Confessions of a Fitness Instructor

Hi everybody!  Today, while I run around doing laundry, cleaning and buying groceries I thought I’d share some tips on how I try to cook healthy and tasty meals for J and myself keeping in mind that he has ulcerative colitis (UC) and therefore is on a very restrictive diet.  For those of you not familiar with the disease, you can read up on it here.  In a nut shell, UC causes inflammation of the large intestines, that inflammation can lead to sores on the intestinal walls which can lead to internal bleeding.  Fun times right?  So to avoid that loveliness, we try to stick as closely to the recommended diet that was given to him by a dietitian which I’ve outlined below:

Foods to Avoid

• brown or wild rice
• granola, course bran cereal, and any other cereals with nuts or dried fruit
• multigrain bread, cracked wheat bread & breads, muffins and crackers containing nuts, seeds and dried fruit
• regular jam & marmalade (anything with seeds)
• pickles, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce
• popcorn, coconut, nuts
• highly seasoned food, pepper, salsa
• aged and strongly flavoured cheeses
• salted smoked meat (except ham), spiced meats, canned meat stews, corned beef, processed meats (i.e. hot dogs, pepperoni, sausages, chicken nuggets, etc.)
• nuts, seeds, dried peas and beans, lentils, chunky peanut butter
• raw fruits (except bananas) and veggies.
• dried fruit
• the following vegetables (regardless of if they are cooked or raw) barley, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, lettuce, lima beans, onions, peppers, radish, sprouts, sauerkraut, tomato and turnip

Okay, I’ll let all that sink in for a minute………….okay ready to move on?  Here is what is on the “okay to eat” list:

Allowed Foods

• white or whole-wheat (but white is recommended) bread, muffins, waffles pancakes, biscuits and crackers with allowed ingredients
• most cereals including oatmeal and oat bran
• white pasta and white rice
• margarine, butter, cooking oils, mayonnaise
• plain soup stock (made without onion powder)
• jello, sherbet, fruit ices, fruit pudding (made with allowed ingredients)
• white, brown and icing sugar
• maple syrup (natural – no Aunt Jemima), corn syrup, molasses, honey
• plain candies, chocolate
• jelly & seedless jam
• water, carbonated beverages, coffee, tea
• mild herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, cinnamon, chives)
• milk, soft & mild to medium cheeses, yogurt, ice cream
• white fish & salmon, beef, pork, ham, poultry (must be baked, broiled, roasted poached or stewed – no frying)
• eggs, smooth nut spreads & tofu
• fruit juices and vegetable juices
• baked apples (peeled), applesauce, bananas, canned: apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, pineapple, mandarin oranges
• well cooked & tender:asparagus, beans (green & waxed), beets, beet greens, carrots, peas, mushrooms, eggplant, parsnips, potatoes (white & sweet), squash, pumpkin, spinach, swiss chard, water chestnuts, tomato paste & plain tomato sauce.

Most other items not listed in the “to be avoided” and “allowed” foods lists are okay too.  Everyone is different so this is only a guideline given to us to use, any foods on the “appropriate” list should be fine, but any of the not listed items are sort of trial and error.

Honestly with the exception of a few things, unless it’s on that “allowed foods” list, we don’t chance it.  J does eat chicken strips, french fries & ketchup (all things that are actually listed in the “to avoid” list) but he finds as long as he drinks a lot of water with them he is okay.  So it’s been a few years (4 I think?) since I’ve had to start being a ingredient list ninja (onion powder? no good.  Is there celery in that coup? Can’t have it. Coconut in those cookies?  put them back.  Seeds in the crackers? no good either…) and have found a number of items that we now consider staples around here that help to make eating regular meals a little bit easier.

For the first few years we used only tomato paste in pasta and pizza and to be honest, it’s a little tart.  Not so enjoyable.  Then I discovered Hunt’s Original Tomato Sauce.  This is the only pasta sauce we use (well we will get the Hunt’s Original Tomato Sauce that is salt free if this isn’t available) because it really has next to nothing in it.  The tricky bit is on the label one of the ingredients is “spice.”  Does that mean there is onion powder in it?  Possibly, but in this case I don’t think it does as it really tastes like straight up cooked tomato.  I would be surprised if their “spice” was much more than some salt.  There is no basil/oregano/parsley in it so you have to add that yourself, but it is real tomato sauce!  The day I found this in the store I did a happy dance!

I don’t always by the V8 juice, sometimes I get Ocean Spray or No Name, but I try to always get the blueberry pomegranate 100% fruit juice to help get the extra antioxidants & each glass contains 2 or 3 servings (depending on the brand) of fruits.  When you can’t eat raw fruit drinking some of your servings is really the only way you can get some of those flavours and nutrients.

Considering the guy isn’t a big yogurt fan, the creaminess of Activia makes it more palatable for him and the extra probiotics help keep things in check which is an added bonus.

Pre-packaged broths are another tricky one.  How was it made?  Does it have onion powder in it?  Probably.  But we’ve used it without any issues for a few years now so I’m going to say for us anyway, whatever “spices” are in there are in a small enough quantity that it is okay.  The good thing with broth whether it’s beef, chicken or veggie is the added flavour it gives.  It makes an otherwise dull meal have a little more of a yummy factor which is nice.

Apple sauce was listed in the “okay to eat” list, and while I like homemade best I don’t have time to make a batch every week to ensure there is enough for him to have a serving each day.  I find the pre-packaged cups are inexpensive and a really easy and conivenant way for him to get in yet another serving of fruit.  As an added bonus this type doesn’t have a bunch of weird ingredients in it:

These last three items are things we really attribute to his good health these past couple years.  While we have no scientific proof to show that they have helped keep him healthy and free of flair-ups, we really do believe that without them he would suffer more symptoms than his does.

#1 Water

and LOTS of it.  Especially if eating a more questionable food, J will drink hoards of water with it to help dilute the food and hopefully minimize any damage it may cause.  It just makes sense, the more liquid in your abdomen when food is being processed, the easier it will digest and move through the body.

#2 Peppermint Tea

Peppermint is already known as a natural remedy for indigestion, but it also helps relieve many intestinal disturbances and is an excellent drink for anyone suffering from nausea, IBS, diarrhea, and aids in digestion.

#3 – Garlic

Garlic works not only as a natural antibiotic, but as a natural anti-inflammatory.  As UC causes inflammation of the intestinal wall doesn’t it make sense that eating food with anti-inflammitory properties (no matter how minimal they may be) is worth doing?  Besides the health aspect, garlic adds a lot of flavor to foods and often times if a recipe calls for onion I can easily swap it for garlic without jeopardizing the taste of the meal.

These are just a few of the things we have found that make life a little bit easier, as it is hard to have time to make everything from scratch, and making that which you do make rom scratch – taste good!

Please remember, these things have worked for our family, but every case is different so what my husband may be able to eat without problem may not hold true for all patients with UC. I particularly wanted to write this post as when he was diagnosed nobody told us anything he should or shouldn’t eat.  It wasn’t until a month later when he was admitted to hospital did we finally get some direction as to what he could and couldn’t eat.  Unfortunately, I think this happens more often than not so if you or a loved one has recently been diagnosed these guidelines should be a safe starting point but I beg and urge you to get an appointment with a dietitian to get a personalized evaluation of what you should and shouldn’t be eating. I truly believe that a large part of staying well with this disease is a result of your dietary habits.

Going forward, when I post recipes, I will indicate whether or not they are “UC Friendly” so that anyone cooking for someone with UC will known if that recipe is safe to use.