Here is part two of thoughts for a summer diet for colitis. As with everything to do with diet, don’t change it for change sake. Think about how your current diet may be affecting your symptoms and when change effected, make it one thing at a time.
Foods that cause inflammation include what most people think of as fun food or comfort foods, such as sugar-laden treats, refined white foods and fried foods. They are the ones that break down quickly into sugar.
Sugar is inflammatory so it needs to be avoided completely. Limit your bread and cracker intake, and when you do eat these foods, make sure they are pure whole grain. Eat brown rice, not white rice. Corn and potatoes have a high glycemic index, meaning they break down into sugar quickly, so they should be eaten in moderation.
Healthy snacks should be the order of the day such as fruit. For drinks, unsweetened iced tea with lemon is a great alternative to fizzy or sugar-laden drinks. Sparkling water is another option but don’t overdo the bubbles. Still water should also be the more prefferd option. Yes you can have fruit juice but watch the amounts you drink due to the natural sugare and the amount of acid. option.
If chronic inflammation is a problem, I encourage you to eat like this for two to three months. After that, you can evaluate how much sugar and refined food you want to add back in. I believe that you will notice enough of a difference that will help you to curb those poor eating habits in the future.”
As always, it is a chance for trial and error, test and refine and find what works best for you. And when really strong symptoms are being experienced, it is often better to virtually not eat solids at all and rely on medicated drinks.
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