Does Anyone With UC Intermittent Fast?

I know. I know. Intermittent fasting is all the rage right now (insert eyeroll) to boost energy, focus and lose weight.

I was just wondering if anyone uses it to help their UC symptoms? Less in, less out. Do you fast when you are in remission?

No because I get faint and dizzy from low blood sugar if I'm even just late for lunch.

Did someone hack your account?

Nope

Keith,

I do it when I am not feeling well. Clear liquids for awhile, especially ginger tea with honey and SCD bone broth. Then I graduate to SCD yogurt and SCD chicken soup, and fruit smoothies... With an occasional meal shake thrown in. It does seem to help if I am already struggling.

If I am feeling ok--I have to eat real food or I get really sick and start taking zofran alot.

Clo

I'm not sure you should do IF if you are unwell or recovering from a health condition. You'd need to speak with your doctor.

IF is part of the keto diet protocol which aims to burn fat as a fuel source and not carbs. IF will help you enter a state of ketosis so that your carb storage depletes and the body is forced to turn to fat for energy. This is a much more efficient fuel source for the body; but not to knock carbs....They have their place. However the average body contains 100,000 calories of stored fat and only 1,700 calories of stored sugar. The body will always try and use up the sugar storage first as it is quicker to produce energy.

Keto / IF is very popular in Europe but then again we are far more healthier than Americans. The average male american intake of carbs per day is a whopping 300 - 350g.....no wonder ye have so many health, obesity and metabolic disorders.

Another study compared mice with colitis that fasted for 36 hours with a non-fasting group. The results suggest that intermittent fasting led to better recovery of intestinal cells and reduced general inflammation. Interestingly, this study highlights that the food eaten after fasting may also impact intestinal health.

https://www.ibdcentrebc.ca/2021/07/intermittent-fasting-on-ibd/#:~:text=Another%20study%20compared%20mice%20with,may%20also%20impact%20intestinal%20health.

When I'm on prednisone, fasting is impossible. When I get down to lower doses, I usually don't eat breakfast simply because I sleep in so late. Lunch is always my biggest meal.

Inflammation is catabolic (consumes bodily resources) so I don't think intermittent fasting is good for major flares. However, I've met lots of people in remission who say IF keeps their condition under control.

I personally can't fast in any way, shape or form. It makes me angry, irritable and frustrated. Now that I'm power lifting at the gym again, I eat approximately 8 smaller meals per day.

Well I do but I also don't have UC anymore lol

I just like to sleep through the night so I finish eating early

My first three and only three flares I ended up fasting through them. I just had no appetite (even on steroids) and it hurt too much to eat. I wouldn't call them "Intermittent Fasting" because I just didn't eat; I lost almost 50 lbs in about 75 days and ended up in the hospital for 24 days and on Cyclosporine from my first flare - I was all skin and bones with my organs starting to fail; I was in really bad shape. I tried to eat better on my 2nd and 3rd flares but I found it almost as difficult, I really needed to force myself. Once my flares started to improve then I would start to eat again.

Now I eat certain times of the day so I don't have to wake up at night to go because I have a j-pouch. I get up in the morning and go once or twice and then I'm good until the end of the day when I go again.

My j-pouch started acting up a few weeks ago for a few days so I stopped eating for a day and a half plus I took some Pepto. I started eating again and I felt better. That's what prompted the topic.

I like eating on a certain restricted scheduled and I was wondering if others did too.

FlowersGal said...
I do. Less in less out! Plus I also have diverticulitis attacks and that’s the first thing they do is put you on a liquid diet, the thought being that no food passing through will give it a better chance to heal so I followed that advice with UC too. It helps the cramping.

I've been in the hospital more than a few times when they taped the NPO sign on my door (No food by mouth). For some of my flares and my j-pouch surgeries.

Andreita said...
Well I do but I also don't have UC anymore lol

I just like to sleep through the night so I finish eating early

Welcome to the sleeping through the night with your J-pouch club. I'm glad that you made it. You had a tough path. Not every J-poucher can sleep through the night, I wonder if it is because we both eat on restricted schedules. My GI told me that my surgeon constructed a great pouch and it was on the larger side but not too large (which can be problematic).

Maybe once or twice a year I have to wake up at night to go.

poopydoop said...
No because I get faint and dizzy from low blood sugar if I'm even just late for lunch.

To each their own. Some people even consider Intermittent Fasting an eating disorder. But who said that we had to eat throughout the entire day?(the snack, fast and process food industries? marketers?) I'd speculate that our hunting and gathering ancestors went many hours or days without eating, especially during certain seasons and drought periods.

I just don't see what the big deal is to skip a meal or two for most people. I do not get low blood sugar or any adverse symptoms, I sometimes even feel more energetic when I fast. Fasting is not for everyone and I know that some people shouldn't do it.

I do it for symptoms management and to have a routine with my j-pouch.

Sara14 said...
Ok, I was just kidding because poopydoop made the joke first. This forum is too stressful.

Sara,

It's only an internet forum and I wouldn't get too stressed over it. Sometimes people's tone doesn't come through in their writings.