Do UC what IC?
Ulcerative colitis is the inflammation of the large intestine, which includes the rectum, descending, transverse, and ascending colon. Ulcerative Colitis, also known as UC is a condition I have recently encountered via my son. Untreated, it can be one miserable experience that can render someone disabled. Apparently, it cannot be cured, but it can be contained.
My son, Phil, was hospitalized last July for heat exhaustion. He suffered from heat exhaustion for nearly a month straight before collapsing at a medical clinic. His home had an ill functioning air conditioner, so he got no relief from the heat after working in a hot truck all day. His kidneys were shutting down. If he returned home, he would surely die.
He moved in with us and I was horrified to learn the seriousness of his condition. He had been complaining of problems with his stomach for quite a while. Doctors had not really diagnosed his condition and medication they prescribed made things worse. Phil was emaciated! He weighed about 125 lbs and looked 20 years older than he was.
I suspected he had pancreatitis and felt the plant based diet would help him greatly. Converting a carnivore to an herbivore is no easy task. Phil would sneak off and go get something to eat that would disable him for days at a time. (I just learned that he eats a few bags of chips a day from the snack basket we put out for the delivery persons).
Together we learned of things that helped him. Ginger. bitters, ginger beer, a tiny bit of baking soda in water, Arnica for pain, all seemed to help. He actually quit most of the medication that was exacerbating his problems.
Eventually, he explained to me exactly what the Doctor told him about his condition. That’s when I learned that he had UC and not pancreatitis. He also had diverticulosis. UC is essentially severe inflammation of the large intestine. Diverticulosis is the potential to have diverticulitis, which is inflammation of little pits in the intestine.
The symptoms can include:
- Stomach pain and cramping
- Rectal pain
- Joint pain
- Frequent loose bowels
- Rectal bleeding
- Constipation
- Sudden loss of weight
- Fatigue
- Fever
Phil had all but the fever.
Phil was aware that Jalapeño’s did not set well with him. He could eat other peppers, but not those. We learned that dairy was something else he needed to avoid. He was lactose intolerant, so it wasn’t necessarily ALL dairy. He was glad to hear it since peppers and cheese were two of his favorite foods. The Doctor told him to eat yogurt. I told him to make it lactose free if he did.
When I thought he had pancreatitis, I told Phil to avoid greasy or high fat foods. He learned really quick that that greasy sandwich he snuck off to eat was not to his benefit. So, we determined that these kinds of foods would cause UC to flare up.
Doctors will tell people with diverticulosis to not eat anything with seeds and stick with a low fiber diet. I disagree with the low fiber part and agree with abstaining from seeds only when there is a flare up of diverticulitis. UC patients may go back and forth between constipation and extremely loose bowels. Keeping fiber at a consistent level is paramount to even out the bowel.
Not all vegetables are equal.
Steamed vegetables and blended soups were very tolerable. Especially root vegetables. We found he could only tolerate one cruciferous vegetable per day. Broccoli soup was easy to eat. He had cauliflower, broccoli, kale and brussel sprouts all in one day and he felt his guts were on fire.
He loves beans. If I put a piece of kombu in the beans, he could tolerate them. He learned to drink a glass of water with 1/2 tsp baking soda after eating beans. Adzuki bean chili, make with Urfa Biber pepper, didn’t bother him at all. I guess not all beans are equal.
Phil likes tomatoes but he LOVES spaghetti with tomato-based spaghetti sauce. Tomatoes are too high in acid. I learned to add a carrot to my spaghetti sauce. It neutralized the acidity and added a touch of sweetness usually obtained by sugar.
Potatoes, noodles, rice, polenta, oats and bread didn’t affect him at all. Butter and oil gave him instant diarrhea though.
What about protein?
The doctor told him to avoid protein powders. I am an advocate of lower protein levels, especially with animal protein. According to Dr. Colin Campbell (The China Study), 5 to 10% protein in the daily diet are sufficient. His studies showed protein levels over 5% of the daily calories for animal protein and 20% for plant protein could trigger cancer. Watching my son waste away and stagger from weakness forced me to look into protein for him. I found a probiotic protein for him that may help his gut heal.
Another supplement I found for him was quite by accident. I was reorganizing my spices and had a package of Marshmallow root. I had never used it but had acquired it as a gift. I googled it to learn of its culinary use and found it to be more medicinal. In fact, it is very helpful to people with UC. Phil immediately made himself some peppermint and marshmallow root tea. It made his gut feel much better. See bullet 3 of this article here. Marshmallow has so many benefits that I might decide to buy more and use it myself! It has no discernable flavor though. It could be added to a smoothie or something.
Speaking of smoothies
I make smoothies with blueberries, oranges and bananas. (Thanks Anthony William – Medical Medium). While Phil could do bananas, the oranges were too acidic. I never tried just blue berries on him. Bananas and pumpkin with cinnamon and ginger was very tolerated. (Drink on constipation days as pumpkin has a very laxative quality).
Celery, cucumber, ginger, a little lemon was a great juice from the juicer. If blended, this mixture is very fibrous and may be difficult to drink. It is very healing though and again, aides in constipation.
Cherry juice is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. So are Aloe Vera, pomegranate, and papaya. Pineapple is anti-inflammatory but may be too acidic. Blending it with bananas might tone it down.
Potatoes are very healthy and aide the digestive system. I save the water when I boil potatoes and then drink it or use it as a broth. Save water from beets, rutabagas, turnips or even daikon radish. Use the water in smoothies or soups.
Anytime something is too acidic, balance it with something that is not. Avocados are a wonderful way to temper the acid in fruits.
Salads rock!
Nothing will balance the system better than a salad. Salad greens don’t have to be lettuce. Try radicchio, spinach, kale, beet greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, endive, grated squash, shredded carrots, grated daikon, spiraled squash. Try all of your different lettuces for sure, but be aware that you can mix in these other choices and make the salad more nutritious!
Soup is a great choice too. Especially if the broth for the soup is from the vegetables and not from a package.
Eat dense, not lean!
People with UC generally have a problem keeping weight on because they don’t eat when they flare up. Certainly, consume foods that are gentler on the stomach, but make certain they are nutrition dense. High fat foods may provide more calories and help keep weight on. However, they aggravate the inflammation and don’t provide much nutritional value.
Advice on the Vice
Phil is 52 and not without bad habits. He likes wine but doesn’t consider the sulfites and tannins in the wine. I know better than to think he will stop, so I could him a bottle of Pinot Grigio. It does not have the sulfites or tannins and is somewhat lower in sugar than a lot of wines. He said it didn’t give him heartburn like most wines.
Caffeine is another trigger. Unfortunately, he has discovered my #12 expresso pods. These have a high caffeine content. He would be much better off drinking herbal tea, but he drinks a lot of black tea each day. If you have to have caffeine, limit it considerably. Caffeine, especially strong coffee, can really turn up the acid in the gut.
Phil smokes too which REALLY aggravates the gut. Sorry smokers, I don’t have a suggestion of that other than to quit. I’ve never been a smoker so I cannot imagine the addiction. I feel for you! When I am using my hands, I don’t consume anything! I suggest finding something to do to keep hands busy and the mind occupied. Smoke less if at all possible!
Wrap it up!
People with UC and still live a long and healthy life. It may possibly reduce the life expectancy by a year or so. It might SEEM longer than that if the chronic pain never seems to go away. It CAN be cured by diet in the early stages, but don’t expect to if it’s been going on a long time.
If you are not willing to make dietary changes, then you can expect the condition to develop to full blown UC that is permanent. Unfortunately, I was able to help my son feel much better, but he doesn’t stick with what he has learned. He pays for it by suffering for days!
Chron’s disease is very similar except it affects the entire gut. UC only affects the lining. I have to wonder if my findings would work for you.
I would love to hear from anyone with this condition and any tricks you have found to live with it. Go to my Fireside comment post and enter a comment there. (Sorry but I get way too many rogue, spam comments when I allow comments on each page).
