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Anti-inflammatory diet

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 8/21/2011 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor doesn't seem to think there is an effective anti-inflammatory diet,  but I thought I would ask the experts, i.e. Crohn's sufferers. What do you eat to reduce inflammation?

Right now I am taking fish oil, which due to it's high omega-3 content has been widely promoted as anti-inflammatory:

Foods that I have researched that might CAUSE inflammation:

1. Sugar

2. Unhealthy oil

3. Dairy (questionable)

4. Red meat/processed meat

5. Refined flour (low fiber - which might be good during a flare but is harmful used for extend periods of time)

So what food is actually good that we can eat? I've noticed that high fiber foods cause more symptoms but are they actually better for reducing inflammation? Seems counterintuitive that you would need to eat what causes you symptoms consistently to avoild long terms down the road. Thank you!

Posted 8/21/2011 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
Please go to Acid-reacting foods.com and/or Alkaline foods.com

The lists will guide you to learn which foods are digested as highly
acidic and which ones are digested as alkaline.

The ph of the system always retains a stable value varying only minutely in its acidity and alkaline condition. It will even draw calcium from the bones in order to maintain that ph value. I'm not talking about that state of the system. I'm referring to the fluids and organs of the body in regard to buildup of acidity.

Cheese is highly acid in reaction;lemons are very alkaline in reaction.
These are just two simple illustrations.

Avoid caffeine, chocolate, and alcohol.

You have a real journey to go on that will be amazingly interesting for you as you learn to change the diet to improve digestion.

Good luck with your efforts.

It's Genetic
Posted 8/21/2011 3:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for replying. I like how that site offers suggestions suitable to an individual's activity level.

However, I am surprised that it lists milk as an almost "perfect food". I was told by my doctor to avoid milk and dairy products in general. Perhaps it is the perfect food for a non-Crohn's sufferer? I will read more into the site and see if I can come up with a meal plan.
Posted 8/21/2011 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
I generally have followed a low residue diet since my original diagnosis. I just cant tolerate milk products, raw fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc. I do eat primarily well cooked veggies, meats, white bread products, and when not in an active flare, fried foods. When in a flare I get extreme pain after eating fried foods so I stay away from them. Of course I dont know if these foods decrease inflammation. But I kno I cant handle them and the symptoms they cause would not be worth it to me even if they did decrease inflammation. Just my opinion tho. I'd certainly be interested to know what foods I could handle that could decrease inflammation...following a diet seems easier than meds after all.
Posted 8/21/2011 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, Julian K18,

The diet thing is a questionable area, for certain, because so many of
us have idiocyncrasies in our digestion. As a general rule, your doctor is on target, I think. Milk products are digested as acidic, even though they contain calcium. Milk sugar is a problem for some, and all kinds of cheese are digested as highly acidic. (Lactaid milk is better since it has the milk sugar removed, and sugar is not nutritious.) My
daughter has always maintained in a laughing way that milk is perfect food for calves, but not for humans.

The object of a diet for anti-inflammatory conditions is to maintain a slightly higher alkaline balance in the fluids and organs than acid. This does not pertain, as I mentioned earlier, to the ph of the whole system; that's another matter entirely.

It was Socrates who said that foods that we eat that taste sweet are
digested as sour (or acidic); foods that we eat that taste bitter are digested as sweet. Take the little lemon, for an example, which was mentioned earlier. Lemon helps to detoxify the liver and is excellent food to use often.

You have a lot of research ahead of you in order to balance things as you wish, but you'll get there when you have time to plan and work on it.

Good wishes,

It's Genetic

Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 8/21/2011 2:01:14 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/21/2011 8:10 PM (GMT 0)
The link below actually refers to another form of IBD, ulcerative colitis, but I think it could also apply to general inflammation including Crohn's. It could explain why fish oil is helpful for many of us not only for IBD but also inflammatory arthritis. Fish oil is omega-3 and needs to be in balance with omega-6 which is linoleic acid found in ordinary vegetable oil. Most of us consume to much linoleic acid. So an anti-inflammatory diet is one with less omega-6 and more omega-3:
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158478.php
Posted 8/22/2011 3:16 AM (GMT 0)
These are great starting points. Thank you!
Posted 8/22/2011 6:30 AM (GMT 0)
I do beleive diet is a very important aspect of keep crohns in remission (plus maintenance drugs of course)

I follow FODMAP that is aimed at reducing IBS symptoms and find it quite good for me. Dave is an advocate of SCD and numerous others on this forum swear by other diets with numerous variations. Bad news is we all have to try and work out what suits us as we are all very different both in the disease and how we approach its management.

Good luck finding what suits you and helps maintain remission :)
Posted 8/22/2011 3:45 PM (GMT 0)
Here, here Kiwi

"Bad news is we all have to try and work out what suits us as we are all very different both in the disease and how we approach its management."

After much reading, and experimenting I am staring to feel Like I know something. But really, I would much prefer someone to just tell me "If you eat this, you will be healthy". If I wanted to be a nutritionist I would have gone to school to be one.

And even worse, you finally decide to do a diet. Let's say FodMap, then you still have to make all kinds of tweaks for you and an individual.

Oh well, "It is, What it Is" and I much prefer diet to drugs (well at least most dr.., oh forget it)
Dave
Posted 8/22/2011 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Kiwi/Dave

Is there any good literature discussing FODMAP or SCD? Meal plans, as much detail as possible, etc. I know this will take some time to get worked out but I will try to come up with a systematic way to approach a diet (easier said than done of course).
Posted 8/22/2011 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
Any spicy food causes irritation (particularly on the colon and rectum), so avoid Indian, Thai, Mexican chili based and other spices food.

Alcohol, particularly wine, also gets absorbed into the digestive system and cause Diarreah.

This sneaked up on me after years of loving it: Cured Ham (Prociutto), the ingredients that cured it also "cured" my intestinal lining...there was a direct cause-and-effect between eating it and having digestive problems hours later, every time. Same applies to Beef Jerky and Pork Rinds.
Posted 8/22/2011 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
Some will say it is best to keep a food dirary. That was not my approach. I felt that someone has to have more answers than me trying to figure it out. So I started asking questions here. Then I bought the book of each diet if available. I then decided on a diet that made the most sense to me after reading the books. Then I stuck with it, even though it did not work for the first 6 or 8 months. Even though I remain 100% compliant with my diet, I still read lots and continuosly make tweaks, either adding, eliminating or replacing differnt stuff. Also, I found something of value in each book I read, so even though I intend to stay on the diet I choose I keep reading and hopefully improving my diet. An example of this is I just finsihed the paleo solution and one of the key take aways for me is getting my omega 3 and omega 6 in balance.

From my perspective, a radical change in diet is too big of an issue to get it wrong so even though everyone here has the best of intentions, unfortunatly I strongly recommend, start on the net, if it makes sense, read the book. Once you have done that your questions will be much more focused and easier to address.

If you want to start now, no matter what diet you read alsmost all
Hope this help at some level

Dave
Posted 8/22/2011 9:57 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Dave. By book do you mean "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet " by Elaine Gloria Gottschall or is there another one you used?
Posted 8/22/2011 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Julian
The diet I choose is SCD and the book is the one you mentioned. But I also read The Makers Diet, Paleo Solution, Live Without Bread, Nourishing Traditions, GAP Diet, the Probiotics Revolution, Nutritional Timing and a bunch more.
This is a pretty big decision for many folks. I have changed virtually everything that I put in my pie hole at some level over the last year. I mean I actually gave up beer. If that is not commitment I do not know what is....just teasing...

I did not take one person's opinion and I would highly recommend that you do the same. It took a long time to get sick, and it will take time to get better. Take a bit of time and really look at the options and figure out what makes sense for you.

If you decide to go SCD and you want to know what to eat, then I suggest pecanbread.com. Although these are not SCD rules, the stages have been very helpful for me. There are recipes by stage, so this is your meal plan.



If I can be of any help just let me know.

GOOD LUCK & HEALING THOUGHTS!!
David
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