New to Ulcerative Colitis

First, let me welcome you to the forum.  I recently joined and have found it to be an amazing place to find information, comfort, and even humour. 

 

Everyone is different when they are flaring.  I found a list of foods in a dietary book at the hospital where I work and when I am flaring, I follow it very closely.  It works for me, but that doesn't mean that it will work for you. 

It's pretty simple to follow.  Eat the opposite of the way we are told.  LOL.  By that, I mean white bread, white rice, white pasta, NO raw fruit or vegetables (I can eat canned peaches, no skin, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, green beans), avoid nuts, spicy foods, etc.  The list is pretty long.  I will post it if you want.  Dairy has always been okay for me (thank goodness )

When I am in remission, I can eat anything I want pretty much, but knowing that I have UC keeps me from eating unhealthy (high fat, high cholesterol, high salt, etc).  I have never found that a particular food brings on a flare. 

 

Please do not ever be embarassed by UC.  I am very open with mine and in my opinion, if someone is uncomfortable with it, it's their issue, not mine.  I have found that 99.99% of people are completely fine with it and it helps them understand what your needs are if they are aware.  It is also important for us to educate others. 

 

Spend some time reading all the posts on here.  I have found them to be incredibly helpful. 

 

 

 

Hi, and I'm sorry you have UC, but welcome to the forum!

I have UC, and my son was diagnosed when he was 13, so we talk about it a lot at my house.

And, whew, I know what you mean about being angry at having this at all. The whole idea of "Having A Disease" is hard to accept. But then - a whole lot of people have some kind off issue, it's just that this one is our issue.

We find that there aren't a lot of "black and white" rules about what you can or can't eat, which makes it hard - we have to figure it out for ourselves.
So - you said you've been experimenting with what not to eat, and that's good.

When flaring, my son and I have found it better to stay away from things that are scratchy when they go through, like popcorn, nuts, salads, coleslaw..... things that are gassy, because sometimes the gas hurts - like beans, gassy vegetables.... and fried or greasy things, because they are harder to digest.
I tend to avoid spicy things but my son has never given them up.
Both of us can eat dairy.
I just received the book "What to Eat With IBD" and I wish I'd had this book when I was first diagnosed - it basically says what BCGirl said - eat opposite of what everyone these days says is "healthy" - eat white rice, white bread, when you're flaring, peel an apple and don't eat the skins..... and be extra careful around food that might have some spoilage, because we might be more sensitive to bad effects from spoiled food than some people are.

What did you mean that you've been experimenting with medications?

Read things here, do some searches, learn about it - and I hope you go into remission soon!

the only diets i know of that work if your are interested are raw foods and or scd. or you can talk to looking for the cure. he did pretty well on a diet that he did for himself. or there is a guy called russlle mariani. Russlle is very expensive but so far my friends online with chrones said hes really good and has restored their health. hes the only one that uses things like rice, but he doesnt use ordinary rice he uses like shrot grain brown organic rice, and miso soups. your young and if you act now on these things you might be ok. if you go for the medical rout you will end up with the meds not working and maybe getting surgery- saying that there are some people on here that are successful with the meds and they have worked for them a long time. Im personally sacard of it. the medical route is my last resort. the natual is the first. you symptoms will keep getting worse uless you do these. mine did. its up to you you may be lucky and the medicins work for you. me personally they stopped working. Take care. if you want to find out more there is a raw food line called? www.rawfoodsupport.com, or you can google russlle. take care im sorry your dealing with this illness. its nasty really nasty. but you will get there and be able to deal with it no matter how you chose to deal with it.

Your immune system may be "triggered" into a flare if you cannot tolerate a food or have a food allergy so everyone is different about that. I agree that you need to just keep your own notes about what foods you tolerate best. Ask your parents (or someone who cared for you growing up) about foods you typically had problems with.

 

If something gives you diarrhea or other problems then avoid it.

 

Gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, is in most of the grain-based products, such as cereals, breads, and pasta. If you never had a problem with gluten before you started your flare then its unlikely gluten is something to be concerned with.

 

You may just want to avoid higher fat dairy. It’s really the fat that gives people problems during a flare. Some people are lactose intolerant but again, that’s something you would have noticed before you had your flare.

 

For most, foods will not cause a flare or get you out of one but low fiber diets will make a flare more comfortable when food is passing if your flare has considerable amount of ulcers well up the colon. Some, with more mild flares, actually add a little fiber to assist with their bowel movements.

 

I agree to avoid gas producing foods. Gas makes your colon more active, it smells and the gas can be uncomfortable.

 

Add a probiotic to your diet.