Can eating Gluten free help symptoms of UC?

Going gluten free can do nothing but help. Gluten is very difficult to digest so cutting it from your diet will give your digestive system a break if nothing else. You should try cutting it out completely for 2 weeks and then slowly adding it back in and see what happens. You may have a sensitivity without having an actual allergy and this way you can see if not eating it feels any different from eating it. It can be very hard to stay away from gluten though. I was gluten free completely for about 5 months and it was really tough to avoid it in restaurants but pretty easy at home; you just have to get used to the alternatives like corn tortillas instead of flour or no buns on hamburgers etc. But it gave my system a break from digesting all those tough proteins. When i brought it back into my diet i didn't notice a difference in how i felt so i now know that i don't have any kind of sensitivity to it. I really don't eat a lot of gluten any more having been off it for so long. Occasionally i have toast, or cookies but that's really it as far as eating gluten at home.

Try cutting out before you go investing in anything big. I found it really easy to not have bread to be honest. all i wanted was crackers and baked goods. Glutino is the best brand out there and you can find for those things Its at the nicer Kroger's or any health food store. Yes it is a bit expensive but its better to try that first than buying a bread machine. If you do find that gluten-free makes a difference for you, i will recommend Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Analise G. Roberts for all your bread and pastry needs. It has some great recipes that aside from being not quite as moist, taste just the same as their gluten filled counterparts.

The other thing to try and avoid is dairy as the Casein protein is also very difficult to digest. but one at a time for elimination diet. that way you know the way each one affects you.

For anyone who's interested in managing UC through dietary changes, gluten should definitely be eliminated or greatly reduced. Dr. Mercola even recommends avoiding gluten for non-IBDers. You'll see from this link that eliminating gluten is the FIRST STEP in his beginner nutrition plan: http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/beginner.htm

In my experience, when you eliminate gluten, you may not notice an immediate change unless you have celiac disease. If you don't have CD, but are sensitive to gluten, it may take a while for symptoms to gradually improve as the colon heals. And you also have to be aware of hidden sources of gluten so you know you're truly eliminating it.

For the most part, I just don't eat breads, crackers and pasta any more. This can have the happy side effect of weight reduction. I do occasionally eat gluten-free waffles or cookies, but I've found I actually feel my best on a completely grain-free diet. If you haven't already, check out the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for more info: http://www.scdiet.org/ Breads for the SCD are baked using nut flours - primarily almond flour - and are delicious. And they don't require the purchase of any special kitchen equipment.

For information on gluten/casein free diet: http://www.gfcfdiet.com/