Blood Group Diet for Crohn's?

[paola]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. My 15 year old son has just been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. A friend of mine has been quick to advise I look in to the Blood Group Diet for him. She says it works wonder for Crohn's sufferers. Has anyone here tried it? At the moment we are getting loads of information and need to find what works best. Thanks guys.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Welcome to the forum. Do you mean the blood type diet? There is no scientific evidence to back up the claims of that diet. I have been heavily invested in a dietary approach to addressing my crohn's and have read tons but have never heard of this diet being used for IBD. It doesn't mean it's not, but its probably not commonly used. The most common diets that are tried for IBD tend to be low fiber, temporary liquid diets, gluten free, specific carbohydrate diet, the makers diet, vegan or raw vegan and some have tried GAPS.

 

[paola]

Yes, that's the one. I hadn't heard of it being used with Crohn's either and would always prefer to check before trying any particular diet. He is being put on the Modulen IBD liquid diet. Thanks.:thumbup:

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[nogutsnoglory]

I'm not sure what the diet entails but I'm always nervous particularly with our condition of eliminating food groups. We need all the nutrition we can absorb.

 

[hugh]

Hi,
I know of a few who use (or used) the blood type diet, but the results would depend on what blood type you are.
I started with the BTD before i tried SCD and then paleo

The big benefit is that you give up processed foods and lots of sugar and eat real food,
Almost everyone finds that that helps....
After that it depends what your type is...
Type O is basically paleo and they have the best results generally.
Type B does fairly well because it's almost paleo
but type A and AB are veg/vegan with grains

Try this instead........it can can be almost vegan or almost carnivore to suit your taste
(i try to stay about 50/50)
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=48559

 

[paola]

Thanks for that Hugh. I'm in the very stages of researching this, so tips/advise from people such as yourself is great. My son was only diagnosed this week. I'm looking at what I can do for him when we go home from hospital to try and prevent flare ups.

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[helena101]

Paola, good luck with finding the right dietary approach for your son. I recommend you read Professor John Hunter's book Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as he is a UK doctor who uses diet as a primary treatment for crohn's. He goes into a lot of detail about the diet in his book. This dietary approach is specifically formulated for crohn's patients, by a doctor who has spent over 20 years treating IBDers with good success rates. It eliminates a lot of the foods that paleo and other diets eliminate (all dairy and all grains apart from rice are excluded at first, coffee, tea, alcohol, certain fruits and vegetables, and overall fat and fiber are kept at low levels in the beginning as these can be problematic in crohn's). I have had good results on his diet, in that I have been managing to fully control my CD with much milder medication than was initially advised by my doctors.

 

[RosaleeMae]

Mine suggested alot of fruits and vegetables and well, we know what comes after that! So no, don't believe it works.

 

[Chester31]

Paola, my son is also 15 and was diagnosed with Crohn's in June. I don't know anything about the blood group diet however, he did the liquid diet for 8 weeks and we are now slowly reintroducing foods following the advice in Professor Hunter's book. I see that you live near to us, where is your son being treated and is he on any medication at the moment?

 

[paola]

Thanks for the responses. They all help. Chester31, my son is currently at Alder Hey, Liverpool. He's on Modulen for the next 6 weeks and has been put on Azathioprine, which has made his feel really crappy but he's only had 3 doses of it and I'm told the side effects often ease off after the first few days. We're here for a couple more days at least.

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[Chester31]

That's a bit of a trek but at least he's getting the care that he needs. Fingers crossed he's feeling better soon.

 

[paola]

It's a trek alright but they really know their onions here. Can't fault any of the staff. Great place. I've been staying with him and everyone's very accommodating. Thanks Chester31.

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