Caffeine

[hoons]

Has anyone heard of caffeine being bad for Crohn's.

It's pretty well documented how bad smoking is for Crohn's, but does anyone know whether the same applies to one of the most essential things in my life - the first coffee of the day! :ybiggrin:

Same applies to alcohol too I guess - is drinking (not to excess, just generally) bad for Crohn's ??

Thanks,

Tom.

 

[mnsun]

Not sure if it is "bad" for crohn's if you can handle it without pain/upset. There was a period where I could handle coffee, no problem, for a couple years. I now only drink it on weekends, a cup or two at a time. If I have more, I get watery BMs a couple hours later--if not sooner.

I've scaled back to drinking two cups of Yerba Mate a day. In addition to containing less than 1/2 the caffeine of coffee, a quick search on wikipedia states the following quote:
“The derivatives of caffeine in yerba mate not only induce death in human colon cancer cells; they also reduce important indicators of inflammation,” assured Elvira de Mejía, Associate Professor of Food Chemistry and Toxicology at the University of Illinois.

 

[hoons]

I hadn't heard of Yerba Mate ... I'll give it a try though, thanks

 

[carolhew]

Coffee is on my no-no list and I sure do miss it! It goes right through me!

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Caffeine is a no-no for me as well. When I was diagnosed with colitis in '96 it would put me into an immediate flare. Still don't do very well now that I was diagnosed with crohn's. Although, haven't been able to do a trial and error yet since I haven't been in remission at all...

 

[braveheart]

I've scaled back to drinking two cups of Yerba Mate a day.

Yerba mate is grown mainly in South America, where are you from?

 

[rygon]

i cant tolerate caffine at all, but ive never really had it either (not a tea or coffee drinker really). Cutting it out totally has helped a lot .. not quite prepared to do the same with alcohol tho

 

[Bld]

When I was first diagnosed the consultant suggested I give up caffeine, which I did. Now if. Have any caffeine at all I feel sick. I don't think it had a particular effect on my crohn's but generally I fel much better not drinking it.

 

[Chrismac]

I find caffeine much worse in a flare, I can't quite bring myself to stop drinking tea but I will drink a lighter tea than the standard black tea.. a light blend of Earl Grey or Lady Grey usually.
I find instant coffee is really really bad for some reason, so I only drink coffee when I'm out somewhere. When I'm in a flare I avoid coffee full stop.