How Many Truly Believe That Food Will Cause/Stop A Flare

Hey Guys,

I'm still battling a flare over here, and I was just curious what you guys thought about the food/flare debate.

I totally think that there are some foods and drinks that make things worse during a flare, but what are your thoughts about food causing a flare, or diet being able to prevent or control a flare?

My experience has been that while exasperating symptoms, diet alone cannot prevent flares, or stop a flare, or even pull you out of a flare.

To give a little personal info, im a 38 year old male. I'm 6' at 170 lbs. Was in good shape before being diagnosed. I have struggled since to remain healthy, and while I don't eat perfectly, my diet is not near as bad as it could be. No fried food, try to do processed as little as possible, as well as little to no sweets. I do drink coffee everyday. I have a hard time with soda, anything with vinegar, fried food etc...

Your opinions are appreciated!

There is enough research on diet (AID-IBD, SCD, plant based) to show that it's very helpful as an adjunct or primary in some cases for maintaining remission. It also makes sense that eating foods that are anti-inflammatory would reduce inflammation throughout the body and gut. UC is so heterogenous that one thing does not work for anyone. I eat an anti-inflammatory diet and was able to have a long 12 year remission that was primarily med free. Plus my labs are always super low due to diet (CRP and ESR are lowest possible at under 1).

Even if it helps in 30% of people, it's worth a shot. In severe UC, it's unlikely to help, but in mild to moderate cases, diet is more likely to be useful. Many of the UC meds only induce remission in 30-40% of people so many of us need combination treatments. Meds alone are not going to do the trick for many with UC.

Seems like changing my diet helped me. I use to eat junk non stop when I was first diagnosed with UC/Crohns and would flare a lot. They put me on Remicade and I would still flare, maybe 3 times a year. When I changed my diet and cut out sugar and alcohol I haven't had a flare since. I am still on Remicade though but weird.

Food has never caused me a flare...guaranteed... in the 32 years since diagnosis.
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Thanks Guys!

I agree completely! While I do think certain foods can make things worse, I don’t believe that what I eat causes a flare, or has the ability get me out of one.

I eat fairly healthy, and tried different diets when first diagnosed(9 years ago), but overtime, have determined that it doesn’t matter that much.

I get backlash from some family members, and I’m constantly feeling judged because I don’t eat a super strict diet..

Your opinions have been appreciated!

Thanks

Poopy...well said.
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Brucen...well said.
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Troubled turds, did you have a mild case of pancolitis at diagnosis? I have pancolitis and had years without meds as well in the past--those were the best years!

Jane974 said...
Troubled turds, did you have a mild case of pancolitis at diagnosis? I have pancolitis and had years without meds as well in the past--those were the best years!

i honestly don't have a clue as to the severity - i have wondered, but haven't taken the time or made the effort to search for an answer - if you ask me, it wasn't mild ----- but then i was, and still am, a bit of a wuss -------


TT

I'm not sure this is directly relevant for this thread but.... I had a phone consult with my GI this afternoon. He was explaining that there were different types of colitis, depending on where the inflammatory bodies are located, and this might be an explanation why one person responds to drug A but not drug B, while the other responds to B but not A. Along the same lines, i was thinking that might explain why some people can control their symptoms with diet and others can't....

Yes, probably unique! Here's a story: about 5 years ago I wanted to get into an FMT study. When I was scoped to see if I had UC, it failed because my colon appeared "healthy". So, I purposed cheated on SCD, and then did a scope again, and sure enough the doctor detected inflammation and I got into the study. Unfortunately, FMT did little for me and I purposely didn't go back on SCD for the after-treatment scope because they would surely attribute the improvement to FMT, which wouldn't be true for my case. After that latter scope, I returned back to SCD and everything returned to normal. However, I have noticed though that over time as I age, the tolerance window to cheat is getting smaller, as is the food range.

So yeah, definitely unique, but probably everyone thinks that of their own case!

Oligodar said...
Unfortunately, there is no solid evidence that food can cause/stop a flare.

fortunately, i have solid evidence every time i poop ;-)

TT

ladies and gents I feel like exercise and sleep helps more with getting in or out of a flare. At least with me, when I do not sleep enough, stay late, wake up late, and don't exercise, UC bothers me a lot more. What's your opinions and experiences related to sleep and exercise?
In terms of food, my experience has been that it does have a big effect on me when flaring. Some flares I have also blamed on my food, but then again who really knows. If a bad meal causes you a flare, that means you were already on the edge - if you eat something "bad" today you may feel the effects tomorrow, but the TRUE effects you will see them after a week, takes time for that inflammation to build up to the point you get cramps and see your poop gradually change for the worst.
I'm jamming a lot of things here, but I just started Florastor, looks like it's helping, I used to take VSL and Align, but they stopped working for me. Strange thing I found on Florastor is that it contains lactose, which I'm ok with but I know some of us cannot have lactose when flaring