Indian Diet Plan for Ulcerative Colitis (What to Eat & Avoid in colitis)

Imagine in this festive season, there is a lavish food platter served in front of you. But you are stuck with a dilemma of whether to eat or no? Are you tensed about the experience that you will have after food? People with ulcerative colitis will completely relate to what we are going to discuss today. Read on to know about causes, symptoms, complications, treatment and Indian Diet Plan for Ulcerative Colitis (UC).

 

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a disease that affects your large intestine or colon. It causes irritation and swelling. Eventually, it leads to ulcers in the lining of intestines.

Ulcerative colitis affects the innermost lining of your large intestine (colon) and rectum. Symptoms usually develop gradually over time.

If not treated on time, ulcerative colitis can sometimes lead to life-threatening complications. It sure has no cure but symptoms can be controlled and reduced. One can experience a long term remission period.

Before we move on to the Indian Diet Plan for Ulcerative Colitis (UC), let us first understand more about ulcerative colitis.

Symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis :

Ulcerative colitis symptoms can vary. It depends on the severity of inflammation and the area where it occurs. Symptoms include:

• Diarrhea often accompanied by blood or pus
• Abdominal pain and cramping
• Rectal pain
• Rectal bleeding — passing a small amount of blood with stool
• Urgency to defecate
• Inability to defecate despite urgency
• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• In children, failure to grow

Complications of ulcerative colitis :

If not treated on time ulcerative colitis can lead to following complications –

• Severe rectal bleeding
• Perforated colon – A hole in the colon
• Severe dehydration
• Osteoporosis – Bone loss
• Inflammation of your skin, joints, and eyes
• An increased risk of colon cancer
• A rapidly swelling colon
• High risk of blood clots in veins and arteries

Causes of Ulcerative colitis

• The exact cause of UC is unknown. Faulty diet and stress aggravate the Ulcerative Colitis symptoms.
• Compromised immunity can be one of the causes. The basic response to infection is inflammation. But, faulty immunity leads to extreme inflammation in UC prone individuals.
• Heredity is also a possible cause. But, this phenomenon is rarely seen.

Risk Factors of Ulcerative colitis

• Gender: Ulcerative colitis affects about the same number of women and men.
• Age: It is not age-specific. It can target any age group.
• Race or ethnicity: Although whites have the highest risk of the disease, it can occur in any race.
• Family history. You’re at higher risk if your parent, sibling or child is suffering from UC.

You may be interested in reading –

• Indian diet plan for piles
• Diet tips for indigestion and gas
• Home remedies for acidity and GERD

Treatment of ulcerative colitis:

There is no specific known cure for UC. But UC treatment has 2 step goals:

1. To ease the symptoms and give your colon a chance to heal.
2. To prevent more future relapse.

You need a balance of diet changes, medication, or surgery for ultimate relief. Here is an Indian diet plan for ulcerative colitis.

Indian Diet Plan for Ulcerative Colitis (UC)

Dietary modification in Indian diet plan for ulcerative colitis:

• Soft bland food is much accepted by the body than spicy or high fiber foods.
• To get enough vitamins and nutrients a low fiber, high-protein, high-calorie eating plan is necessary.
• Eat small meals every 2 or 4 hours.
• Drink at least 8 cups of water per day to avoid dehydration.
• Eat foods containing added probiotics and pre-biotics to encourage better gut health.
• Limit oils to 8 teaspoons a day.
• There are people who cannot tolerate milk or milk products. This is the stage where they develop different levels of lactose intolerance.
• There may be people who can tolerate curd and buttermilk but no other milk products.
• And on another side, there are few individuals, who cannot tolerate even a single milk product. At such times milk is replaced by any plant-based milk like almond, soy, or coconut milk as per tolerance.
• Certain people cannot tolerate wheat. They are categorized as gluten-sensitive individuals. They should avoid wheat, broken wheat, Rawa, rye. Rice, maize flour, and potato starch or potato flour replace wheat.
• Low fiber or low residue diet works wonders for individuals suffering from UC. It contains easy to digest the food that controls the episodes of diarrhea.

Indian diet plan for ulcerative colitis; Foods to include:

• Grains and cereals: Include rice, soluble fiber-rich oats, quinoa, multigrain bread, jowar flour or maize flour. Daliya if tolerated is a good option.
• Legumes – You can include dals, small pulses like moong, and moth-beans in moderation.
• Dairy: If you can tolerate, consume up to 2 – 3 servings of milk or milk products. Paneer, curd, buttermilk, custard, or pudding are better tolerated by most of the individuals.
• Fruits: Include soft mushy fruits that are not high in insoluble fiber. Fruit juices with no pulp, ripe bananas, melon, muskmelon, watermelon, plums, peaches, and apricots are allowed.
• Vegetables: Cucumbers, zucchini, cooked spinach, pumpkin, gourd vegetables, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, and green beans are a good option.
• Fats and sauces: Consume the restricted amount of oil, ghee, or butter as per tolerance.
• Meats and other proteins: Soft and tender cooked poultry, eggs, and fish are better digested. Try incorporating more omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. They have an anti-inflammatory effect. It is found in fish like salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines, walnuts, and olive oil.

Indian diet plan for ulcerative colitis; Foods to avoid:

• Red meat or high-fat non-vegetarian foods.
• Deep-fried foods, junk, and fast foods.
• High fiber raw vegetables like lettuce, cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, or brussels sprouts.
• Heavily spiced sauces, gravies, pickles, or chutneys.
• Foods and beverages containing caffeine and cocoa.
• Avoid alcohol as much as possible.

Endnote:

Always remember, having ulcerative colitis doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your taste buds to boring or bland food. Yes UC makes it difficult to enjoy all the foods that you like. The low-residue diet allows eating a majority of foods. I hope this Indian diet plan for ulcerative colitis helps you.

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