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.
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