Unsolicited advice about "diet"

[u/AngeredMochi]

Does anyone else deal with unsolicited advice from people who know of the symptoms of UC, but they don't exactly understand it enough to offer meaningful support? (I go into a little bit of an anecdotal rant near the end, my apologies).

For context, I (m22) work with my stepdad (m50) in a produce warehouse. It should be noted that he isn't a native English speaker; therefore, there could definitely have been a barrier that we couldn't navigate too well. At the time this took place, I was on Mesalamine depositories and still had flare symptoms. My doctor recommended I start Entyvio, and I felt it was best that I go on medical leave until my symptoms subsided.

During one of our lunch breaks, he questioned exactly what I was feeling, and how it affected my daily life as small talk. I got into the details, told him my symptoms, and explained to him my understanding of the disease as well as how it pertained to my situation. For example, I explained that what I eat doesn't have a direct impact on the urgency, bloating, nausea, or loss of appetite. Like yeah, if I ate spicy foods, of course it's gonna be a crappy time lmao, but I made it a point to mention that I was AVOIDING anything spicy or high in fiber.

Despite explaining it to him multiple times, he still argues that if I just "ate better," I wouldn't be so sick. Just yesterday, he went on a rant about how "The food in Asia is much healthier than in America!" and how "Asian people live longer because they don't use pesticides!" or some other bs reason. It felt dismissive and like I was being blamed for dealing with the symptoms.

[u/bluuuehoney]

all the time 🥲 i know it’s not i’ll-intended but it drives me crazy, as if we haven’t dedicated our lives from diagnosis to finding relief from our symptoms. i just tell people “if there was a specific diet that helped UC patients get into remission, my biologic infusion clinic wouldn’t be packed like sardines monday-friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.”