Gluten-Free Diet and Crohn's

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I try to stay away from overly refined starches and sugars. They were really irritating at the height of my flares.

I feel better sticking with whole grains now. As little wheat as possible, although sprouted-wheat bread is good. I can find breads with Quinoa, Oat, Spelt and Kamut (often all together).

I stay away from pasta.

So I'm not gluten-free, but gluten reduced and feel better for it. Of course, what works for me may not work for others.
 
CrohnsHobo said:
I did for six months last year with no change in my condition.
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Ditto, had some relief but I was adament what went in my mouth and I found some of the gluten free was too dense for and got stuck.
 
Also no luck here.
I am reduced now also, but not gluten free.
Can't hurt you, so worth a try for everyone I think.
Good luck if you go for it!
 
I haven't but I'll bug Rhonda to get on here and tell you about her Gluten free diets for celiac disease along with Crohns.
 
Hiya!

I've learned quite a bit about how to stay gluten-free. If you're on the SCD diet chances are you're already eating gluten-free.

After learning that my son and I have nut allergies the SCD diet was out because it impossible for my son to gain weight that way. Our doctors tested us and found we were also dealing with Celiac Disease so we have CD in more ways than one. :)

With Celiac Disease I'm effected by the tiniest bit of gluten. Sharing the mayo with people who also eat wheat bread and are re-dipping the knife is enough to get too much gluten into my colon. Gluten is also hiding in the cruelest of places... cover your ears Farm... it's in (some) BEER! and, sadly, soy sauce, etc. etc. etc. Not only is wheat out, but so are rye, barley and unless certified gluten-free, so are oats. There are lots of books and internet sources to help weed through the places gluten hides.

We also try to keep our sugars to a minimum... but I've added in some gluten free bread mixes that are awesome. I'm still shocked at how I feel good after eating gluten free bread and pasta. I never realized that the crappy after eating feeling wasn't "full." LOL

I think there are many of us that are, if not cursed with full blown Celiac disease, gluten intolerant. For those that aren't... I'm jealous as hell. If you have questions about how to eat gluten-free and still enjoy eating, give me a holler, I've learned bunches.

:ycool:
 
Rhonda, thank you so much!! I owe ya, what, a million now?
 
:) Rhonda, thanks for the great reply. I've been eating gluten free for 3 weeks and noticed a big difference, no more bloating and respiratory congestion after I eat-Yay! I had a long standing sinus infection for 3 months that finally cleared up as well, but I've never tested gluten intolerant or positive for Celiac. I can use all the help you've got so please sent any advice/recipes/ideas my way!
 
There isn't a test as far as I know anyway, for gluten intolerance. It's just figured out with a food log/diary. For example, if my son eats one polish sausage a week, he doesn't have a reaction. If he has one a day, in a few days things get loose. If he has 2 a day things get bloody. We started with a very restricted diet and add one thing at a time to see how we react. It's a very long process, but what else were we going to do? :tongue:
 
oh and for the test, you have to be currently eating gluten,
otherwise the test won't work. I requested to take it once. Was negative.
 
There are several blood tests to screen for Celiac Disease. Because I hadn't been eating gluten for 6 months prior to my testing I was surprised that my anti-body levels were high. I can't imagine how high they must have been when I was consuming gluten. Some doctors like to do a scope to prove Celiac Disease after positive blood test results, my doctor said there was no need.

You can still have issues with gluten and not have Celiac Disease... they just call it an intolerance.
 
Only been on gluten-free diet for two weeks now, low sugar intake and no red meat. I barely dare to admit it but..........wow I'm feeling better and better for every day that passes. Really hope its the beginning of a long period of feeling great! Maybe life's on its way back ?
 
I took a casual look into this based on the thread. I really feel for people with Celiac. This is as bad as the people with Diabetes and Crohns like my MIL. Crohn's limits food bad enough as it is :(

But after looking at a few articles one in particular stood out. http://open.salon.com/blog/dr_ayala...free_health_fad_the_good_and_the_bad_-_part_1 . I will continue to expand from enriched white bread recommended by a nutritionist to other whole grain breads slowly and methodically so I can monitor their effect on my gut.
 
I have been off gluten for a few years now, I wouldn't go back to eating it for anything. The last thing I ate with gluten in it was my nans carrot cake......never again!!!It has made a big difference to my every day life whether my crohns is playing up or not!
I got a new gastro doc at the end of last year, she wanted to find out whether I had celiacs or not. I refused to go back to eating gluten for the standard testing and biopsy, so She decided to do a gene test instead. thankfully it was negative, and I only have a intolerance!
 
I just had to get a blood test! I was suprised that was all there was to it?!
I wrote down what the test was called somewhere......... I will see if I can find it and get back to you.
 
Why is it that some people need to restrict their diet. I am still eating the same as I always did and dont seem to have any problems with digestion etc. My doctor said I didnt need to follow any particular diet but said that some people know themselves what they can and cant eat. Does it depend on where your crohn's is or is it just becuase this disease affects everyone differently?
 
Lulu said:
Why is it that some people need to restrict their diet. I am still eating the same as I always did and dont seem to have any problems with digestion etc. My doctor said I didnt need to follow any particular diet but said that some people know themselves what they can and cant eat. Does it depend on where your crohn's is or is it just becuase this disease affects everyone differently?
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I'd say both.

But also that many of us feel some foods have become to abundant in our cultural eating habits for our health as a whole. Some cultures have very low incidence of IBD but as soon as people move here from their homelands and change to our way of eating/living the diagnosis rate goes right up to match ours.
 
Thanks Kenny, this is all new to me to apprecaite any tips.

Before being diagnosed they suspected I had a parasitic infection in the bowel, possibly from my trip to Papua New Guinea. I was led to believe that this infection may have triggered my crohn's as I never had any symptoms in the past and have no family history of Crohn's.

Can an infection trigger the crohn's?
 
Lulu - I had a similar experience. I had an infection of C. Difficile prior to my diagnosis. I also have no family history of Crohn's (though my father has Celiac), but unlike you I did have IBS-like symptoms off and on for most of my life. Nothing like what I experienced with the Crohn's though! The C. Diff infection definitely set it off.
 
GoJohnnyGo said:
I try to stay away from overly refined starches and sugars. They were really irritating at the height of my flares.

I feel better sticking with whole grains now. As little wheat as possible, although sprouted-wheat bread is good. I can find breads with Quinoa, Oat, Spelt and Kamut (often all together).

I stay away from pasta.

So I'm not gluten-free, but gluten reduced and feel better for it. Of course, what works for me may not work for others.
Click to expand...

I follow almost exactly the same diet as GJG. I also eat no dairy or meat. I think it is helping, but the proof will be when I a off the prednisone.

Eating this way also helps control my weight - not only have I not gained any weight on the pred, I actually lost 20 lbs.

I think everyone cold benefit from reducing refined sugars and processed food!
 
My son was diagnosed with Crohns last year. I had a food panel test done and intolerance to wheat gluten. I gave him spelt and then realized that is a form of wheat and contains gluten. So he does eat gluten free and is much better. His sed-rate and C reactive protein levels went way down. Has not had any problems at all. Udi's is a great brand of gluten free, out of Colorado. Most Whole Foods carry the brand. Bagels, bread, pizza crust.. he can't live without it. It was hard before we found this brand.
He also eats Grass fed beef as regular beef is all corn fed and the corn can be a problem as well.
It is worth a try, might help you.
thanks.
 
I find that going wheat free has helped the bloating and gas so flipping much. I wish I would have tried this years ago. There have been times I have bloated up as fast as I could get rid of it. I also find too much starch in general makes me feel bloated but wheat is the worst offender.

Now that I am on pred I find myself cheating quite a bit with the wheat due to the awful pred munchies, but as soon as I come off of it I will go back to being wheat free.

I was vegan for 6 months and I found it helped at first, but i think it was because I ate more macrobiotic foods and then gradually let more and more pasta and bread back into my life so then I fell ill again. I dont think it was being vegan that helped but not eating so much bread and pasta that helped. I also think I can handle yogurt and cheese but I cant handle milk. The diet thing is the hardest thing to figure out with crohns. I am going to get an allergy test so I can figure out which foods to really try to avoid.
 
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gluten free

I have a dear friend that has celiac disease. When she comes to visit it is really fun trying to find restaurants that can cater to her and me. We found that if you ask questions, most restaurant owners will be pretty nice about it. There is always that one that isn't, so I don't patronize them.

In any event, I have tried some gluten free foods. I guess this should be in the food and diet section of this site, but anyway, I will share some of the gluten free foods that I have tried and belive it or not they have helped.

Anything from Gluten Free Pantry is great!!!! I have made the brownies and the coffee cake and have taken it to parties and people don't know that it is gluten free. Also, Pamela's (the brand name) makes good cookies. Try the lemon ones.

Also, when I want a snack I eat the Seitenbacher energy bars. They make a honey-almond coated with german chocolate and they also make a banana-cranberry one. The cranberries are ground not whole, since I can't eat cranberries, blueberries etc. Seitenbacher also makes great pasta. I found out that I can't eat regular pasta, so I tried this in recipes and it worked out fine.

Today I went to my health food store and they have a new brand from Italy for spaghetti. It is called Schar. I have used it also in recipies and it is great.

Found another cookie today by a company called Jo-Sef. The cinnamon cookies are out of this world. Ask my husband who does not have Crohn's.

Also, a company that is called Food Should Taste Good - makes a gluten free snack chip ( I love chips, but can't eat the normal brands) - they make a sweet pototoe chip and they are also good.

If you love pizza but can't have the regular pizza dough - try in the frozen food section a brand called Kinickinick. You can make individual pizzas using your favorite toppings. Mine are artichokes in water, red roasted peppers (since I can't eat the fresh pepper), black olives. They are really good.

I love to eat and having Crohn's has limited me from having some of my favorites. I miss fresh fruit (berries especially) and broccoli, cabbage, etc. Anything that I can do to help me feel better, which some of the gluten free foods do, makes my disease a little better when I am feeling good.

Hope this helps.

Crohn's Newbie
 
When i was first diagnosed, i tried piecemeal elimination diets. No milk? Still felt like crap. No gluten? Still felt like crap. No nuts? Still felt like crap. Etc. Etc.

The mistake was assuming only one thing could iiritate me enough sufficient to be the difference between ill and not.

A couple years ago reading through the variety of quackery, i came across a book on... Anti-inflammatory diets. Something like "crohn free diet" I don't recall the title. It was by a Macrobiotic mom wholly unqualified to give medical advice and was 75% her story. But the gem was the suggestion that i start by dropping all commonly irritating foods and then add back in.

Multiple triggers acting together. I dropped dairy, soy, wheat, corn, nuts, nightshades (yikes), nuts, etc. Alleviation of symptoms was sudden and dramatic. I've tapered off meds and have just been avoiding my personal triggers since. When I eat garbage or have a stressful week, I flare up.

My problem foods: soy, wheat, corn syrup, coffee, dairy, orange juice, most frying oils, and I avoid nightshade vegetables.

When i'm careful, i feel pretty good. When not, spin the Wheel of Symptoms.

I'd definitely recoemd a broader spectrum elimination diet and adding things back into your diet one at a time.
 
davidindc said:
When i was first diagnosed, i tried piecemeal elimination diets. No milk? Still felt like crap. No gluten? Still felt like crap. No nuts? Still felt like crap. Etc. Etc.

The mistake was assuming only one thing could iiritate me enough sufficient to be the difference between ill and not.

A couple years ago reading through the variety of quackery, i came across a book on... Anti-inflammatory diets. Something like "crohn free diet" I don't recall the title. It was by a Macrobiotic mom wholly unqualified to give medical advice and was 75% her story. But the gem was the suggestion that i start by dropping all commonly irritating foods and then add back in.

Multiple triggers acting together. I dropped dairy, soy, wheat, corn, nuts, nightshades (yikes), nuts, etc. Alleviation of symptoms was sudden and dramatic. I've tapered off meds and have just been avoiding my personal triggers since. When I eat garbage or have a stressful week, I flare up.

My problem foods: soy, wheat, corn syrup, coffee, dairy, orange juice, most frying oils, and I avoid nightshade vegetables.

When i'm careful, i feel pretty good. When not, spin the Wheel of Symptoms.

I'd definitely recoemd a broader spectrum elimination diet and adding things back into your diet one at a time.
Click to expand...

My friend with RA did the macrobiotic vegan diet and came off most her meds. I tried it and it worked for a few months and then I flared so bad I just could not get it under control. I was eating rice and soup everyday and even that caused me to flare. Now I am on remicade and I feel pretty darn good. Right at the moment its like I dont even have crohns disease. A strict diet is hard work. Its easy to stay on when you get benefits, not so easy when you feel sick no matter what. I am glad you found something that works for you.
 
Yeah, i'm definitely not eating macrobiotic, but the notion of removing common allergens all at once and then adding them back individually empowered me to quickly find dietary triggers; whereas removing one thing at a time (for me) showed no change. And took a year to reveal nothing.

Complicated bowels we have. Take care of yourselves everyone.
 

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