Should You Go Gluten Free if You Have Ulcerative Colitis?
Ulcerative ColitisStrategies to Regain Control and Confidence with IBD

Should You Go Gluten Free if You Have Ulcerative Colitis?

Should You Go Gluten Free if You Have Ulcerative Colitis?
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Updated on June 10, 2025
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Heather Hanks battled severe bloating, constipation, gas, incontinence, and pain from ulcerative colitis for years, often ending up in the emergency room for particularly bad flare-ups. But when she stopped eating gluten (a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye), everything changed.

“When I went gluten free and made other dietary changes, I regained control over my digestive system,” says Hanks, a holistic nutritionist who specializes in the management of chronic disease. “I’m regular, healthy, and no longer have to be near a bathroom at all times.”

Hanks isn’t alone. Many people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) — ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease — may see an improvement in symptoms after cutting out gluten. One review noted that nearly two-thirds of people in an IBD study who’d tried a gluten-free diet reported an improvement in gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.

That said, the study authors also noted that there isn’t enough strong evidence to recommend a gluten-free diet for people with IBD. Moreover, a smaller study didn’t detect any benefits when people with ulcerative colitis cut gluten out of their diet for six weeks.

Thinking about trying a gluten-free diet? Here’s what you need to know.

What Should You Eat When You Have Ulcerative Colitis?

Ira Breite, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai Health System, discusses foods to avoid during an ulcerative colitis flare.
What Should You Eat When You Have Ulcerative Colitis?

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Gluten and IBD: What’s the Connection?

Researchers have long suspected there’s a link between celiac disease — an immune system reaction to eating gluten — and IBD. One analysis found that people with celiac disease are nine times more likely to have IBD than people without celiac disease.

“Both celiac disease and IBD are autoimmune diseases. Sometimes, when there is chronic inflammation and autoimmunity, people could tend to have more than one condition,” says Marvin Singh, MD, an integrative gastroenterologist and the founder of Precisione Clinic, in Encinitas, California, which specializes in personalized medicine.

When a person with celiac disease consumes gluten, an immune response is triggered in the small intestine. This can result in bloating, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, as well as fatigue and weight loss.

 Considering IBD also causes many of these symptoms, it’s easy to see how poorly managed celiac disease could make a person’s GI symptoms worse.
But what about people like Hanks and others with IBD who don’t have celiac disease? Even without a celiac diagnosis, it’s still possible to have a gluten sensitivity or intolerance, which experts call non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). For those with NCGS, eating gluten can still trigger symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea, as well as headaches, fogginess, and rashes.

For people with IBD and NCGS, “Eating gluten can cause them GI distress or increase their symptoms,” says Dr. Singh. The problem is, there’s no test to diagnose NCGS, so determining whether you have it amounts to cutting out gluten and seeing how it makes you feel.

Can Going Gluten Free Ease IBD Symptoms?

While there’s no cure for IBD, cutting out gluten may help you manage symptoms. But it’s worth speaking to a nutritionist first.

If you have IBD and celiac disease, you should eliminate gluten from your diet. It won’t make the IBD go away, Singh explains, but it will help reduce inflammation in your small intestine, which should offer some improvement in GI symptoms.

The answer for people who have IBD but not celiac disease is less clear. While evidence hasn’t definitively shown that gluten worsens IBD symptoms, many people with IBD find that certain foods tend to trigger flare-ups. Cutting those irritants out of your diet can go a long way toward helping you feel better.

For some people, gluten might be one of those irritants. In fact, small studies showed that up to 40 percent of participants with IBD reported less frequent or less severe symptoms on a gluten-free diet, and nearly 24 percent needed fewer medications to control IBD.

 Other small studies have also noted self-reported improvements in symptoms, but in some cases, researchers haven’t been able to measure or explain the improvement.

So, there is some research supporting a connection between a gluten-free diet and improved IBD symptoms in people without celiac disease, and plenty of individuals have noticed an improvement. But, for now, the evidence isn’t nearly robust enough to recommend that everyone with IBD stop eating gluten.

Going Gluten Free With IBD

If you don’t have celiac disease but suspect gluten could be triggering IBD symptoms, you could consider going gluten free — after you speak to nutritionist — to see if it helps.

You’ll need to take careful steps, though, to make sure you’re avoiding gluten completely for a set amount of time to truly understand whether it triggers symptoms, Singh explains. It’ll likely take at least two weeks of eating gluten free to notice any potential benefits. “Many will need a longer period, like four to six weeks,” he says.

Before cutting out gluten, get the green light from your gastroenterologist and see a dietitian who specializes in IBD, Singh recommends. These experts can help you identify the sources of gluten in your diet and help you learn to read food labels, such as on packaged sauces and salad dressings, to find less obvious sources of gluten. They can also help you fill in any nutritional gaps in your diet that might come from cutting out gluten-containing foods, such as wheat-based pasta or bread.

Some common foods that contain gluten include:

  • Beer
  • Bread
  • Cereal and granola
  • Pasta and other noodles
  • Tortillas

In some cases, people with a mild gluten intolerance are eventually able to reintroduce gluten into their diets in small amounts without a problem. “It depends how sensitive you are,” Singh says. “Oftentimes, people might be able to tolerate a little bit of something, but when they cross the threshold of the amount they can take, they get symptomatic.”

The Takeaway

  • If you have ulcerative colitis, you might see an improvement in symptoms after cutting out gluten.
  • Even though some people may experience benefits from cutting out gluten, there’s not enough evidence to show that everyone with IBD should follow a gluten-free diet.
  • Some foods that commonly contain gluten include beer, bread, cereal, granola, pasta and other noodles, and tortillas.

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
  1. Roncoroni L et al. Nutrition in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Narrative Review. Nutrients. February 2022.
  2. Avanaki FA et al. Short-Term Effect of Gluten-Free Diet on Disease Severity, Quality of Life and Inflammatory Markers Among Patients With Mild to Moderate Ulcerative Colitis: A Triple-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Arab Journal of Gastroenterology. February 2025.
  3. Pinto-Sanchez MI et al. Association Between Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Celiac Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Gastroenterology. September 2020.
  4. Celiac Disease. Mayo Clinic. September 12, 2023.
  5. Celiac Disease, Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity and Food Allergy: How Are They Different? American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. December 11, 2023.
  6. Managing Flares and IBD Symptoms [PDF]. Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. June 2019.
  7. Shafiee NH et al. Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: What Clinicians and Patients Should Know? Intestinal Research. April 2021.
  8. Sources of Gluten. Celiac Disease Foundation.
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Yuying Luo, MD

Medical Reviewer

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

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Marygrace Taylor is a health writer and editor based in Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in publications including Parade, Glamour, Women's Health, Prevention, Redbook, Men's Health, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She's also the coauthor of Eat Clean, Stay Lean: The Diet and Prevention Mediterranean Table.
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