# Liquid Diet Tips!



## jyarmo

When things aren't going so well with your Crohn's and you start a liquid diet, what little secrets do you have to make it easier for yourself? Any specific supplements you prefer? 

I know that when I'm on a liquid diet, Boost is the only supplement that I'll use. The only other one that I know of is Ensure. It is funny because doctors tend to always reccomend Ensure. However, I find that it tastes awful! If I can only drink, I want to drink something that doesn't taste like crap!


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## doubledown

When I have had to go all liquids, I find it helps me just to drink CONSTANTLY. I think that helps with the hunger or just distracts me from thinking about food to much. I mean there is not much to think about when you are spending all your time either drinking or rushing off to the washroom!


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## mikeyarmo

I found that on a liquid diet variety is the best. Whether that means different flavours of boost or different juices or different soups, it helps to mix things up. 

I also do not recommend anyone try the drink Resource. I have found that one to be the worst tasting I have had, and I could not last too long on them. Something that I find strange was that they tasted fine in the hospital, yet when purchased at outside locations they tasted much worst. This was something the dietician actually had warned me about, so I guess for some weird reason that the hospital got in different shipments of the drink than other places.


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## cookey

Good morning everyone, 
Oddly enough Jy I love Ensure, I was drinking 3 cans a day..and putting on wait real fast, if you drink to many. A few of my friends would agree with you, that they don't like the taste. They certainly are an enquired taste, for sure. I was always partial to the chocolate, even though it did bother the tummy a bit. I still drink them, when i'm not up to filling my face for the day. I found Boost to be the one I couldn't stomach, very weird..because Ensure and Boost go hand and hand.


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## mikeyarmo

I also forgot to mention something in my first post...


In the hospital a dietician I saw told me that any boost/ensure/high calorie liquid drink should be drinken very slowly over at minimum a 15 minute (or even better 30 minute) period. This is because these drinks are so highly concentrated with calories that drinking them too fast can cause bloating, cramping and other digestive problems. So make sure to sip these slowly and take your time with them.


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## Kossy

I normally just drink a boat load of water and gatoraide.  Oh and I'd either make two or three of these types of protein shacks...
* I cut and chop two kiwi's
* I chop up about 3-5 strawberries
* 8 to 10oz of either milk or OJ 
* A scoop full of this GNC whey protien (unflavored) 
* and about a tbs of sugar just for a kick, depending how sweet the fruit is.
* throw that all in a blender and there you go.

It's packed with enough to give me energy through the day.


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## danielle

When I have to be on clear liquids I eat lots of popsicles and drink chicken broth and drink water a lot so that I feel like I'm getting something fulfilling.  It's funny how you can not feel hungry for days and then you get out on liquids and anything sounds good!


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## jyarmo

As I mentioned on another thread...

Watch food tv! It helps believe it or not


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## Tami Lynn

Liquid diets aren't much fun or very interesting at all,  but when I do find it necessary to do a "liquid only" diet, I usually drink Vanilla Ensure w/Fiber (FOS), Gatorade, coffee, herbal teas, occasionally soup broth, and lots of spring water. Popsicles are good too!

Sometimes I'll try some Jello, but I got so burned out on that stuff when I used to frequent the hospital on a regular basis. I mean, I never did love it before then either. Isn't hospital Jello the worst?! (just my opinion) 

If I have Jello, I like to mix it with Kool Whip Lite (which is a no-no on a clear liquid only diet)


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## jyarmo

I know what you mean Tami...nothing reminds me more of a hospital than Jello!


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## s.a.m.

mikeyarmo said:
			
		

> I also forgot to mention something in my first post...
> 
> 
> In the hospital a dietician I saw told me that any boost/ensure/high calorie liquid drink should be drinken very slowly over at minimum a 15 minute (or even better 30 minute) period. This is because these drinks are so highly concentrated with calories that drinking them too fast can cause bloating, cramping and other digestive problems. So make sure to sip these slowly and take your time with them.


thats interesting and makes sense to drink it slowly...i was told the opposite...is there any real difference between Boost and Ensure...i have been trying the Boost Plus Calories...Does anyone know of any other brands you can buy in Canada??


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## My Butt Hurts

When I needed to put on weight, my doctor told me that I could drink Boost, Ensure, or even Slim Fast.  Though some people use Slim Fast to lose weight, they are using it as a replacement, but I would use it as a supplement.  Slim Fast is a little cheaper than the others I think, and the cappuccino flavor was really good.  Keeping it in the fridge helps the flavor, and over ice cubes is even better.  Boost was too slimey and thick for me.  Yuck.
I've been drinking Carnation instant breakfast drinks for a while now for breakfast.  It keeps me on a good "poop schedule", so I don't usually have to go during work.  If I eat real food for breakfast, I'll have to go for sure.


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## My Butt Hurts

Oh yeah, I forgot -
I haven't actually compared the labels, so check with your doctor first - don't take my advice.


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## s.a.m.

are you mixing the carnation instant breakfast with milk??


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## My Butt Hurts

I mix it with milk.  Dairy doesn't seem to bother me.  I think all of those other canned drinks have dairy in them too.
You could probably mix it with whatever you wanted, rice milk, soy milk.
Oh - I just checked, the first ingrediant is nonfat milk.


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## Isla

I can't seem to find the flavor of carnation I like though. I like the mocha and can't find it anywhere! So I have been settling for the milk chocolate.


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## frozenkefir

Since the SCD diet works for me, I do a SCD liquid diet of just pasteurized egg whites mixed with pineapple juice and I also drink weak tea with honey the whole day.  I still take my vitamins and fish oil (starch free) on this diet.  Seems all my symptoms go away when I stick to this...no lies.  I read pineapple juice has an anti-inflammatory effect too.  Compared to Whey Powder I feel those egg whites are simply delicious mixed with fruit juice, cant even tell it is eggs really.  Use a small strainer to pour the eggs through to filter out the thicker portions of the white (there aint much) so your drink is extra smooth. Stir with a spoon. 

See, the thing about egg whites are they are much more natural and are probably the highest quality protein a man can buy...also very economical when purchased in the quart size.  I believe in cutting down the number of ingredients one takes in because it is probably better for a Crohn's liquid diet.  Otherwise you are just overloading your system.  In the past I made the mistakes of using protein powders with long lists of ingredients and three different artificial sweeteners and guess what, it gave me the big D so I threw it in the big D (dumpster) and bought me some egg whites...I never went back after that.  :tongue: 

Ya know something, on a liquid diet you can still take an oil supplement, people say EV coconut oil is pretty good so I bought some and I'll have to agree.  Mixed with my pineapple/egg white drink it is like a pina colada.


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## ericajones80

I've never tried EV coconut oil....sounds good though


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## Keara07

My liquid diet days sees me drinking Ensures (dairy free ) but slowly - I can do 1/2 the can for breakfast and 1/2 for lunch...etc. Maybe get two down, or for supper have a consommee or something, then popsicles or freezies (regular only as diet ones have sorbitol and that kills me!...great fun with Barium drinks for GI testing as sorbitol in those). 

Always helps a flare and typically if things ar egoing well, I can do soup th enext day with something in it and by day 3-4 I can try rice or soft foods. I am on a pretty soft food diet now since surgery anyway still - a cracker here and there only. 

In my biggest flare - the only solid food for a long time - arrowroot cookies wafers - I figured my kids had them as first food as babies and sure enough, they were ok, and worked well after surgery too when I was allowed to eat.


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## Sophie13

Hi I've just been diagnosed with Crohn's nd I'm 15. They're putting me on a liquid diet this week and was wondering how long they generally last? x


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## becky.gale1

It depends on how bad your flare is, and how long it will take for you to start getting better. If you are on some medicine to help the healing process, it will take less time. I have been put on a liquid diet for three weeks including prednisone, because a flare was so bad once. I am actually considering going on another one tomorrow because I am starting to flare again. A couple think I can recommend is drink lots of protein shakes, smoothies are great (with Bananas and yogurt) and carrot or butternut squash soup is great too. These are a few things that have helped me, hopefully they can you, and I really do hope you feel better soon  :kiss:


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## mercy7889

hello everyone. i am actually experiencing a flare up right now. i feel like i can have an obstruction at any moment if i continue eating food. liquid diets help SO SO much. if you are experiencing a flare-you must do a clear liquid diet for a couple of days at least. also try a gentle laxative like Miralax if you are constipated & are experiencing symptoms of an obstruction. then if i could recommend anything to everyone would be-AVOID over the counter drinks such as Ensure, Boost, Slim Fast, ect..because if you to read the label, they are LOADED with chemicals and ingredients we don't eve know how to pronounce. if you CANNOT pronounce it-it means your body cannot digest it. keep it in mind. what do i do then? i buy fresh produce. i blend, puree and juice at home. all natural. i try to buy organic but its too expensive. i also DO NOT consume dairy. we should all get tested for lactose intolerance because crohn;s patience are more susceptible to being intolerant. i truly believe-especially now that i am going through this flare-meat should be removed from the diet as well-or at least the portions should be smaller. go veg. there is a substitute for everything now-a-days. we can replace meat, dairy and sweets with so many various options. the challenge is: can we as auto immune disease fighters stay consistent to remain in remission. every time i have a flareup-it motivates me to correct my mistakes and find new ways to keep myself healthy. good luck. if most of your meals have to be liquid due to scar tissue from surgeries, your GI track is not absorbing nutrients or your intestines are narrowing..so be it. life is too short to be stuck in bed. life is meant to be lived to the fullest. & if we have our health-that's all we need to make EVERYTHING beautiful.


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## zilla7777

When I was prescribed Modulen IBD, I found mixing and refrigerating the night before made it taste so much better the next day! I'll thank 'Jordyi' On here for that tip. The difference is truly like night and day with the taste.


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## RachaelJeanne

mikeyarmo said:


> I found that on a liquid diet variety is the best. Whether that means different flavours of boost or different juices or different soups, it helps to mix things up.
> 
> I also do not recommend anyone try the drink Resource. I have found that one to be the worst tasting I have had, and I could not last too long on them. Something that I find strange was that they tasted fine in the hospital, yet when purchased at outside locations they tasted much worst. This was something the dietician actually had warned me about, so I guess for some weird reason that the hospital got in different shipments of the drink than other places.


i work in a hospital and I found that the types of Ensure that is given to patients in the hospital are types that are not sold in stores.  They can only be purchased through wholesalers that typically only hospitals and pharmacies have access to.


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## astarks

I would definitely say drink Ensure/Boost type drinks slowly. They make me crazy sick if I try to drink them down too fast.

I also like to try to get some "savory" things in there, like veggie broth. Just having something that isn't pure sweet somehow makes me feel like I'm actually having a meal as opposed to just a drink, even if that isn't strictly true. 

My problem, especially lately, is that almost anything that I drink - including water - makes me incredibly nauseous. As long as I drink really slowly, I can mostly avoid vomiting it back up, but it still makes things highly unpleasant as well as difficult to sit through class. The past few days, I've been having a tendency to avoid drinking anything as much as possible, which I know isn't good, because of the dehydration factor. Any tips for getting down liquids when you know the nausea is coming?


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## tek254

I have tried ensure as well as other supplements. I found the only liquid diet that works is juicing. Apples and carrots are my staple but use other fruit as well as vegetables dependent on season. Good luck. It can be distressful to find what works for you


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## lilac

when on liquids i go between Complan and sugar free custard. Sweet tooth :lol:


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## astarks

Ooh, custard. Hadn't thought of that one. Don't know how it would react on my stomach, but I might give that a shot next time I'm on a full liquid diet and getting desperate for some "real" food.


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## lilac

I go for sugar free because of that very reason and find it quite filling. Hope it works for you!


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## Pilgrim

My daughter loved Boost until they recently reformulated. She was so aware of the difference that I couldn't secretly pour the new Boost into an old Boost bottle to trick her. She could tell right away.

She is on 100% Ensure now and it works for her. A little water and the occasional popsicle. She watches the other kids eat and always sits with us for meals. She is really positive about it - although she does have a mental list going of foods she will eat when she can have food!


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## lubnaexperts

my son diagnosed with crohn's on sept 2014 he is taking pentasa and ento cort 9 mg till now and we introduce imuran 50 mg since 35 days now and his test of calprotectin is over 1000 so the doctor decided to start with him eternal diet and we started modulen IBD formula since 4 days and stop all the foods. today my son inform me that he had soft faeces fro the first time . anyone have any idea am afraid that he will have diarrhoea again


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## Yr2080391

mercy7889 said:


> hello everyone. i am actually experiencing a flare up right now. i feel like i can have an obstruction at any moment if i continue eating food. liquid diets help SO SO much. if you are experiencing a flare-you must do a clear liquid diet for a couple of days at least. also try a gentle laxative like Miralax if you are constipated & are experiencing symptoms of an obstruction. then if i could recommend anything to everyone would be-AVOID over the counter drinks such as Ensure, Boost, Slim Fast, ect..because if you to read the label, they are LOADED with chemicals and ingredients we don't eve know how to pronounce. if you CANNOT pronounce it-it means your body cannot digest it. keep it in mind. what do i do then? i buy fresh produce. i blend, puree and juice at home. all natural. i try to buy organic but its too expensive. i also DO NOT consume dairy. we should all get tested for lactose intolerance because crohn;s patience are more susceptible to being intolerant. i truly believe-especially now that i am going through this flare-meat should be removed from the diet as well-or at least the portions should be smaller. go veg. there is a substitute for everything now-a-days. we can replace meat, dairy and sweets with so many various options. the challenge is: can we as auto immune disease fighters stay consistent to remain in remission. every time i have a flareup-it motivates me to correct my mistakes and find new ways to keep myself healthy. good luck. if most of your meals have to be liquid due to scar tissue from surgeries, your GI track is not absorbing nutrients or your intestines are narrowing..so be it. life is too short to be stuck in bed. life is meant to be lived to the fullest. & if we have our health-that's all we need to make EVERYTHING beautiful.


Thanks This heps alot. Im currently going through a flareup myself, I put myself in remession for ten years before this flareup happened. Ive been on a liqued diet now for about 5 days. I do agree that if you cant prounounce it, your body cant digest it. How have sugars effected your chrona? I need something to chew/ but not swallow, like gum, jolly ranchers..ect. Have you tried any of these before??


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