New and have questions.

[WVUGuy]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and had a few questions. First off I was diagnosed with crohn's while in high school and am 26 now. I really want to get control of my crohn's and do that by eating correctly and exercising. My main problem is that I have never really had a good exercise routine nor the motivation. Also I dont feel like I have a lot of energy, most likely due to the wrong foods that I eat. I'm overweight but not obese and I need to find a good starting point. Any tips? Thanks in advance guys and I look forward to talking to all of you!

 

[hugh]

i'd start finding out about intestinal permeability and go for a few long walks, walking will loosen things up before you exercise - i found "convict conditioning" a good strength program, the book is overly padded but the exercises are sound and equipment free

"Specifically, intestinal TJs may exert a pathogenetic [Capable of causing disease] role in intestinal (inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease) and extraintestinal diseases (diabetes type 1, food allergies, autoimmune diseases)."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3241743/

"There is growing evidence that increased intestinal permeability plays a pathogenic role in various autoimmune diseases including CD and T1D. Therefore, we hypothesize that besides genetic and environmental factors, loss of intestinal barrier function is necessary to develop autoimmunity. In this review, each of these components will be briefly reviewed."
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04037.x/abstract

intestinal permeability, think -stress, sugar, grain, legumes (inc. peanuts), nightshades, NSAIDs (like aspirin, ibuprofen, and nabumetone), antibiotics and ALL processed foods (apparently)

 

[Jennifer]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Just so you know for many diet and exercise only go so far and may not be enough so medication could be a part of your future as well. What sort of symptoms are you having and do you regularly see a GI? As long as you keep up with a specialist and get regular testing and blood work done you'll know how well you're doing diet and Crohn's wise. A good diet while in a flare is a low residue or BRAT diet. As far as exercise goes, just do what you feel comfortable doing. Starting out slow is usually best (walking, swimming, that sort of thing) to see where your limitations are.

 

[hugh]

Too true, crabby, but i'd replace the T in BRAT with R for white rice, and obviously keep your doctor/GI in the loop but ignore their disapproval and dismissal of the potential to regulate/control the disease with diet.
The old paradigm may be hard to displace but plenty of research by the non-corporate researchers point out that Leaky Gut plays a pathogenic role in various autoimmune diseases
http://www.direct-ms.org/sites/default/files/Fasano intestinal barrier autoimmunity.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3241743/

by the way, 18 month without grain has proved to me that i just don't need it to be healthy, quite the opposite actually

 

[Jennifer]

@ hugh- How about leave it at T and it will stand for Turkey instead of Toast? Sounds better than Rice twice.

 

[hugh]

ooops, anything but gluten:redface:

 

[WVUGuy]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help. I usually listen to what the doctor says but its so much better to get advice from people who experience the same things that I do. I've been sort of stumbling through this but its time for me to become healthier and beat this thing.

 

[AlisonR]

I will second Crabby's post that diet and excersize only go so far. I was initially diagnosed in February 2009, but pretty quickly stopped having severe symptoms so my GI downgraded my diagnosis to IBS. I continued to eat a healthy, IBS/Heartburn friendly diet, but wasn't on any medication and in all honesty stopped paying attention to flare symptoms because I "just had ibs." After a few years this led to several significant flare-ups. My new GI re/officially diagnosed me and was pretty insistent I go on meds. I was in denial and insistent that I could conrol everything with diet and off all the meds. I was fine for a while, but my Crohn's flared again and I wound up in the hospital on the day of a midterm! Needless to say, this time I listened to my GI and took the entocort for 3 months and am now on Pentasa and symptom free. If you are lucky enough to be in remission, meds can go a much longer way than diet in keeping you there.

As for exercise, I am with you, my energy levels are pretty low and in general have never liked exercizing. I have generally been able to avoid any regular exercise regime by going on hikes often and it doesn't feel like exercise because I actually enjoy doing it. However, with the stress I am under being in graduate school and the realization that exercise can go a long way in helping with Crohn's symptoms, I have been forced to find a consistent exercise regime. But, hating the gym and treadmills, I decided I had to look for something that was fun, didn't feel like exercise and I could do with friends who would motivate me to keep going. I have found that I absolutely love rock climbing and am able to go several times a week even on a busy schedule because I have fun with it. Plus, I have a good friend who climbs, so she is a huge motivator for me to go on those really low energy and/or busy days. So, my advice for you is to find something that you love doing and that won't feel like a chore of exercizing (like rock climbing ). Don't just join the gym and force yourself to go because every excuse will get in your way.
_______________________________
First dx Crohn's February 2009 - Re-dx September 2011
Current Medication:
Pentasa (4,000mg/day)
Pepcid
Vitamin D3 (2,000 IU)
Calcium w/ Vitamin D
Fiber (2g Methylcellulose/day)

Previous Medication:
Entocort
Asacol

 

[hugh]

@AlisonR - I'd be interested in what exactly your diet was.

The ONLY diet that worked for me was Paleo, not SCD, not low fibre, not anything but hardcore paleo (modified for autoimmune disorders - see footnote)
Please, try it for a month, let us know how you go, you have nothing to loose (nothing you want to keep. anyway)


paleo/immune atricles.
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/dealing-with-autoimmune-diseases-and-digestive-problems/
http://paleodietnews.com/2494/cooling-inflammation-with-the-paleo-diet/
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...g Food Guide&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13387223379945

 

[AlisonR]

Hugh

I haven't actually tried any specific diet. I am new to this forum and was honestly overwhelmed by all the different information out there that I just tried to cut and paste and see what worked for me. The more I read on this forum, the more I feel like I should try, at least for a month, the paleo or SCD diet. Although, my two biggest challenges with any really hardcore diet is that I also have pretty severe heartburn and a lot of the items on those diets tend to increase my heartburs. I am also a graduate student and am running from place to place everyday, so I need to be able to have easily accessible snacks and meals that don't require heating up. But, I will give this a try and let you know.

I did try gluten free for a month, didn't notice any difference and was miserable w/o my carbs!

So far my diet is mainly high, low-fat protien and low fiber. No dairy with the exception of yogurt (i eat tons of yogurt as it is one of the few things that calms my stomach) and the occasional hard cheeses, though not often. No alcohol, no caffeine, period. I try to avoid fried and processed foods, though the occasional piece of fried chicken makes it in there. No raw veg, occasionally I will have a small salad, but only after I have eaten a protien or card first. I do juice veggies and eat that raw w/o complications. And I try to avoid anything that is too acidic as that causes heartburn for me.

I mostly eat lots of chicken and fish (red meat is hard for me), yogurt, hummus, rice, lentils, lots of cold bean salads, veggie juices (I love beet, carrot and spinich w/ a little apple for sweetness), toast w/ peanut butter. I also try to eat around 6 small meals a day with lots of snacks in between as keeping my stomach relatively full really seems to help tremendously.

Have you stayed on the Paleo diet full-time, or just when you are in flares? I am very lucky to have a very mild case of Crohn's that is so far only in my terminal illium and am just starting to come to the end of a relatively mild but long flare-up. The entocort and now pentasa really seem to have helped. I would certianly like to keep my case mild and from spreading if possible. So, if this diet will help that, I will give it a try. Any advice for how to work Crohn's around a bust grad student schedule? I am currently in 7 different places each week, usually in at least two or three places per day and rarely have access to a microwave or stove. So, food I can eat from my cooler and easy snacks are great. Any advice as to how to do this on the Paleo diet. Also, any thoughts on how to avoid heartburn on the Paleo diets? A lot of the foods on their list give me heartburn.

Thanks for your encouragement and any other thoughts/advice you have.
_________________________
First dx Crohn's February 2009 - Re-dx September 2011
Current Medication:
Pentasa (4,000mg/day)
Pepcid
Vitamin D3 (2,000 IU)
Calcium w/ Vitamin D
Fiber (2g Methylcellulose/day)

Previous Medication:
Entocort
Asacol

 

[hugh]

Paleo is hard with IBDs you need to transition carefully and i'd check out the SCD diets words on that
-paleo is hard, especially when running about all over the place.
-Make a bone broth, and drink it as soup and as hot drinks
-LAMB is easier to digest than beef
-DEFINITELY look into Vitamin D and probiotics
-fry in lard, tallow,ghee or coconut oil, NOT vegetable oil
-white rice is the safest cheat but try not to for the first month.
-vegetable juice is a good thing, but not fruit juice.
-you may need to up the fat in your diet although you can get plenty of carbs -from vegetable, - carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato (not regular potatoes).
-salads are veg make them more interesting and dress with olive oil and lemon - i LOVE grated beetroot (raw) and carrot on salads
-Try to avoid dairy for the first month, then make your own yoghurt and ferment for 24hours so there is no lactose left, commercial yoghurt usually has added skim milk to thicken it, is only fermented for 6 hours and is often loaded with sugar.
-Eating out- try to make extra dinner and take leftovers
-kebab places- just get meat and salad
-charcoal chicken - same
-hamburger - no bun, make your own sauce too
- i take lemon juice and olive oil mixed up in a jar for dressing.
-stay away from food malls, it's all loaded with flavouring
-Most fish shops here will grill a bit of fish but you have to explain that you don't want it crumbed (and even then you will have to hope).
Hopefully after a while you will be able to add in carrots , nature's candy bars as i call them.

I slip off the diet now and then, dark chocolate, coffee are my weaknesses.
I picked up my son and he had chips so i thought i'd just have one (first vegetable oil/potato in 15 months) and ate more than half his chips, two weeks later first flare in 19 months.

interestingly -heartburn may be caused by too little stomach acid not too much, but do your own research
Drugs for acid reflux and GERD are cash cows for the pharmaceutical companies. More than 60 million prescriptions for GERD were filled in 2004
these are just to get you thinking, not intended as advice......
http://chriskresser.com/what-everybody-ought-to-know-but-doesnt-about-heartburn-gerd
http://chriskresser.com/the-hidden-causes-of-heartburn-and-gerd
http://paleohacks.com/questions/17327/stopping-acid-reflux#axzz1Jo01T8mw

 

[norma123]

These are good tips everyone! I was recently diagnosed with chrons disease so I'll reference these for now on.

 

[norma123]

I should say that I'm surprised at hugh's comment on cooking with lard. To me, it's like saying - cook with a less potent toxin. Not sure about lard in my diet.

 

[hugh]

i'm convinced (by extensive research, not blind hysteria) that saturated fats are a vital healthy food.
Vegetable oils and margarine are not.
By all means avoid lard, but don't kid yourself that canola and sunflower oil are a healthy choice.
My personal preferences are Tallow (lamb not beef) and ghee,
Olive oil should not be heated

Heart disease goes up as saturated fat and cholesterol consumption go down and vegetable oil consumption goes up

“Back in the MI (myocardial infarction) free days before 1920, the fats were butter and lard and I think that we would all benefit from the kind of diet that we had at a time when no one had ever heard the word corn oil.”
- Dr. Dudley White speaking at an American Heart Association fund raiser in 1956
http://www.realfooddigest.com/complete-guide-to-fats-and-oils/

Do your own research, there is a ton of it out there

The Weston A Price foundation is a great source of information
This article is long but dispels most of the misinformation.
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/skinny-on-fats#benefits

"."A chorus of establishment voices, including the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the Senate Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, claims that animal fat is linked not only with heart disease but also with cancers of various types. Yet when researchers from the University of Maryland analyzed the data they used to make such claims, they found that vegetable fat consumption was correlated with cancer and animal fat was not"
Enig, Mary G, Ph D, et al, Fed Proc, Jul 1978, 37:9:2215-2220

 

[jwfoise]

Hi WVUGuy,

I'll echo what others have said, that diet and exercise alone probably won't solve things. On the flip side, even if it doesn't help your Crohn's, both are a very good thing.

Stress is a big trigger for me (I have UC) and I find exercise is a great stress relief. I'm a big advocate of walking, been doing a 10,000 step a day program for years. It is easy, requires no training or special equipment, and you can build up to it gradually.

As they say "Take A Hike!"