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19 year old college child and what to eat

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 5/21/2011 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
Can anyone following the SCD diet or any Crohn's diets, microbotic, etc., give us pointers as to what anyone in college could eat. She will not follow recipes or fix them, nor do I know if she would always have time, even if she picked up a knack to cook, I am sure you all know what I mean for a 19 year old.

She seems to tolerate white bread, not wheat so much, loves brown and white rice, chicken soup, fruits, what about PB and J sandwiches -- too much sugar? Fried foods are out for her as is pizza, burgers, etc. Makes it so hard for someone trying to attend the fast paced life of college.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone could recommend a simple book to eat right, one without all the recipes, just basic foods and such would be great.

Thanks so much.
Posted 5/21/2011 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
its different for everyone, so there is no ONE book out there that will help. Myself, no brown rice, brown bread,.nothing with major amounts of whole wheat..little fiber, no red meat, no pork, little dairy. If she can handle pb and j, then eat it.. No fried foods no pizza( regular pizza, i have a pizza place that will make me a chicken mushroom and feta cheese pizza) Good luck with everything.
Posted 5/21/2011 4:33 PM (GMT 0)
As someone just finishing her university course, I can say that smoothies are a quick way of getting in something healthy in a hurry without so many fibre concerns. Generally however, it's a case of combining basic knowledge on a healthy diet (ie. low sugar and 'bad' fats, making sure to get enough essential nutrients) with her individual food tolerences. Omelettes or scrambled eggs are simple and easy to rustle up, as is chicken or fish paired with rice - and these are dishes easy to adapt to taste and tolerence.
Posted 5/21/2011 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Sera's idea about smoothies or protien shakes are a good idea. Helps to get nutrients in you without causing too many issues. I personally follow a low residue diet all the time. Its a more easy to chew, easy to digest. If you google low residue diets, some of the GI sites have foods that are allowed and those which are not. The SCD diet I think will be a little harder for a college student to follow since it must be followed to the letter and requires alot of preparing of your meals etc. Although I do know some are able to follow it.

For example with the low res diet, you can have creamy peanut butter and jelly. The thought is its better to eat the creamy as it has no nut chunks that might irritate. And jelly unlike jam doesn't have seeds in it that can get stuck and irritate. I eat alot of chicken, fish and turkey, with some occasional red meat. Any red meat I eat needs to be a lean cut. Hope that helps a little. Hugs!
Posted 5/21/2011 8:26 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter is just finishing her junior year. She doesn't have CD, but has a lot of tummy issues, pretty sure she will eventually get the diagnosis. Here are some of the things that worked for her. She would go to the individual serving microwaveable soup and pasta aisle. Mac and cheese, chicken noodle soup, things like that. Quick and easy. Lots of cereal. Also she would get the packages of grilled chicken that they have in the meat case and use it to make chicken quesadillas or put the chicken on salads. That on probably won't work for your daughter, but she could put it on some pasta with sauce or salad dressing as a pasta salad. Not sure how far away your daughter will be from home, but you can make big batches of rotini and freeze it in freezer bags in whatever portion size you want and send it back to school with her. Also a lot of grocery stores sell pasta in the freezer aisle all ready to go. Tuna in the pouches that don't need to be drained. My daughter eats it straight out of the pouch since she hates mayo, but its easy enough to make tuna salad. They also have salmon and flavored tunas to change things up. She would make rice a roni in the microwave. Yogurt and granola bars were staples too.
Posted 5/21/2011 9:07 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks. Yogurt and milk products are out but the tun in the pouch is a great idea for her.
Posted 5/21/2011 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
If you belong to one of the big box clubs (BJ's, Costco, Sams), you can get big packs of them for a bit cheaper. My daughter doesn't like them as much because the brand BJ's carries is a bit dry and she doesn't us mayo, but ..... They are a bit more expensive than canned tuna, so every little bit helps. I was just happy to find something nutritious that she would eat and that didn't upset her tummy.
Posted 5/22/2011 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter followed a modified version of the SCD at college, which means she ate potatoes and rice - I don't recommend this, it's better to go full-on SCD, but it sounds like your daughter might benefit from doing something similar. The SCD info can be found here www.breakingtheviciousycycle.info and in the book, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle."

Nanners has trouble with fatty red meat, but the SCD diet allows it and my daughter has no problem with it. In fact, the Paleo diet, SCD, and similar diets are different in some ways, but all seem to agree that meat-based diets are preferable for Crohn's. On the other hand, SCD allows peanut butter - but my daughter says she doesn't do well with peanut butter. Foods today are full of additives. MSG, for instance, is a neurotoxin and is found in nearly every can of soup. One of the things I like best about SCD is its emphasis on eliminating foods with additives, including added sugar.

Some patients seem to benefit from restricting gluten. If she likes rice, she could try a gluten-free diet. Right now, it sounds like you and she are exploring diets. When my daughter decided on SCD, she met with the college cafeteria dietician, who invited her to check out all the labels on their frozen foods, to make sure there were no additives.  They also kept a skillet on hand just for her - to grill burgers and chicken and make sure they were not contaminated by other foods or ingredients. These days, college cafeterias are making accommodations for Celiacs patients, so can be more accommodating to Crohn's patients with special dietary requirements.  

Posted 5/22/2011 3:48 PM (GMT 0)
Very helpful, thanks so much. If you don't mind me asking, what types of supplements, if any does she take and what meds is she on?


Margie
Posted 5/22/2011 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
I am one that regular peanut butter doesn't agree with, but Almond butter I have no issues with and tastes really good!
Posted 5/22/2011 4:33 PM (GMT 0)
thanks, your question reminded me to update signature, below. She takes SCD-legal supplements (no starches, sugar, or other additives) and gets them here www.lucyskitchen.com and here www.digestivewellness.com

She also takes a probiotic pill - www.pecanbread.com shows some SCD legal sources.

She now also takes 800 mcg folic acid and a B complex vit because of Pentasa, which tends to deplete folate. 

Posted 5/22/2011 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
bump this for more info :)
Posted 5/22/2011 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
bump this for more info :)
Posted 5/22/2011 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
bump this for more info :)
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