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Hello,

Reply posted for erinleigh.

Hello, I am new here, I have alot of questions. I got dignosed in december and i have been struggling to find out what to eat and to relize that their are alot of people who have crohns. I have been very sad and have had negitive thoughts that i am not the same as others and that what i eat is dumb i would like some help to and i think that keeping a journal is an great idea

Reply posted for ieatmnms.

This is my first time on this forum.

 I’m 58 years old and was diagnosed at age 15 with Crohns -  going from 158 pounds to 117 pounds in a matter of six weeks at the ripe age of 15,  have had multiple open gut surgeries ( bowel resection at age 25 after an abscess burst and losing all but 2’ of my small bowel), stricturoplasties in 2001, 2007, and 2009).   I’ve been on a number of medications including a six-month stint in 2007 with Remicade that was not very successful.  Currently maintaining my Crohns with 6MP  and some vitamins.

Your post was the first one that I read and it struck me because I recently had high liver enzymes and was septic this past summer, but after extensive testing the source could not be identified.   Honestly, I think I had food poisoning but they had to run all the medical tests to make sure that the septic wasn’t coming from within.

One of the readers that followed up with you noted that your husband might add a prebiotic dietary supplement.   This also hit home with me. 

 Several months after having the medical episode mentioned above at the end of June I started noticing that my Crohns symptoms were almost nonexistent.   My thoughts were, “what I’ve been eating lately that has made this change” particularly in my frequency of bowel movements and consistency - I.e.  my gut was not as irritated and I put on a little bit of weight.   I am feeling much much better.  The answer to my own questions was green bananas.   If you do a search on this you’ll find that green bananas high in “resistant starch” and also a good source of pectin.   How green you want a banana to be when you eat it really depends on your taste buds and if your gut will tolerate it.    I usually end up eating bananas that are half green and half yellow, but the greener the banana the better the results - at least for me. But I am not going to eat a banana that’s crunchy pure green and doesn’t taste good.    I believe the pectin feeds the good bacteria in your gut  providing a prebiotic affect.

 I also in the past I’ve had some type of skin rash on my abdomen and I don’t recall what it’s called, but I was treated with triamcinolone lotion which seemed to put the itching to rest.

 Another really important item is that with my Crohns and potential for intestinal constrictions I’m on a low residue diet which is probably also good for anyone with diverticulitis. I just have to focus when I’m eating and chewing everything almost to pulverize the food in my mouth before swallowing.   Anything leafy or raw vegetables or crunchy fruit is a “no-no“ for me.    I was also told to stay away from vegetables and fruits that have skins like potato skins, grape skins, etc. as these are not part of Iow residue diet.   I do you eat potatoes and grapes but I don’t eat the skins. I also stay away from any sort beef as  it just seems to destroy my digestive track.

What I do eat is a very good variety of foods but stay away from milk, ice cream, beef, lettuce and raw vegetables, wheat bread, very spicy foods like pepperoni, fatty foods in general,  deep fried foods whenever you can avoid them ( including those bakery donuts),  commercially process food with bread coating.

What I can eat is chicken without the skin,  Fish, seafood, pork, well cooked soft vegetables but staying away from those that might cause gas.   Ironically I can eat cheese and foods that may have some milk in them but are baked.   But the key to my success, at least for me, has been eating these green bananas as a snack and more importantly during and af

Reply posted for ieatmnms.

I love the book Breaking Vicious cycle. You can find it on amazon. I recommend keeping a food journal to see if there are different foods that trigger certain symptoms. Look into finding a quality probiotic. I've had UC since 2009, so it's been a good 10 years of trial and error to keep my UC in remission. Best of luck to you and if you have any quetions, please let me know :-)