Diet Question

Discussions on the details of treatment programs using either diet, medications, or a combination of the two, can take place here.

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Vcopans18
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Diet Question

Post by Vcopans18 »

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and was hoping to get some advice as far as foods to eat with MC. I was diagnosed last year and have been trying to control my symptoms through a diet for about 4 months. I am not on any medications, though I am taking daily supplements such as L Glutamine. For the last two months, I have been eating only chicken, beef, peas, broccoli, and zuchinni(without skin and seeds). I have not seen much improvement, and have eliminated chicken and beef in favor of turkey last week and am hoping that will help. I know peas are very high in fiber and that fiber can be difficult to digest. Does anyone have any experience with this/ would it be worth trying to cut out peas? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!
Victoria
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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Victoria,

Welcome to our Internet family. Switching to turkey should help, because virtually none of us is sensitive to turkey. Lamb and meats such as goose, duck, pheasant, quail, rabbit, venison and shellfish should also be safe.

The biggest problems with peas is that they are a legume, and most of us are sensitive to soy, which also makes us sensitive to most legumes. If you want to try a similar vegetable, green beans seem to work OK for most of us (despite the fact that they are also a legume). Carrots and sweet potatoes are also safe for most of us.

You are on the right track. Without any meds to mask the symptoms while the diet is healing the intestines, it typically takes most of us roughly 6 months to see significant improvement. Some see results much sooner, but many of us take longer — up to a year or more in some cases, depending on how much damage has accrued, and how well we respond to the diet changes.

A safe, simple diet will get you to where you want to be, and you seem to be well on your way.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

And please keep us posted on your progress.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Vcopans18
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Post by Vcopans18 »

Thank you for your advice! I'm glad I found this forum and am hoping I will see some improvement in the near future. I will start by eliminating peas from my diet and seeing how it goes. Thanks again.
Vcopans18
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Post by Vcopans18 »

Hello,

It's been about two weeks since I switched to eating turkey and I have also eliminated all spices except for sea salt from my diet since last week. I had one day of slight improvement but my symptoms have since returned without showing any signs of improving. Some of the supplements I am taking include ParaMicrocidin (grapefruit seed extract) and Intestin-ol (which contains oregano, thyme, and clove oils). Could one of these supplements be doing more harm than good?

Thanks again for any advice you can provide.

Victoria
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Post by tex »

For most of us, other than vitamin D and in some cases magnesium (where there are signs of a deficiency), the fewer supplements we take during recovery, the faster we tend to recover. Most of us cannot tolerate citrus products while we are recovering, for example.

In general, a simple, bland diet is the key to recovery from MC, and spices, condiments, and supplements can defeat the purpose of a simple, bland diet.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Vcopans18
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Post by Vcopans18 »

That is good to know. I will try weaning off of the supplements, especially the grapefruit seed, and hopefully I will start to see some improvement. Thanks again!
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Gabes-Apg
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

The other element to the supplements is the inactive ingredients etc like Soy, etc.

as you might be reacting to the peas, have you eliminated all Soy from your eating plan??

another aspect, did you get new cooking pans & utensils? are you using items that are also handling gluten etc? hard to believe but yes... small amount of contamination can cause this amount of issue
Gabes Ryan

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Vcopans18
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Post by Vcopans18 »

Hi Gabes- thank you for your reply! I have eliminated all soy as my diet currently consists only of turkey, broccoli, zucchini without skin or seeds, and sea salt. Right now I am the only one using my cooking utensils so I don't believe there has been any contamination. I am holding out hope that lowering the dosage of my supplements may be the key. Thanks again!
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

one weird aspect of MC world, is that a small amount can cause the same reaction as a large amount, so lowering the dosage of the supplements may not provide benefit or an indicator of what is causing the issue.

to truly confirm if they are causing the issues, it would be best to stop them, and once there is reasonable stability to your BM's introduce them one at a time.

so far as eliminating soy from your diet, if you are highly reactive to soy, you may need to also check lip balms, lipsticks, moisturizers etc.
Gabes Ryan

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Vcopans18
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Post by Vcopans18 »

Thank you for your advice; I did not think to check my chapstick and such for soy- I will make sure to do so! And for now I am slowly diminishing the dosage of my supplements with the ultimate goal of stopping them completely soon. Hoping for the best!
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Post by HappyBird »

Vcopans18 wrote: I did not think to check my chapstick and such for soy!
I changed my toothpaste to Earthpaste after realising most standard toothpastes have fluoride in them. Fluoride toothpaste is a product that strips our bodies of magnesium by stealth.
Psoriatic Arthritis
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Elimination Diet Start : 1/9/15
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Gabes-Apg
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

A common aspect for many here is that once they remove gluten and dairy, other ingredients like Soy become the main trigger.

that is why I mention these things as continual small amounts of exposure to these types of triggers can cause symptoms to continue...

good luck with the transition off the supps...
Gabes Ryan

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koksvik

Post by koksvik »

tex wrote:For most of us, other than vitamin D and in some cases magnesium (where there are signs of a deficiency), the fewer supplements we take during recovery, the faster we tend to recover. Most of us cannot tolerate citrus products while we are recovering, for example.

In general, a simple, bland diet is the key to recovery from MC, and spices, condiments, and supplements can defeat the purpose of a simple, bland diet.

Tex
You just provided the answer to a question I put to myself this morning. Over the last few days I have been starting the day with a mug of hot water with honey and lemon juice followed by an orange. I felt the diarrhea was getting worse so now I am changing that habit.
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Post by tex »

Hi,

Welcome to our Internet family. There's something about citric acid that bothers most of us when we are still recovering. I couldn't handle citric acid at all back when I was recovering. After I had been in remission for a year or 2 I seemed to be able to handle it OK. But now again, 11 years into remission, I find that citric acid tends to sour my digestion and cause problems. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with MC or if it's just a symptom of ageing. For me it causes the same problem as bile acid malabsorption, so it makes me wonder if my pancreas is not capable of producing enough bicarbonate to neutralize my gut pH, or my enteric nervous system is just not sending it the right signals.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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