What Should I Eat or Skip If I Have Crohn’s? (2024)

FAQs

What Should I Eat or Skip If I Have Crohn’s? ›

Focus on lean meats like chicken and turkey (and eat only a little red meat), fish, eggs, and tofu. Avoid processed and high-fat meats like sausage, bacon, hot dogs, bologna, and cold cuts which can irritate the digestive tract and potentially trigger a flare.

Include foods that are high in protein. Your body uses more protein than usual if you are in a flare-up. So you might want to try protein-rich foods like eggs, dairy, meat, fish, pulses, beans, or nut butters. Eat fibre that is easy to digest, like well-cooked, peeled vegetables, bananas, melons, or fruit juice.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are usually hospitalized because of aggravated gastrointestinal symptoms. Many clinicians empirically advise these patients to fast once they are admitted. However, there has been no evidence that maintaining a complete bowel rest improves the disease course.

Dinner: One Pot Chicken and Rice

This meal makes for a cozy and comforting weeknight dinner that can be cooked and served in a single pot for easy clean-up. Plus, according to a 2020 study in 233 people with IBD, chicken and rice were among the most commonly identified foods associated with a reduction of symptoms.

Foods to increase in your diet include:

Fruits: bananas, raspberries, applesauce, blended fruit. Vegetables: squashes, fork-tender cooked carrots, green beans. Foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids: fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, etc.), walnut butter, chia seeds, flaxseed oil, flaxseed meal.

Some research suggests that stress, including the stress of living with Crohn's disease, can make symptoms worse. Also, some people may find that certain foods can trigger or worsen their symptoms.

Grains give us carbs and energy, and while the healthier option is usually whole grains, but high fiber foods aren't an excellent choice for Crohn's disease diets. Instead, supplement with white bread, white rice, and pasta. These choices have “low-residue” meaning there's less “scrap” to irritate the bowels.

Crohn's disease patients with active disease exhibit strong hedonic desires for food and emotional eating patterns possibly to ameliorate feelings of low mood, anxiety, and depression.

What not to drink with Crohn's? ›

But as important as this message may be for the general population, it's absolutely critical when you have Crohn's disease. Not only can dehydration worsen your Crohn's symptoms, but Crohn's can also increase the risk of dehydration, which can cause headaches, constipation, muscle cramps, and dizziness.

Having disease flares may be a sign that a change in medication is needed. Your doctor may recommend the following: Corticosteroids, which have anti-inflammatory properties, can be used in the short term to get you back into remission (little to no disease activity).

“It's all about helping people feel better through food,” says Lippman. When Lippman isn't working, there's a good chance he's cooking. There are still foods he avoids to keep his Crohn's in check, including popcorn, beef, tomatoes, alcohol, and, yes, pizza. “Pizza is kind of my white whale,” he says.

Toasted bread or a bagel made with refined white flour are good for breakfast or as a sandwich base. Look for brands with 2 grams of fiber or less per serving. Low-fiber grains are easier to digest when you have Crohn's. Spread on smooth, creamy peanut or almond butter for extra protein.

For that reason, maintaining adequate protein intake is crucial to help your body bounce back. Fatty meats such as high fat red meat, fried meats, oily/greasy proteins may worsen symptoms during active disease. Instead, stock up on skinless, white-meat chicken or turkey; eggs; fish; and tofu.

Fruits and vegetables

If raw fruits make your flare-ups worse, try applesauce and bananas. Both are good for you and can fulfill a craving for sweets. In addition to these, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation recommends raspberries, squashes, green beans, and cooked and blended fruits and vegetables.

Raw or unpeeled veggies aren't a good choice. Whether you're using them for dip or in a salad, these tough, fiber-rich plant foods can make you poop even more. They could make a Crohn's flare feel worse. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage can also cause gas.