Diet For Crohn’s disease – Is There Really A Magic Diet?

I keep coming back to those first pieces of advice from my highly trained diet specialist – “Don’t eat fibre”. Those three words pretty much ruined the next several months of my food eating life, making me scared of nearly all types of food. The worst part was that my weekly meetings I would ask the same question to her, “What food stuffs have fibre in them?” and she could never give me a straight answer and the usual hand off was “Its different for everyone” was usually given.

So, I set about trying to work out my own diet for Crohn’s Disease which was really trial and error. My general conclusions to this day are still eat everything in moderation and small and frequent meals. Thankfully I’m one of the lucky ones and only have 9 inches of my intestine scarred and had one “official” major flare up.

The magical diet for Crohns disease

For me personally I don’t think that there is a magical cure all diet for Crohn’s disease everyone. Speaking with various friends with differing degree’s of this conditions tells me that it is actually “different for everyone” and that finding the right Crohn’s disease diet for you is all that really matters.

It seems that I have one of the more common ways that Crohn’s disease can affect you (the Illium just in front of the appendix) in which I have a narrowing of my intestine due to scar tissue in that area. This gives me permanent but mild Crohn’s disease symptoms.

The best diet for Crohn’s disease solution for me is eating small meals and trying not to be scared off food. I still try to avoid large quantities of high fibre meals in one sitting as this will aggravate my situation. If I know I’ve been eating a larger than normal high fibre or high residue meal typically I will try to cut back on the quantity of my fibre intake. This usually helps things along.

Supplemental diet for Crohn’s Disease

One Final point is that I do suffer mild symptoms permanently which for me is a trade off from having my damaged part of my bowel removed and I from the discussions with my specialist I would just be swapping one set of problems with another. I can live with it.

As a result I do feel that its necessary from time to time to supplement my diet for Crohn’s disease with liquid meals, that are packed with vitamins and minerals which are easily absorbed into my system. I like to do this when I feel that I need to give my damaged bowel some time out. The usual clues are always there, A little more tired that usually, some pain and discomfort as well as a few of the more embarrassing ones. Your GP should be able to write you a prescription for something like Ensure or you can get some really good supplements over the counter from and good health store.

In summary for me, the best diet for Crohn’s disease is small and frequent (when inactive of course) supplement your diet with those vital ingredients that your gut can’t or has difficulty absorbing. Eat a variety of food stuffs that you like and enjoy and pay close attention to what you body is telling you as you might need to regulate your food intake. If you notice that certain food types simply just don’t agree with you (one of my Crohn’s buddies gets flare ups from nuts and spicy foods) then try to avoid those things you know will be bothersome for you.

Phil

Phil was diagnosed with Crohns disease eventually in 2002 and has been trying to live a normal life and mainly succeeding ever since.

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Crohns Disease Diet – My experience was not very good

After Diagnosis and a period of rest and recuperation I was eventually referred to a dietitian to discuss the details of a diet for Crohns disease.

From my own experience all I can say it was the biggest waste of time and did nothing but scare me from eating any food at all. The advice I was given for a Crohns disease diet was “don’t eat fibre” or ensure you have a “low residue diet”.

As a direct result of this top quality health advice and the lack of any support or the ability to answer my own question “What foods have fibre in them?” my diet for Crohns disease ended up being to completely avoid any food with fibre in it.

Fast forward 12 months of trying to avoid such food stuff where possible and this will create a complete different and opposite set of problems. I basically went from being… shall we say “loose” (although if you could sh!t through the eye of a needle as an Olympic sport I would definitely have been a medal contender) to the other extreme of being completely bunged up, all thanks to my excellent dietician and the resulting Crohns disease diet she placed me on!

Its worth pointing out at this point that my situation and everyone situation is different (another frustrating fact that means you will never get a straight answer from anyone)…

Where was I, Oh yes. My situation is pretty mild and I do consider myself one of the lucky ones. I have permanent mild symptoms which is distinctly preferable to removing my damaged bowels parts slowly over a period of years.

The best piece of advice I was given came from a Pharmacist who spent an hour with me explaining exactly what but more importantly why it was happening as well as things I could do to reduce or prevent those things from happening again.

[Crohns disease diet side bar] – If you find yourself swinging from loose to being bunged up as a result of your Crohns disease diet or lack of proper management as I found myself in, then I would suggest keeping a small stock of Lactilose to hand. Its basically an over the counter solution which allows your stools to absorb fluid to pass through more easily. DO NOT use laxatives as they are far too aggressive.

What Is The Best Crohns Disease Diet Advice I Can Give?

The first thing you need to consider when planning any type of Crohns disease diet is that there are two phases of Crohns disease you need to remember.

1. Active Crohns Disease – When the condition is active and your digestive tract is inflamed causing some or all of the Crohns Disease Symptoms
2. Inactive Crohns Disease - When the condition is inactive and your digestive tract is normal and you are experiencing non of the usual Crohns Disease Symptoms

If your condition is currently inactive there is no reason at all to be scared off any food stuffs (generally speaking of course) and there is absolutely no reason not to lead a normal every day lifestyle.

If your condition is active then you will need to adjust your eating habits and there are certain foods that will cause discomfort or inflammation to your condition. You will in this case need to monitor you’re diet for Crohns disease carefully.

While trying to figure this stuff out and arrange my own Crohns disease diet I found that I was not seriously effected by some of the usual and common food types like spicy foods and high fibre foods. (again I’m one of the lucky ones)

Also given that I have permanent mild Crohns symptoms due to scarring and a  narrowing of my intestine around the ilium (the bit that connects your large and small intestine just by the appendix) I have to regularly monitor my diet for Crohns disease.

My individual situation is that while my condition is inactive I do not worry at all any more about what types of food I eat. The general rule of thumb for any diet is small and frequent and that really is my secret. Small amounts so I don’t get “clogged up” due to the narrowing in my intestine and a good variety of food types.

I do have to monitor the quantity of food I eat so that I can give it all a chance to be processed and run through all the plumbing down there other wise I do run into problems.

Your Diet For Crohns Disease experience doesn’t have to be as bad as my experiences

I need to stress here that living with Crohns Disease is as far as I can tell a very unique experience and this was really one of the biggest things I had to get my head around.

If your situation is that your Crohns Disease is inactive, live your life how you would normally, pay close attention to what is going on in your guts, and you will develop a, ahem, gut instinct for any situation that may arise for you.

If your Crohns Disease is active then you will need to obviously see your specialist regularly and as far as a diet for Crohns disease goes, be sensible. Avoid the food types that may trigger a reaction or an increased inflammation for you.

What types of food though? Think about what’s happening when you have an inflammation parts or your digestive tract are basically swollen which means that its going to be difficult for food to pass through. You need to feed yourself easy to digest food types and these are the things that need to go into your Crohns disease diet.

Love and Hug

Phil

p.s. and don’t let the sh!t get you down (another insider joke)

Phil

Phil was diagnosed with Crohns disease eventually in 2002 and has been trying to live a normal life and mainly succeeding ever since.

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Crohns Disease, Chrons Disease, Chrones Disease, Chromes Disease Or Chrohns Disease?

1. What is Crohns Disease?
2. Why have I got it?
3. What does it do?
4. Will I die from Chohns disease?
5. And how the heck do you spell the bloody thing?

All theses questions and 1000′s more like it crossed my mind when I was finally diagnosed with Crohns Disease and (If you will pardon the inside joke) boy oh boy did I crap myself when I found out.

What’s My Crohns Disease story?

Prior to 2002, when I was diagnosed, I had never heard of Crohns Disease, didn’t know anyone with it and even with on and off sickness for many years it certainly never crossed my mind that I had it.

I was really lucky that my buddy, who had experienced a serious appendix problem, convinced me to get down to the hospital to get what I thought was yet another case of “a rumbling appendix”. The lucky part comes in the form of a Crohns specialist helping out in the A&E (or the ER for an American readers).

I’ve got Crohns Disease, really? What is it again?

To cut a really long story short, the Crohns Disease specialist  informed me that he thought he knew what it was and needed to do some tests and I would be in over night (2 months later I got out and I’m one of the lucky ones).

Things went from bad to worse, and worse again and just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse the hospital religious representative for the big guy with the white beard asked me if I would like the last rights!

Holy Smokes Batman!

Crohns Disease Was Actually The Best Thing That Happened To Me.

Ok, I know its a bold statement with a heading like that. But for me it was. I was determined, after I eventually understood what Crohns Disease actually was and how it might effect my life, that it was not under any circumstances going to rule me.

I kept saying to myself that there is always someone that is in a worse place than me or that tomorrow could be my last day in the mortal world. What could I do to live each day as if it were my last? Have I done anything new this week or this month?

Previously, I was basically a slacker to quote Mr Stickland from the Back To The Future movies. Now I had the motivation not to let anything or anyone stop me or tell me that something couldn’t be done.

Hopefully you see that for me Crohns disease and a near death experience was the best thing that ever happened to me. I now run a very successful business from home (well I was pretty much going to be house bound potentially indefinitely), I’ve done and experienced things I would never have otherwise done previously.

You’re Diagnosis of Crohns Disease is going to be the best and worse day of your life. Worse because you know your going to have ups and down, some big some small. Best because you have been given a heads up that life is too short and as long as you plan around your condition there is nothing that can stop you from doing and achieving anything you put your mind to.

I’ve basically not let Crohns Disease prevent me from doing anything that takes my fancy and my point is YOU should not think your life is over either just because you have Crohns Disease.

Phil

Phil was diagnosed with Crohns disease eventually in 2002 and has been trying to live a normal life and mainly succeeding ever since.

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