What is the perfect diet for Crohn's...is milk the worst offender?

no milk and no casein products (no it doesnt mean you are lactose intolerant, I would think its digestion of some part of the milk protein not the sugar, but you might also have problems with the lactose (milk sugar) as in lactose intolerant), best is just avoid all diary because of the potential extra mucuous created.. Cant comment on the yogurt but if it has casein i would not suggest, as you know there are some yogurt experts here and seen alot of posts for having it. If you have stricture then raw vegetables and slightly cooked , steamed, etc. will be problematic for blockage. The less the intestine hasto do would be less irratation of inflammed area also. Boiled potatoes then mashed without alot of extra ingredients, but try to avoid a complete 'space food' so have something with the potatoes. As far as the meat, the chicken has go to be fresh, vacuum packaged salmon is good. Stay away from the processed shelved meat..maybe a fresh deli meat, sometimes I buy roast beef and recook it in mild gravy and then have open faced sandwich. but you want to avoid the ingredient(s) thats added in packaged meat, so no luncheon meat. Fat is sometimes not tolerated either so no hot dogs for instance but again this might be from the packaged meat ingredient as well as problems digesting fat...If you must have diary have it with the tea I suppose. I will go out on a limb and say I use fresh half-and-half rather than something like 2% milk, its just a small amount to reduce coffee bitterness (some cannot tolerate coffee whatsoever).. so that leaves the carbs I suppose. for the carbs, avoid the wheat gluten, such as most pastas, (there is gluten free pasta however) ..already mentioned the starch type carbs is ok (mashed potatoes, etc.). and Juices are more simple carbs (sugars) is ok if you tolerate but suggest not on complete empty stomach because they are also acidic. Your choice on the herbs/spices as there is alot of research on antiinflammatory additions but generally bland is less risky. Salt is generally good. I dunno about salt and prednisone tho because of water /fluid retention but yes salt is ok. No glutamates, so the msg is out. On the other hand, this is all basic and advanced combinations might be different. hope some of this is helpful

Store bought yogurt contains a fair amount of lactose because it's only fermented for 4 hours. You can make your own yogurt and ferment it for 24 hours to make sure all the lactose is removed. As for cheese, it has to be aged for (I think) at least 30 days to be lactose free.

A lot of people who can't handle cow casein do fine with goat or sheep. You can make yogurt with goat milk, and I've see goat cheddar and sheep cheddar in the store. If you really miss dairy, I'd give them a try.

A good way to remove the fiber from fruits and veggies is to use a food mill. When you run butternut squash through it, you end up with what looks like baby food (it's a very soft consistency). I've also run cranberries though it to remove the skins and seeds. Now I can enjoy cranberry sauce again!

I cook carrots for a long time so they're nice and soft. Same for zucchini, crook neck squash, green beans, and butternut squash. Those are my staple veggies right now. Very ripe bananas (lots of brown spots) are easier to digest because the starch in them has broken down during the ripening process. Applesauce, pear sauce, and cooked peaches are my go to fruits.

I have followed SCD (no lactose, gluten, starch, or sugar) for 9 months. It's worked great for me! My fistulas closed, my fissure (finally!) healed, I don't get constipated anymore, I don't have acid reflux anymore, my eczema healed, I don't get cramps or blood during BMs anymore, and my seasonal allergies are now almost non-existent. I used to have severe perirectal disease, but all that's leftover from that is a giant ugly skin tag. It's been completely worth it to modify my diet, and I plan on eating this way for life. The food is really good, so it's not as big of a hardship as some may think it is.

You'll find many varying opinions of what the best source of calcium is. Some think dairy is best. Others think it isn't, like this article states: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/calcium-and-milk/index.html. They think you're best off getting calcium from non-dairy sources, like leafy greens, broccoli, almonds (or almond butter for us with sensitive guts), and oranges. And still others think bone broths are your best bet. Then you have all the debate over what calcium supplements are best: carbonate, citrate, etc.

Personally, I just try to get some calcium from all of the above sources. That way I'm covered .

about "milk and mucous"...

I've heard it said (for decades) that milk increases mucous production, and therefore will make a cold, allergy or asthma worse. But apparently it is not so, though it's a widely held belief. Googling on "milk and mucous" will turn up lots of relevant info, like this:

http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2007/11/28/2102703.htm

But milk can indeed cause problems for Crohnies, especially if you are lactose-intolerant.

best regards,
Robert

For me the diets were dangerous. I tried both SCD and Makers Diet (I was discipline embodied) and ended up with life threating bleeds both times. For me, milk products are one of the very few things that I can tolerate. Diet for crohns people is highly individual and I think it is irresponsible to say there is not risk to them.

MMMNAVY, when you did SCD and the Maker's Diet, what foods were you eating?

Spooky, do you mean what stage was I on? I spent about 16/17 months trying to do diets total.
I think I was about stage 3/4. (the malnutrition issues I was and still have cause some memory cog. brain. function issues for me (I would have to look at my journals and med records). What I did learn was geliten (sp?) was pretty safe for me. Juicers are about the only way I may ever get any kind of fruit or veg. I still cannot eat beef or pork at all.
As for the makers (and the microbodic for that matter) diet I was on this for a much short period of time like about 3 or 4 months for them.

njmom, dangerous is because I had such severe crohns I should not have been depriving my body of vitimen suppliments and have the broken bones to prove it. I found out that texture of food is very important for me. Unfortunately I found out the hard way about certain foods (no matter how broken down) cause lacerations in your intestines (that you might not get signs or symtoms from in a couple days to months). Perhaps I was not clear about life threatening bleeds? I ended up going on hospitalized TPN (and multipule blood transfusions) for months due to these diet "experiments" that I did.

I am glad this works for some people.
All that I ask that there is a caveat attached to it, because like any medicene or treatment path it does have it's risks.

I was not suggesting that you cannot take suppliments, but I had too much friablity to be absorbing it (I eventually had to do IV), and this was hidden damage that was not seen. No peels, seeds, ever for me. Bear in mind I was juicing (in addition to puree/cooking/etc.) also to get it down to the most basic of particals. (liquifing even meat) I absolutely agree with the soft foods.

p.s. someone told me much afterwards that freezing grapes makes them easier to peel, but I do not think this would be legal (but I cannot remember if that is from raw foods or SCD).

Like I said I just do not want people to think that it is without risk.  I was also taken 6-mp, immuran, and remi during this period of time.

I know that freezing tomatoes makes them easier to peel, so it makes sense that the same would apply to grapes. I wonder how they taste after they've been frozen?

EMom who said anyone was being disrespectful??? Ivy just said that these diets work for some but not all, and that people should always remember that we are individual and as is our diets.

My personal opinion is that whatever diet anyone chooses to use, they should always take some kind of maintainence med with their diets. The two complement eachother and work well to keep the person in overall good health. JMHO

I’m sorry if my post sounded as if I was saying SCD is the only option – I think I said “ you may find it provides the answer you are looking for” ….. It just seems that most people have at least some kind of success on it and I was just suggesting it for Frogelita. Even Elaine says it won’t work for everyone….. But I think it’s worth a shot. It has a science behind it and is not just trial and error like food diaries tend to be….. I know a lot of enthusiastic SCDers come on and tell everyone to go on this diet, because they are so elated with the results….. I just wanted to suggest it to Frogelita because she’s having a tough time and (like me) waiting for Remicade.   Sorry if it came out like that guys!! I just want to give her some options that just might work.