How to Maintain Weight While on Ulcerative Colitis Medication

According to information from the medical website Medline Plus, ulcerative colitis is a disease which infects the large intestine and rectum (colon). Ulcerative colitis manifests with symptoms such as abdominal pain, abnormal abdominal sounds, fever, and weight loss. While colitis can be treated with a number of medications, nothing can be done about the resultant weight loss except following a healthy and nutritious diet. Increasing the number of calories you consume while steering clear of trigger foods will help you keep weight stable while treating colitis.

Instructions

• 1

  Consume five to six small meals per day to maintain weight while fighting colitis. Each meal should be low-fat (no more than 30 percent of total calories from fat) and contain a fruit, a vegetable, a lean protein source, and a source of healthy fat (such as nuts or seeds). This will help you increase your total daily calories without overloading your body with too much food at any one time, potentially exacerbating the symptoms of colitis.

• 2

  Avoid the consumption of common trigger foods. Provoking a colitis attack through the consumption of trigger foods will destroy your appetite, potentially causing you to lose more weight and setting back your efforts. Avoid consumption of caffeine, spicy foods, dairy, chocolate, and raw fruits and vegetables (always cook your fruits and veggies to ease digestion).

• 3

  Increase the total number of calories you consume per day through the use of simple calorie-counting tricks. For example, eating a spoonful of natural peanut butter with every meal will add an additional 600 or more calories per day (120 calories per tablespoon). Likewise, mixing flavored protein powder into your water can help to further increase your total caloric levels for the day (120 calories per scoop for many types of protein powder). Snacking on calorie-dense foods like almonds throughout the day can help to further increase your total food consumption as well, helping you to maintain weight while treating colitis.