Are you on an IBD specific diet? I want to help!

[leloupaccroupi]

So!

My name's Keenan, I'm presently undiagnosed (pending this thursday, yay!) however my scope revealed a good amount of deep ulceration and inflammation cohesive with severe Crohn's. Now I've read up on treatment options, the big pharma way, the natural way with diets and medical cannabis and such like and im looking forward to trying to achieve remission with a combination of the two.

That brings me to the focus of this thread, IBD specific diets. I'm at work this morning brainstorming with Chef (I'm his Executive Sous) over our spring menu and I can't help thinking in the back of my mind that instead of cooking I should be doing something to aid in the fight against IBD. And so continued the train of thought until I asked myself 'why can't I do both?'.

So I want to know your diet limitations, I want to know if you hate what you have to eat, what your favourite diet items are, and what your favourite cheat day treats are. Recipes, techniques, lay em on the line!

Here's where the giving back comes in; if you're curious about techniques, or simply how to treat certain ingredients to maximize your gains or flavours from them, or even if you're just looking for a new way to prepare an old favourite, drop me a line! Let's get creative and make some UNREAL food together!

I REFUSE to let something like IBD take away from my ability to enjoy food and render it nothing more than sustenance and a lifeline.

COOKING and eating to enjoy is one of the most human things we've developed for ourselves throughout our evolution as a species.

Let's take it back.

:dance:

Keenan

 

[Beach]

Thanks for the culinary offer of help. My IBD fish diet is on the bland side and could use livening up. For now I'm happy with its blandness though. My view being, it is better to eat bland for now, feeling half way decent with the stomach and seeing often improved energy, allowing some healing.

I'm definitely looking forward to the day though of when I feel ready to add back more variety into the diet. I miss fiber rich vegetables and fruits. Blueberries sound good about now.

Good luck with the diagnosis and future treatment. Thought to mention you might bring up the offer of assistance in the diet section. That area can be seen here ~

http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17

 

[leloupaccroupi]

Hey Beach!

Thanks for your reply and the well wishes!

I understand the necessity of eating bland as you put it, especially to help deal with the symptoms that we're plagued with.

Do you find things like salt or lemon aggravate symptoms?

People outside the affected populous of IBD seem to be terrified of seasoning to begin with for other reasons like blood pressure and heart disease, but don't realize just how little sodium it actually takes to bring the flavours out of something and make it vibrant.

If you ever want a little crash course on the many ways to make fish stand out, accompaniments, or new types of seafood to try, don't hesitate!

Thank you as well for the suggestion to bring this to the diet forum, I honestly wasn't even aware it existed. ><

 

[leloupaccroupi]

Side note on veggies: if you miss those wonderful seasonal flavours, purees are a great alternative and are ridiculously easy to digest in comparison to the whole vegetable. The key to an immaculate puree is temperature, to avoid graininess or lumpiness the vegetables need to be scolding hot and blended with just a touch of the cooking liquid. Reserving the cooking liquid also boots flavour and helps preserve the nutritional value

 

[Beach]

Thanks Keenan. I'll be back asking dietary question in a few weeks. My bland fish diet needs an upgrade! 2 weeks from today I have a 3 day car trip to make. The stomach needs to be in top shape for it. After the trip, with everything going as well as it has with the current diet, I'll be looking to spice things up.

I love salt! It doesn't seem to be a problem for me. I'm hoping spices don't cause me issues. Salmon packets and tuna in olive oil is getting old, at least taste wise. Otherwise, It's wonderful to be doing better with my health.

 

[leloupaccroupi]

Excellent! I love tuna but I could see it getting dreary with olive oil. Feel free to drop me a line regarding it whenever! I'm excited to collaborate on the subject!

 

[shamrock15]

Interesting idea Keenan. I like the attitude of not backing down from crohn's. I think that is pretty much mandatory if you want a life outside the bathroom.

Veggies will always be the issue with me. First crohn's experience was as a kid, I think I have always associated veggies at some point with the pain and vomiting. Never got to the point of enjoying veggies then, and later told to avoid fibre. I may slowly start to get some back into my life now that I am in remission.

I think there are many who will benefit from this. Keep it up!

 

[leloupaccroupi]

I've always had a soft spot for vegetables and fruits especially in the summer time but the further back I think on how my symptoms sort of progressed or evolved the more I realize that vegetables haven't always agreed with me either.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, hopefully it gets passed on and noticed now that it's also posted in the Diet subforum!

 

[Robertp]

I'm on a low fiber diet right now and it's been working great so farand since I hate most Fruits and veggies I have been enjoying it, been having some vitamin juices to replace the nutrients lost from the greens but Ichad been doing that for half a year before being diagnosed with Crohm's

 

[Charlotte.]

I was on many different diets, vegan (before I was diagnosed), grain free, gluten free, paleo, raw vegan, low FODMAP (can recommend that one), lofflex, elemental028/modulen, vegetarian, low carb, high carb. Each of them for at least two months, only low FODMAP was effective, still eat low FODMAP, none of these diets could ever control my disease for sure. It's just something to add on for me.