Ulcerative colitis is the most common inflammatory bowel disease, and this condition can make life fairly miserable for sufferers. Since ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease with no cure, proper management is paramount.
As specialists in gastrointestinal problems, the team of certified acupuncturists has considerable experience helping patients with conditions like ulcerative colitis.
In the following, we outline five great tips for preventing ulcerative colitis flare-ups, which can greatly improve your quality of life.
The connection between diet and ulcerative colitis is still unclear, but there’s some evidence that points toward dairy being a possible aggravator. So, you’d do well to steer clear of milk, cheese, and yogurt, especially during a flare-up.
Though the link between what you eat and ulcerative colitis flare-ups isn’t all that clear, how you eat can make a difference. A great way to prevent an ulcerative colitis flare-up is to eat five to six smaller meals throughout the day, rather than sitting down to two to three larger meals. This helps keep your digestive system steady and active, rather than overwhelmed a few times a day.
Certain beverages irritate your digestive system more than others, especially alcoholic beverages and caffeinated drinks. As well, any drink with bubbles is a bad idea as carbonated drinks can lead to gas.
Instead, it’s a much better idea to drink plenty of water, which can help keep your digestive system running more smoothly.
Stress is a known trigger for ulcerative colitis, so we recommend doing what you can to keep stress and anxiety to a minimum. Great ways to manage stress are through exercise, meditation, deep-breathing exercises, and disconnecting from the digital world every once in a while.
For more stress-relieving ideas that you can practice on your own, click on this link.
Another great way to reduce stress is through acupuncture, which can relieve your body’s fight-or-flight response, such as muscle tension and excessive stress hormone production.
There are many ways in which acupuncture can improve your health by restoring the flow of energy in your body, and alleviating ulcerative colitis certainly qualifies. In fact, one study reports that, “Both basic research and clinical practice have proved that acupuncture has an obvious effect on gastric ulcers.”
We can also provide certain herbal remedies for ulcerative colitis that can go a long way toward fighting inflammation in your colon and managing problems like diarrhea.
If you want to see how acupuncture can help you better manage your ulcerative colitis, please contact our office in Irvine, California, to schedule your acupuncture appointments today.
