My Diet in a Nutshell

When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s, I asked my doctor what foods to stay away from. He said there is no particular diet with Crohn’s and you need to find what it best for you. He did however say to stay away from food with lactose. That’s not a lot of direction! It took me a few months and meeting with a wonderful nutritionist to figure out how to eat with my new disease.

Also when I was first diagnosed, I was super inflamed so my diet had to be super strict. It was difficult for my husband and I at the time to adjust, because we were so used to going out to eat a lot and cooking whatever we wanted. Going out to eat became a different experience for me, and we had to change the way we cooked together for my diet. It took some adjusting to, but we did it! Isaac was such a good sport and always has been. He always tells me my meals are great-even if I have to cook the blandest thing ever!

Like last night, I baked Tilapia in the oven with some dry seasoning, steamed squash and zucchini plain, and warmed up a loaf of plain French bread. He said it was a great light meal! Thanks babe. And both of our tummies felt good afterwards. J

It is true that lactose really upsets my stomach. And it is true that there is no particular diet. There is one for me, but it may not be the right diet for someone else with Crohn’s disease. Overall, it is best to eat healthy and to find what your particular “trigger” foods are. By that I mean particular foods or ingredients that can make my symptoms worse or upset my stomach.

To find out, it is all trial and error. Not fun. I met with a nutritionist a year ago who helped me out a lot. She advised me to not eat a bunch of food all at once that might upset my stomach. Try food one at a time, that way you will know which food is the “trigger food.” Some I already knew and I didn’t need to try to find out. Like lactose, spicy foods and caffeine I cut out of my diet immediately.

My trigger foods are:

·         Lactose

·         Spicy foods

·         Fatty meat like ground beef

·         Oils and lots of butter

·         Whole wheat/whole grains

·         Alcohol and beer

·         Coffee

·         Pop

·         Popcorn

·         Most marinades

·         Ranch dressing

·         Raw vegetables

·         Apples with the skin

·         Spaghetti

·         Salad

I also have figured out what my “safe foods” are. These are foods that I know for sure will not upset my 

stomach. During a flare, I know I can stick to these and be okay.

·        

• ·         White breads/crackers
  ·         Turkey, chicken and fish
  ·         Dry seasonings on meat when cooking
  ·         Using Pam when cooking to substitute for oil
  ·         Graham crackers
  ·         Mushy vegetables
  ·         Most fruit without the skin-pears, peaches, grapes, cantelope, melons, bananas
  ·         Homemade pizza with light red sauce, mozzarella cheese and chicken
  ·         Canned vegetables like green beans and peas (because they are soft and I can digest them easily)
  ·         Smoothies with no lactose!
  ·         Pretzels
  ·         Creamy peanut butter
  ·         Apple sauce
  ·         White rice
  ·         Soy sauce
  ·         Edemame
  ·         Honey mustard

This list does not mean this is my only diet for ever. This is just the diet I stick to when my intestines are all inflamed. When I am feeling better and when I can get to remission, I will still eat very healthy, but I will introduce some more foods into my diet and be more daring on good days-even with some of those trigger foods. J I know, it’s very complicated to explain to people.

When I am feeling good, I do not hesitate to eat a cookie J (or two!)

When people ask me what I can eat, it is so much easier for them to tell me what they are having for dinner, and I will say whether or not I can eat it. It all depends on how I am feeling, where I am at, what is being served and how the meal was prepared.

When I am not feeling good, it is very hard to find something at a restaurant I can eat. But when I am feeling better, I can usually find something to eat at a restaurant. When all else fails, I just get a plain white break sandwich!

I hope this helps explain my diet in a nutshell to a lot of people.

The most important thing is that for most Crohn’s patients, diet will not cure the disease nor will food alone control it. It will just help. There is no cure yet. For me, keeping a very health diet and taking my drugs is what helps control my disease.

I plan to write more blog posts on diet and nutrition! This is just the beginning!