Looking for crohns friendly Energy Bars and high calorie shakes

[cleuger]

I cant afford to loose anymore weight. I don't eat like I should. I am juicing about every other day but my problem is I don't eat lunch at work because I don't have an appetite and therefore nothing appeals to me not to mention I'm restricted from a lot of foods. Juicing is good but I have to be careful or I'm living in the restroom. Does any one have any recommendations for energy bars that doesn't have nuts in them. Also I'm looking to increase my calorie intake some kind of powder maybe that I could mix to make a shake would be good. I don't eat a lot when I do its purely for nutritional purposes otherwise I could live without it I'm 5'3 and I weigh 107. I need at least an extra 20 pounds. Any suggestions??

TIA

 

[nogutsnoglory]

The energy bars are tricky because of high fiber and nuts/grains in them. Even if there was a safe version it's probably full of junk ingredients.

Can you make your own? I'm sure there are some recipes online and you can tweak as needed. I haven't made one but I'm sure nut butter would be a great ingredient for one.

Have you considered shakes like Ensure Plus or Orgain to gain weight?

 

[kel]

I've always done well with clif bars but they have nuts in them usually so you have to look at the labels. Almost every ready to drink shake has carrageenan in it so I would avoid that like the plague. Also protein becomes denatured quickly in a liquid solution so a lot of times your body isn't utilizing the amount of protein the label states.

Larabars are "paleo friendly" but I have not ever tried them so I cannot vouch for them.

My suggestion:
Add at least a tablespoon of olive or coconut oil to every cup of juice you drink. This might increase bathroom trips so slowly add more oil each day.

Get some kind of protein powder to supplement with. If you can tolerate dairy, most basic whey protein powders mix well with milk (get whole milk for the love of god). And yes, whey is far and away the best protein for general purposes. If you CANNOT consume dairy, then Jay Robb makes a pretty damn clean egg white protein you should look into. That's the brand one diet oriented GI recommended to me.

Truenutrition.com offers pretty much every kind of protein you could ask for in about 20 different flavors. I've only ordered from them once but the protein was top notch.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Kel I agree about avoiding carrageenan but think when we need to quickly gain weight we can't be too picky. Long term though yes definitely that stuff should be out of our foods.

I am going to look into Cliff bars now that you mention. I thought it had lots if pieces. Larabars are mostly smooth with the exception of a few with nuts. They taste pretty good but think they have 3-4 grams of fiber on avg.

 

[kel]

Kel I agree about avoiding carrageenan but think when we need to quickly gain weight we can't be too picky. Long term though yes definitely that stuff should be out of our foods.

If you want to gain weight you need to add several shakes a day, at one point I was drinking a whole pack of ensure plus (4 shakes) every day. That adds up quickly. MINISCULE amounts of carrageenan have been shown to cause UC in otherwise healthy rats. There are also a ton of human studies showing similar findings.

 

[Scottskillz]

cytosport makes good bars and gainers and the taste is bomb, myoplex is another manufacturer with quality products

 

[hugh]

avocados, bananas, sweet potato,
maybe add fat (NOT vegetable oil) to everything

can you eat smooth nut butters? -peanuts are NOT nuts and may be an irritant but almond butter is delicious

5 Real Food Weight Gain Shakes (Paleo & SCD)
http://scdlifestyle.com/2013/04/5-real-food-weight-gain-shakes-paleo-scd/
if your gonna eat raw eggs then read the link about eggs and eat the good ones

besides eating more you may get more benefit from improving the digestion and absorbtion of what you do eat.
Investigate probiotics and digestive enzymes

here's a link to a video by a gastroenterologist and a pharmacist about supplements specifically for crohn's

the sound quality is terrible so start at 6:00 on this video even though it's part 3 (-parts 1 and 2 ARE worth listening to - the first two are the pharmacist going into detail about why and how but he is hard to hear, at 6:00 the gastro takes over and recaps the first two segments) and it should pop up a link to part 4 at the end
[youtube]HaityhbNYIs[/youtube]

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Great link for the weight gain shakes Hugh. I will try some minus the raw eggs because that seems dangerous especially being immune compromised.

 

[cleuger]

Thank you! all of you for the great advice and information. I'm not allowed to have nuts of any kind unless it is a nut butter. I did find an energy bar yesterday it had 4 grams of Fiber I didn't think that was to bad. No Nuts it just said Power Bar on the front of it. Wasn't bad tasting 20grams of protein in it. I never though about making my own. I hate to cook bake etc I guess I better get over it if I'm going to eat. I saw cytosport at walmart yesterday but the one I bought was high-in protein and no nuts but I did look at the shakes. Ill probably end up getting some whey protein powder and try to make some shakes using the recipes someone posted minus the raw egg just to get some meat on my bones.

 

[Scottskillz]

the power bar is a good start but it's lightweight! You can do much much better in bar form. Try GNC or vitamin shoppe, some bars have 500 cal or more, with good fiber carbs and protein and taste great!!!!

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I'm concerned with some of those geared towards bodybuilding. I just don't feel those quantities and ingredients are good for the human body long term. I wish there were more natural bars and shakes that had a lot of what we need and less of the crap.

 

[cleuger]

I'm concerned with some of those geared towards bodybuilding. I just don't feel those quantities and ingredients are good for the human body long term. I wish there were more natural bars and shakes that had a lot of what we need and less of the crap.

I. Do agree I'm eating one right now I found met-rx protein plus it taste really good. Not sure of the total nitritional value I know it has 30 grams protein

 

[rygon]

I'm concerned with some of those geared towards bodybuilding. I just don't feel those quantities and ingredients are good for the human body long term. I wish there were more natural bars and shakes that had a lot of what we need and less of the crap.

Ive never seen energy bars as such, but even the "health" bars that are sold in the supermarkets are full of rubbish. I think i'd rather trust a bodybuilding type bar from a reputable manufacturer

Ive made oat bars before. Maybe not the healthiest but taste amazing, really easy (and cheap) to make and you can adjust the ingredients to suit.

This is the best ive ever tried http://www.channel4.com/4food/recip...ingstall/honey-and-peanut-butter-booster-bars

 

[cleuger]

I'm on a low residue diet so I'm not allowed oatmeal but that does sound good I do miss having oatmeal. Really this type of diet consist of junky food anyway. Its a horrible diet, just the fact that I can find one without nuts is a plus