Sophia's diet

[Sophia]

Hi everyone,

Someone suggested I posted a thread with my new diet, as it has worked wonders for me. So, as promised, I will try to give an outline of my current diet, and hopefully it will be useful for you guys too!

First of all, a short story of my Crohn's journey:

October 2008: Severe diarrhoea, fever, chills. Doctor assumed it was a norovirus.

November 2008 and onwards - eye problems: dry, runny and itchy eyes. Skin: dry, itchy skin with small red bumps that looks like Erythema Nodosum on my arms.

July 2009: Diarrhoea and eye problems worsened. Got Prednisone in the ER for my eyes along with allergy medicine.

September 2009: Severe diarrhoea, bloody stools up to 18 times a day.

September 30: Admitted to the hospital. Stayed for three weeks. On Solu-Medrol 60 mgs intravenously for 10 days. Then 60 mg of Pred.

January 2010: Finished the Prednisone, on to Asacol 1600 mgs a day.

May 2010: Slowly got worse with D, fever, chills, syncopes. Specialist gave me the option of Prednisone, but I really didn't feel like it. It would be my last resort only.

11 June: I contacted a clinic with doctors and dieticians. Started my diet.

13 June: No more blood in stool, no more D. Generally started feeling better.

MY DIET:

No grains (Especially no gluten)
No potatoes
No milk or cream
No sugar
No alcohol
No red meat
Max 1 fruit a day

This is what I eat:

Vegetables
Chicken
Fish (Seafood is allowed, but I get allergic reactions from it)
Cheese, including fresh cheese - almost like creme fraiche, but lower fat content. (Cheese was originally not included, but as I only ate cheese and bread before, the dietician felt sorry for me.)
Berries
Nuts
Seeds

Supplements:

Omega 3
Zinc
Magnesium
Chrom
Multi-vitamins
B-vitamins

Hope I haven't forgotten to mention anything!

I followed the diet very strictly the first month. I still try to be fairly strict, but I've been allowed to have chocolate with 70 % cocoa if the craving is unbearable (there is not much sugar in this one).

I've also tried to have a small amount of potato and didn't get worse from it.

I think the main idea is to exclude certain food groups to begin with to see if you have an effect. Then after a while you can slowly start to introduce foods one at a time, and see if it affects your symptoms. In this phase it is important to only introduce one type of food at a time, and carefully keep track of symptoms. They can often come back very gradually.

I have a feeling that gluten is usually a no go, and I've read that many people get better from excluding only this.

I hope this has been helpful, and please don't hesitate to ask me any questions.

I can post a few recipes on here, and also feel free to have a look at my blog:

lovinglifewithcrohns.blogspot.com

Good luck to everyone!

Lots of love,

 

[DustyKat]

Hi Sophia,

Thanks for posting this. Although Roo is well at present and in remission I like to always keep things like this at the back of my mind for future reference.

Dusty.

 

[Sophia]

Dusty,

Yes, you are right about that. I've heard of people using this diet and similar ones once they feel that their symptoms worsen. Sort of like a flare diet.

 

[silver]

I could see myself using it like that to calm me during a bad week...I'm afraid I don't have your willpower Sophia! Kudos for following it though!

 

[Doberwoman]

Do you have any trouble maintaining your weight on this diet? It seems to eliminate a lot of the higher sources of calories.

 

[EthanPSU]

No grains (Especially no gluten)
No potatoes
No milk or cream
No sugar
No alcohol
No red meat
Max 1 fruit a day

No grains....Ehh I could possible do that
No potatoes...Again maybe could do that
No milk.....Ouch...Milk is my favorite drink
No sugar....Double ouch...I need my sugars lol
No alcohol....Triple ouch....Thats no fun lol
No red meat....Quad ouch...I need meat
Max 1 fruit....Ok...I can do that haha

Your diet would be hard for me to do

 

[Sophia]

Do you have any trouble maintaining your weight on this diet? It seems to eliminate a lot of the higher sources of calories.

Hi there,

I don't have a problem with gaining weight, in fact I put on 8 kgs when I was on Prednisone, so I don't mind losing some. I think this would be a diet that would be good if you wanted to lose weight, and probably not so good if you wanted to put on weight/maintain weight. Though I am not sure. Any experiences out there from people who have trouble gaining or maintaining their weight?

I've lost 3 kgs since 11 June.

Ethan: Yeah, I know. It sucks to keep away from those things, especially once you are starting to feel better. I would do so much to not feel sick, obviously, and I really didn't have any trouble at all cutting out those foods in the beginning. The motivation to get better is just so high. Now though, I'm starting to feel so much better, so the temptation to have my "no"-foods is definitely increasing. Trying to be strict still though, bearing in mind the agony of a flare...

I've found some wines that have very little sugar (0,30 g - 1 g pr litre), and I had a glass of that last weekend. It was fine, I didn't get sick, but I guess I can't get wasted anymore.