I love spicy food. At age 24 I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Spicy foods and ulcerative colitis don’t always mix.
Typically, ulcerative colitis sufferers quickly learn to watch the spicy food they eat since ulcerative colitis is a part of the gastrointestinal system. Unfortunately, there are some things that are obvious in spicy foods, and some that aren’t so obvious.
A person with ulcerative colitis needs to be aware of the presence of Monosodium Glutamate in food. MS is a “flavor enhancer” that many people are allergic to. If you have ulcerative colitis and have a reaction to this enhancer, the results are very painful and can cause long term problems. The reason I bring this up is that MS is often used in spicy foods whether they are Mexican, Chinese or Italian (it’s even in pizza).
I have learned that spicy food can make an already sensitive bowel flare and at the very least make life miserable from pain, burning, cramping and bloating. As with any chronic illness or condition, lifestyle can easily offset maintenance medication; ulcerative colitis is no different. Therefore, if I eat spicy foods, they can cause irritation despite the ulcerative colitis medication I may be taking.
One spicy food I love is chili. I have had to tone it down since my ulcerative colitis diagnosis, opting to make it more tomato based and leaving out onions, peppers and red pepper (which is very spicy). Red pepper has been a spice that gives me a great deal of ulcerative colitis-related pain if I eat it, no matter what spicy food I eat it in.
One thing I would say here is that if you have ulcerative colitis, you can increase your tolerance of spicy foods by using something like Mylanta, Prilosec or Zantac; these all help coat the bowel and stomach and also help with bloating, which can be a side effect of spicy foods. It is a fact that if you have ulcerative colitis and eat spicy food, once the spicy food has caused your ulcerative colitis to flare, you just have to wait it out.
Pizza can be a very spicy food. I have to ask for little or a small amount of sauce and have had to go more with small servings and a single topping, rather than having it fully loaded. Large servings of spicy foods will cause distension of the stomach and bowel and major discomfort for anyone with ulcerative colitis.
When eating spicy foods, I have found those with ulcerative colitis should never recline (go to bed) too quickly or they’ll be likely to get Esophageal Reflux.
I have typically eaten tacos with the hamburger “spiced up” with black pepper, red pepper, picante sauce and chili powder. Of course you can add sour cream and hot and spicy dipping cheese. After I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I had to give this up to a basic hamburger meat taco with a sour cream and lettuce topping. When in season I add tomatoes. This takes it from the realm of a spicy food to a “snack.”
When I buy salsa or nacho cheese for taco chips, I have to buy mild, and even then it is important to be careful. Ulcerative colitis will not even allow for spicy snacks at times.
I love Chinese food. Most restaurants will identify on their menus the spicy foods and will make them non-spicy by request. Some typical spicy food Chinese dishes are Szechuan chicken or beef, General Tso’s chicken and anything with a Hunan in the title. What I usually eat is chop suey; the various rices and noodles as well as lo mein.
In the area of Indian food, I have had to give that up completely because curry is such a big part of the food menu as well as Monosodium Glutamate. Almost all Indian food could be classified as a spicy food and is dangerous to a person with ulcerative colitis.
Barbecue beef and pork is another spicy food I love and something that can be spiced up with spicy barbecue sauces and rubs. This can also create a challenge to the ulcerative colitis sufferer.
Some spices that are particularly offensive to me and others I have talked with who have ulcerative colitis are red pepper, curry powder, garlic, onion salt, whole black pepper, “extreme hot” and oregano, just to name a few.
Foods that are typically considered to be spicy foods can be chili, barbecue, Hunan and Szechuan Chinese dishes as well as Mexican foods such as tacos and burritos. Often at a Mexican restaurant the appetizer, which is no more than corn chips and salsa, can still be dangerously spicy.
As a long-time sufferer of ulcerative colitis, I have found that drinking a lot of water and taking an antacid before eating any food is helpful – especially if I am going to be eating a spicy food. Further, by keeping the helpings small, I can occasionally “go off the wagon.”
There is no question that most ulcerative colitis sufferers have to back off, or at least modify, their ingestion of spicy foods.
I have found that by following the antacid regimen, by keeping the obvious spices out of my food and questioning carefully at restaurants, I have been able to minimize my discomfort. And by using alternative spices (you can obtain a list from your physician or dietician), you can make your food tasty without the danger of the spicy food effect. I have even used soup base to add flavor.
Spicy foods are wonderful; ulcerative colitis is not. However, with a little planning and thoughtfulness, people with ulcerative colitis can still enjoy their food, and even a little spicy food.
