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Building muscle with Crohn's

Alright guys sorry in advance but this is going to be a long post because I have lots of questions about this. So since I've had Crohn's (and i think i have a pretty accurate idea of exactly when i got it our it became active because I was overweight and I lost over to 100 lbs over 1 summer with barely any exercise) I seem to have lost muscle with the weight loss and for me playing sports it kinda sucks to be skin and bones. I want to know if Crohn's has any effect on putting on muscle. Also I want to know what kind of foods and that kind of stuff I should be eating because I've realised that once you have Crohn's all normal health rules kinda go out the window, so should I be eating like high calorie foods that aren't "healthy" what do you guys suggest I should be eating in order to have the best chance and also I know I should be taking vitamins but I have no idea like what kind or anything (im still kinda new to this whole having Crohn's thing) anyways I just want to know the kind of general stuff about exercising with Crohn's
 

DJW

Forum Monitor
Hi. I was diagnosed at 12. At 18 I tipped the scales at 105 lb and 5'9". I started going to the gym after the flare ended at 21. In 3 years I built up to 195 (those were th days :) ). Protien shakes, chicken, rice, etc. I ate 6 small meals a day. In the gym 6 days/week and sometimes twice a day. Just avoid trigger food. Hope it goes well for you.
 

Tesscorm

Moderator
Staff member
My son was diagnosed at 16, exclusive enteral nutrition was used for six weeks to induce remission (so, no food, nutritional formula only). After the six weeks, he added back a regular diet but kept on with EN at 1/2 dose, 5 nights per week (he ingested it by NG tube rather than drinking shakes). In the first 3 months (so 6 weeks, formula only, next 6 weeks of supplemental formula plus food) he gained 30 lbs. And it was 'healthy' weight - ie weight he'd lost plus muscle. He stayed with the supplemental EN for 2 years, in total he gained 50 lbs. (went from 125 to 170/175 lbs, gained one inch to 5'11").

You can add nutritional shakes to your diet - along with his regular diet, my son was taking in an additional 1500 calories per night (5 x per week). Some of the drinkable shakes are Boost, Ensure and Peptamin. There's also no conflict with medication.

As for exercise, my son played on two hockey teams (school and competitive team) so was on the ice approx. 5 times per week. He's now cut that back to one recreational team and works out at the gym a couple of times per week (didn't cut back on hockey because of crohns though, just time restrictions).

I really believe the nutritional formulas have helped him - I truly believe the nutrition he gained from the shakes helped control his crohns with no meds for two years plus were a big part of him being able to rebuild the muscle he'd lost before being diagnosed.

Do you still have any active inflammation? If not, you should be fine with any nutritional shake (Boost, Ensure, etc.); if you do still have some inflammation, elemental or semi-elemental shakes are more easily absorbed (and some/all? are anti-inflammatory), Peptamin would be one of these formulas (warning, the elemental or semi-elemental shakes don't taste as good as the regular Boost or Ensure shakes). Peptamin 1.5 also provides extra (1.5 times more) calories in the same size shake.

:)
 
I dont know very much about my Crohn's because my old doctor didn't explain anything he told me I had it and gave me a rx then left the room no explanation of what it was or anything and I just moved and currently dont have a G.I so Idk if I have inflammation my guess would be yes
 
I would strongly suggest finding a GI ASAP. As far as gaining muscle/strength, when I'm not in a flare I seem to put on muscle at a pretty normal rate when I compare myself to other healthy gym goers. Gaining weight can be tough depending on the severity of your symptoms but eating high calorie, high protein foods had always given me the results I wanted. Milk is probably the most effective tool to gain weight, IF you can tolerate it. Beef is also very good for packing on muscle, go for more lean cuts if you're worried about fat gain. Speaking of fat, putting olive oil or coconut oil into everything is a great way to gain weight while taking in healthy fats. Especially the coconut, that is supposed to be very beneficial for people with crohns. Other good sources of protein are eggs, peanut butter, yogurt, chicken, fish, and shellfish.

Round out your diet with a good amount of fruits and veggies and you'll be set. Be careful with raw veggies as sometimes they can cause diarrhea or indigestion for crohns patients.

I would stay away from things like ensure and boost, whole foods are always better and personally I've never gotten good results from these type of shakes. If you do need something to supplement your calories I suggest looking into a basic whey protein powder. Whey isolate or egg white protein if you can't tolerate lactose. These have always had more benefits than chugging down a bunch of ensure in my experience.
 
Key to gaining weight is to get your Crohn's under ontrol as said above.

For many years I was a meager 59 to 62kg at 180cm. That's just aweful. i'm between 72 and 76kg now.

Basically, if you got diarrhea regularly you won't gain much weight.

Once I had my Crohn's under control, I realized drinking milk helps, adding medical energy drink (Nutricia Fortimel) to the mix and eating normally several times a day helps. Plus at least 3 times a week sport, half endurance, half endurance/strength like rowing.

Anyway, I also need to be careful, even at a normal diet I lose weight fast if I don't do certain things or forget to eat enough or do sport.
 
I wonder if a bodybuilding steroid would be better than predisone or entocort? Look at their body's for god's sake. Isn't better to have a better body than a moon face as a side effect?
 
Bodybuilders take anabolic steroids (among other drugs like insulin or hgh). The mechanism is very very different from the catabolic steroids that are commonly prescribed for autoimmune diseases.
 
They are not anti-inflammatory like prednisone is. Now, for just gaining weight yes they would work. Although females will want to stay away from them because of the large increase of testosterone and the negative side effects this has on the female population.
 
Thanks but it would be helpful to see scientific studies in relation to all the different types of steroids in relation to IBD and what there effects on the body are. I wonder if there is a study out there somewhere?
 
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