MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

Eating Plan - Stage TWO
Work in Progress


As we have previously mentioned life with MC is complex, by this stage you have made various changes in your life and hopefully enjoying days with minimal symptoms (no urgency or watery BM's)
Life with MC will never be 100% perfect. The aim for most here is to have majority of our days symptom free, and be ok when there are the occasional bad days.

Here are some suggestions how to expand your eating plan.

Stay 100% Gluten Free

after months on the bland, low amount of ingredients eating plan, take things SLOW when trialing/adding new ingredients.
The best approach is one new thing at a time. it is normal to have a change in BM when adding a new ingredient.
Have a small serve ( no more than 3/4 cup) one day, wait 24 hours. have another small serve (again no more than 3/4 cup). wait another 24 hours and then have another small serve. If after the third day there are no symptoms, that ingredient is a keeper.

if you react to a new ingredient, stick to your bland 'safe' ingredients until digestion settles down and then try another new ingredient.
Do not try new ingredients if you are tired, stressed, having histamine reactions. only do it on good days

New ingredients need to still be low fibre. Be conscious to not have too many high histamine elements

You can use small amount of fresh herbs when cooking for flavour, but dont eat them (things like rosemary on the stalk etc)
Coconut Aminos is a soy free, gluten free savoury flavouring that can be used for cooking
some can tolerate small amount of Pepper
If you have avoided chicken eggs to this point, try cooked eggs in small amounts
trial nut butters
be cautious about eating out - a big dose of contamination could undo healing work you have achieved thus ar
the safer ingredients of salads in small amounts things like peeled cucumber, kale,

be cautious about tomato - it is high histamine and high citric acid
be cautious about 'gluten free grains' there is still high risk of contamination from manufacture process, and grains are inflammatory to the digestion system
look at some of the paleo recipes (loads of free ones online) and adapt to your safest ingredients

Check out Meal Suggestions area of the forum and Paleo Diet Information
lots of meal and snack ideas -
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=53
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=49

what many of us have found is that we have our 'staples' that we can have every day.
there are foods that are sometimes foods - you can have 3-4 serves per week (any more than that and reactions start to happen)
and there are treat foods - you can have a serve once a month or so.

Try small amount of dairy - even if you dont react, it is something that could be a sometimes food / treat food due to its highly inflammatory nature

once you have an expanded safe ingredient list another element people try at this stage is Rotation Eating.
http://www.food-allergy.org/rotation.html
Like most things in MC world, this does not work for everybody


Depending on how long you had chronic symptoms, how well you are healing, what other health issues you may have, impacts how long you stay on Stage Two.
Observations of what has been shared here on the board, younger people (under the age of 40) that heal well, can return to eating plan with more salads, more fresh fruit etc.
Older members, or those with multiple health issues still have to follow a cautious eating plan majority of the time.

Stage two can be anything from 3 months to 12 months.
There is the situation for a minority of MC'ers that for various reasons they do not move beyond stage 2.

you may have seen 'Methylation' mentioned in discussions
here is a good article explaining methylation and some ways eating plan wise that you can improve your methylation function
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18245/me ... -more.html

Thanks for these great words of advice Gabes....after re-reading it a few times it really does resonate with how I am doing after 2 years of healing...I feel I will be on this stage for another good portion of a couple years maybe longer

Erica,
thanks for commenting.

It is still a work in progress as I am keen to get comments / feedback / suggestions from people, especially those that MC is the main health issue (for me MC is a symptom of other health issues)

with everyones healing journey so different - my aim is to provide cross section of information based on what others have experienced, as simply as possible yet covering the bases. (easier said than done)

feel free to offer comments of what to include, change etc

Great!

After 2 years of healing with just MC:

I find that Romaine in moderate amounts every other day is ok.

I can do egg in baked things, not alone yet, maybe never. Duck egg I'm on the fence too...only in baked goods at this time.

Tomato products are still on the fence, I can do a tiny amount of ketchup but minimal ingredient spaghetti sauce no-go.

I still have to behave and maintain Gluten Free....I have cheated and it's not a pleasant experience.

I've tried a splash of fine shredded cheese on things but rotate this many days in between the next serving.

Too much sugar isn't my friend, as is too much fiber - still working on the balance of these.

Small amounts of frozen almost ripe banana are indeed a new refreshing treat! I rotate these too.

I can still drink my one cup of coffee with minimal ingredient liquid choc Nesquick, and coconut milk for breakfast.

Maintaining Soy free is still important.

I do ok with a local bakery that is a dedicated gluten free bread/products, I don't over eat it though either.

Medication wise:

I find Sumatriptan that I take on the off chance of a migraine will spaz out my gut a full day after I take one pill. But it is either that or endure a migraine for 3 days...so I deal with the effects after one pill.

Love all the info I can garner in this forum. MC is my only health issue. I have been one a very strict diet for 6 mos. After taking the Entero lab basic test, I eliminated all food that were irritants. Within 3 days things got way, way better. Sort of a miracle. For the first five months of a restricted diet my gut still roiled, but no real diarrhea. A few times I had set backs, but mainly nothing. Now for the last month my gut has felt normal, the pre MC normal. I am not tempted to add foods for another 6 months, just to continue healing. Do you think that waiting to add foods for a while longer is a good idea? I have my set foods and eat them 3X a day and these add up to a well rounded diet. I am afraid of going backwards, not a pleasant thought.

Thanks you all for the info, the encouragement and delivering hope.

Hi there Ellen,
while you have good stability symptoms wise yes, sticking with plain bland eating plan is great way to optimise healing.
adding in some 'safe' ingredients in small amounts here and there is also a good thing for a few reasons, a) to start to test some ingredients, b) expand the eating plan so that you enjoy meals c) have ingredients that may allow you socialise 'safely'

if you are going to try new ingredients, ensure it is only one thing at a time, small serve and if there is a mild reaction wait until things settle before trying anything else.

Glad you are enjoying the site and information shared
happy healing

After 2 years of healing with just MC:

I find that Romaine in moderate amounts every other day is ok.

I can do egg in baked things, not alone yet, maybe never. Duck egg I'm on the fence too...only in baked goods at this time.

Tomato products are still on the fence, I can do a tiny amount of ketchup but minimal ingredient spaghetti sauce no-go.

I still have to behave and maintain Gluten Free....I have cheated and it's not a pleasant experience.

I've tried a splash of fine shredded cheese on things but rotate this many days in between the next serving.

Too much sugar isn't my friend, as is too much fiber - still working on the balance of these.

Small amounts of frozen almost ripe banana are indeed a new refreshing treat! I rotate these too.

I can still drink my one cup of coffee with minimal ingredient liquid choc Nesquick, and coconut milk for breakfast.

Maintaining Soy free is still important.

I do ok with a local bakery that is a dedicated gluten free bread/products, I don't over eat it though either.

Medication wise:

I find Sumatriptan that I take on the off chance of a migraine will spaz out my gut a full day after I take one pill. But it is either that or endure a migraine for 3 days...so I deal with the effects after one pill.

I began my healing in 2015 and it's been 2 years since this post in 2017 and I felt like I needed to update how it is going at this time 2019. I find I'm still on this stage 2 eating plan and have had to make minor tweaks to it. I have learned I don't do so well with banana, have moved away from Nesquick and use Almond milk caramel flavor in my coffee, and Almond milk as a staple drink. I still can only do small amounts of romaine, and I can have baked products with any egg type. Still working on whether I can have it in whole form yet. Dairy is still tiny bits here an there with few days in between. The one big thing that happened for me over the last 2 years is that I got off the awful Sumatriptan, by getting my Magnesium levels up I can now stay away from the terrible migraines. I can get a head ache and I can still get what feels like a migraine but if I triple my Magnesium during the day for 2-3 days during this time period I can stave off that head pain that debilitated me for years. If anything I am living a better life just because of that....MC still throws me curveballs but pain from a migraine kept me from lots of things too.

Sugar still isn't a fan for me, and tomato products have to be eaten minimally too, but staying Gluten Free hasn't been that hard at all!

Thank you for all your information compilation Gabes I wonder if I will ever move more beyond where I'm at now.
Hugs
Erica

So I was surprise reading this! Maybe one day I will be able to have a little cheese

I love vegetables. Which vegetables can be added in stage 2?
At which point on the healing journey can raw vegetables be added?
What about vegetable juices or smoothies?

As far as I'm aware, in most cases you need to be in solid remission for at least a few weeks before trying to add any raw vegetables to your diet. At that point you should be able to tolerate most any vegetable, but I'm sure there are certain exceptions for some of us, on an individual basis. Juices are digested much the same as raw vegetables because they contain raw fiber. In my opinion they should be treated as if they are raw vegetables, although surely they are easier to digest than raw vegetables.

Smoothies should work at any stage of recovery as long as the ingredients are safe for that stage. IOW, don't put any raw vegetables in them until after you are in remission. Of course this is just my opinion. Others may have had different experiences, or may have different opinions.

Tex

Hello community!
I am slowly reintroducing a few foods. (Chocolate occasionally!)
I am wondering when I could start with spicy things? What are good starter spices? I am tolerating pepper well. I also seem ok with cinnamon.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Spices are pretty much an individual issue. Most of us are probably able to tolerate most spices after we've been in remission a while, but that doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. Trial and error is usually necessary in many cases. Chili peppers, and sauces made from chili peppers should be OK for most of us.

MC depletes diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme, and DAO is what the body uses to purge unused/leftover histamine. After I had been in remission for years, I began to love fermented hot sauces. But the trouble with that is the fact that those fermented hot sauces are loaded with histamine, and they caused me to develop a histamine problem that I still have to deal with every day. If I don't strictly limit any high-histamine foods in my diet, I develop a rash that itches like mad. Taking a DAO supplement helps, in my case.

Tex

I am a good few years of stable remission, and I still can not tolerate spices.
it is not histamine for me, it is just one of my triggers

to reiterate what Tex said, it is very individual.

I have been doing pretty well for about two years (except each May when I seem to have histamine-related reactions.) I can now handle many ground spices, but I cannot tolerate ANY red peppers or chilis. I react dramatically within an hour for about two hours, until it is all out of my system—impossible when traveling! On the rare occasion I do eat out, I usually request a plain protein, but always specifically ask if it is gluten free, pepper/chili free and xanthan gum free—all common, but hidden and triggers for me. Our intolerances are certainly all different.

I hope you have good luck with your new food trials, Wendy!

Thank you all for replying.
I am going to try a little chili pepper this weekend to see if I can tolerate it. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Wendy