Mashed Potatoes for Ulcerative Colitis

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Hi, my name is Mekenzie Lewis, and I'm a
dietetics graduate student here at Eastern Illinois University.
I'd like to talk to you today about ulcerative colitis
and its nutritional implications.
Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease in
which the lining of the colon, also known as the large
intestine, becomes inflamed and irritated
and ulcers present themselves.
Ulcers are tiny little sores that produce puss
and mucous and blood and compromise the digestive tract.
Most times, these ulcers produce bloody, loose stools,
which is the main symptom of the condition.
Other symptoms that also are presented are fatigue, lack of
appetite, and abdominal pain.
Most of the time, this is a genetic predisposition but also
can be caused by stress and an immune system infection.
This is a chronic disease, which causes the fact that
there is no cure for it.
But it is treatable throughout a lifetime
through medication and diet.
And there are two different phases in the disease itself:
a phase of remission and a phase of active symptoms.
The remission phase is asymptomatic and it
does not cause the patient any sort of pain or discomfort,
but the flare-up phase, when the patient experiences the
symptoms, is very painful and it has all the symptoms present.
There are different dietary recommendations for both of
these phases, but both of them are directly affected through
the digestive system, and the digestion and
the absorption of nutrients is definitely compromised,
which is a main concern to nutritional status.
Most patients that are diagnosed with this condition
have an immediate recommendation to be placed on a multi-vitamin.
Aside from that, the two different phases of the
condition have two different dietary recommendations.
For the remission phase, is basically a well-balanced,
healthy diet is the recommendation with
an emphasis placed on fiber to keep
the digestive tract working properly and healthfully.
Whenever the patient goes into a flare-up condition,
it is recommended to remain away from fiber products.
Anything that has a lot of, that might
aggrivate the digestive system.
It is mostly recommended to have low fiber, low residue,
bland diet foods such as applesauce, yogurt,
toast or bread, bananas and rice are foods that are
most recommended for them to not aggrivate their symptoms.
And one food that is most enjoyed by these patients
is mashed potatoes.
Low in fiber and a bland food, which is what
I'd like to make for you today.
This recipe calls for 5 small potatoes to be
boiled for 20 minutes, which I have already done.
After you have boiled them, you add about one cup of milk to it.
I'm making these heart healthy, so I did use skim milk, and I'm
using a butter substitute, a heart-healthy butter substitute.
One tablespoon of butter goes into this.
Then also a teaspoon of garlic for taste.
Also, salt and pepper to taste.
You can then use an electric mixer or a masher,
and you mash up the potatoes to desired consistency.
Whenever that is finished, you will have a product
that looks like this.
These are garlic mashed potatoes,
heart-healthy garlic mashed potatoes.
Hopefully you learned a little bit about ulcerative colitis
today and what it can do for nutrition.
Thank you for watching.
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