If you have Crohn’s disease, you know the dietary difficulties that come with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Los Angeles is known for its high quality restaurants and superb nutritional choices, but when you struggle with something like Crohn’s disease much of what is considered healthy for others remains problematic for you. Dining out with Crohn’s disease is tough to do, but many find that they even have trouble when trying to prepare foods at home.
Cooking with Crohn’s disease takes time to master. Many popular cooking methods and ingredients can actually cause Crohn’s symptoms to flare up. Learning how to cook for your dietary needs will likely be a trial and error process, but you can start yourself off on the right foot by following some of the dietary tips below.
- Don’t fry your foods: Fried foods are heavy in fat, and fats of any sort are very hard to digest when you have Crohn’s disease. Sticking to baking, grilling and sautéing your meats and vegetables to reduce fat content.
- Avoid raw foods: The “raw food diet” is popular right now, but this is a bad choice for those with Crohn’s disease because raw fruits and vegetables are hard to digest. If you have Crohn’s, enjoy your fruits and veggies cooked to reduce the strain on your intestines.
- Reduce dairy intake: Those with Crohn’s disease will often benefit from cutting out dairy altogether. Try substitutes made of ingredients like rice, almonds, soy and coconut instead.
- Up the liquids: During a Crohn’s symptom flare up you might benefit from temporarily switching from traditional foods to a liquid diet. This will reduce the strain on your intestines while giving your body the nutrients you need to stay healthy. Smoothies can prove difficult due to their high fiber content, but soups and protein drinks are often helpful.
The above dietary tips may prove useful to you while struggling with Crohn’s disease. What bothers one person with Crohn’s could potentially be fine for another, so the only way you will know what is best for your needs is to pay close attention to your dietary habits and write down what you eat every day.
