My GI gave me a very easy to follow food plan and I feel much better when I follow it. It is low-fiber and low-residue. I imagine it is not irritating my insides at all. Here it goes: (about.com has another variation that is very good):
Refined, enriched bread, english muffins, tea biscuits and pasta, potatoes(no skins), white rice - no whole grains
No nuts, seeds, hulls, husks except if pulverized - hummus, refried beans (I'd get the canned no-fat kind) and peanut butter (the fat's hard on me too but I'm doing full disclosure her lol) are ok, for example. I am staying away from the pepper grinder.
Tender, well-cooked veggies - no seeds, skins - I cut around them - note that tomatoes may be too acidic. No broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale nor any other cruciferous veggies - no onions, garlic. Raw lettuce is fine. Baby spinach needs to be cooked.
Tender, well-cooked, lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs (full disclosure again, lol)
Canned fruit cocktail, fresh fruit like melons - cut away seeds
Avoid citrus
Veggie juice is good
Jell-o, ice pops
No lactose
No coffee, tea - although weak and diluted are ok for me
That's it - I have noticed I feel best if I eat lean beef - I guess b/c it has more iron. Also GI recommended I take multi-vitamin. I want to caution you against any vitamins/supplements with herbs. They can really react badly with your medication.
This sounds restrictive but it really isn't and my GI assures me it is just for now until my innards calm down. I feel so much better I don't care if it's permanent.
I really hope you feel better. Keep us posted!
I have this recipe for cookies that taste amazing but basically only has almond flour, honey, raisins and maybe one or two other things in it. its part of the SCD diet, but I'm still eating them even though I can't do the diet. I'll eat them like snacks cause the almond flour is sooooo high in neutrients.
Hi
While on SCD diet, I dont eat raw fruits and vegetables, I cook them. If you are looking for some great recipes, put scd diet in the search engine, there are quite a few websites where people write in and give their recipes. I stay away from wheat and instead bake bread with Almond flour. It is very high in fat since it is almonds and it might help you to put on weight. Check out www.pecanbread.com, and click on recipes, another website to check out is scdrecipe.com. Like I said you dont have to go on the diet or buy the book but you might find some receipes that you can eat. I hope this helps you.
Thanks everyone so much for all your help!
My problem is that I've only really flared badly twice in my life, the first was last september and it was very quickly controlled with Prednisone. This flare up currently though is in a league of its own. I'm wondering if, once I become healthy, I should stay on these restricted fiber/fat/lactose diets, or if its better to go on something like the SCD to prolong remission. There's so many different views... a lot of doctors seem to think that high-fiber diets extend remission, but then why when I get sick do I need to eat the opposite to get back to remission? I do know that I could definitely NOT do the SCD diet right now...no raw fruits or veggies for me, I think I would die! I've lost so much weight lately that people actually give me weird looks out in public, like I'm anorexic or something. They don't realize that if I could, I would grab the cheeseburger out of their hands and eat it! It's so hurtful...anyone else gotten that look?
I think everyone should definitely post their own recipes all together somewhere, just describe your particular symptoms/conditon, what bothers you and what you can handle, and then list your recipe. That way we can all compare and see if we're bothered by the same things and use that recipe.
Take care, and keep the suggestions coming!
Michelle
Michelle, I have a very similar situation to you. I am 21, 5'6 and at the moment 117. I used to weigh 150 until last year. I've had Crohn's 4 years now. Long story short, I had my gallbladder removed because it became diseased and stopped functioning. Now, any kind of fat goes right through me and it hurts the rest of my GI tract. So I can't eat fat. My Crohn's is really complicated and so I can't have high reside foods (ie. raw fruits and vegetables.). I also have a disease called Celiac Disease which makes me completely intolerant to gluten so there goes most of my fiber of what was left. So I cannot eat wheat, rye barley or oats. I also have lactose intolerance due to other issues.
So I'm, low-fat, low-residue, low-fiber, gluten-free, lactose-free.
I warn you against the SCD diet? The SCD diet is a great concept, but when I left the hospital at 110 two months ago, I could not put a single pound on while on the diet. We decided that first I needed to get my weight up and that then we will try the SCD. That might be a while since I can't gain any weight. Its ranging between 110-120 these days.
Now, what do I eat? Bleh. Well, everything I put in my mouth makes me sick. I also have been battling an infection in my gut called clostridium difficille that causes serious diarrhea. So, first, I pack in water as much as I can so that I don't have to go to the hospital. Second, I eat in small quantities. It helps my body deal. I get sick more times, but the times aren't as painful. I like poached chicken breasts, very lean cuts of beef in small quantities, egg whites with some salt, and well cooked/steamed vegetables and canned fruits. I cannot eat anything with a seed. I can't eat broccoli because of the little florets on the end. I cannot eat the tips of asparagus. I can eat a few really mushy carrots. I like well baked potatoes with a little bit of butter. Honestly, we are sick, so spices and flavor additives are not usually good. Obviously no leafy greens of any kind or beans. The Boost is a good thing to try. Try adding in some canned peaches to blend up with it. I can do canned peaches and pears in their own fruit juice. I can do really well baked apples without skins. No skins, ever! I'm glad you can do yogurt! Try yogurt from the health food store with no added sugars or preservatives with something like peaches, vanilla, or whipped. I love strawberrys but I can only have them without seeds. I can't have any dairy. I drink soy milk but the only kind I will drink is the Harris Teeter Chocolate Soy Milk in the fridge. It is AMAZING! Soy is a lot higher in protein. I find all other soy milk barely tolerable, though I'm a very finicky eater. I don't do much juice because it causes diarrhea but I've found Welch's White Grape Juice to be tolerable if I water it half down (it's super sweet). Eating the candies is not a good way to get calories. Those calories aren't helping you. In a diet like ours we have to be careful of sugar intake since we aren't putting much in our bodies. Getting low blood sugars can make us feel horrible and isn't healthy. I also don't have anything with high fructose corn syrup because it causes diarrhea. The same goes with sugar-free sweeteners and cafeine.
I know it feels like everything is off the list, but butter and salt make a lot of bland food tolerable to me. I hope this helps!
Please go buy the SCD (Special Carbohydrate Diet). You can find it online by typing in scd diet. You can also find it on Amazon. This diet saved my life. I felt better after 3 days. I have been on this diet for 7 months and have never felt better. I talks about what sugar, carbohydrates, wheat, and dairy does to your system. My diet now consists of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat.
I hope you feel better soon
I have a wonderful book that helped me sort out the diet nightmare. You can get it at Amazon. It's called "The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut" by James Scala. It has excellent guidelines that have helped me immensly. Basically, I live on chicken, ground turkey, Boca veggie protein (subst. for hamburger), Morningstar vegetarian sausage, peanut butter, fat free cottage cheese, and low fat cheese for my proteins. I can tolerate very well cooked vegetables that are peeled - like carrots, green beans, potatoes. Mashed avocado is good on sandwiches and is a good fat. Absolutely no tomatoes, corn, peas, or raw veggies. Same for fruit - canned or well cooked and peeled. I am also diabetic, so things like pasta, breads, rice and other "white" foods are out for me, but would probably be okay for you. I can almost always eat soups. When you make it just peel everything, cook everything well, and puree it when it's done. It seems to help fill me up and provides a good amount of nutrients. I am lactose intolerant also, which is common for IBD patients, so I switched to Dairy Ease milk and Sargento has a low-fat lactose free cheese I like. I cannot eat eggs in any way shape or form. Everyone is different and what works for you may not work for someone else. Plan to experiment and always have things like Boost around in a pinch. You can also get protein powder at the health food store and make your own "Boost" shakes. I have seriously considered beginning something online for sharing recipes with other Crohn's patients. What do you think? Would it be worth it, since everyone seems to have varying diet needs and tolerances?