Ulcerative Colitis

[jkelly24]

My mother age 73 has recently been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and is now on medication. She says she has been told to avoid ALL fruit and veg during any 'flare ups' but when I have researched this on line I can only see that you are advised to avoid RAW fruit and veg and peel. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

[ayabrea38]

My mate was supposed to suffer from this( doctors changed their minds at every appointment),but he still enjoyed peeled apple,pear and bananas.I think it was acidic fruit that he mainly avoided,and things like strawberries.
Cannot help much with veg as he never ate much anyway,and never raw.
Good luck.

[Eve]

Could it be something to do with the fibre content and extra "roughage" with vegetable skin and peel? A low fibre diet is sometimes recommended for people with chronic diarrhoea (depending on the cause). If there are ulcers in that area, I imagine too much roughage could be painful too as opposed to maybe a softer stool?

If you can catch Scarlett on here, I'm sure she has UC and might have more of an insight.

[Sqad]

Certainlt it has been shown that raw fruit and veg, when taken in a "flare up" exacerbates the pain and diarrhoea during that period. It is better to boil or steam them for that episode and also eat small but frequent meals. it is a matter of "trial and error" in identifying foods that make it worse during these episodes..e.g milk and cheese.

[clipclop1]

I'm a fellow IBD suffered and the only advice I can give is that UC and Crohns is unique to each individual. Yes I would agree that that certain foods should be avoided during a flare but exactly which foods she should avoid will only be determined by a trail and error which will take a considerable amount of time I'm afraid....!
The thing with fruit or veg is that some are quite fiberous or hard for the body to digest which then caused the gut to be irritated and then causes more flare but these symptoms are individual to each sufferer. I have crohns and can easily eat broccoli, mushrooms and drink alcohol... things that lots of other sufferers can't even think about without going into flare! Generally I'd say from doing my own research that every IBD sufferer should avoid sweetcorn as everyone tends to struggle hugely with it. On the flip side I struggle with bananas as they're fiberous, I managed to re-introduce them and was having one a day for the last 2 months but just last thursday I started having 2 a day and started seeing symptoms so they're now cut out my diet for a long while!
My consultant once advised to try and stick to a chicken and rice diet as that was what was done in the 'olden' days as both are very easy on the gut.
Yes, blending and/or boiling veg for a long time so its soft will help to break it down before you even touch it so I'd recommend trying that but it really is a case of going to a basic diet for a few weeks and SLOWLY introducing certain foods back into the diet one at a time.
Hope this helps... I would also recommend going on the Colitis UK website and go on the forum there as its full of other sufferers who are always happy to help! IBD is a complex illness that nobody really understands unless you're a sufferer, I have managed to bamboolze each and every GP I have come into contact with since I was diagnosed so she needs to get herself referred to a consultant and then, hopefully, they'll have an IBD nurse who you can call for an appointment whenever a flare occurs and they can help with steroids or other medicines to help calm things down.

I hope this answer helps, I'm always here for fellow IBD sufferer advice!

Good luck x

[Sparkles62]

I also have Crohns and would agree with clip clop, its different for everybody, and very much trial and error.
I have problems with oranges, olive oil and sunflower oil, ( including all the spreads with them in aswell ) and coffee.
I have found that I can cope with one or two cups of mild coffe a day, but I only have half a spoonful of coffee at a time.
Its just a case of watching what you eat and what makes you bad, It might be a good idea to keep a food diary for a month or two, if she notes down everything that she eats, and the time of eating, and notes down her bowel movements and pain and the times that she has these, you can then look back and see what is causing her problems, I found this a great help when I was first diagnosed. X