Crohn's & what to Eat

Hi Teri,

I'm sorry to hear that you are not doing well! I hope the Lialda proves to work and helps get your symptoms under control.

In regards to your question about diet, our site expert Elizabeth Roberts, has written a couple posts about diet. She did an elimination diet to help determine which foods caused her trouble. She wrote a post, "My Elimination Diet," that explains the process and how it helped her. Her post, "What Can I Eat with IBD," addresses your exact question.

If these posts don't help you figure out what you can eat, check out our Diet and Nutrition page. It features blogs from a nutritionist.

I hope these resources are helpful! Please keep us up-do-date and let us know how you are doing.

Does anyone else have other diet suggestions?

Hi Terri, i have Crohn's and found that different things affect different people . The best way i have found if a certain food causes problems is by keeping a food diary. Try to write down everything you eat in a day and then  see how you've felt that day and how it's affected your health. Hope you get some relief from your symptoms- diarrhoea is awful x  

Teri, have any of your physicians suggested a daily dose of Cholestyramine?  Diarrhea after having the gall bladder removed is not an uncommon issue for a lot of people.  The cholestyramine (brand name Questran) if often prescribed and is helpful.  I have a friend who has had Crohn's disease for about 25 years.  She had a cholecystectomy a few years ago and has been on the Cholestyramine every day since.

Good luck!

Teri, I forgot to ask too if you've tried probiotics?  My Gastroenterologist recommended them and I cannot tell you how significant the improvement has been in my gut.  It takes a couple of weeks for the full effect to be seen and the changes may be so subtle you don't know anything is happening.  However, if you do them for that two week period and then miss even one day, you will be able to tell the difference.  I am totally sold on probiotics!  Ask your doc ...

I had my gallbladder out a few years ago and was fine minus ALWAYS having diarrhea.  My gastro doc gave me a script for Welcol, which was to help absorb some of the extra bile that could not be well-regulated without my gallbladder.  I would take 1-2 pills WITH each meal when diarrhea was severe.  Otherwise, taking 1-2 with one of my meals a day seems to maintain things okay. Yet, within the last 3-months I have been diagnosed with IBD. Nothing is helping me so far and I have lost 30 pounds already. I did recently read about how eating Coconut macaroon cookies have been shown to help people with diarrhea and Crohn's Disease. Recommendation is to eat 1-2 per day. Some people have claimed to no longer have Crohn's symptoms anymore! Archway makes a really good one and there is also Jennies (but had to order that online). A homeade recipe is probably even better!

Hope this helps! :)

im 15 and i have had IBD for about 8 years and going for my 5th colonocopy now and heres what helps me

Dont eat whole grains fresh fruit raw veggies nuts seed popcprn

do eat white rice white bread chicken cooked veggis pasta