Any advice on eating well with Crohn's Disease?

Michellelynn04

Hi everyone! I'm looking to get healthier like everyone else, but with having Crohn's Disease I have certain known trigger foods that I need to stay away from. Unfortunately, many of them are the things that you usually eat when you're trying to get healthy. When I was first diagnosed I went from 190 to 155 in a matter of months just from not being able to eat. Then I was hovering around 170 until I had a huge flare and underwent a bowel resection surgery and got down to 140, again from being unable to eat. After not being able to eat anything solid for around 2 months, when I got the okay to eat solids again I basically went nuts and got up to 220 pounds.

About 2 years ago I made the effort to cut back on my terrible eating habits and I'm now down to 195. I would like to get down to around 125-130, but I need to figure out some foods that I can try that won't trigger a flare.

Known trigger foods: Any citrus (though limes I don't really have a problem with), berries (including strawberries), whole grains, and dairy.

Sometimes I have problems with carrots and tomatoes, but it's really unpredictable. When I have flares I can pretty much only eat ramen or chicken noodle soup/broth. I don't flare very much anymore since having the surgery 3 years ago.

Thanks for any advice you have in advance!

cararickel

My husband has ulcerative colitis (similar to Crohn's) and we are doing a modified paleo diet. After cutting out wheat and corn products, he feels a lot better and has experienced a vast improvement in BMs throughout the day. Unlike you he can still eat dairy without problems, but he has also greatly increased the amount of fruits and veggies that he eats as well. Bananas, apples, and stone fruits are great. He makes smoothies in the morning using Silk Coconut Milk and fruit that are awesome and nutritious. We eat a lot of meat, and it's not dry chicken breasts at every meal--sausage, steak, ribs, pork chops, and lunch meats are some of the meats we eat throughout the week. While he is not trying to lose weight per se, he has lost about 3 pounds in the last two weeks.

Despite all of the hype, eating a lot meat HAS NOT caused inflamation or flares. My husband's gastrointerologist is fully on board with this dietary change and indicated that several of his patients have shown improvement on similar diets. Make improvements to your diet and add some exercise and you should drop pounds and feel better. Slow and steady is the way to go. Good luck to you!

Hexahedra

I read somewhere that gluten-free diet helps with crohn's. An acquaintance of mine has crohn's and she can't have gluten.

becka63

I have CD, and I think that everyone's dietary experience is unique to them. Probably more so than with UC, as CD can affect any part of the digestive system, so I can be affected by different foods at different times.

My experience is that I avoid nuts, although ground nuts are fine. I avoid mushrooms, peppers with skins on and raw onions.

I'm generally good with most other foods, but I know when I've had too much fibre through veggies, so I need a meal of white carbs basically.

But I know a lot of people with either CD or UC and their dietary needs are completely different to mine.

One thing I did find useful was that after my resection, I was told that the bit I'd had removed was the bit responsible for absorbing B12 and other folates back into my body so I have supplements now. I found it interesting that certain parts of my small intestine were responsible for the absorption of different nutrients, so that might have an impact upon you, as you'd mentioned you'd had a resection.

Good luck and feel free to send a friend request if you'd like!

Michellelynn04

My husband has ulcerative colitis (similar to Crohn's) and we are doing a modified paleo diet. After cutting out wheat and corn products, he feels a lot better and has experienced a vast improvement in BMs throughout the day. Unlike you he can still eat dairy without problems, but he has also greatly increased the amount of fruits and veggies that he eats as well. Bananas, apples, and stone fruits are great. He makes smoothies in the morning using Silk Coconut Milk and fruit that are awesome and nutritious. We eat a lot of meat, and it's not dry chicken breasts at every meal--sausage, steak, ribs, pork chops, and lunch meats are some of the meats we eat throughout the week. While he is not trying to lose weight per se, he has lost about 3 pounds in the last two weeks.

Despite all of the hype, eating a lot meat HAS NOT caused inflamation or flares. My husband's gastrointerologist is fully on board with this dietary change and indicated that several of his patients have shown improvement on similar diets. Make improvements to your diet and add some exercise and you should drop pounds and feel better. Slow and steady is the way to go. Good luck to you!

I thought about doing paleo, I find I can't drink coconut milk, but I can and do drink almond milk. I also never have a problem eating meat, so that's a great idea!
Thanks so much for your response! It's so difficult when your body rejects food you used to love that is actually good for you.

Michellelynn04

I have CD, and I think that everyone's dietary experience is unique to them. Probably more so than with UC, as CD can affect any part of the digestive system, so I can be affected by different foods at different times.

My experience is that I avoid nuts, although ground nuts are fine. I avoid mushrooms, peppers with skins on and raw onions.

I'm generally good with most other foods, but I know when I've had too much fibre through veggies, so I need a meal of white carbs basically.

But I know a lot of people with either CD or UC and their dietary needs are completely different to mine.

One thing I did find useful was that after my resection, I was told that the bit I'd had removed was the bit responsible for absorbing B12 and other folates back into my body so I have supplements now. I found it interesting that certain parts of my small intestine were responsible for the absorption of different nutrients, so that might have an impact upon you, as you'd mentioned you'd had a resection.

Good luck and feel free to send a friend request if you'd like!

They never told me about particular vitamins I needed, only that I needed to make sure I was taking a multi every day forever. That is really interesting!
I also have to consume white carbs to get my fiber for the same reason. And I agree, so many people have different trigger foods and restrictions for their own bodies. I keep wanting to go gluten-free and paleo, and I think I'm afraid to fail on them and that's why I haven't yet. But I guess you have to try to fail, right?

Michellelynn04

I read somewhere that gluten-free diet helps with crohn's. An acquaintance of mine has crohn's and she can't have gluten.

Thanks for the advice! I've been wanting to try gluten-free to see how I would feel on it. I've heard so many people say how great they do without it, but I know it takes a lot of dedication.

becka63

You could try it and keep a food diary. Perhaps if you moved towards it step by step that might help you identify how your body was responding to it?

Yeah, I have to have a B12 jab every 2-3 months and take folic tablets each day.

Crohns2013

I also have Crohn's disease, and I'm a Celiac, I have a very very short list of foods I CAN eat.

I can eat salad and some raw veggies (Only because I am on meds to control diarrhea, otherwise they wouldn't be ok) , I can eat all fruits and most meats. But anything with gluten (obviously), corn, oats, rice, dairy, seeds and nuts are all huge no-nos. And actually any solid food hurts to eat, I've been starting to drink more smoothies then eat actual food. I also had a resection and need b12 shots, they make a big difference.