Microscopic colitis is in the family of inflammatory bowel diseases, along with Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease.
There’s usually visible destruction and inflammation on the walls of the digestive system, which can be seen under a microscope.
So often people experience a very persistent diarrhoea, which is one of the main symptoms of microscopic colitis.
How Healthpath approaches colitis: start with root cause
With any treatment protocol, we start by looking at what your health is to start with and trying to understand any triggers you might have.
That means examining your current diet, stress levels and medications like proton pump inhibitors that can affect gut health.
We look for aggravating factors and any other autoimmune diseases like celiac disease, which is common with microscopic colitis. Microscopic colitis can also come hand-in-hand with thyroid conditions.
Food for colitis
It’s also important to find a diet that works for you. Diets like the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or the Autoimmune Paleo diet are good templates to start with to work out any food intolerances: use them as a guide to rule out potential triggers and then adapt them to understand what works for you and your body.
Supplements and probiotics for colitis
Probiotics have been shown to halve bowel movements from six a day down to three or even two. There are certain strains being used in the research that we use, to ensure we're making the most sensible and evidence-based recommendations.
Herbs for colitis
Anti-inflammatory herbs like boswellia have been shown to have an impact, as well as turmeric, which can be very helpful in inflammatory bowel diseases.