Is the Low Residue Diet only for people with diarrhea?

[LeafCrAzY]

So I guess I'm lucky and I dont seem to have a lot of symptoms with my Crohns. My poo is usually fairly solid etc etc... but if I eat raw veggies I WILL get a blockage...

I have no issues changing my diet, but I'm worried about if I eat all white bread etc if I will become constipated. I ate whole wheat bread and stuff like that and had fairly consistent poop.

So I guess my question is: Should I change my diet if I dont have severe diarrhea? My Dr really didn't give me much guidance on this, she basically told me to "Avoid Raw Fruits and Veggies".

If I eat foods that aren't on the low residue diet will this keep me flaring? Will I always know when I'm flaring?

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

I wouldn't change your diet all at once. Best idea would be to try a little at a time and see how you do. Kinda ease yourself in. Sometimes if you just jump into things it won't be good for you. Plus, if you don't do well you can always go back easily.

I know that I get warnings when I'm not feeling good. But, it took me a bit to get used to knowing my body. However, I think after you've been sick awhile it's a learning process all over again. You'll get the hang of it though.

 

[Carrie]

I'd say if you're doing great eating what you eat now, don't change anything, but if your symptoms change or get worse, then it may be time to make adjustments.

 

[24601]

Symptoms don't always correlate with disease activity so no unfortunately you won't always know when you are flaring and have active disease and that's why it's important to have appropriate monitoring in terms of bloods, fecal calprotectin and most importantly imaging.

Eating a low residue diet is very unlikely to have any effect on disease activity and inflammation. A low residue diet is often used for people with narrowings in their bowel to reduce the pain and other obstructive symptoms. If avoiding raw veggies is doing that for you at this time then I wouldn't make any further changes.

 

[LeafCrAzY]

Symptoms don't always correlate with disease activity so no unfortunately you won't always know when you are flaring and have active disease and that's why it's important to have appropriate monitoring in terms of bloods, fecal calprotectin and most importantly imaging.

Eating a low residue diet is very unlikely to have any effect on disease activity and inflammation. A low residue diet is often used for people with narrowings in their bowel to reduce the pain and other obstructive symptoms. If avoiding raw veggies is doing that for you at this time then I wouldn't make any further changes.

This is exactly the explanation I was looking for!

The thing I'm confused about is that I dont feel "Pain" right now but I feel "Backed up" and my stomach is constantly rumbling and vibrating.

After previous episodes I never had this happen and all activity returned to normal.

After the most recent episode I was diagnosed with crohns and put on Entocort...so I'm unsure if this is a side effect of the medicine or if it's because of a flare, my inflammation levels may still be high.

 

[InstantCoffee]

My problem with low residue is that it steers people into a state of fear of fiber while I believe fiber is integral to balancing the SCFA producing bacteria in the colon and reducing diarrhea.

After much research I pursued this route and it worked for me, I'm diarrhea free for 2+ months now.

I started off with safe fibers from powdered, prebiotic supplements like inulin, FOS, psyllium, polydextrose etc. You can research resistant fiber online and find powdered supplements with these in most health food stores.

Along with this safflower oil is know to be good for rebalancing the gut flora into one favoring non-diarrhea bowel habits.

Until you see a reduction in diarrhea you should avoid simple sugars, prioritizing high fructose corn syrup as well as sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, etc. and sucralose, the fake sugar, which is linked to death of healthy gut bacteria. Also avoid maltodextrin and emulsifiers like polysorbate whenever possible. If you need sugar like in your coffee pick up stevia. Bonus points if it has inulin in it.

Probiotics may help but mileage may vary, get S. Bouliardi if anything, but our aim is to restore the natural gut bacteria. Adding in non-native ones will only help so long as you continue to take them, and that's usually cost prohibitive.

When you start feeling better you can consider certain raw fruits and veggies, I would stick to low sugar ones. Carrots are loaded with vit A which is great for crohn's. Bananas have FOS, a prebiotic fiber, and potassium, though high in sugar, still a good choice. Strawberries are deceptively low in sugar for how sweet they are and high in Vit C, always get organic to avoid pesticides!

Sauerkraut is another great choice. If you can buy it organic at a healthfood store with only cabbage and salt on the ingredients label, go for it, if not buy a cabbage and a jar and make your own.

You'll want to gradually introduce a stream of foods containing easy to digest fibers to maintain fiber intake throughout the day. Look for rice-based foods. I would suggest looking into gluten-free baked products, some sugar is okay in these as the fibers will help to offset it.

This is a long process, do not expect instant relief. If you get worsening of symptoms, stop what you're doing, re-evaluate, take less fiber. At no point should you feel worse, I don't believe this should cause 'herxing' or die-off.