Crohn's Disease Diet Plan - What Foods to Eat & What to Avoid

Foods to Watch Out For

Watch your diet to find out whether dairy products, fats, or spicy foods seem to aggravate your Crohn’s symptoms. If so, try to avoid these foods whenever possible. In addition, although it is important to try to add fiber to your diet, avoid it if you find your symptoms worsening after consuming even a small amount of fiber.

Eating Healthy

In general, a healthy Crohn’s diet is a healthy diet for other people too. Like everyone else, it’s important for you to limit your sugar and saturated fat intake. Try to avoid processed foods and caffeine whenever possible, and do not use alcohol or tobacco.

Fruits and Vegetables

Try to consume various fruits and vegetables that contain antioxidants, such as tomatoes, blueberries, cherries, squash, and peppers. Also try to add green leafy vegetables to your diet whenever possible. If fiber seems to aggravate your symptoms, try cooking the fruits and vegetables before eating them.

Grains

Choose whole grains instead of refined ones – unless the fiber exacerbates your symptoms. That means eating whole wheat bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, and whole grain pasta instead of refined grain pasta. Whole grain foods are high in B-vitamins, calcium, and magnesium, which are healthy for people with Crohn’s Disease.

Elemental Diets

If your Crohn’s symptoms are truly sever, you may want to speak with your doctor about recommending an elemental diet. If your doctor puts you on an elemental diet, you will eat only elemental formulas, which are liquids that contain only the most basic parts of food. By drinking these formulas, your body will not have to break down your food at all, which will minimize your Crohn’s symptoms. An elemental diet can be hard to stick to long-term, but many doctors recommend reintroducing some foods later in the process.

Source:

https://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/crohns-disease-000043.htm