MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

I have a question about Soy. Everything I know about Soy is that it has anti-inflammatory properties, which would seem to make it beneficial for those of us with MC. I'm not talking about whole beans because I am following a low fiber diet...but things like Tamari sauce which is brewed without wheat and used in small quantities seems like it should be beneficial. Why is all soy considered something to avoid?

Because if we're sensitive to soy, and we eat it, our immune system will produce antibodies that cause the type of inflammation that triggers MC, due to intraepithelial infiltration with lymphocytes. The claims about soy being antiinflammatory are BS.

Tex

Thanks, Tex. Got your MC book and read it the other day...thanks for sharing your wealth of information.

Here's another simple question (I think) as I start on this journey: typically how long does our body take to recognize and react to something we eat? For instance, is the D that I had at 9pm tonight likely the result of the egg I had at lunch or the garlic I had with dinner? Having a handle on that time frame will help me as I embark on the elimination diet.

I appreciate all you do!

Hi Barbara,

It would be nice if it were that easy, but unfortunately it isn't. There are a few general guidelines, but each of us has a different reaction time to each food sensitivity, and thse reaction times can vary, depending upon our sensitivity, and/or our stage of healing. Keeping a food journal helps, because it allows us to spot general trends.

Part of the problem is that the turnaround time for food going through our digestive system depends upon how far away we are from normal digestion. Even normal digestion requires various turnaround times, depending upon the particular foods we've eaten, and the amounts of them in our meals. The more inflamed our digestive system becomes, the shorter our turnaround time becomes. And the shorter our turnaround time, the sooner the food will reach our intestines, and the sooner diarrhea will begin to develop.

In general, once we swallow food, it may begin to exit our stomach in about 2 to 4 hours. Liquids go through sooner, and certain foods that are more difficult to digest, can take longer. And of course this may depend on how well we are able to digest those foods (which will depend to some extent on the degree of inflammation). Note that once food enters the small intestine, if we are sensitive to that food, our immune system will begin to produce antibodies to that food, and a reaction will begin. But even the initiation of a reaction is a time-dependent process, so that typically, MC reactions to a food in one of our meals will begin from 3 to 6 hours after we begin eating that food. However, in certain cases, reactions may take one or two days, or even more, to begin. For example, for some of us, this may be true for dairy products and/or excess amounts of sugar.

However, some of us seem to react to dairy products much faster. For some MC patients, soy can cause faster and more severe reactions than even gluten. The fact that so many things can vary in so many ways, makes predicting reaction times pretty much guesswork. As I mentioned, keeping a journal can make tracking down food sensitivities a simpler process.

You asked for an opinion as to whether the diarrhea you had at 9 PM was caused by the egg you had at lunch, or the garlic in your meal at dinner. The answer depends on when you had dinner. If it was before 5 or 6 PM, the reaction could've been caused by either one. If you had dinner at eight, or later, the reaction was probably due to the egg you had at lunch.

Unfortunately, nothing is simple about microscopic colitis. If it were simple, doctors would be able to treat it effectively.

I hope this helps,

Tex

Thanks, Tex. I'm coming to the reality that this disease will keep us guessing constantly - not easy for me to accept since I've always been a problem solver. Always looking for solutions. I had a food/dosage/symptom diary going, but let it lapse when things seemed OK. I'll start it up again.

Have also guessed that the Eggplant in last night's dinner may have been the issue. My reading reminded me about Nightshade plants and how I had D after sampling a friend's homegrown tomatoes recently. I don't see anybody on this forum mentioning Nightshades so I guess I must have missed that.

My husband and I have a veggie garden with 7 beautiful heirloom tomato varieties maturing right now, so I guess I'll have to give my share to the neighbors. Boo hoo! I'll sample a few first, before parting with them. Have you had issues with Nightshade foods?

Frankly, I'm not sure that nightshades are as big a problem for us as they are made out to be, although I'm sure there are exceptions for some individuals. And it's possible that eggplants might be a problem for some of us, especially while we're still recovering. Nightshades are more likely to be a problem for arthritis patients who have a positive result on their Rh factor test.

The problem with tomatoes is that they're actually a fruit, and they contain citric acid. Citric acid causes most of us to react while were still recovering. But after we recover, and heal a while, most of us can tolerate citric acid just fine. Reactions are dose-dependent, so, depending on your stage of recovery, you should be able to handle small amounts, and those amounts will increase as you heal.

Tax

Good to know,..thank you

You certainly have a wealth of information. Glad I found this forum

Tex,
Thanks for information. Sorry I am so late in responding, but we have had company and I am just recuperating!
Got a little confused at the end of your email, but I think I get what you are saying. Glad to know that I may not be sensitive to the sweet potatoes. I will give them another try. I see your point about the bison cross breeding. The place I am getting the bison meat from says their meat is 100% bison, but I understand the bison they started with may have been cross-bred at some point. So far, however, I have not had any problems with the ground bison.
My big problem right now is that I am scared to death to add things back in, so afraid I will loose the ground I have gained. Things have been pretty "normal" for almost a month. In the past, a month of normal is about all I get and then things break loose again. I need to get more nutrition back into my diet. Right now it is potatoes, rice, zucchini, most meat, Rice Chex Cereal for snacks, Potato Chips (helps with electrolytes and my doctor says eat away!), Almond Butter and that is about it. I did try a waffle made with gluten free flour and that seemed to go O.K. even though it did have eggs and dairy in the batter. Working with bone broth and rice noodles. Going to try and add some celery and carrots, cooked to death, in the bone broth this week. I can drink coffee and tea and have used maple syrup and a little honey with not apparent problems. We are hoping to go on vacation for several weeks in October and I so do not want to be in a flair. Praying every day things stay normal and I don't add in the wrong thing.
Thanks again for your help.

It takes from 2 to 5 years for the intestines to heal completely, so adding new foods into our diet is best done slowly and cautiously. To add a food, start with a very small portion and increase the size slightly each day for three days. If you haven't had a reaction by then, the food is probably safe, and you can add it into your diet. Never test more than one new food at a time, because if you have a reaction, you won't know which food Is causing you to react.

The reason we have to start slowly when adding foods is because when MC first develops,as the intestines become more and more inflamed, we progressively lose our abilities to produce the enzymes needed to digest various foods. Consequently, as we begin to heal, we have to allow the body time to learn to adjust to our enzyme production needs for our meals. The more healing we accrue, the better we will be able to produce all the various enzymes that we need.

Some of us don't completely recover the ability to produce adequate amounts of certain enzymes, so we may have to limit the amounts of those foods in each meal, in order to be able to digest the meal properly. Especially while where still recovering, and still healing, smaller meals are much easier to digest than large meals, because of the risk of running out of certain enzymes before the meal is completely digested. Eating smaller, more frequent meals, or more in between meal snacks, helps to ensure complete digestion.

Because some of us have a more compromised enzyme production capability than others, it takes some of us much longer to be able to add new foods into our diet. It took me almost a year and a half after I reached remission, before I was able to add any new foods back into my diet, because my intestines apparently had a lot of damage from the inflammation that needed to heal.

In general, it's usually much more prudent to be super cautious about adding foods, because if we accidentally initiate a flare, it can be very difficult to resolve. We basically have to start over with our recovery, and that's no fun.

Tex

Hi everyone. I’m sure this is not the greatest way to post my first time. I just wasn’t sure how to start a new thread. I am so glad I found this! I am in the midst of a flare and it’s been a couple of months now. My husband is out of town and I am feeling very isolated. It’s amazing how this disease can make you feel like a prisoner in your own body! I just wanted to say hello and get to know some of you!

Hi,

Welcome to the group. Microscopic colitis is often considered to be a nuisance disease by many gastroenterologists, but if this isn't a life-altering disease, I wonder what it takes to qualify for that rating.

To start a new thread, simply go to one of the categories (in which the threads are posted), such as the "Main Message Board", and click on the link labeled "New topic" (at the left edge, above or below the posts), and then follow the same procedure that you followed to post your message, after you clicked on the "Post Reply" link below this thread.

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

Tex

Ok great! Thanks for the reply!

Tex,
I just wanted to thank you for your reply to my 7/20 post. I have had a few family crisis's going on and lots of company. I so appreciate you explanation of adding in new foods. I was doing it all wrong. I did not realize that you needed to add them in small amounts for three days. I thought 24 hours as enough. Praise God I have not had any problems with the few new foods I have added in. I will be much more careful in the future!
I may just hold off on any new foods until we get back from our vacation in October. I so do not want to have any problems while we are gone. I just read the July issue of the Microscopic Colitis newsletter on Traveling. Not sure if you write that or not, but it is very helpful as well. Looks like I will be taking a lot of food along. We will be eating out some and eating at peoples' homes. Not sure which is the more dangerous!!

Cheryl

Cheryl,

Yes, I write most of those articles, and I did write the one you mentioned. I'm glad it was helpful.

I hope you'll be able to enjoy your vacation trip. Maybe the coronavirus surge will be over by then, so traveling and visiting will be a lot safer.

All my best,

Tex