Back when I was diagnosed a couple of decades ago, I asked my gastro. at the time if I should keep drinking coffee. He was dismissive and said diet has nothing to do with it. I’m not 100% sure if this was the medical establishment view back then but I think it was, I think only in the last few years has this begun to change (with burgeoning research and focus on the microbiome). Back then, it seems UC / IBD was viewed mostly as an autoimmune issue of “unknown etiology” and without a cure. I was a young adult when I was diagnosed and at the time, the regimen was Mesalamine and Immunomodulators like 6MP were coming into play, besides rectal meds and the dreaded course of steroids, namely Prednisone. Biologics weren’t around then.

Since these meds, while helpful, left a lot to be desired for me (before taking 6MP, I recall always having an emergency dose of Immodium in my pocket), I began searching for info., what little there was back then, on the nascent internet. That early research ended up being ongoing (culminating in this blog). Anyway, as far as a plant based diet, I recall coming across the site of this guy who claimed to be a former stressed out stock broker who abandoned that lifestyle in favor of moving to Florida and adopting a raw plant based diet, which he said helped. As I said, I was a young adult, preparing to embark on my career, ambitious and excited about my prospective path, so the idea of pulling the plug, taking an extended vacation if not dropping off the grid entirely, and adopting a raw vegan diet didn’t seem appealing or feasible. And frankly, while I sympathize, at the time, the guy seemed like a bit of an eccentric.

Someone else I came across, or rather his book – David Klein – Self Healing – Colitis and Crohns. I didn’t read it back then as it also seemed extreme to me, and also kind of “quacky” or “snake oily”. I was, and still am, wary of anyone who tells you there’s a way you can cure your incurable, chronic illness and surprise…charges $ for it. I’ve since looked over Klein’s book and while it seems repetitive and overly complex to me (perhaps it’s the presentation) in terms of what you can eat and when over an extended period of time, the gist it of it, which is sensible, is you eat certain foods while in a flare to heal (say, papaya), and then once you can tolerate other food items, progress to sweet potatoes and so on. I’m paraphrasing… He has adherents, who seemed to have used his system successfully, going into remission.

Fast forward to now, or the last few years, and there has been lots of evidence-based, as it’s called, research into plant based diets in treating disease. It’s known that a strict plant based diet can reverse heart disease. And just last week I read about this patient who was healed through a plant based diet.

Around the same time, this report appeared about a low cal. fast-mimicking diet that had good results with mice. Notably, this reminded of a recent book by Dr. Michael Mosely, The Clever Gut Diet. He recommends intermittent fasting, followed by a “re-feeding” protocol, to re-build the microbiome. Sounds a lot like what they did in the USC mice study!

In the last few years, I’ve also become aware of UC/IBD patients on Youtube, documenting their success in treating themselves through diet. One of the most notable is Kenny Honnas. While I don’t agree with all of his advice (at least for me), his videos have some great takeaways. I’m thankful for his tip on fermented vegetables (and he even shows how you can prepare them at home – I believe I posted his video on the Colitist blog, earlier). He’s got other helpful videos, including recipes, and one on soluble vs. insoluble fiber among others. I also quit drinking alcohol (was never a big drinker anyway) after watching his video on how alcohol degrades the microbiome. My only complaint, besides some nitpicking on his post-healed diet choices (red meat), is his characterization of himself as being “cured.” Unless he’s the one guy on the planet who cured himself of an incurable chronic disease, my belief is he’s in remission (hopefully an indefinite one). I do notice that in the video subject he uses the term “healed” which seems to be the case.

To Be Continued….