Okay, I'm going proactive with my diet

[partlycloudy]

I admit I eat terribly. At least I used to enjoy a lot of salads (not just lettuce but any veg salad) but can't eat that anymore so have kind of used that as an excuse to just give up and eat junk. Relative to CD I tolerate dairy and carbs and protein the best. Cheese, meat, rice, potato, pasta, etc.

But you know I can still eat healthier versions of all that stuff. Such as:

Before: Frozen fish, instant mashed potatoes, soda.
Now: Sauted scallops, baked potatoes, fresh veggie juice.

Same low residue type of food but better quality, freshly made.

I can sit here and HOPE I don't get worse or I can get proactive and at least support myself better nutritionally.

Y'all wish me luck, okay?

 

[Rebecca85]

Good luck, and I'm right behind you (though scallops, yuck!)

 

[Lydia]

Good luck. Its really not that hard one you get used to it and you may find the new stuff better.

 

[partlycloudy]

Thank you both.

 

[ameslouise]

Good luck! You can do it - and still to it! You'll love yourself for it -- no one ever suffered from eating healthy!

-Amy

 

[troydanielbecker]

Yeah! Is it too soon to ask for an update?

 

[endibd]

Good luck on your food adventures.

My advice, as simple steps to make a huge difference, 2 things.

1. Stop drinking pop. Even better to stop also orange juice (store bought), or apple juice (store bought), or anything that isn't water. Other than fresh made juices of course.

But, on the subject of water, be careful of bottled waters like Dasani. They actually have preservatives in it, sulfates sulfites, which are the worst kind. Kind of sad how Coke even found a way to make water unhealthy, and sort of in line with why I recommend no pop, or anything the soda companies make, which includes juices.

2. If you make rice the only starch you consume at meals, you may feel better. (Or at least make it your go to in most cases)

Its the most easily digestible starch of all the stuff we consume daily - corn, wheat, potato etc. Being that much more easy to digest, means there's that much less left of it left undigested inside you, and undigested starches cause gas.

Some say it doesn't cause gas, that's not entirely true but in a healthy person likely wouldn't and in someone with gut issues, rice the least likely to cause problems, and if it does cause problems it would be the least possible problems.

So much of what goes along with Crohn's isn't really the Crohn's causing the problem, but rather a different, or less, or incomplete digestion due to diseased parts of the gut, moreso than in other people.

If you target your diet with the disease in mind, and what things you want to avoid or what symptoms your Crohn's tends to give you, you will have much better success.

But you'll need to take some time to learn some things about what you want to try to fix or prevent. THAT is what is different for every person when it comes to diet. It's not that diet doesn't or can't work for everyone, as sometimes that gets twisted. Diet isn't one size fits all but the rules about what affects everyone are the same when it comes to human biology. And it takes time to learn...

Rice is very easily digestible and much better compared to pasta or potato. It's something a lot of people on here would probably be better off for eating, instead of other starches.

It can go with everything as a side or be eaten on its own, and prepared in a bunch of different ways so it's pretty hard to get tired of it.

 

[partlycloudy]

Yeah! Is it too soon to ask for an update?

Not at all, lol. I did end up using boxed potatoes last night because I forgot to plan for the baking time of regular potatoes and we were hungry. Not bad for my first go. I wanted to get annoyed with myself but reminded "Me" that I'm working on long-term success rather than absolute perfection here.

Thank you everyone for the good wishes.

End, thank you for that info. Very interesting about the intestines and makes a lot of sense. And I lurve me some rice and can't imagine running out of ways to fix it.

Fortunately both hubs and I are easy to please with food. We like most anything.

 

[endibd]

Fortunately both hubs and I are easy to please with food. We like most anything.

Both your husbands eh?

 

[Astra]

Ha Ha bloody hell! One hubby is enough, surely?

I'm right behind ya Partly, I'm taking little steps, cutting the starch and carbs out and sneakily throwing in some veg and fruit, slowly.
I love rice, so that's staying
and I've bought some Quinoa today, no idea what it's like tho! Hope it's yummy.
So good luck with your journey!
xxx

 

[endibd]

Ha Ha bloody hell! One hubby is enough, surely?

I'm right behind ya Partly, I'm taking little steps, cutting the starch and carbs out and sneakily throwing in some veg and fruit, slowly.
I love rice, so that's staying
and I've bought some Quinoa today, no idea what it's like tho! Hope it's yummy.
So good luck with your journey!
xxx

Quinoa is yummy. If you like it and tolerate it go for it. I've tried it and like it but haven't eaten it much or looked too much into it. It tastes kind of nutty and can have a bit of crunch to it when prepared.

I've heard it's 'good for you' but I haven't investigated that in relation to ease of digestion.

 

[outlier]

I am trying to do the same. Good Luck!

 

[Astra]

Hiya endibd

When I read this on WikiWotzit, it convinced me to buy it, so I'll let you know!

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods.[10] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.

 

[hindyg]

I love Quinoa, but my gut can only tolerate it when not flaring.

Good luck on the diet changes! I am also trying to make better choices for my health and for my crohns. I am on a very low residue diet, though...so am dealing with it a bit differently. I find that I can only tolerate one meal a day containing white carbs. Protein and pureed smoothies/soups or ensure work best for me.

 

[partlycloudy]

LOL, no just one hubs, thank goodness, and he'd say the same about me. The hubs and I eat most anything....wait....my husband and I eat most anything. There.

I tried quinoa years ago but don't remember what I thought of it. I'll have to check it out. Our health food stores have those bins where you can buy small amounts of things, which I like. I know everyone is different, but Hindy's comments have me concerned so I'll just test a bit at first.

I enjoy Bob's Red Mill hot cereals. I like the 10-grain and 7-grain best. Nothing in them bothers me, at least not in an obvious way.

Hindy, one of my goals is to significantly reduce the white carbs and only have them on special occasions. I've also thought of pureeing stuff for soups like winter squash or pumpkin. I had some butternut squash soup recently that was out of this world.

Today I had a whole grain English muffin sandwich for breakfast (2 eggs, bit of cheese, turkey sausage patty), skipped lunch due to not being hungry and am having brown rice with fresh fish, avocado, and a splash of vinegar/oil for dinner. Oh, and some fresh juice.

This will be pretty typical for my new plan although I plan to switch over to sprouted bread. Thankfully I love that stuff. I just need to use up my Eng muffins first. I also plan on adding more and more juice. I had a gassy reaction yesterday and think it may have been the grapes I added to my juice (juiced grapes). It's the only thing I did differently but I was pretty uncomfortable, all puffed up and explosive. ;D

 

[endibd]

skipped lunch due to not being hungry

I think that's an important thing to help you stick with stuff. As long as you're not deathly skinny, if you're not hungry don't eat. Sounds like dumb advice but I know even myself we seemed to be conditioned to eat at intervals regardless, but sometimes you just might not need something or your body might be still working on something you ate 6 hours ago.

 

[partlycloudy]

Skinny has never been a word that comes to mind when people see me, hehe. I'm one of those fat Crohies.

I've recently begun to realize just much I eat by the clock rather than when I'm truly hungry. It's so nonsensical yet so many of us do it...because....? It's pretty funny.

Well, I guess our jobs have a lot to do with it.

 

[endibd]

Yep a lot of eating is social / emotional / habitual ... just about everything but hungry.

 

[Miss Spencer]

I suggest you sign up to a free newsletter from Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD.

The website address is: drfuhrman.com

Once you have joined the mailing list, you will be sent the following message in an email:

“As a Thank You for joining our mailing list, we would like to send you a free copy of Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Times Newsletter”.

Open that newsletter link and search for the following edition: Newsletter No 36 March 2008. It contains some excellent information on diet and supplements for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

I signed up late last year, and I am having brilliant results with his diet and supplement suggestions. He is very big into juicing for IBD too.

Hope this helps?

 

[krbsmom]

I would add some supplements too . they couldn't hurt

 

[endibd]

I would add some supplements too . they couldn't hurt

Yeah some supplements are great.

Personally I do a vitamin B complex multilingual (liquid drops that dissolve under the tongue). B vitamins are one thing many people with bowel trouble are deficient in. I've found the drops to be best (better than the strips and pills) and if you can find a B vitamin mix that is better (there are several B vitamins). Most contain at least B12 but some formulas contain several B vitamins.

If you venture into protein powder be careful of stuff derived from milk ingredients, it might have stuff that is hard to digest in milk - casein. Its a hard to digest protein in milk, and you can find it in all kinds of supplements, power and protein bars and many foods as an additive to boost protein content.