Home Remedies for Colitis
Home remedies for colitis focus primarily on easing the pain and aiding digestion so that your colon and intestines have time to heal, although there are a few actual home remedies for colitis that are natural soothing agents as well as curative during flare-ups.
Colitis causes pain and cramping, bloating, diarrhea (sometimes alternating with constipation) and bloody or loose stools. If you have periodic colitis flare-ups, there are many home remedies that can help you, but if you have a severe, acute attack or it is not getting any better after a few weeks, you should consult your doctor.
Preventative Home Remedy for Colitis
Eating an apple every day provides pectin, a fiber that’s relatively easy on the system, along with iron and phosphorus. All of these help prevent colitis and keep the colon healthy. Skip the skin and seeds, though, as these can cause irritation.
Most home remedies for colitis won’t work unless you also follow the right diet. Avoid fried foods, red meats, spicy foods and white bread. Your diet should be mild and easily digestible; foods that work best include rice, bananas, steamed vegetables, cottage cheese and yogurt.
Taking probiotics daily is another preventative home remedy for colitis. You can find these as capsules or get them in yogurts with active cultures. Following up your probiotics with a cup of fresh cabbage juice every day is one of the best ways to keep your colon healthy and avoid colitis.
When you take your multivitamin each day, add an extra dose of folate. Taking 400 mg of folate daily will ease colon problems and promote digestive health.
Home Remedies for Active Colitis
When you’re having a flare-up of colitis, try drinking coconut milk. Up to two cups of coconut milk each day will ease the cramping and bloating as well as calm colon spasms.
Your diet should be as bland and easily digestible as possible during a flare-up. Two of the best things you can eat are steamed apples and ripe bananas. Both of these are packed with nutrients, easy on the stomach and colon and will soothe the pain of colitis.
A one day juice fast is another terrific home remedy for colitis. If you can take the day off and relax, try fasting with no foods other than juice (you shouldn’t fast when you’re working, as you may feel light-headed or dizzy at times if you aren’t eating solid foods). Do NOT use citrus juices, as these will aggravate your symptoms. Choose papaya, cabbage or carrot juice and sip it throughout the day. The next day, add in bananas, steamed veggies and rice. You should feel much better by the third day.
If there is an herbalist or homeopathic practitioner near you, ask for drumstick plant juice, one of the best home remedies for colitis used in India. It’s an unusual name for a healing plant sometimes called Indian horseradish. Combine one teaspoon of drumstick plant juice with a teaspoon of honey and take three times daily, followed by a cup of coconut milk. You’ll have almost immediate alleviation of the cramping and pain as well as the bloating you sometimes experience with colitis.
You can also try steeping a teaspoon of Canadian fleabane leaves in one cup of boiled water for a half-hour in a glass container (don’t use metal) and allow it to cool. Strain out the leaves and add 20 drops of ocotillo bark tincture (any herbalist will carry this). Take a tablespoon with each meal and throughout the day until it is gone.
One of the best home remedies for colitis is also a simple cup of tea. Avoid black tea, and switch to chamomile, dandelion, papaya or slippery elm tea for a soothing drink you can have twice daily.
Above all, avoid raw vegetables and fruits and stress when your colitis acts up. A relaxing few days on a bland diet along with one of the above home remedies for colitis will soon have you feeling much better.