Crohn's Disease and Diet: What Works

Once diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, maintaining the best diet is no longer as simple as cutting fried foods and loading up on greens. A balanced diet for someone with Crohn’s disease might include large amounts of what others would consider unhealthy food, since inflammation along the gastrointestinal tract prevents Crohn’s disease patients from properly absorbing nutrients.

Even using the guidelines that are generally accepted within the Crohn’s community, a person’s body might not react well to certain foods. Every person is different, and every person with Crohn’s disease will need to develop their own dietary plan in order to make sure that they are receiving all of the necessary nutrients to make it through their day. The underlying condition is autoimmune, not dietary, but managing diet sensitivities is some things that every Crohn’s disease patient will have to learn to do, and it may not always prevent or address symptoms.

One of the hardest parts of learning to cope with Crohn’s disease is understanding that diet can make the condition far worse, but it cannot trigger or prevent symptoms. Sometimes the best way to find out what foods do or don’t work is to keep a food journal and resort to trial and error. If you find yourself struggling to find foods that work for you, here are seven healthy eating recommendations that might get you started down an easier, less symptomatic road.

See a nutritionist

Before you get started down the road of experimenting with different foods, it usually pays to see a registered dietician who can help you understand the complex relationships between foods and your body. You will need an eating strategy before you can start to determine what foods do and do not work for you, and a registered dietician can certainly help you develop a strategy for managing your diet.

Your registered dietician should be well-versed in inflammatory bowel disease, preferably with a focus on Crohn’s disease itself. Regular dieticians may prescribe conventionally healthy foods that will exacerbate symptoms in individuals with Crohn’s disease. While not always the case, dietary nutritionists who are unfamiliar with the complications of inflammatory bowel disease may actually make the situation worse.

Many dieticians will have you keep a food journal, and this is something that you can do on your own, with or without the guidance of a registered dietician. This may be particularly beneficial if you have personal or cultural dietary preferences. In most cases, dieticians will be able to work with these preferences in mind, and you can also be proactive in determining whether or not staple food items can stay on the menu.

No grease, dairy, or roughage

Certain types of food are difficult for most people to process, regardless of whether or not they have an inflammatory bowel disease. With Crohn’s disease, you want to ingest foods that are easier on your gastrointestinal tract. This is what varies from person to person; each person processes difficult-to-digest foods differently.

Among the most notorious of difficult to digest foods are greasy, fried foods. If you have ever felt tired after eating a large, greasy meal, it is because your body is working hard to break down and process the nutrients that you just absorbed. Similarly, roughage is a term referring to the foods that are rough on the digestive system, such as corn, beans, and stringy vegetables. These foods give many people gas, but can cause painful bloating and other symptoms in individuals with Crohn’s disease.

Lastly, many people are affected by lactose sensitivity or lactose intolerance. Dairy products, regardless of your lactose sensitivity, are considered heavier foods that are more difficult for the body to break down and utilize.

Reduce fiber but keep protein

Fiber is an important part of passing solid, healthy stools, but too much fiber can be difficult for the body to process. Unrefined flours and whole wheat products are crucial to a healthy diet, but only in the proper amount. Lowering your normal amount of fiber may be useful in various situations surrounding Crohn’s disease, for instance, if you are recovering from surgery, or experiencing flare up symptoms.

Many who adjust their diets as a result of Crohn’s disease feel compelled to give up proteins, specifically in the form of red meats. While it is not wise to consume an oversized porterhouse steak every night, keeping protein in your diet is an important way to maintain muscle mass. 6 ounces of a high-quality red meat is all you need to maintain proper iron and protein levels in the body.

Small, frequent meals

For a long while, the generally accepted standard of meals has been three a day, typically a big breakfast, medium-sized lunch, and well-rounded dinner. For those with Crohn’s disease, this relatively infrequent dining schedule may be causing the body to work harder than it has to. Small, frequent meals solve a myriad of problems associated with Crohn’s disease, from overeating to the general lack of appetite that many individuals with Crohn’s disease face daily.

Prepare foods differently

The way that you cook a certain food has a significant impact on the way that your body digests it. Foods that are raw are much more difficult for the body to process than foods that have been cooked and partially broken down beforehand. If a certain food doesn’t sit well with you at first, consider the ways that you are preparing it. Mince onions into small pieces and cook them for a long time, grind nuts before eating them, and cook everything as well as you can, if possible.

Those who experience frequent flare ups or constant symptoms no matter how well they try to eat might consider a temporary liquid diet. In general, going on a liquid diet is only feasible as a temporary solution to immediate symptoms. The idea is that a liquid diet gives the intestines a break, and makes it incredibly easy for them to absorb nutrients, but the trade-off is that it is much more difficult to get the required nutrients into the diet.

Balance hydration and electrolytes

Your body is constantly using and expending both water and a group of ions called electrolytes. Staying hydrated is especially important for those suffering from frequent diarrhea, and maintaining electrolytes—which include sodium and potassium most prevalently—is important for developing and passing solid, healthy stools.

When hydrating, try and stick to water alone. Caffeinated beverages can make Crohn’s disease symptoms worse, and most juices contain far too much sugar to be considered appropriate. If you can find or make juices that are low in sugar and diluted with water, then juice is a healthy option. Most soups are a good option for people with Crohn’s disease, as sipping savory broths is a good way to introduce both liquids and electrolytes into your diet.

Don’t stray from your diet when you’re feeling good

One of the most important things that you can do to keep your symptoms to a manageable level is to stick to your diet even when you are not experiencing symptoms. Although you may be tempted to break your diet or indulge, even straying for one meal can cause you to experience all of your least favorite symptoms for days following your break. Once you find something that works for you, stick to it and keep your symptoms away!

Reference

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/crohns-disease-15-healthy-eating-tips/11/