best diet

Question
I would like to lose about 50 lb. I have tried low-carb but can't seem to stay on it. Now I have ulcertive colitius. Which means I need to eat watersoluable fiber like potatoes, cooked veg. not raw etc. sort anti Atkins. I don't like sweets so desert and junk food are not my problem. Give me bread and cheese any day.  I do walk 30 min per day. I am 59 years old. How am I ever going to lose weight.?

Answer
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First of all, regarding  your direct question about soluble fibers for your diet. Potato is not a good one. Here's a list of foods containing soluble fiber in good quantities:
  
oatmeal
oat-bran
nuts and seeds
legumes (dried peas, beans, lentils)
apples
pears
strawberries
blueberries

As to the low carb diet part of  your question, you are right, it's hard to do the diet with this disease. Hard but possible, if you know how to maintain the proper ketogenic ratio of meals as opposite to just counting carbohydrates. Read more about this approach here:

http://dietandbody.com/banta/inside/fat_burning_index.htm

Now, I failed finding any contra-indications regarding raw vegetables. First of all, depending on your source of advice, there are two different view points.

Mainstream diet advice

Mainstream standpoint is, there is no specialized diet for Ulcerative Colitis.  Rather, the recommended diet for Ulcerative Colitis is a balanced diet focusing on adequate calories, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fluid.  There are no specific foods that must be avoided by all patients with Ulcerative Colitis. The conclusion: "Each person may experience ulcerative colitis differently. If you are unsure about a particular food, DO NOT EAT IT. "

Recent findings

Remission may be maintained for long periods (up to 51 months!) when foods to which people are intolerant are identified and eliminated from the diet, according to researchers from Cambridge, England.


Dieting therapy: SCD

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) restricts the type of carbohydrates that feed the intestinal "bad" bacteria, thereby restoring the body's inner ecology friendly for "good" bacteria.

The basic theory is that bacteria and fungus responsible for the disease discharge their wastes in the intestines when the friendly bacteria are weakened by excessive use of  aspirin and pain-killers, antibiotics, anti-heart burn medicines, diets high in sugar or starch, yeast infection, etc.


No-no foods

agar and carrageenan
amaranth
any processed sugar
baking powder
barley
bean sprouts
bread
buckwheat
candy
canned meats
canned vegetables
canola oil
carob
chick peas
chocolate
commercial ketchup
commercial mayonnaise (home made is OK)
commercial yogurt (home made fermented for a minimum of 24 hours is OK)
corn
faba beans
fructose
fructose corn syrup
garbanzo beans
ice cream
margarine
milk
molasses
mungbeans
nut
oats
parsnips
pasta
potatoes
processed meats
rice
rye
seaweed
soy
soybeans
spelt
stevia
sucrose (table sugar)
wheat
wheat germ
whey powder
yams


Cheeses allowed but in restricted quantities and if individually tolerated:

ricotta
mozzarella
cottage cheese
cream cheese
feta
processed cheeses
cheese spreads

Allowed Foods

apples
apricots
artichokes
asparagus
avocadoes
bananas
beets
berries
broccoli
Brussells sprouts
cabbage
carrots celery
cauliflower
cherries
citrus
coconuts
cucumbers
eggplant
fish
garlic
grapes
honey (if you tolerate it)
lentils
lettuce
lima beans
mushrooms (if you tolerate them)
natural peanut butter
navy beans
olives
onions
peaches
peanuts in a shell
pears
peas
peppers
rhubarb
shellfish
spinach
split peas
string beans
summer squash
tomatoes
turnips,
unprocessed meats
unroasted cashews
watercress.
zucchini


Some herbs and supplements shown to help fighting intestinal inflammatory diseases

Ginkgo biloba
Licorice
bioflavonoid quercitin
Aloe vera
L-Glutamine (amino-acid)
Omega-3 fatty acids


Sources:

"Nutrition Guidelines for Ulcerative Colitis" University of Virginia

Lancet 1985;2:177-180

"Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gloria Gottschall, Kirkton Press Revised edition (December 1994)

"Interpreting News on Diet" Harvard School of Public Health  

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