It’s Not What You Eat: What Actually Causes Ulcerative Colitis

When you think of what causes ulcerative colitis — a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine — the logical side of your brain may think that because it’s a condition of the digestive system, the culprit must be one’s eating habits.

Surprisingly, it’s not. While there are some foods that may trigger ulcerative colitis flares, such as dairy, alcohol, sugar, caffeinated beverages, or high-fat or spicy foods, your collective diet choices are not what caused it in the first place.

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Brittany Doohan

Brittany Doohan was the Content Director at HealthiNation and is currently the Editorial Director at Medscape. Through her work with Medscape, she won a Silver Telly Award in May 2022 for "Sleepless Nation: A Public Health Epidemic — Episode 2: A Decade Without a Diagnosis." She has worked in health journalism and video production for more than 8 years, and loves the challenge of explaining complex topics in an easy-to-understand and creative way.

Reviewed by:

Sanjai Sinha, MD

Sanjai Sinha, MD, is a board-certified physician with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in internal medicine.

Our editorial standards

Meet our experts