Medical treatments for ulcerative colitis don’t really cure the disease, but only suppress it. Corticosteroids are used to suppress the immune system and the inflammation in the colon. Remicade is used to suppress the immune system, which works wonders for patients, but makes them prone to opportunistic infections. You’re essentially suppressing your body’s defenses so that it’s not attacking your colon as much – but that also means it’s not defending your body as much either.
There is hope! You guessed it – there are holistically healthy, natural remedies that have been shown to help alleviate and even reverse ulcerative colitis:
Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM has been found to fully cure ulcerative colitis, but doctors caution you not to dive in fully without knowing the risks. TCM uses natural herbs, but some of its remedies certainly carry side effects and aren’t as harmless as more mainstream natural remedies. However, studies show that 84 percent of patients treated with TCM experience partial or full remission. Surprisingly, patients treated with mainstream prednisone only had a 60.5 percent effective rate.
Probiotics. Some studies show that ulcerative colitis patients can go into and stay in remission by taking probiotics daily. Experts have a theory that ulcerative colitis might be caused by an imbalance in gut bacteria, which probiotics help re-balance.
Stay away from spicy foods, gluten, and dairy products. According to Healthline, some foods can aggravate ulcerative colitis. These include spicy foods, foods that have gluten, and dairy products (e.g. milk and cheese).
MIND diet. Healthline also says that going on an MIND-like diet can lessen ulcerative colitis symptoms and lower a number of episodes someone has. Foods in this diet include olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids (walnuts and fish).