file.newsgroup.med.59168 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected] (S. Spenser Aden)
Subject: Re: diet for Crohn's (IBD)
In article uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu!gila005 (Stephen Holland) writes:
>In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (John Eyles)
>wrote:
>>
>> A friend has what is apparently a fairly minor case of Crohn's
>> disease.
>>
>> But she can't seem to eat certain foods, such as fresh vegetables,
>> without discomfort, and of course she wants to avoid a recurrence.
>>
>> Her question is: are there any nutritionists who specialize in the
>> problems of people with Crohn's disease ?
>
>If she is having problems with fresh vegetables, the guess is that there
>is some obstruction of the intestine. Without knowing more it is not
>possible to say whether the obstruction is permanent due to scarring,
>or temporary due to swelling of inflammed intestine. In general, there are
>no dietary limitations in patients with Crohn's except as they relate
>to obstruction. There is no evidence that any foods will bring on
>recurrence of Crohn's.
Interesting statements, simply because I have been told otherwise. I'm
certainly not questioning Steve's claims, as for one I am not a doctor, and I
agree that foods don't bring on the recurrence of Crohn's. But inflammation
can be either mildly or DRASTICALLY enhanced due to food.
Having had one major obstruction resulting in resection (is that a good enough
caveat :-), I was told that a *LOW RESIDUE* diet is called for. Basically,
the idea is that if there is inflammation of the gut (which may not be
realized by the patient), any residue in the system can be caught in the folds
of inflammation and constantly irritate, thus exacerbating the problem.
Therefore, anything that doesn't digest completely by the point of common
inflammation should be avoided. With what I've been told is typical Crohn's,
of the terminal ileum, my diet should be low residue, consisting of:
Completely out - never again - items:
o corn (kernel husk doesn't digest ... most of us know this :-)
o popcorn (same)
o dried (dehydrated) fruit and fruit skins
o nuts (Very tough when it comes to giving up some fudge :-)
Discouraged greatly:
o raw vegetables (too fibrous)
o wheat and raw grain breads
o exotic lettuce (iceberg is ok since it's apparently mostly water)
o greens (turnip, mustard, kale, etc...)
o little seeds, like sesame (try getting an Arby's without it!)
o long grain and wild rice (husky)
o beans (you'll generate enough gas alone without them!)
o BASICALLY anything that requires heavy digestive processing
I was told that the more processed the food the better! (rather ironic in this
day and age). The whole point is PREVENTATIVE ... you want to give your
system as little chance to inflame as possible. I was told that among the
NUMEROUS things that were heavily discouraged (I only listed a few), to try
the ones I wanted and see how I felt. If it's bad, don't do it again!
Remember though that this was while I was in remission. For Veggies: cook the
daylights out of them. I prefer steaming ... I think it's cooks more
thoroughly - you're mileage may vary.
As with anything else, CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. Don't just take my word. But
this is the info I've been given, and it may be a starting point for
discussion. Good luck!
-Spenser
--
S. Spenser Aden --- Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co. --- (713) 483-2028
NASA --- Flight Data and Evaluation Office --- Johnson Space Center, Houston
[email protected] (Internet) --- Opinions herein are mine alone.
[email protected] (if above bounces) --- "Eschew obfuscation." - unknown