High Caloric Diet Help

[guitardudemattj]

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with crohn's disease at 18. At the time I was 5' 7" and was at 145 lbs, extremely active and muscular through swimming and water polo. I've been fighting crohn's disease now for a good 4 years and now weigh in at 130 lbs. I take humira 40 mg every 2 weeks and it has seemed to get my cramps and IBD in general under control. I want to start getting my old frame back and slowly get back up to 145 lbs, but I need a new high caloric diet with no fiber and no leafy greens (as I can not digest them). I've been eating a lot of crap (hard not to as a college student) and I know that's not the right way to keep healthy especially with the IBD. So now that I'm trying to get serious with my diet, I'd like any info, suggestions, or advice to what I should eat to get back to my old weight. Id appreciate any feedback,

thanks,
Matt

 

[Myhappyplace]

So glad that the Humira is working for you! Yeah, it can be tough to get the "right" kind of calories on a Crohn's diet. A visit with a dietician could be very helpful - your doc can refer you to one and most insurances cover it (your college may even have one you could talk to). Is dairy ok for you? Perhaps Mac and cheese with some WELL COOKED veggies and baked chicken? Also, frequent small meals are usually better tolerated than fewer larger ones. I'm not sure about protein powders - I think many of them are either dairy or soy based - but that may be something worth looking into. I know I can't use most nutritional supplement drinks due to the fiber content. I'm sure someone else will chime in with great ideas. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[hugh]

A high-carb version of Paleo with lots of saturated fat and safe starches (tubers and white rice)
Avoid all grains (except white rice), processed foods, sugar, and vegetable oils.

It doesn't matter how much you eat if you are not digesting/absorbing it

Maybe the Perfect Health Diet wouls suit you?
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/07/ulcerative-colitis-a-devastating-gut-disease/

 

[kiny]

Simple carbs are really the easiest way to gain weight. They get taken up outside of the ileum and people with crohn's disease seem to have no issues with carb uptake.

Sometimes people say that simple sugars are unhealthy, I even heard in the US in New York they forbid certain soda. I guess those people have never been to a hospital, the first thing people get if they're severely underweight is "sugar water", or more specifically, glucose IV. All EN are also based on simple carbs, 028, modulen, they're all 60% simple carbs. All unused blood glucose gets turned into fat.

Fat is not that easy to digest, since most fat is in a form that needs to be broken down, EN uses medium chain triglycerides, but I don't think you just find that in regular food easily, your best bet is eating enough carbs.

 

[Rabbita]

I'd look to add in a polymeric shake. There are a ton of studies on them and Crohns. You can make them pretty cheap yourself. Also stay away from Ensure type drinks, they are loaded with sugars, terrible oils and Carrageenan.

I had success with.
Maltodextrin, a whey protein, MCT oil and a multivitamin.
(I also wouldn't use the dextrose, I had a bad experience with it )

Here are some links.
http://crohns-disease.org.uk/forum/m-1344705341/
http://www.siboinfo.com/elemental-formula.html
http://www.shs-nutrition.com/images/uploads/Pepdite_1+.pdf

 

[Rabbita]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17059514

 

[i_eat_constantly]

matt if you still check this thing, i can help you. please PM me and i will help you with diet regimen to bulk on crohn's. they say it can't but done but that's bullsh*t, it can, even with severe crohn's. though the high caloric value, depending on your absorption, can take a toll and create stress on the intestines.

in any case, PM and i'd be happy to help. i went through that and continue to go through it.