Snacks for Ulcerative Colitis: 13 Easy and Healthy Ideas
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13 Easy and Healthy Snacks for Ulcerative Colitis

A roundup of dietitian-recommended snacks that won’t irritate your gastrointestinal tract.
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Updated on May 12, 2025
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woman holding avocado smoked salmon toast
Proper nutrition is especially important for people with ulcerative colitis, who tend to lose certain nutrients more quickly than the general population.
Good nutrition is critical when you have ulcerative colitis (UC), which causes you to lose nutrients during bouts of diarrhea, a key symptom of the disease.

“Proper nutrition can improve response to medication, reduce risk of flares, and improve recovery time when sick,” says Kelly Issokson, RD, a clinical dietitian with the nutrition and integrative inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) program at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

Choosing snacks that are nutritious and easy to stash in your bag or desk drawer can be challenging, so we’ve come up with 13 dietitian-recommended options to keep you healthy while you’re on the go.

1

Protein-Packed Salted Pretzel Sticks With Creamy Nut or Seed Butter

ulcerative colitis nut butter and salted pretzels

Dip salted pretzel sticks into creamy nut or seed butter, which you can buy in small packets at the grocery store.

“The soluble fiber found in nut or seed butter helps to keep diarrhea at bay,” says Issokson.

 The salt on the pretzel sticks helps replace salt that’s lost when you do have a bout, she adds.

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2

Banana Roll-Ups to Replace Electrolytes

banana and nut butter in a tortilla
Spread creamy almond butter on a tortilla, roll it up around a whole banana, and eat whole or sliced into “sushi.” Bananas contain potassium and magnesium, two important electrolytes lost during episodes of diarrhea.

3

A Lactose-Free Smoothie for Vitamins

ulcerative colitis smoothie

Make a healthy, nutritious, UC-friendly smoothie with lactose-free milk, peaches canned in their own juices (to minimize added sugars), creamy nut butter, and ice. Blend for a cool, protein-packed snack you can take on the road. (If lactose doesn’t bother you, you can use regular milk.)

“Smoothies are a great way to incorporate fruits and vegetables in an easy-to-digest manner,” Issokson says. “The soluble fiber aids digestion and can help to reduce urgency.”

4

Frozen Yogurt Bites for a Healthy, Decadent Snack

strawberries dipped in yogurt ulcerative colitis snack
Dip bite-size fruit pieces in plain Greek yogurt, place them on parchment paper, and freeze them for a cool snack. Packed with calcium, potassium, and antioxidants, this snack will satisfy your sweet tooth while helping you meet your nutritional needs.

Plus, research shows that the gut microbiome plays a major role in IBD and its potential management, suggesting that the probiotics (good bacteria) in yogurt may relieve UC symptoms in some people.

5

Omelet Cups Pack a Protein Punch

omelet cups UC
Protein is one of the key nutrients that people with UC need; on the other hand, a protein overload (especially from eating red meat), can trigger a flare. Try to include a variety of healthy proteins, such as those in eggs, to meet your protein needs.

For this grab-and-go snack, simply add a few cooked veggies (ones you tolerate well) to the bottom of a muffin tin and top with whisked eggs. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F until they’re set, and stick them in the refrigerator or freezer to grab on your way out the door.

6

Smoked Salmon and Avocado for Healthy Fats

avocado smoked salmon on sourdough toast
Mash avocado on a slice of sourdough toast and top with a few pieces of smoked salmon for a snack that’s packed with healthy unsaturated fats. Research has found that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in salmon, can lead to decreased intestinal inflammation, the telltale symptom of UC.

Consuming these healthy fats can also help you gain back some weight after a flare. If you’ve found that a gluten-free diet helps with your UC symptoms, place the salmon on top of peeled cucumber slices.

7

Fresh Melon With Greek Yogurt for Calcium and Probiotics

melon greek yogurt
A cup of fresh melon topped with a large dollop of plain Greek yogurt is as simple as it is nutritious. Melon is a low-fiber fruit that’s a great addition to a healthy diet for someone with UC.

 Yogurt is a good source of calcium, a nutrient that’s crucial for people with UC, and one that’s often deficient in those with the condition.

8

Cheese and Crackers for Calcium and Protein

cheese and crackers
This classic pairing provides exactly what people with UC need. Cheese contains protein, fat, and calcium, while low-fiber crackers are an easy-to-digest carbohydrate source topped with salt to replace lost electrolytes. If lactose is a personal trigger for you, choose a hard cheese such as Parmesan, which is lower in lactose than soft cheeses.


9

Banana ‘Ice Cream’ for Potassium and Magnesium

banana peanut butter ice cream
This snack is simple to prepare and surprisingly indulgent. Roughly chop two overripe bananas and freeze them. Then add the frozen banana slices, 1 tablespoon of smooth natural peanut butter, and a pinch of salt to a blender, stopping and pushing the ingredients toward the blades as needed. The result is a creamy, satisfying dessert that’s a rich source of potassium and healthy fats, a good source of magnesium, and also completely lactose-free.


10

Sourdough With Scrambled Eggs and Spinach

sourdough toast scrambled eggs spinach
Whole-grain bread contains insoluble fiber, and for someone in a UC flare, that type of fiber can cause a lot of discomfort.

Sourdough bread is a great alternative because it’s made with refined flour that has most of that fiber stripped away.

Plus, its natural tang adds a delicious flavor to any dish. Toast it and top with scrambled eggs for a dose of protein, and with some spinach for vitamins and minerals, including iron, which many people with UC are low in.

11

Watermelon With Salt

watermelon salt
Hydration is extra important for those with UC because they often lose fluids through loose stool. Sipping water and decaffeinated tea can help you hit your daily fluid target, and so can foods with high water content, such as watermelon. Research has also noted the role of the nutrients in watermelon in helping UC symptoms.

Want to make a great snack even better? Add a sprinkle of salt on top of the watermelon, which tastes great and helps replenish electrolytes at the same time.

12

Hummus With Pita Chips for Plant-Based Protein

Hummus with Pita Chips
Hummus is made from chickpeas, a versatile legume that may be better tolerated than other legumes. That’s likely because when the soluble fiber in chickpeas, called raffinose, is digested, it produces butyrate — a fatty acid that research suggests may decrease inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.

Hummus also packs protein, calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B6, just to name a few nutrients.

 Serve with white pita chips for a delicious low-fiber crunch.
13

Hard-Boiled Eggs for Grab-and-Go Protein

hard boiled eggs
Hard-boiled eggs are a rich source of protein and also contain calcium, vitamin B12, and iron.

 Plus, egg yolks are one of the only foods that naturally contain vitamin D, another common deficiency in people with UC. Possibly the best part is just how easy to prepare and portable they are. Make a batch at the beginning of the week for a daily supply of nutrient-rich grab-and-go snacks.

The Takeaway

  • Getting the right amount of certain nutrients is critical for people with UC.
  • Keeping tasty and nutritious snacks on hand — such as pretzels, nut butters, watermelon, and hard-boiled eggs, for example — makes it easier to meet your nutrition needs on the go.
  • Talk to your doctor or dietitian if you have questions or need more advice about tasty and healthy grab-and-go snacks.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
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  2. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Role of Fiber. American Gastroenterological Association. 2021.
  3. Bananas. USDA Food Data Central.
  4. Yogurt, Greek, Plain, Nonfat. USDA Food Data Central. April 1, 2019.
  5. Aldars-García L et al. Systematic Review: The Gut Microbiome and Its Potential Clinical Application in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Microorganisms. April 30, 2021.
  6. What Should I Eat? Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
  7. Durkin LA et al. Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and the Intestinal Epithelium — a Review. Foods. January 19, 2021.
  8. Melon, Cantaloupe, Raw. USDA Food Data Central. April 1, 2019.
  9. Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation. Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
  10. Facioni MS et al. Lactose Residual Content in PDO Cheeses: Novel Inclusions for Consumers With Lactose Intolerance. Foods. September 21, 2021.
  11. Cheese, Cheddar, Sharp, Sliced. USDA Food Data Central. April 1, 2019.
  12. Peanut Butter, Creamy. USDA Food Data Central. April 28, 2022.
  13. Eating and Drinking With IBD. Crohn’s & Colitis Canada.
  14. Bread, Multi-Grain (Includes Whole Grain). USDA FoodData Central. April 1, 2019.
  15. Bread, French or Vienna (Includes Sourdough). USDA FoodData Central. April 1, 2019.
  16. Iron. National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. October 9, 2024.
  17. Spinach, Raw. USDA FoodData Central. April 1, 2019.
  18. Manivannan A et al. Versatile Nutraceutical Potentials of Watermelon — a Modest Fruit Loaded With Pharmaceutically Valuable Phytochemicals. Molecules. November 11, 2020.
  19. Venegas DP et al. Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs)-Mediated Gut Epithelial and Immune Regulation and Its Relevance for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Frontiers in Immunology. March 11, 2019.
  20. Pandae N et al. Bioactivity and Prebiotic Properties of Raffinose Oligosaccharides Derived From Different Chickpeas for Alternative Functional Food Application. Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre. May 2024.
  21. Reister EJ et al. The Benefits of Including Hummus and Hummus Ingredients Into the American Diet to Promote Diet Quality and Health: A Comprehensive Review. Nutrients. November 2020.
  22. Nutritional Value of Eggs. Iowa Egg Council.
  23. Vitamin D. National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. July 26, 2024.
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Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDCES

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Lynn Grieger is a registered dietitian-nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist, certified personal trainer, and certified health and wellness coach. She completed requirements to become a registered dietitian at Valparaiso University in 1987 and completed a dietetic internship at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Illinois, in 1988. 

Lynn brings her expertise in nutrition, exercise, and behavior change to her work in helping people reach their individual health and fitness goals. In addition to writing for Everyday Health, she has also written for websites and publications like Food and Health Communications, Today's Dietitian, iVillage.com, and Rodale Press. She has a passion for healthy, nutrient-dense, great-tasting food and for being outdoors as much as possible — she can often be found running or hiking, and has completed a marathon in every state.

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Kelly Kennedy, RDN, LDN

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Kelly Kennedy is a licensed dietitian-nutritionist with over 14 years of experience in digital media. She previously managed and oversaw nutrition content, recipe development, meal planning, and diet and nutrition coaching at Everyday Health. She developed and reviewed various meal plans, books, slideshows, and online tools, and oversaw the creation of more than 500 unique recipes. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master's degree from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.

Kennedy enjoys anything that takes her outside, from gardening and playing in the yard with her kids to hiking and even feeding her pet chickens.

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