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No dairy, no gluten, so what the heck to eat?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 2/22/2013 8:09 PM (GMT 0)
So going to try to completly change my diet to see if I can help myself that way!!  I pretty much live on dairy (yogurt,milk,cottage cheese) and carbs.(pasta's,breads) I tend to always go that route when I am flaring cause it just doesn't seem to hurt as bad going through.  So I have been on entocort for 4months and its not helping!!  So I need to look seriously at my diet!  What do people eat if they don't eat dairy or carbs. when they are flaring, have to have low fiber bc of stricture in TI.  I can't eat potatoes they don't agree and seem to always make me cramp!  What do people eat???? Been thinking of getting a juicer?

I am on 200mg of Imuran, 9mg entocort, protonix, pobiotics, iron supplements, and multivitamin. 

Thanks for any input!! rolleyes

Posted 2/22/2013 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
Gluten free doesn't mean carb free, although there a lot fewer trashy carbs available. Since you can't eat potatoes, how about rice? Start with white rice. Are you ok with corn? I enjoy corn chips and corn bread and eat corn flakes these days for breakfast. Plenty of gluten-free pastas are very good and should be ok for you, although the potato thing might be hard if potato starch also bothers you.
Posted 2/23/2013 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
Rice, quinoa, millet are my go to grains. I often eat them with some well cooked veggies or a cooked sweet potato. Teff can be nice too. I make a pudding out of it that is creamy and soothing.

I use almond or coconut milk instead of dairy. I haven't found a good cheese substitute.

I eat a lot of soups, or thick stews with lentils or beans (if I can tolerate).

I have a smoothie every morning for breakfast, and if my system is upset then I'll have one for dinner. I use a pea protein powder, and throw in some frozen spinach and fruit and a 1/2 avocado and some flax seed. You don't taste the greens at all and the avocado gives it a nice creamy texture.

Do a google search for gluten free and dairy free. There are a lot of recipes out there.
Posted 2/23/2013 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
Please read research and books on gut healing. IMHO what you have just been recommended is likely to hurt not help.
Depending on your symptoms I would suggest looking at Low FodMap, SCD, Life without Bread, Nourishing traditions, and paleo as a start. Each brings some level of research and input on gut healing.

Once you have selected a diet then join an online support group for the diet. No book on any diet tells the whole story for Crohn's folks.
Hope you find something that works for you.
Healing thoughts
Dave
Posted 2/25/2013 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
Read the book "breaking the vicious cycle" about the scd diet. It gives you all kinds of food options that you can substitute for carbs and sugar and grains. I have been following the diet for 6 years and I am in complete remission. I don't eat, any grains like breads or cereals or rice. I don't eat carbs like pasta, potatoes or corn or any processed foods that conatin grains, chemicals or sugar. Is it difficult to follow at first, but after a few months it becomes second nature. I bake my own bread and cookies using almond flour and honey as a sweetner. I eat ll the meat and fish I want and all vegatables except corn and potatoes.

Post Edited (NY-Sooner) : 2/25/2013 10:23:55 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/25/2013 8:45 PM (GMT 0)
You can try looking at some Paleo Cookbooks. I use these a lot. My husband juices everything. I can't drink anything green, it just feels weird, but he swears by it.

http://paleocomfortfoods.com/

http://everydaypaleo.com/

http://www.paleoplan.com/recipes/
Posted 2/26/2013 1:46 AM (GMT 0)
you still have PLENTY to eat. gluten and dairy are only two things out of thousands of foods!

i follow SCD/paleo myself, but if you still want to eat grains, there's rice, quinoa, oats, millet. you've gotten limitless fruits and veggies, meats, beans, eggs. if you're doing low fiber, definitely don't do leafy greens or lots of insoluble fiber like nuts/seeds.
Posted 2/28/2013 7:31 PM (GMT 0)
I was diagnosed with Crohn's at age 15. I did the Asacol and Prednisone thing for a year or so with no relief. Finally, my mother decided enough was enough and dragged me down the natural healing path. I followed the Specific Carbohydrate Diet detailed in Elaine Gottschall's book, Food and the Gut Reaction -- Intestinal Health Through Diet (1986). After following it to the letter for several years, I gradually started reintroducing foods one at a time to check for an adverse reaction; none manifested. Since I was still following the diet pretty religiously some six years after I began, I am not sure when I went into remission. But I am now 36 years old and eating whatever I want with no issues -- no meds, no dietary restrictions, no symptoms.

If memory serves, for Crohn's, you need to follow the SCD diet without deviation for minimum number of years (5?) in order to achieve remission, and I'm quite sure the author cautions that the diet may not work for all. But I do know that I personally started feeling better within weeks, if not days. I cannot tell you the difference it has made in quality of life for me, and I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH that if you have not given this approach a chance, you should give it serious consideration. Yes, it takes intense will power and single-mindedness, but your health and quality of life is worth the effort...
Posted 2/28/2013 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to everyone for your input!  I know I am having active disease and I know what the doc. is going to tell me, "time to try biologics" I am terrified of them!! So looked into the SCD and just feel disapointed.. how do I do it if any high fiber foods, meats bother me to eat them!!  Can you still do this diet? I am ready to try anything! Thanks
Posted 2/28/2013 8:47 PM (GMT 0)
dont be afraid of the biologics,a fter figthing crohns for 10+ years with no real relief from pred, methotrexate,6mp,sulfasalazines of every type and lord knows what else i went on remicade and was amazed at how it gave me a life again. been on remicade and humira now for the last 13 years and have almost complete remission
Posted 2/28/2013 9:13 PM (GMT 0)
Perhaps these excerpts from Elaine Gotschall's Food and the Gut Reaction (details the SCD) might be of some help/interest to someone:
"...Many people have approached the dietary program [SCD] by planning to give it a one month trial. If followed carefully for only one month, there should be changes for the better...If you see no improvement after a one month trial, the diet will probably not work for you. It is your decision at this point to return to your old pattern of eating...If, in the past, an allowable food [on the SCD] did not agree with you, eliminate it for a short time (about one week) and try it again in small amounts. If after a week of eliminating it a certain food continues to cause problems, do not include it in the diet..."

The first few days of the dietary program I followed were a "basic diet" that I found particularly soothing to my system (especially the chicken broth/soup recipe!).

Obviously, everyone would have a very personal experience, but I hope this is helpful to someone.
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