BRAT diet- does it work?

agt13girl,
Welcome and we all hope you feel better soon. Getting to remission can obviously be very difficult and is a different process for everyone. I believe the BRAT diet can help - it is a good start to lower intake of inflammatory foods, but you will need to experiment to see what works for you.
One of the things we did was to look at what everyone else was doing and what worked for them. We also did a ton of online research, which can help you decide what things to try. As you can see from the signature we have tried a lot things.
My first suggestion for you would be to look into probiotics. There are several studies showing them to be as effective as Asacol, Apriso and other 5 ASA drugs. Everyone seems to have to figure which one work for them.
I would also suggest zinc supplements along with multi-vitamins and fish oil.
The things I have suggested have very few negative side-effects (if any at all) and have helped get people get to and remain in remission.
We all wish you the best and share in your struggles.

UCPop

What probiotics would you recommend?

Hi -
I started out with PB8, which helps some folks but didn't do anything for me.... it's inexpensive and easily available. Then I went on to Ultimate Flora Critical Care, which helped me quite a bit, and I started VSL, which helped even more. There's a current thread about getting the Double Strength VSL by prescription so one's insurance will pay some of it, if one is lucky enough to have insurance.
My current GI recommends Align, which is high in bifidum (some research has shown that to help UC.) I just started my son on that one.... dunno if it's doing anything yet.

My basics for diet during a flare include nothing scratchy to further irritate: no raw fruits or veggies, no popcorn, salads... no gassy foods, because the gas hurts - Chinese vegetables, beans, onions.... and I stay away from greasy foods because I guess they're supposed to be harder to digest for anyone. That's not a "cure" for me, but as Quincy said, that's what makes me more comfortable.

So... good question, and please ask more!

bad week with some symptoms...probably.

started a flare...no.

Do consider some digestive enzymes when eating certain foods that might be hard to digest. But, an inflamed colon will hurry things out...some lcoming out ooking like they did when they went in.



q

Yes. I believe the BRAT and BRATTY diets can help. Only there still could be foods on the BRAT and BRATTY diet list that might not agree with you. So you might need to eliminate one or two foods on the list. I can't have the applesauce, because I'm fructose intolerant.

BRATTY - bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, tea, yogurt

I don't really like bananas all that much. I'll eat them, but only once in a while.

Yes, bananas can be constipating. That's why I eat them. They give me formed stools. I never have issues with constipation.

Yes, bananas are high in sugar. They can rot the teeth just like candy if you don't brush your teeth. However, they have a low fructose to glucose ratio; so they are easier to digest than other fruits: they don't tax the liver. Bananas are also easy to digest because of their soft texture and smoothness. And they are known to neutralize over-acidity and reduce irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

I spent most of last year in an ever worsening flair. I made it a lot worse by increasing fiber and raw vegetables trying to cure myself. I went onto a very restricted low residue bland diet in desperation once I began to bleed continuously and began waking to have multiple BMs at night. I went from this to an all liquid diet for 5 days then back to a low residue again. I finally got to see a GI and went back on liquids for a couple days before my colonscopy. I definitely began to get relief from symptoms and I was on Ascol HD and Canasa for only a week before visible blood stopped.

I am back on a healthy fiber diet but if I began bleeding flair I would immediately go on a liquid then brat type diet BEFORE I got as weak as I was last fall. Soluble fiber(oat meal,psycillum husk) and raw broccoli cabbage family really seemed to tear me to pieces.

I agree with @quincy BRAT diet is more of a hype than anything else. Though it might prove to be effective for a short while in the long run, it can be hazardous. Conforming to this diet, you'd be putting restrictions on your nutrient intake. There are several options that you can look into that are better than BRAT diet.

Hoping these dietary recommendations would be helpful. Also, do let me know if I'm incorrect over here. These are the best options that I could gather.

Post Edited (mikefern) : 6/7/2017 7:36:06 AM (GMT-6)