My Summer Plan for Managing Ulcerative Colitis

"Summertime...and the livin' is easy. Fish are jumpin-" that is, unless they have ulcerative colitis. Warm weather brings a break from snow and ice; however, it can present special challenges to the person with an ulcerative colitis condition.

The first problem that one faces is that of remaining hydrated. It is important to drink as much water as possible to help aid your bowel, however, in the summer, it is easy to "sweat" yourself into a problem. The importance and advantage of exercising can now become a two-edged sword. It can drain fluids from you causing a problem; even a flare.

Whatever your water intake is the rest of the year, it should be increased during warm weather.

As I wrote in another article, warm weather offers an opportunity to eat some foods that are typically not such a good idea. Animal fat is a major problem for a person with ulcerative colitis yet when grilled, the fat is by-in-large removed. This expands the summer diet greatly and gives the sufferer of ulcerative colitis some respite from the strict guidelines of an ulcerative colitis diet.

Other foods are not so easily assimilated. Summer treats such as ice cream and watermelon have a lot of sugar and are highly gas-forming. This at best uncomfortable and at worst, it can cause a flare.

My regimen in the summer and during warm weather in general is pretty well set. I have found it very effective.

First, I have a problem drinking the amount of water that I should. Water is just plain hard for me to ingest. However, I have an alternate method of taking in water. I love soda so I drink flavored carbonated water and, in addition, I am able to handle the drink in diet form. I understand some people have a problem with a diet drink; however, I didn't like it at first but have developed a taste for it.

As I have previously indicated, I eat more meat (although I still watch the portion sizes), and, I let the meat get well-done even though I love rare steak. This gets rid of the maximum amount of animal fat and I have rarely had a problem with meat during the summer.

Also, as part of my "summer plan", I stick to organic fruits and vegetables and also, where possible, grill them. One must remember also to limit the amount of servings. Obviously, the last thing you want to put on your bowel is a large amount of "hard-to-digest corn kernels".

Finally, I like ice cream as much as the next guy. I eat diet ice cream; it works.

Certainly there are some things that I feel I must reluctantly leave out such as watermelon. However, I feel I have come up with a good plan that is reasonably safe yet gives me a chance to eat pretty well.

After all, and I quote Mr. Miyagi from "The Karate Kid": "Life is all about balance, Danial-san".