got denied on my last Flex sig cuz there wasn’t active inflammation, hoping colonoscopy Wednesday will prove otherwise

Let us know how the scope goes.

Are you on any medications at this point, and if so, which meds and dosages?

I think you've tried everything diet-wise and aren't getting sufficient results on its own. You need some more meds to tame this thing. I wish diet worked 100% of the time and gave us all a way out, unfortunately that is not the case (a few success cases but not broadly repeatable). The idiom is "there's no point in beating a dead horse" and I think you are at (or beyond) that point on your diet quest.

Just on simponi? Did the mesalamines (asacol, lialda, pentasa) or immunomodulators (azathioprine/6mp) do anything for you? Often we are on a biologic like simponi plus other classes of meds simultaneously while we combat a flare (simponi plus immunomodulators, sometimes plus mesalamines).

I will keep
You guys posted