Cutting out meat

[danika]

cutting out meat

I've recently gone totally vegetarian to see if it has a positive effect on my crohns, seems to be going ok so far... I just have to wait for a few months worth of blood tests to make sure it doesn't take my iron levels down too much because they were already low from the crohns

 

[kix66]

Hi Danika, the only meat I tolerate is oven cooked chicken, no skin. I haven't been able to eat red meat, turkey or fish for nearly 20 years. I do have to take monthly B-12 injections and iron supplements, i'm usually anemic every blood test. Just be sure to have your levels checked or you will feel more run down than usual. Good luck!!

 

[Cara Fusinato]

How can you all eat veges? I can't even look at them, cooked or uncooked. And fruit. Forget it. All I have on this planet is meat, breads, and the sugar catgeory of foods (now that y'all took away my lovely milk!). I know, this illness is very individual, but isn't it odd that some cut out meat, some cut out fruits/veges, some cut out breads, some go gluten free? It's just odd. It all goes back to what I say about nothing the docs do really help much, it's all how our bodies choose to work and how hard we work to find a path to reduce symptoms. Odd, I tell you. You'd think they would come up with some solid course of action that works for everyone, more or less.

 

[Kev]

Like in everything else, a persons diet needs balance... not too much of the bad nor too little of the good.. For those of us with digestive issues, the problem becomes a major juggling act.. I can't tolerate red meat, nor even white meat, in any volume. I try to put a little in my diet once or twice a month... To do that without literally or figuratively 'killing' myself, I opt for extra extra lean ground beef broiled on a 'health' grill in the toaster oven (where hopefully any remaining fat drips off). I eat it slowly (masticate the hell out of it) and I don't combine it with any other problematic foods. For the vegans out there, I miss my veggies. I used to consume great quantities of fresh fruits & vegetables.. No my body just doesn't take kindly to them.. So, I eat some select fresh fruit (over ripe bananas) or apple sauce (like baby pablum).. plus fruit juice.. I also eat carrots, potatoes, wax beans,
(non gassy vegs) that have also been cooked to death (aka more baby pablum). I don't enjoy eating this slop, but I see it as a necessary part of staying out of the hospital and away from the surgeons... It seems to be working.. My nutritionist is of the opinion that I'm keeping ahead of the game, even making some progress..
I take comfort in her trained opinion.. it helps me 'digest' the skinless, boneless & boiled chicken that I eat regulary to get my proper portion of protein.. Very little comfort, cause it just ain't the same as a big old grilled T-bone that's extra rare!!!

 

[Kossy]

Like in everything else, a persons diet needs balance... not too much of the bad nor too little of the good.. For those of us with digestive issues, the problem becomes a major juggling act.. I can't tolerate red meat, nor even white meat, in any volume. I try to put a little in my diet once or twice a month... To do that without literally or figuratively 'killing' myself, I opt for extra extra lean ground beef broiled on a 'health' grill in the toaster oven (where hopefully any remaining fat drips off). I eat it slowly (masticate the hell out of it) and I don't combine it with any other problematic foods. For the vegans out there, I miss my veggies. I used to consume great quantities of fresh fruits & vegetables.. No my body just doesn't take kindly to them.. So, I eat some select fresh fruit (over ripe bananas) or apple sauce (like baby pablum).. plus fruit juice.. I also eat carrots, potatoes, wax beans,
(non gassy vegs) that have also been cooked to death (aka more baby pablum). I don't enjoy eating this slop, but I see it as a necessary part of staying out of the hospital and away from the surgeons... It seems to be working.. My nutritionist is of the opinion that I'm keeping ahead of the game, even making some progress..
I take comfort in her trained opinion.. it helps me 'digest' the skinless, boneless & boiled chicken that I eat regulary to get my proper portion of protein.. Very little comfort, cause it just ain't the same as a big old grilled T-bone that's extra rare!!!

First off, Kev you are my hero for using the word "masticate." They sure don't use that word as much as they use to.
Secondly for the last month I've been eating the right way. Almost to the tee of what you have wrote and I have been feeling so much better. Seeing a nutritionist has help me feel a lot healthier compared to my diet that consisted of taco bell and white castle that I was on.

 

[skeet]

My diet is also similar to Kev's, except that I don't do ground beef at all. No matter how lean, just too much fat for me. I trim the fat off of pork chops or have boneless, skinless chicken breasts for my proteins. If I'm feeling especially virtuous, I boil them before doing whatever else I had planned with them. It's amazing the layer of fat that comes up to the top of the water when you boil even lean meats. I eat some fish, too. But all that pablumy fruit & veggie stuff ... that's mainly what I have, in small quantities with lots of starches (potatoes, pasta, rice and breads) to fill me up.

 

[Nancy Lee]

I miss my raw veggies and fresh fruit..only fresh fruit now are over ripe bananas.
I can eat some overly cooked veggies, carrots and green beans,
but nothing gassy, such as anything in the cabbage family.

Only fruit juice I can tolerate is apple. No carbonated drinks either.
I do quite well with Herbal teas, especially Chai and Green tea.

I eat skinless boiled then barbequed chicken, and fish.
I do love fish and can fortunately get away with quite a bit of that.

AND rice!! I would be lost without my rice!!!

But ask me if I still miss popcorn after 10 years without...
I think you know my answer. YES!!!!!!! :ybatty:

 

[Skinsfan1229]

Nancy lee I'd like to say I just noticed you were a super moderator also!!!

Welcome to the forum, I sometimes dont get over to the My story section to often or get the time to contribute to it.

My name is Chris and I welcome you as a member and fellow moderator here at crohnsforum.com

 

[Mazen]

I can always eat white meat (fish and chicken); but not fried ofcourse. Even when I have a bad flare, the only thing I can tolerate is some boiled chicken breast, rice, and potatoes. I don't think I can survive without meat, and I have read that people with chronic illnesses need additional easy to digest proteins, and fish is the best source for this. Red meat I can eat occasionally and very carefully as it doesn't suit me well.

Raw vegies don't go well with me, except rarely lettuce and cucumbers. As for raw fruit, I eat them as ripe as possible and peeled. Also gassy vegies like cabbage and brocolli are a total no no, citrus fruits give me stomach ache, and nuts just kill me...

 

[Dekar]

its all about balance. i have meat and chicken a lot as well as some fruits and veggies that dont hurt me and green/chamomile/black tea and of course a lot of water

 

[KCMike]

Testing the system

I'm still a work-in progress. Since my surgery in October I've gradually phased in chicken, lean beef and some cooked vegetables. Potatoes, rice, pasta, and bread - no problems. I haven't had the big 'D' in 5 weeks. I've stayed away from sodas and caffein. I've been taking 'Country Life liquid multi-vitamin' supplements every morning. Anyone else heard of it? Here is the llink: http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=25&Product_ID=392

 

[Kev]

Kossy... So help me, this is exactly how this word was re-introduced to my vocabulary. (I was dimly aware of the word prior to this, just never caught on with me as a popular catch-phrase)... Sitting in my bed in a 4 bed hospital ward, in comes the hospital dietician and a junior dietician trainee.. Introductions are made, and she get's right down to business... Within earshot of my fellow ward mates, she tells me (seriously) that if I want to feel better, then I'd better learn to masticate a lot more. I still can't say for sure if the pain of keeping a straight face was worse at that point in time than my post op recuperation or not... Regardless of how she turned that phrase, the message is important... I was prone to wolfing my food as I was in the habit of working through lunch or dinner breaks. I wonder if a lot of people who turn stress inward do too? Or maybe the rise in IBD illness is more a sypmtom of our 'fast food' society and not so much the junk that we eat... Or maybe a little of both combined? I did eat healthy at home, but my typical work week ran 60 - 70 hours, and I admit that even at home, I usually finished ahead of the rest at the table.. Simple habits like eating too fast can be very hard to break

First off, Kev you are my hero for using the word "masticate." They sure don't use that word as much as they use to.
Secondly for the last month I've been eating the right way. Almost to the tee of what you have wrote and I have been feeling so much better. Seeing a nutritionist has help me feel a lot healthier compared to my diet that consisted of taco bell and white castle that I was on.

 

[Dekar]

Kossy... So help me, this is exactly how this word was re-introduced to my vocabulary. (I was dimly aware of the word prior to this, just never caught on with me as a popular catch-phrase)... Sitting in my bed in a 4 bed hospital ward, in comes the hospital dietician and a junior dietician trainee.. Introductions are made, and she get's right down to business... Within earshot of my fellow ward mates, she tells me (seriously) that if I want to feel better, then I'd better learn to masticate a lot more. I still can't say for sure if the pain of keeping a straight face was worse at that point in time than my post op recuperation or not... Regardless of how she turned that phrase, the message is important... I was prone to wolfing my food as I was in the habit of working through lunch or dinner breaks. I wonder if a lot of people who turn stress inward do too? Or maybe the rise in IBD illness is more a sypmtom of our 'fast food' society and not so much the junk that we eat... Or maybe a little of both combined? I did eat healthy at home, but my typical work week ran 60 - 70 hours, and I admit that even at home, I usually finished ahead of the rest at the table.. Simple habits like eating too fast can be very hard to break

ahhh... i eat ferociously as well. never chew my food, and my mom and dad tell me to calm down when im eating when i feel like im just eating normally lol... guess i better stop that ><

 

[flying4frogs]

Heres my 2 cents on the veg and fruit thing....
If you are unable to eat fresh veg and fruit, and are stuck with with boiled veg, try pressure cooked veggies.

I find the taste is better, color is brighter and I am told that pressure cooking veggies causes a change in the structure of the veggies that is easier for us crohnnies to digest. I know it makes a big difference in any gas causing veggies.

I also make different fruit sauces (aka baby mush) in the pressure cooker with great success.

(You will be amazed at what you can make in a pressure cooker!!!!)

Nelson