I was diagnosed with Crohn's a year and a half ago and am having trouble figuring out what my "trigger" foods are. I started seeing a nutritionist a little over two weeks ago and it's been a little helpful but sort of making things more confusing at the same time. I've learned that bananas, spinach, and the skins on raw fruits and veggies bother me but yesterday I had none of those things and I've been in serious pain ever since. I also think vegetables bother me in general but I can't live my life with zero veggies (right??)! I just feel like my stomach hurts all the time and I have no idea why. It's so frustrating to not know yourself or know what things you can/can't eat. Has anyone out there been able to successfully pinpoint what foods bother them through trial and error? If so, what was the process? I've been considering eating plain chicken and pasta for a week and then slowly introducing new things but I'm not a doctor/nutritionist and don't know if that even makes sense. I'm just so lost and it makes me afraid to eat anything.
Feeling Lost!
- Thread starter jbiele22
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CrohnsChicago
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Has your nutritionist had you try an elimination diet?
You can do exactly what you just said you wanted above: eat soft, basic and bland. Then you incorporate things into your diet for a day or two and record how you feel. If you feel fine, then you add another food. If you feel pain, then you list that one as a potential irritant/trigger and start over next time incorporating a different food item into your system.
Here are two forum links that discuss the elimination diet. You can also find more info about it online:
Elimination Diet Explained
Forum members documenting elimination diet successes
You can do exactly what you just said you wanted above: eat soft, basic and bland. Then you incorporate things into your diet for a day or two and record how you feel. If you feel fine, then you add another food. If you feel pain, then you list that one as a potential irritant/trigger and start over next time incorporating a different food item into your system.
Here are two forum links that discuss the elimination diet. You can also find more info about it online:
Elimination Diet Explained
Forum members documenting elimination diet successes
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- Oct 18, 2012
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Don't be too quick to assume that if you get symptoms after eating a particular food that that food is to blame. It could be that eating anything at that time would have given you symptoms, or that the symptoms are unrelated to eating. You could be reacting to something you ate an hour ago, or a day ago.
Also think about your diet as a whole, as well as specific foods: eating a diet high in fibre, or high in fat, or whatever, over several days, may worsen your symptoms even though you'd be fine with each food you'd eaten individually, or in smaller portions.
So it's actually very hard to work this out! You have to look for consistency in your reactions over time. Don't make radical changes or change too many factors at once (including non-food factors that could affect your symptoms, like medication - or if you have to change medication, take it into account when considering whether diet is affecting you).
I'd be surprised if bananas give you problems - they're one of the easiest fruits to tolerate, and one of the best tolerated foods in general. Fruits and vegetables can often cause problems due to their high fibre content. Besides bananas, fruits and vegetables that don't have this problem (or preparations of them that don't have this problem) include avocados, potatoes without skin, fruit juice, smooth vegetable soups, most tinned fruits and purreed fruit. Some vegetables may be easier to tolerate if cooked very well.
Also think about your diet as a whole, as well as specific foods: eating a diet high in fibre, or high in fat, or whatever, over several days, may worsen your symptoms even though you'd be fine with each food you'd eaten individually, or in smaller portions.
So it's actually very hard to work this out! You have to look for consistency in your reactions over time. Don't make radical changes or change too many factors at once (including non-food factors that could affect your symptoms, like medication - or if you have to change medication, take it into account when considering whether diet is affecting you).
I'd be surprised if bananas give you problems - they're one of the easiest fruits to tolerate, and one of the best tolerated foods in general. Fruits and vegetables can often cause problems due to their high fibre content. Besides bananas, fruits and vegetables that don't have this problem (or preparations of them that don't have this problem) include avocados, potatoes without skin, fruit juice, smooth vegetable soups, most tinned fruits and purreed fruit. Some vegetables may be easier to tolerate if cooked very well.
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Raw fruit skins and veggies bother me too. I find that cooking veggies and then pureeing them works very well for me. Eating cooked veggies is usually pretty gentle on the digestive system. But each time you flare doesn't mean you ate something bad, Your body could just be flaring, and at the time its better to eat the foods that won't make your flare worse. Good luck!
