I'm in remission after my first diagnosis of pouchitis, and I'm confused about what flour is good and what is bad for the pouch, yeast infections, etc. I don't mean to "treat" pouchitis with food, I just have heard some things about breads, with certain types of flour, being better for you. Right now I'm eating bread made with rice flour. I know that even white bleached flour is made from wheat. I've heard anything you eat with wheat flour is not good. Does anyone have any information about rice flour, potato flour, or sorghum flour? Basically I'm just wondering what to stay away from. Also, what about breads containing yeast? (which is almost all of them, except the ones that taste like a stiff sponge

Jack, check out some sourdough bread. I actually LIKE it and you can find it without yeast.
You are wise to stay clear of the wheats and yeast. Look in the grocery section for Celiac's, there are options. There is also coconut flour.
Why not check out a book? I recommended this one the other day.
grain free

Shelby, I haven't been able to find sourdough bread w/o wheat. What brand or where do you get yours? Jack

As far as I know sourdough is a wheatflour bread that just uses bacteria and wild yeasts to sour the dough. Each area that produces it has its own strain of bacteria that they use. Of course, the most famous (at least according to me) is the Lactobacillus sanfrancisco. There have been some reports that sourdough bread made with wild yeasts only (Sara Lee uses cultured yeasts) seem to still have a useful effect, even though the bread is baked and the yeasts must be dead. Apparently, the wild yeasts and lactobacilli had a tempering effect on the wheat gluten.

For more info:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=348803

http://www.joejaworski.com/bread/bread1.htm

Jan

I've been experimenting with psyyllium, and I've found that I can swap the flour for psyllium husks quite successfully. I swap about 50 - 75 % of the flour and get an end result with less flour and more good, gut-friendly fiber (the stuff in Metamucil). You need more liquid in the recipe than you would with all flour, ans the husks are very dry.

Jack, spelt flour is much easier to digest than normal wheat flour and is often recommended for people with IBD. Plenty of bakeries in Australia sell spelt bread; I'm sure it's also available in the US.

Soph, I'm doing the same thing with the psyllium! I'm so glad you started the thread about homemade metamucil wafers. Today I'm going to make the crackers with spelt flour (which needs much less water than ordinary flour to make a pliable dough).

quote:

Shelby, I haven't been able to find sourdough bread w/o wheat. What brand or where do you get yours? Jack

Whole Foods.
I can't remember the ingredients, but I do remember being able to eat it when I saw my AK. It was the only pre-made bread I could eat at the time.
However, the last time I read the ingredients, I thought something had changed. The next time I go to Whole Foods I will check it out and let you know.

Thanks everybody for the helpful info! I found a wheat-free bread mix w/o gluten. Although it does have an active dry yeast packet in it, it's incredible. It feels like I'm cheating. I'm not sure what the benefits are by not eating foods with yeast in them. Is it to help prevent yeast infections only, which I do get, or can it cause bad bacteria in the pouch that might increase the chances of pouchitis? The main ingredient is Sorghum flour and the next was Tapioca flour. Does anyone know what Sorghum is or if it generally OK to use? I called the company, Pamela's Products, and they haven't responded.
Also as far as the psyllium you are using to make homemade met wafers. I have been taking 2 met wafers a day since takedown. Am I really defeating the purpose by taking them since they do have wheat in them listed as the first ingredient? I'm not sure since they are so small, that it would matter too much. Any ideas? Jack

HI,
The thing about making wafers yourself is that you can avoid wheat if you need to. And dairy, too, if you need to skip that. You can decide exactly what goes into your wafers. No additives etc either! I ran out of seeds so when I made wafers today, I've noticed that for me, the seeds are important. (Mind you, it's possible not even the wafers can help me right now as I'm going through some emotional stress and it's definitely upsetting my system.)
Nikki, glad your psyllium cooking is such a success! Still no recipe board on the site, but maybe one day...

Hi everyone. I am new on the site and I am pretty new with the j-pouch. all this talk about bread and flour and yeast and psyllium recipes really confuses me. I eat most everything but avoid dairy products. My doctor or the nutritionist at the hospital never told me about Yeast infections. I am reading all your response about flour and wondering if I have a low grade pouchitis or yeast infection. I have trouble with leaking. sometimes liquid and sometimes stool. My doctor did a scope and biopsy less than a month ago and to my knowledge found nothing. Could he detect yeast or pouchitis in the biopsy? I am so confused and feel at the mercy of the DOCTOR OF FEW WORDS. Everytime I complain about the leaking he sticks me on antibiotics. most recently Xifaxin. Maybe it's my diet but they never want to discuss that with me. Antibiotics often give me problems: skin rash, itching and/or nausea mostly. Any suggestions, comments....thanks. Sarah

Of course yeast infections are a common side effect of antibiotic use. It may not be evident on scope or biopsy (mainly because they do not necessarily culture biopsies unless there is an obvious patch). You are not likely to have the yeast growing in your pouch, but it can be in your anal canal and perianal area, causing all sorts of perianal discomfort.

Docs don't usually talk about diet, because they don't know much about it. Plus, there really is no perfect pouch diet. It is fairly random and individual. Best to do an elimination diet and just add back one food at a time to know what is your friend and your enemy. The kicker is that once you do that, things can change over time, so there is even randomness among one person. Sounds like you have already done some sleuthing to pinpoint dairy. Perhaps there are other sensitivities you need to explore.

Jan

Good questions, Sarah, and you are right. Doc's never give you any advice on nutrition or diet. They just tell you to 'eat whatever you want to'. Not very good advice if you ask me, especially for people with a GI disease. I believe I deserve something better than that.
You probably do have yeast if you have been treated with antibiotics over and over again. If you are having to be treated multiple times that tells me it isn't solving the problem.
Your doc can't find yeast unless he cultures for it, but can certainly tell from biopsies if you have pouchitis.
There are other avenues to look at. Your GI or surgeon aren't the be-all and end-all of your issues. IMO diet plays a huge role in our lives, we just don't like to admit it.

Shelby thank you so much for your reply....what is IMO. I know IMO the sour cream substitute :-) but don't think that is what you mean. You all are so kind and helpful. Sarah

In My Opinion. Or IMHO = in my humble opinion.

kathy

Thanks Kathy. "IMO" In my opinion. Makes sense. I have to now learn a whole group of new acrynyms. You all are great. Sarah