If your loved one is living with an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like ulcerative colitis (UC), you may know how isolating the disease can be. Symptoms like diarrhea, cramps, and bloody stools can interfere with social events. And although food does not cause the condition, certain foods can irritate the digestive tract, putting a damper on festive meals.
There are many ways you can help someone living with UC, but knowing what foods they should eat and which they should avoid is a powerful one. By learning how to cook for a friend or family member who has an IBD, you can help ease their symptoms and make them feel included in social events, including regular family dinners.
“Food is family, friendship, and love, and cooking food together and having your loved one get healthy because of it is incredibly rewarding,” says Barbara Olendzki, RD, MPH, the director of the Center for Applied Nutrition at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.
While there is no one-size-fits-all diet for UC, there are some general rules of thumb that are good to follow when cooking for someone who may not be able to digest certain foods very well. Here are five tips to help you navigate the kitchen when cooking for someone with UC.
1. Understand That a Person With IBD Has Good and Bad Days
First, it’s important to recognize that a person’s disease activity will determine what they can and can’t eat on a given day.
“When a person with UC is not in a flare-up state, the diet that’s recommended for them is mostly just a typical healthy diet,” says Kelly Kennedy, RD, Everyday Health’s former staff registered dietitian. In contrast, when a loved one is experiencing UC symptoms, they’ll need to adapt their diet to eliminate foods and ingredients that make inflammation worse.
While there are some basic rules of thumb, each person’s body is different, so people who have UC should work with their doctors or dietitians to determine which foods are most triggering for them. Kennedy suggests keeping a food journal to track both diet and symptoms.
“The main goal is to maximize the amount of nutrients in the food you’re serving someone with UC while limiting the risk that they’ll have a flare-up,” says Kennedy.
For periods when the person is not in a flare, Kennedy says a diet rich in fruits, noncruciferous vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein is ideal.
2. Cook One Meal for Everyone
For starters, try to find dishes that everyone will enjoy so you’re not cooking more than one meal for a group. Kennedy notes that in some cases, everyone can eat the same foods, just prepared differently. For example, you can cook vegetables for someone who has UC, making them easier to digest, and leave them raw for anyone who may prefer to eat them that way.
“It does take time in the beginning to learn new foods and meals,” Olendzki says. But with some practice, preparing UC-friendly meals will become second nature and may even lead to health gains for everyone at the table, she says.
3. Go Easy on Sugar, Saturated and Trans Fat, Lactose, and Processed Food
Eating more than 25 grams of sugar per day, ultra-processed foods, or high amounts of saturated fats (commonly found in fatty cuts of meat, skin of poultry, whole-fat dairy, lard, shortening, and coconut oil) all can cause inflammation that irritates the digestive tract and triggers UC symptoms, says Ryan Warren Mancini, RDN, who is in private practice in New York City.
In some cases, however, refined, low-fiber grains like white rice and white bread, which are considered processed foods, may actually be easier to digest, like when someone is in the middle of a flare-up, Kennedy says. Knowing what works for that person’s body will help determine what foods best quell their symptoms.
Lactose, a sugar found in dairy products like milk, can be hard to break down, too, so avoid things like cream sauces (though fermented dairy products like yogurt and kefir are usually good choices). Also, avoid fried foods when cooking for someone who has UC, since the extra fat can trigger or irritate symptoms.
4. Steer Clear of Emulsifiers
Warren Mancini says to stay away from food additives and emulsifiers, including carrageenan, polysorbate 80, and carboxymethylcellulose, which studies done in mice and human lab samples suggest can alter gut microbes and trigger inflammation.
Emulsifiers extend the shelf life of processed foods, maintain texture, and keep liquids from separating. These additives are everywhere and can be difficult to avoid in foods like store-bought salad dressing, mayonnaise, and ice cream.
While more research is needed to better understand the effects of emulsifiers in humans, some experts, including Warren Mancini, advise people to limit these products as much as possible.
5. Modify Diets to Include Soft Fiber and Cooked Veggies
Warren Mancini often recommends anti-inflammatory diets rather than individual foods to her patients. The Mediterranean diet, for example, is an anti-inflammatory diet that includes a wide variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and small amounts of healthy fats such as olive oil.
Warren Mancini recommends modifying the basis of this diet to incorporate these foods in a more digestible form. For example, she suggests opting for almond butter instead of whole almonds, cooking green leafy vegetables instead of eating a raw salad, and choosing inherently soft forms of fiber, such as avocado, sweet potato, and papaya.
When cooking vegetables, try steaming or microwaving them instead of boiling, which can remove key nutrients, one study found. Warren Mancini also suggests pureeing vegetables to make nutritious soups and smoothies that are easier to digest than whole produce.
During a flare, Kennedy says it’s best to stick to foods that are easy to digest, such as refined grains (again, white, sourdough, or gluten-free bread and white rice), and low-fiber fruits such as bananas, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. Removing the peel from other fruit, like apples, also cuts back on irritation-causing fiber.
Kennedy says to incorporate noncruciferous vegetables, including bell peppers, squash, eggplant, tomato, and zucchini, which have low fiber content and are easier to digest. Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, on the other hand, have high fiber content and can be irritating for some people. Avoid dishes that include these ingredients and always avoid spicy foods, says Kennedy.
The Takeaway
Food is a powerful tool for connection.
Cooking for a loved one with ulcerative colitis can help ease their symptoms and fight the feelings of isolation that can come from living with UC.
Knowing which foods your loved one needs to avoid, which preparation techniques make foods easier to digest, and which nutrients they need more of when they’re feeling better are important when cooking for someone with UC.
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.
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.
Kaitlin Sullivan reports on health, science, and the environment from Colorado. She has a master's in health and science journalism from the City University of New York.
