Diet Can Help Ease Inflammation
Has your ulcerative colitis made you afraid to eat out of fear of causing painful symptoms? Knowing what foods make you feel worse can make it easier to live with the disease. But you might also have another condition that affects your digestion and could be making the inflammation in your colon and your symptoms worse. The answer could mean expanding your list of foods to avoid with ulcerative colitis.
Foods to Avoid With Ulcerative Colitis: Dairy
Lactose intolerance is a common issue affecting the general population as well as people with ulcerative colitis, said Themos Dassopoulos, MD, associate professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology and director of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Lactose intolerance prevents you from properly digesting lactose, the sugar found in milk and dairy products, because the small intestine lacks the digestive enzyme called lactase. Lactose intolerance doesn't directly affect the large intestine or colon, but it can cause similar symptoms, such as abdominal pain and diarrhea, than can be mistaken for UC. Avoiding dairy products or adding lactase supplements can reduce these symptoms.
Foods to Avoid With Ulcerative Colitis: Caffeine
People with ulcerative colitis can lose a lot of
water through diarrhea and are at risk of dehydration if they don’t
drink plenty of beverages to replace the lost fluids. But it's important
to choose the right beverages, starting with water. Coffee and tea as
well as chocolate and other foods containing caffeine act as diuretics,
causing water loss. What's more, they can trigger diarrhea or make existing diarrhea worse in people with UC.
Foods to Avoid With Ulcerative Colitis: Unhealthy Fats
A 2014 study in the journal "Gut" showed
women who ate a diet high in trans fats, such as those found in
processed foods containing hydrogenated oils, had a higher risk of
ulcerative colitis. In contrast, those who ate more omega-3 fatty acids,
found in fatty fish, had a lower risk of UC. Dr. Dassopoulos added that
limiting unhealthy fats such as saturated fats found in red meat as
well as trans fats is a good idea for overall health. “My advice to
people with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease is to follow a
healthy Mediterranean diet,” said Dassopoulos. “Limit red meat.”
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