How does an elimination diet work?

[fosamoa]

I'm recently diagnosed with Crohns and I want to look into finding out my food triggers (maybe with a diary).

I'm a college student so it's kinda hard to be particularly picky with my food choices. Should I stick to one type of food each time I eat? Related to that, how long does it take for a trigger to show effect, meaning, which prior meal would you attribute to it?

Cheers, Bobby

 

[hugh]

The Food diary is a good idea, but there can be weeks between a food and a reaction.
An elimination diet may be a useful tool later but not as much benefit as SCD/Paleo/GAPS will be.

The purpose of an elimination diet is to identify foods that aggravate your symptoms. There is a wiki...
http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Elimination-Diet and tons on the web.
You may identify foods that cause a reaction (pain, bloating, diarrhoea etc) but not anything leading to the disease itself.

For Example.......
If you have crohns then you have intestinal permeability and an imbalance of bacteria in your intestine (amongst other things)
Intestinal permeability allows molecules that a healthy intestine would exclude to enter your blood and this may promote various reactions from immune response to chemical sensitivity (and according to some may be the main factor in the development of crohn's).
An imbalance of bacteria may lead to bloating or cramping when certain foods are eaten, but stopping that food may not correct the imbalance
An elimination diet may identify things that you react to because of the condition that your intestine is in, but will not treat/heal/cure/whatever the real problem

The first thing to try is GAPS/SCD/Paleo diets and see if it works for you.
There are hundreds of posts on SCD/Paleo/GAPS, have a look and best of luck

 

[KatyBuckeye]

I see the intro SCD/GAPS as a type of elimination diet, since the intro eliminates a lot of common food triggers. It is also a diet that allows healing. Once you get past the intro, you slowly add in other foods, which will allow you to see how you react to them. Just be cautious because the SCD/GAPS does sometimes need to be customized. For example, I can't handle any dairy and the SCD allows the 24-hr fermented yogurt and hard cheese. So, I had to eliminate that for my diet. A lot of people are sensitive to eggs, nuts, dairy, and too much honey/fruit.

 

[rygon]

As no diet will cure your disease, the best thing to do is try and find out what causes excessive bloating / pain. Its not just food either as many people cannot tolerate fizzy drinks, caffeine and alcohol.

Ive just used a trial and error method, but theres others where you go on juicing fasts then slowly introduce foods and see which you react to.

As a student (and with crohns as well) it is best if you can cook all meals from scratch, this way you know exactly what ingredients are in each meal and there will be no hidden preservatives or excess sugar.

It can be cheaper this way as well. One of my favourite meals is white rice, fried onions, boiled egg (cut up), peas and left over chicken in a cheese sauce. Another is spaghetti with tinned tomatoes, fried onion and basil. Both take less than 30mins to prepare and make and are pretty cheap.

 

[hugh]

As no diet will cure your disease, the best thing to do is try and find out what causes excessive bloating / pain.

Many have found that paleo/SCD/GAPS has put them in long term remission, so don't think of it as a cure, more like retroactive prevention.
The best thing you can do is find a diet that leaves you healthy and symptom free,

As a student (and with crohns as well) it is best if you can cook all meals from scratch, this way you know exactly what ingredients are in each meal and there will be no hidden preservatives or excess sugar.
.

Totally agree, so long as you keep it paleo.

One of my favourite meals is white rice, fried onions, boiled egg (cut up), peas and left over chicken in a cheese sauce. Another is spaghetti with tinned tomatoes, fried onion and basil. Both take less than 30mins to prepare and make and are pretty cheap.

Everybody is different but that sounds unpleasant to me.