Foods and Colitis/Proctitis

When I was first diagnosed, my doctor put me on a bland low-fiber diet. Until I am completely off the Prednisone (6 more weeks) I have to stay on the diet.

After that I am going to add 1 thing every 3 days. A friend asked me what was the first thing I would add, I said Pizza. My husband pointed out that perhaps I should add something healthy like a vegetable (what a spoil-sport). (I will probably add green beans first!)

tlhall - hope the pizza doesn't upset you, but I know for me, dairy is b-a-d. Consider Soy Cheese Pizza as an alternative. ZPizza(chain) has a good one! It's tough, I'm from NY and definitely miss my pizza

Michele - I too have Colitis/Proctiits. Over the years I've figured out that these things set me off in a bad way: beer, wine, caffeine, dairy(light butter ok, cream, milk, cheese, bad), insoluble fiber(like dried fruits, apple skin, cherries, etc..), fatty foods, high sugar foods and anything fried. I know this probably sounds like a lot of no-no's but it's really not. It's just smart healthy eating, which is easier for me here in CA vs. when I was back east. I know I left out liquor above. It seems to be okay most of the time, but a few times has caused problems so I would, sadly, add any alcohol to the no list. Everyone is different, this is what works for me. good luck!

I love to cook and have always cooked, for the most part, healthy. I have been monitoring the foods I eat since I got diagnosed.

I can no longer digest spinach, which I used to love to eat. I have no issues with tomato sauce or dairy. I no longer eat red meat. I do eat more fish.

I guess this is a learning process for me since this was my first bad flare-up.

beachlife, I'm the same as songlady, dairy doesn't bother me, but the two times I cheated and had tomato sauce (once on pizza, once on a meatball) I had a setback. Also recently while on travel I had a setback, I don't know if it was the stress of travel or the sausage gravy on a biscuit I ate!

I can not eat pizza, deli meats for sandwiches, KFC, eggs, basically nothing spicy. No red meat for a couple years now. I tried my luck with spaghetti last Friday after work and lost. Braver on the weekends when I have time to recover. Chicken or fish, rarely pork, with veggies well cooked. Sometimes when I feel crappy I will have a Big Mac combo and after I pass that I feel a bit better. Crazy but true. No milk but a splash of cream in my coffee. I could go on but I won't bore you any more. Hope you figure out what works for you soon.
Chris

As you can see, we are all different in how foods affect us! The best thing would be for you to keep a food journal and see what seems to help or hurt you.One of the many frustrating things about UC is that we each respond so differently to so many things, foods, meds, supplements........and also each of us within the course of our disease can respond differently. Tomato didn't bother me for the first 23 years...! Then last summer in a mild flare, WOW, did it bother me.

"Pot luck" - yes, lol, what a great way to put it!

That's why one's own diary can be the best help of all.... but at least here you have some ideas of the groups of foods some find discomfort-making. If I were you I'd start by focusing on one group of foods (dairy, or tomatoey/acidy, or raw/sharp) and see if any of those increase your discomfort or symptoms, then move on.....

Oatmeal in the mornings; on weekends I would have eggs with toast
One to two cups of coffee a day with creamer (i'm not a big coffee drinker)

Lunch:
grilled chicken with a salad
tuna sandwich
turkey sandwich
soup and sandwich (usually tuna or turkey)

Dinners:
homemade chicken soup
pasta with marinara sauce
fish
chicken with potatoes and veggies
chicken cutlets, baked in the oven, rarely, I will fry them
home cooked beans with rice and veggies
omelet with cheese and veggies and toast

Veggies are usually broccoli (cooked until very soft)
Carrots (cooked until very soft)

Everything I eat is homecooked. I very rarely order out.

I don't eat any pork or red meat. If I have bacon, it's turkey bacon. When I make my sauce for pasta, my meatballs are made with ground turkey.

Snacks consist of:
baked chips with mango/peach salsa (on occasion, not an everyday thing)
100 calorie packs (cookies)
banana bread (on occasion)
popcorn

Very rarely do I fry anything, I bake most of my food.

It's hard to tell for me. When my flare is bad with over 10 bms a day, id stick to mostly gluten free and bland foods with no dairy just to be safe. Now the blood stopped an i have 2-3 bms a day, still loose/a little thickening of stool and im eating back to normal, still eating healthy but i notice when i eat sweets i seem to have more stool/urgency but on nights i take a suppository the urgence is less the next day.

As i wrote about sweets a few minutes ago. I had some trader joes ice cream last night an as i sit here on the toilet im having more urgency than last few days plus a little blood. Go figure! The sweets are sooo good though 0_o

I have stopped eating anything with gluten, chocolate, refined sugar, anything whatsoever artificial (colors, sweeteners, preservatives, etc), and also done away with most dairy, except for homemade yogurt.  I have cut waaaaay back on grains, cut back on beans, and upped my intake of lean meats (from virtually none to about 3x/week).  I have always eaten a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, they seem to be good for me and don't seem to impact my symptoms at all.  I have done all sorts of experiementing, eliminating various foods from my diet (gluten, dairy, etc.) for several weeks and then trying them again to see if I notice a difference.  If I notice anything negative at all, I cut it out again.  It seems almost everyone has different things they react to, if anything at all.