Westernized Diet is the Most Ubiquitous Environmental Factor in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Westernized Diet is the Most Ubiquitous Environmental Factor in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

http://www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2019/winter/6956-bowel-disease.html

Lifestyle-related disease in Crohn’s disease: Relapse prevention by a semi-vegetarian diet

https://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v16/i20/2484.htm

If you do not have time to read it, here is quick summary:

"If you are in remission, semi-vegetarian (Plant-Based) diet might protect you from relapse."

I was a vegetarian for many years when I got UC, quite healthy and active. UC hit like ton of bricks and I don't think it was food poisoning. While trying many diet modifications (because RX by itself was not doing anything to relieve my UC symptoms) I had to start eating meat because so many other foods caused problems. Meat always make my gut happy.

I finally determined what diet worked for my gut and got to remission, still taking Balsalazide daily. Today I could probably go back to vegetarian diet but don't want to rock my boat.

I agree that Western diet, being meat, sugar and fat laden, is inflammatory. It may be the tipping point for people who have IBD potential. But so many eat huge amounts of meat and don't get UC (no one in my fam has any IBD). On my personal level meat is not the cause.

UC prisoner said...
Hmmmm ... food for thought 🤣

if you can actually call that "food" -

Diet studies are full of contradiction, so much more study is really needed to bring some sanity and consensus to the varied conclusions out there. Anecdotal reports here are equally contractions. I was a vegetarian and then was diagnosed with UC; I went vegetarian and then my uc was in a remission; I was a vegeterian and adding back meats put my uc into a remission! For some of us the fibers from a plant-based diet can aggravate our symptoms and destroy us.

I'm a proponent that UC is a genetic-deficiency, something we're born with that is activated later in life due to epigentic changes. We're not guaranteed from birth to have UC, rather we are just more predisposed or likely than others to get UC. Epigenetic changes are often environmental-exposures. Perhaps we have weakness that make us less able to bounce-back from bacterium-die-off shocks than the general population (that is antibiotics set us off down the cascade of failures that produces UC). Perhaps our mucosa barriers are more permeable and less effective at warding off attacks than others are (that is pathogenic bacterium are able to attack healthy tissue and set the immune system off). Perhaps we're more depressed and stressed and that starts an inflammation cascade and hormonal changes that trigger it.

Could diet have some role in it? Perhaps. Certainly what we eat has an affect on the diversity and concentrations of various bacterium within our guts. However, diet could be countering a symptom of UC (weird bacterium makeup, more bad guys and less good guys) much as mesalamine treats a symptom and reduces inflammation.

All interesting stuff, and for those so inclined, diet is yet another tool to try. There's just never a guarantee that any one thing will be your/my solution. With a lifelong, chronic illness we have many many years to try lots of things, and some might just work!

I can confirm that fiber is problematic at least in my case. I am in remission (objectively confirmed by colonoscopy). If I eat bigger amount of fiber I get UC-like symptoms within 6-12 hours. These symptoms linger for several days. The most problematic food is: beans and whole-grains. This does not agree with suggested vegetarian diet which is rich of fiber.

I for one don't do well on the Winterized Diet - my gut and butt miss all the varieties of fresh fruits and veggies that a Winterized Diet just does not supply -

I've had enough frozen chick peas - bring on a bowl full of fresh pickled cherries ! Washington cherries that is ;-)3