No Veggies or Dairy Forever?

[CDN_Crohns]

Hi Everyone,

Haven't posted in awhile because I have been up/down with crohn's and finding a summer job and taking summer class. Wooo haha

Anyways I have been finding that I am not tolerating raw veggies really anymore or dairy for that matter.

I was just wondering would there be any major negative consequences to completely leaving raw veggies and dairy out of my diet?

I plan to continue eating potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots or basically anything I can boil and mash.

Any advice/ feedback/ personal experience would be appreciated. I should also mention I'll be taking a multi vitamin, fish oil, vitamin D and folic acid.

 

[Lisa]

If you leave any food group out of your diest, you need to make sure that you make up fo rhte lost vitamins and nutrients somewhere else.....Just taking a multi-vitamin may not be enough, as they are generally designed as an additive, not replacement for vitamins.

You may also find after a time that you can slowly introduce some foods back, especially if you are feeling better and your Crohns' is under control.

 

[Jennifer]

I can't really tolerate raw veggies either and I'm lactose intolerant. I still eat salads from time to time but I'm well prepared for the consequences. As far as nutrients go, you're not going to die or anything. Even I don't take a multivitamin. What you can try to do though is steam your veggies instead and remove the skins off any that have them and eat them that way of you can. Sure raw have more nutrients but they aren't completely gone when steamed. Steam leaves more nutrients than boiled but I don't have a steamer and I'm not dying from boiling my veggies for over 20 years (my parents didn't have one either).

As far as dairy goes you may simply be lactose intolerant. Try other dairy products that don't contain lactose. I used to use Lactaid for milk as a kid and there are some cheeses and ice creams out there that are lactose free as well (brands like Lifetime, Lactaid, Breyers etc.). Give them a try and see what happens.

 

[Grumbletum]

I've never been a big fan of raw veggies but I like soups, so make a lot of those with homemade stock and blend them up till they are really smooth. Even then though, some veg still cos problems so I avoid i.e. Potato and cauliflower. There are quite a few members who use juicers as the can tolerate veg that way.

 

[CDN_Crohns]

Thanks everyone,

Makes sense, I will try to steam or boil my veggies so I still get some nutrients. I am just frustrated because I feel like my tolerance for food has vastly changed in the last few years (i have been diagnosed for 10 years) and I have had trouble trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.

Does anyone know if digestive enzymes can negatively affect digestion over time? I found relief with them about a year ago but I don't know if they have stopped working or never did haha

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I've been lactose intolerant for over 10 years now. It's my observation that, over time, the digestive enzymes have worked less and less well. I'm not sure if my body has acclimated to them or what, but I'm to the point now where I can't eat any "real" dairy, even with the enzymes. It just causes too much pain & symptoms.

The good news is that there are plenty of tasty alternatives. Give goat cheese a try. I've tried things like soy cheese, rice cheese, etc and none of them melt right, you can't make a good pizza with them. But goat cheese melts just like regular cow's cheese does, and it doesn't affect me negatively. No pain, no d, no cramping after eating a goat cheese pizza. They make goat mozzarella, goat cheddar, even goat muenster. Yum! As far as milk substitutes, almond milk is my favorite. It's creamy and delicious - I can't eat regular almonds, but almond milk is fine on my tummy. Soy milk is pretty decent too. I've found some good coconut milk yogurts as well, but they're pretty expensive (about $2 per carton) so I recently switched to soy yogurt (about 65 cents per carton). I hope that helps somewhat - have a walk around your grocery store and try a few different products and see what you like and what works for you.

 

[RFarmer]

As long as you are getting the nutrients, you're fine. Our bodies are designed to deal with veggies very well anymore anyways. Damn appendix.

Think of elemental diets. No veggies, yet you get more nutrients than if you ate normally... Just make sure you get what you need. Take some ensure or something, they're filled with nutrients.

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

I have only been diagnosed recently but in the short period of ups and down i have realized only a few things with this ever changing disease.

1-what you were doing when u started to feel better is more than likely the path you should continue until the beneficials decline noticably. then you have to adjust... in a kind of cruel mortal trial and error. if you feel good keep doing exactly what youre doing.

2-youre views on quality of life will change, hopefully for the better. you will learn to appreciate life and not take it for granted a hell of a lot more.

3-stress will kill you

4- although many wont agree with this i'll say it anyways. Marijuana can drastically improve your quality of life. appetite, pain suppressant, stress easer. i prefer a more natural remedy to pharmaceutical pills whose side effects are questionable. can you say black box warning? but dont get me wrong its a love hate relationship between the both of them. short term memory loss, anxiety, sleeplessness, fluster, lethargy or moon face, cancer, eye damage, arthritis, liver damage and acne. take ur pic :yfrown:

5-nicotine helps. its scientifically proven to. my Dr. of 30+ years of GI specialty even told me, reluctantly, that he has witnessed the cause and effect nicotine has on recession with undeniable evidence. im not telling you to start up but if you already use tobacco products i wouldnt suggest quitting anywhere near a flare-up.

sorry to run on... anyways...

the dairy thing doesnt seem to bother me as much as the raw vegetables do. i could consume less lactose for sure... just to be safe. the absolute destruction seems to come from broccoli, corn, hot spice, ALCOHOL and sugar like heavy brownie sundae sweets. i drank a 3rd of a gallon of milk a day for months during my progress after steroid introduction. didnt seem to bother much.

 

[CDN_Crohns]

I think the goat cheese is a great idea, i'll have to give it a shot.

As for the nicotine comment I hope no one listenings to that (sorry) but my brother also has crohn's and whenever he smoked it was always worse and once he quit he got better, not hugely but a bit. Still I don't see how taking more chemicals into your body can be a good thing.

 

[RFarmer]

Smoking reduces stress, and adds crap to your body. I think it depends on which bothers you worse: the stress of life, or what you put into yourself.

 

[raechel]

I have found I can't tolerate any raw veggies, and limited cooked ones. I really only eat potatoes and cooked onions without problems. As far as dairy, I can't tolerate any. But then, for some reason chicken does me on too regardless of how its prepared. It's weird the things my body will and won't tolerate.

 

[Lydia]

The is NO scientific research that says nicotine helps crohns disease.

 

[rygon]

The is NO scientific research that says nicotine helps crohns disease.

Im sure there has been some to say its bad for crohns tho, UC it may help a bit but the damage its doing to your body you have to ask yourself if its really worth it.

For a really cheap steamer I bought a wok (£6, mild steel have to season every so often) and a bamboo steamer (about £6-8). works great on veg and fish. Ive even added herbs to the water to flavour the fish

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

The is NO scientific research that says nicotine helps crohns disease.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2533102/

the only reason i am posting this is to explore the possibilities of trying to help people any way that i can and also aquire knowledge to better my understanding of this disease. i am 100% ready to give everything i possibly can to help myself and others. i give a fuck not about throwing things in peoples face as i get no gratitude. i am dying from this. im currently in the hospital and have been for a few days now and am trying my best to understand what modern pharmacology and ancient practices can do for me. i have lost 20 pounds in a few weeks, havent eaten or drank ANYTHING for a couple of days and i just want to explore all options.

so after you click the link, one of many i have been avidly researching, rest assured i would rather take nicotine orally than up the ass. but god knows i will do anything to get stable again. i imagine getting it into your body in some form or another is better than not at all. not being a firm believer in pharmacology either has me exploring any option possible to the most natural way. i believe there is a natural remedy, not necessarily a cure, for every disease. call me a nutjob... but quality of life is far more important to me than just living... bound by pharmaceutical dependancy and at the mercy of unknown side effects and susceptibility to infections.

think about it. they give you immune suppressants to combat a war going on within yourself, leaving you susceptible to outside intruders. and now you are locked in a dependancy battle with your immune system shot. you have to take strong, extremely expensive pharmaceuticals for the rest of your life. this is not a fuckin cure to me. there are other ways and im going to find them or die trying.

 

[Gems867]

Personally I find that my ok and bad foods change on a regular basis. So I would suggest not ruling them out all together. If t doesn't cause unbearable pain give raw veggies or dairy a try every now and then but in small quantities.

 

[handle]

re nicotine
That link was a study with only 13 patients with recto sigmoid crohns taking nicotine enemas. It is hardly scientific proof of any sort.
Lydia is correct that there is no scientific research thats says nicotine helps crohns. Quite the contrary.
It's the fiber content of the veggies that seems to cause problems (gas and faster travel of food.) Peeled low fiber veggies seem to be ok. When out of a flare it is less of an issue, and also where obstruction is present more attention is needed.

 

[Lydia]

A nicotine enema is not the same as smoking cigarettes.

The first sentence of the abstract in that study is this.

Smoking has a detrimental effect in Crohn's disease (CD), but this may be due to factors in smoking other than nicotine.

 

[DragonGirl]

I know what that diet feels like. Same exact one I am on! It is still much better than the elemental diet I was on for 3 months, however.

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

Lydia- does your original post not say "The is NO scientific research that says nicotine helps crohns disease."? i never said SMOKING in that post what so ever. then u said "A nicotine enema is not the same as smoking cigarettes." Handle- its funny i read the same thing you did and i do believe thats under the classification of scientific research. it seems people are more interested in proving you wrong than contributing in a positive manner. im the newbie with less than 15 posts what the fuck do i know. i'll happily move to another forum if my input has no value to biast individuals. or we can all do 'why does my tummy hurt?' threads to make you guys feel more intelligent.

 

[handle]

Wow, take it easy there kaniela! By the way I'm a research engineer myself so am well aware of what is considered scientific research. A study with only 13 people is, as I said, hardly scientific proof. It is too low a sample, and the article has not even been peer reviewed. By all means feel free to contribute but please don't take offense if someone seeks to clarify your input. We are all learning and growing. There are many incredible and intelligent people on this forum. Make use of them - they are truly wonderful.

 

[DustyKat]

I ask that you be respectful of the opinions and experiences of others. A subject such as that as has been raised is bound to elicit strong personal opinions and beliefs but that does not mean that the discussion cannot be continued in a manner that affords each poster due respect.

Also please note that swearing and name calling will not be tolerated as stated in the forum rules.

Dusty.

 

[Lydia]

Lydia- does your original post not say "The is NO scientific research that says nicotine helps crohns disease."? i never said SMOKING in that post what so ever. then u said "A nicotine enema is not the same as smoking cigarettes." Handle- its funny i read the same thing you did and i do believe thats under the classification of scientific research. it seems people are more interested in proving you wrong than contributing in a positive manner. im the newbie with less than 15 posts what the fuck do i know. i'll happily move to another forum if my input has no value to biast individuals. or we can all do 'why does my tummy hurt?' threads to make you guys feel more intelligent.

Its semantics. Nobody thinks of a nicotine enema as a way to get nicotine. Thats not the first place my mind goes, even though I have crohn's. Enemas are the last place I go.

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

i apologize. im done.

 

[denisk]

cannabis helped me kaniela

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

it helps me too. unlike many people i am actually (almost) fully functional being stoned. matter of fact it does keep me stationary and relaxed on long or tedious projects which i occupy my time with while im healing. it helps with my appetite and a little bit of pain relief. and who doesnt like being stoned when u have nothing but time on your hands to do absolutely nothing but rest?