With IF, one of the best indicators of whether you’re a good candidate or not is the current status of your UC. If you are in an active UC flare, Sehgal does not advise using IF. “You’re already going to the bathroom a lot, increasing your risk of dehydration. During a flare, maintaining a good quality of nutrition is more important than timed eating.”
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IF may be a useful tool alongside recommended medical care for someone who has both UC and has metabolic syndrome, says Sehgal. Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of conditions that raise heart disease, diabetes, and stroke risk, including a large waistline, high blood pressure, blood sugar, or triglyceride levels, and low “good” HDL cholesterol.
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A time-restricted pattern of eating can encourage weight loss, including abdominal (visceral) fat that promotes inflammation.“We may see improvement in those parameters that may indirectly reduce systemic levels of inflammation,” she says.
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Theoretically, reducing systemic inflammation throughout the body may also lessen localized inflammation associated with UC.
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One study that looked at the impact of IF in 80 people with IBD while fasting during Ramadan, a holy month on the Muslim calendar, found that overall, after fasting, participants experienced worsened symptoms and doctors rated their disease as more severe than before fasting. Participants older than 30 who also had higher baseline levels of calprotectin, a chemical marker of inflammation, in their stool, saw the biggest increase in symptoms and severity ratings. Participants didn’t see an increase in inflammatory markers after fasting, however.
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Personalizing diet is crucial in UC — otherwise, time-restricted eating could be risky.
Sehgal says prolonged bowel rest should be reserved for severe and acute cases of UC in preparation for surgery, not a routine strategy.
This is something Collins agrees with. “It’s normal to want to control the disease by doing everything you possibly can. That can sometimes manifest with food restriction, but this is a disease of the microbiome, and it does require exposure to food as fertilizer. Healing from a flare often requires more — not less,” says Collins.
Not a Good Fit for IF
Sehgal says that IF may be a poor choice if any of these describe you.
- You are in an active flare.
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- You are taking steroids.
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- You have underlying nutrient deficiencies.
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- Your body mass index (BMI) is less than 20.
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Potential Candidates for IF
Sehgal says you might want to give IF a try if you meet the following criteria.
- You also have metabolic syndrome.
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- Your UC is stable and the number of bowel movements you have per day is your “normal.”
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- You’ve been cleared by a gastroenterologist or IBD-specialist registered dietitian.
