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Insoluble fiber=bleeding for me

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Posted 3/8/2012 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
After over 2 years on my diet modification I thought I knew everything about my colon but apparently not.
And the good news is that I'm way better without the insoluble fiber from nuts.

Background: My GI's prep sheet for my recent c-scope said to stop eating nuts and similar fiber foods a week before the scope.This was hard for me because nuts are my snack food, in nut flour biscotti or nuts themselves-walnuts, pecans, etc. But I did it because I was motivated to have a great scope.

Before the scope I felt good but had to use mesalamine enemas 2-3 times/week due to bleeding. After just a few days on a nut-free diet no bleeding and fewer BM's. I felt fantastic and quitting nuts was the only change. I even ate chocolate and ice cream with no payback.

2 days after the c-scope I ate some nuts again (because I didn't know at that time why I felt so good) and bleeding returned but worse, like my colon was sending a message.

I'm beginning to understand the "low-residue diet" idea except that I won't add gluten back and am still leery about non-gluten grains and other insoluble fiber sources.

I just wanted to pass this along to anyone struggling with bleeding. Use enemas, for sure, but try eliminating insoluble fiber for a week or two and see if it helps.

(P.S. I believe when my colon is fully healed I can add nuts back into my diet. Just like other foods that were on my "out" list for a while. Never say never, just "not now".
Posted 3/8/2012 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
yeah, for me too! I'm a huge fan of soluble fiber, & eat as much as possible every day. But insoluble kills me. Nuts I can handle in the form of butters- I eat a lot of tofu dishes with a spicy pnut sauce, or a spicy almond butter sauce... Straight nuts do me in though. I think this is probably true for most UC'ers- insoluble fiber is roughage, while soluble slows down transit time, thickens things up, etc. Try a big spoonful of pnut butter, or almond/cashew butter for a snack- you get the same protein & energy boost, with no gut trouble. Or if you do smoothies, mix in a spoonful of pnut butter.
Posted 3/8/2012 11:35 PM (GMT 0)
hmmm....i personally think you should lay off nuts for good. I can't tolerate them even when im in remission; like they don't give me bleeding but they give me gas and urgency and looser BMs.

Now having said that it doesn't mean that you should lay off ALL insoluble fibre!! i definitely don't think this is a good idea. Insoluble fibre is what gives bulk to the stool and if you eat the right type (like the one in Rice) it can definitely help with solidifying loose BMs and protecting the colon from damage by acting like a 'sponge' that sucks up the toxins and the faecal matter. Metamucil is also great for this puspose. Start with a very small dose though like 1 teaspoon a day.

Besides: the insoluble fibre in the nuts is different to the ones in other plants.
Posted 3/9/2012 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
I even ate chocolate and ice cream with no payback

Forbidden foods like chocolate and ice cream are OK, but eating legal foods like nuts and yogurt led you down the primrose path? Maybe you should start all over again. The good news is that at least you know that food is a large part of the problem. So maybe start over with food that you know is absolutely, positively, SAFE, and then add new items one by one.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason for what hurts me. Gluten grains are sinkers but I can eat corn, quinoa, buckwheat, and rice with no problem. Even popcorn is OK. I cannot tolerate kale but other cruciferious vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are fine. Fruit is good but plums are poison, etc., etc., etc.

I am luckier than most because I get immediate feedback when something goes wrong. Eating something bad at lunch will produce symptoms that evening. Maybe it is because I don't take meds or enemas that might mask the symptoms. I don't know. From reading some of the stories here I think I have a comparatively mild case of IBD. (Hope I didn't just jinx myself). But when I was flaring my symptoms were just about as horrible as it gets, and included all of the other extraintestinal manifestations.
Posted 3/9/2012 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
I have also noticed that nuts cause bleeding for me, I will be fine but when I start eating nuts it will result in blood later on. I seem fine with nut butters though. Too much insoluble fiber is a no no for me when flaring and when in remission.
Posted 3/10/2012 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
Eva
Yes I have been getting my snack fix from almond butter lately instead of almond meal or individual nuts and having no bleeding. I don't quite understand the diff. but my colon does. I thought nut butter was just ground up nuts. Guess I wasn't chewing my nuts enough?

Conquer
Thanks for the suggestion. I just don't like to say "never" for any food, makes me too sad lol. But I will lay off nuts, except for nut butters, for the time being.

BabeITW
I hear what you're saying. You don't want to come right out and say I'm fooling myself that my gut is OK with chocolate and ice cream lol. But really it is :-) I have "tested" them thoroughly haha. Not even much gas anymore with dairy. I might even try SCD yogurt again when I get the time to make a batch this weekend.

The areas of SCD my gut agrees with 100% are gluten-free, non-starchy veggies and high-protein. So many other foods really took trial and error (lots and lots of error during trials).

Dendro
Me too. Why did it take me this long to figure this out?
Posted 3/10/2012 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
BabeITW
I hear what you're saying. You don't want to come right out and say I'm fooling myself that my gut is OK with chocolate and ice cream lol

I can eat chocolate because it usually doesn't have hfcs. And I can eat ice cream as long as it doesn't have carrageenan. I eat yogurt and drink lactose free milk. I am glad that you can now also enjoy them. I was thinking. but just did not want to come out and say, forget the SCD protocol and determine for yourself what works.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 3/10/2012 7:05:33 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 3/10/2012 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
Babe

You are right about SCD. My diet success cannot claim to be SCD, too many SCD "legal" foods that my gut could not handle until it got healed. But I have looked and looked at all the UC diets out there and could not find a single one that fit my guts "happy" profile. Paleo Diet really comes the closest but I now eat some things that Paleo Diet doesn't include and eliminated nuts which Paleo includes.

I agree with you. Keep a food journal and determine personally what foods agree with your gut. That however is incredibly hard when everything makes my gut PO'd. When all was going to hell I wanted some list of foods that someone said was safe and SCD was what I tried. If I had done Paleo instead I would probably gotten better faster & sooner, but Paleo Diet is not on the radar screen for UC. It should be.
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