Trans fat

So I've been doing some research and most studies confirm that the specific inflammation markers that are increased when consuming trans fat are the TNF-a protein. I was wondering if anyone noticed if they were more prone to flare when they ate food containing trans fat, my reasoning is I am coming upon people with the opinion that food does not contribute to flares but the amount of evidence towards trans fat say that it could.

I have a few links but here's one.
https://authoritynutrition.com/why-trans-fats-are-bad/

Post Edited (Aries324) : 3/11/2017 5:50:46 PM (GMT-7)

have had lots of flares from food, but most assuredly not from anything trans -

As you can see there are some who say food doesn't affect their IBD but look deeper and you will find that there are many others who swear that food can trigger symptoms. Gluten and dairy are the usual suspects but trans fat also affects me and that is why it is in my signature. Omega-3 and EPA fats from fish oil are the opposite and helps me to remain in remission, also in my signature.

Yeah, food intolerances are definitely not the same thing as a flare-up. That doesn't stop people from constantly confusing the two things though.

In my experience food intolerances and UC flares are closely related. For me symptoms are a warning sign to back off or else.

For example last year it was chocolate. I had been eating it for years with no problems but all of a sudden it was triggering symptoms. But I was in denial and continued to eat it, nobody ever wants to give up chocolate. Eventually my symptoms after eating chocolate became worse until finally they morphed into a full-blown flare.

Once in a flare diet no longer mattered, nothing I did including avoiding chocolate and carefully watching my diet and taking supplements. Losing 5 pounds a week, bloody diarrhea 15-20 times a day, arthritis returning, etc. continued on until I once again needed antibiotics to jump start me back into remission. (ABX have saved me from flares more than once).

For the past few years I kept a mental food diary to isolate and avoid any triggering foods that might worsen into a flare. With few exceptions (like last year's chocolate) this has keep me mostly in remission.

IamCurious - You have linked the chocolate to your flare-up, but to me it is not at all obvious that the two things are linked. You do make one interesting point though. In a proper flare-up, food stops making any difference. That was the case for me too. It didn't matter what I ate or, rather, didn't eat: the underlying inflammation was still there, getting slowly but surely worse.

I'm not saying you don't have UC, soy. If your scopes show UC, then you obviously have UC. I would then say, however, your diet doesn't seem to be working very well if there is still active inflammation.

Sorry to the original poster.... trans fats are hardly used any more, and being phased out of products. But UC goes on...

Soy's story is confusing. On one hand he says he has no active inflammation. On the other hand he claims his flares involve all the symptoms NCOT mentioned, including raised inflammatory markers.
So which is it? Do flares have an underlying inflammatory source? Or, in Soy's case, are they grain intolerances giving symptoms?
When was your last scoop, or flare up Soy?

NiceCupOfTea said...
Yeah, food intolerances are definitely not the same thing as a flare-up. That doesn't stop people from constantly confusing the two things though.

I don't think this is correct for all people.

NCOT - you seem a bit confused at times - i cite what works for me, and the experiences i have had - nothing more, nothing less -

as to what your problem or problems are, i don't have a clue and have never claimed that i did -

if you are confused about whether or not i am in remission, i can't help you with that one either - and it's not really a concern of mine -

what exactly is your motivation in trying to discredit the experiences of others ?

Hi, joining this discussion because for the first time in a while I am struggling with a flare....and while it is probably not as severe as some, it is doggedly persistent.

My story. I am 71. I have had UC since I was 16 years old. That would be 55 years. I have yet to meet anyone else that has had it this long. But then most people I meet don't tend to make IBD a topic of conversation. Before these boards and the Internet, it was a pretty lonely disease because I knew NO ONE who had IBD, and most did not (and still do not know) what IBD really is.

When I was diagnosed in 1961, it took a long time. I was hospitalized for a month after rapidly losing wait, constant diarrhea and lose of blood. Needed five blood transfusions. I believe, though no one connected it then (or if they did I was not told), it was a result of using strong antibiotics after a minor surgery for sinus issues. When I developed a sudden fever, and extreme diarrhea, the surgeon had my parents give me aspirin for the fever (and totally ignored the D). My dad, frustrated took me to our regular doctor, took one look and had me admitted to the hospital.

So anyway I have lived with UC for over five decades. My worst years were between ages 16 and 35....but I persisted, went to college, became a teacher. Mostly prednisone was the choice for me when dealing with it originally and it helped. Surgery was avoided though my parents had been warned that probably within a year after diagnosis I need a "bag" but apparently the prednisone sufficiently decreased the inflammation for me. I was on and off prednisone for well over a decade. Then in my late twenties, early 30s a new GI guy started me on Sulfasalazine and introduced me to Immodium. He did not believe "diet' was the cause or cure but suggested paying attention to my own body. After I hit and went through menopause, my flares seem to come less often and less severe (interestingly enough that first emergence of the disease was not long after beginning the menstrual cycle...homones/??)

Anyway I am now in a flare that is dogging me. Just had a colonoscopy (yearly) and no cancer but a hot flare. WHY? Nothing has changed. Same diet, same life style. ......I did move. New water system? GI put me on prednisone (first time in decades) starting at 80, then tapering. Now down to 20 but in the meantime had two bouts with "stomach virus?" vomiting and diarrhea. Got past them but the UC flare seems to be firing up again. So I came here to see what is new, what others are doing. I am using VSL#3 again...when not flaring was doing fine on another probiotic.

What a frustrating disease for us all. I have come to believe after 55 years that there is no one answer for us...that sometimes the flares are just random attacks, and sometimes the subsiding of them are out of control. I do, when I am flaring try to watch what I am eating. But honestly, I was on a STRICT diest for years when first diagnosed and honestly it did nothing other than making me envy those that could eat without thinking about the effects.

Just wanted to connect......again. Been here on and off for years.

@Soy - Okay then, you're not annoyed. Happy? (No.)

I meant, what happened to the inflammation shown on the scopes. Did it go away? Have you had a scope to confirm it went away?

No, I don't think inflammation is there forever - that's what remission is, lack of inflammation. If you have inflammation, you're not in remission.

@Judyjo - Hi. Please ignore the bickering <_<. I hope you can get your flare up under control soon. I would guess the move had something to do with it, but it could be any one of a hundred things - it's just impossible to say. Has your GI put you on anything than prednisone?

@NCOT I have been on Sulfasalazine for well over thirty years, but I lower the dosage when I am not flaring. So I am upping that again, and using VSL#3. After I end Prednisone this week, I am to give it 2 weeks and if the flare has not settled she wants me to try UCERIS. I have never used it but she said it is another inflammatory but less side effects than Prednisone.

Having lived with this for 55 years, I know how unpredictable the disease can be. Right now my flares are not extreme, no measurable bleeding, just watery and unpredictable D. Also I had two instances of what seemed like either a stomach virus or food poisoning in the past month and that has not helped. I have felt pretty carefree with diet the last few years until this flaring started. One of the downers of this disease, for me, is that it is an emotional bummer. One finally starts feeling normal and every thing is working and BOOM....it all goes away in an instant. I am trying to remind myself that in many ways I am lucky having lived with the disease and yet not having to go to surgery or some of the heavy duty meds others have needed. So it is always good for me to come here because I am not sure people without IBD can ever really get the impact it has emotionally. And it does not help that so many of us tend to cover and say "fine" even when it is not "fine."