11 Person Ulcerative Colitis Diet Survey Data

Today, there was a survey conducted relating to Ulcerative Colitis Patients and Diet.  The survey consisted of 5 questions.  Thank you to everyone who was part of the 11 member group who participated in the survey and some of whom shared valuable information about how diet has affected your disease, and especially for everyone who has added advice to other UC patients.  And a very big thanks go out to Shelly who was the “instigator” of this survey, and who gave me the push in the you know what to make it happen.  I think its a great reminder to everyone who is struggling with this disease, and especially those of us who don’t have any neighbors (or local friends or family who are also struggling with ulcerative colitis), that together with the internet it is actually quite easy to interact and share experiences.

Here are the results from the 11 entries that were submitted:

Ulcerative Colitis Diet Survey:

Question 1:  When Were you Diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis?

More than 2 years ag0:        5

1-2 years ago:                         4

More than 6 months ago:    1

Less than 6 months ago:      1

Question 2: What type of Diet did/do you treat your Ulcerative Colitis with?

Paleo Diet: 2

SCD Diet:  3

GAPS Diet: 0

Your Personally Invented Diet: 5

Other:        1

Question 3: Did you see and feel reduced colitis symptoms from your diet changes?

Yes:  11  (100% of the entries marked yes…wow)

No:    0

Very little  If Any:          0

Question 4:  If you are using diet and other forms of treatment (medications etc…) what else are you doing, and do you think the combination of treatments is working for you?  (9 of 11 responded to this question)

Entry #1:

Yes

Entry #2:

I take Omega-3s 3:1 EPA to DHA ratio, about 6g/day
SCD scdofilus 10+, 2 caps a day
SCD multivitamins, 3 a day

and Mezavant 4.8 g a day, trying to cut back on it, though

Entry #3:

I’ve been on Scd diet for almost 1 year now + medications. The combination is working for me. If I eat something I shouldn’t, I’ve noticed that UC immediately worsens…so there’s also a close connection between UC and diet in my specific situation.

Entry #4:

I eat a lot of cold pasta with either Tuna, cubed Beef or Prawns, mixed with Light Mayo, Mustard, and salad cream, and cherry tomatos or Olives in brine.

Baked Marfona potatos a little light mayo with baked beans are also fine.

Also Bolied Rice mixed with cooked mushrooms, Eggs that have been dry stir fried, so they are similar to scrambled eggs all mixed together in a dry non stick Wok or with a little fry lite, sometimes add some small prawns, it is very close to A chinese special fried rice and I never get bored eating this ! and Sulphasalazine, I drink mainly water and tea with milk. if i have a flare up I go on the above and it sorts out the flare up within days. you will lose weight on this food though !

I find saturated animal fat sets me off
Mostly yes

Entry #5:

Currently on Remicade every 6 weeks, been on that for 5 infusions so far. Been tapering off Prednisone over the past 3 months, down to 10mg per day from 60mg per day. Hoping to be completely off within 3 more weeks. Before I made significant diet changes, I did not feel very much improvement in symptoms from medications, so I definitely think changing the diet helped the medications do their job better.

Entry #6:

Asacol
Canasa
Prednisone
Garden of Life Probiotic

Entry #7:

Diet and supplements under the guidance of a naturopathic doctor. Lots of anti-inflammatory supplements (cucurmin, quercitin etc) My diet is based on Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions. It is a gluten free, refined oil free, organic, sugar free, whole food diet. I use an elemental diet when I have a flare. Emotional Freedom Technique, Bodytalk and other alternative energetic healing techniques including lots of prayer also help my body..

Entry #8:

Reflexology, relaxation, eating pro biotics and yes it helps

Entry #9:

Digestive enzymes, L-glutamine, DGL, Cod liver oil, strong probiotics

Question #5: What other information would you like to add about your experiences with Diet to treat your UC? (8 Entries out of 11)

Entry #1:

Not everyone can do the SCD or GAP diet. Use diets like these as guidelines and if you are intolerant to certain foods ie lactose, red meat, onions and garlic etc eliminate these foods from the diet that you are following.

Entry #2:

none

Entry #3:

Any sacrifice is worth the effort. My diet is very strict. I have to exclude gluten, dairy products, soy, yeast, sugar and much more …it’s not always simple, but this diet makes my UC life a little bit easier, so it’s worth it :)

Entry #4:

I eat a lot of cold pasta with either Tuna, cubed Beef or Prawns, mixed with Light Mayo, Mustard, and salad cream, and cherry tomatos or Olives in brine.

Baked Marfona potatos a little light mayo with baked beans are also fine.

Also Bolied Rice mixed with cooked mushrooms, Eggs that have been dry stir fried, so they are similar to scrambled eggs all mixed together in a dry non stick Wok or with a little fry lite, sometimes add some small prawns, it is very close to A chinese special fried rice and I never get bored eating this ! and Sulphasalazine, I drink mainly water and tea with milk. if i have a flare up I go on the above and it sorts out the flare up within days. you will lose weight on this food though !

I find saturated animal fat sets me off

Entry #5:

My husband also does the Paleo diet. I stick to it more than he does because if I eat a “forbidden” food I feel the effects within hours. When I cheat I always regret it.

Entry #6:

My best advice I can give is to avoid dairy and anything sugary (even if you think it’s relatively better sugary stuff like gluten-free/dairy-free cookies, ice cream, etc.). It’s a really hard transition to make if you have been used to eating sweets and cheesy pasta dinners frequently, but if you stick with it, after awhile, you start to not miss things nearly as much. Also, keep a food diary and pay attention to your reactions. If you try something new, stick with it at least 2 or 3 days so you can really see the effects (I was much too impatient for a long time and kept trying new things so I could never pinpoint what was effective and what wasn’t helping).

Entry #7:

It always a work in progress, you get better at it and cravings lessen for “illegal foods” I don’t even crave those nasty things anymore. Granted I’ve been on and off the diet for 7 years.

Entry #8:

Don’t give up! There’s a better way! I believe changing your diet will help improve your life.

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Thank you again to everyone who participated in this survey.  I hope the answers that you all provided will be valuable for the decision making process for other future generations of similar folks like us dealing with Colitis.  If you have any ideas of future surveys that you would like to participate in along with other UC’ers, please let me know via the Contact US page at the top of the site.  Have a great day and rest of 2011, and for sure please realize that ulcerative colitis is just a disease, it’s for sure not the end of the world.  Whether you keep your colon your whole life, or have it removed, life for sure goes on, and happiness and good health is not out of the picture for any of you.(Also, in case you are wondering, I was not a participant in this survey)

-Adam

PS: If you would like to take the new survey, feel free, it’s limited to 35 entries and it’s all about Taking Prednisone/ Prednisolone for UC, its right here:

Adam

I started site  shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).

For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms.  Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful.  But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.

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