Gluten-free diet for ulcerative colitis is considered necessary even if you don’t have gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Colitis, the inflammation of the colon, attacks one of the most essential organs in your digestive system.

Gluten is known to cause the inflammation in the colon to flare up. In fact, even if you are not sensitive to gluten and you don’t currently have a problem with your gastrointestinal tract, you still need to limit your gluten intake because gluten may stimulate immune cells and provoke an inflammatory immune response in the intestinal tract, increasing intestinal permeability or leak.

Gluten-Free Diet and Ulcerative Colitis

How can gluten-free diet help you prevent and escape from ulcerative colitis? There are several reasons why a gluten-free diet for ulcerative colitis is needed.

1. Gluten might be your silent enemy.

Not all people with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten intolerance, and wheat allergy are aware of their condition. If you happen to have an undiagnosed allergy to gluten, you may inadvertently damage your colon by consuming gluten, which is unfortunately found in most foods that you eat every day, such as cereals, pasta, and cakes. Even beer contains gluten. Unless you try to avoid gluten, the chance that you fall in the trap is pretty big.

2. Gluten may cause Leaky gut syndrome.

Your intestinal membrane is so delicate that gluten may irritate it and cause it to be leaky. Normally, food that passes by your intestines should remain in the intestines until it leaves your body through your anus. Only nutrients needed by your body are absorbed by the intestine wall and used by your body. When leaky gut syndrome occurs, many dangerous substances, including toxins and microbes, may enter your bloodstream and cause various symptoms ranging from bloating to eczema. By eating a gluten-free diet for ulcerative colitis, you can protect both your small and large intestines from gluten-related damage.

3. Modern-day wheat is less friendly to your intestines.

Gluten is a protein that is present in cereals. What you may not know is that the protein content of the wheat today is much different from the same substance tens of years ago. In other words, the gluten that you eat today is different from the gluten that your grandfather ate years ago. While your grandpa’s gut might not have a problem digesting the wheat’s protein, the modern-day protein might be indigestible when they enter your gut. The absence of gluten-related problems in your family history is thus not a guarantee that you will not experience them.

Gluten free diet for ulcerative colitis can thus help you escape from the harmful effects of gluten to your digestive system.

Is Diet Alone Enough?

Gluten-free diet for ulcerative colitis will greatly improve your resistance against gastrointestinal problems, including colitis; however, studies show that diet alone is not enough to eliminate the risk of Crohn’s disease, colitis, and other gastrointestinal problems. If you want to treat your condition optimally, you should also enhance your intestinal microbiome healthy by fortifying your foods with butyric acid and other nutritional supplements.

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