The Crohn's Friendly Diet You Can Start Today

You watch as your friends dig into a special meal with gusto, raving about how good it is. Instead, you’re left pushing food around your plate because you know this is one meal you’ll regret later thanks to Crohn’s disease.

It’s estimated that at least a half a million people in the United States have Crohn’s disease, which means you’re in good company. While there may be some comfort in knowing you’re not alone, you want answers for better managing your Crohn’s, and those answers are often found in your diet.

To help you put Crohn’s disease where it belongs — in the background — Dr. Sam Weissman and our team gathered a few dietary guidelines that you can start today.

Go-to foods for people with Crohn’s

To start on a positive note, let’s first go over some foods that people with Crohn’s disease should be adding to their diets, which include:

Fruits and vegetables with soluble fiber

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, we definitely want these to be a part of your diet due to their health benefits, but we want you to focus on foods with more soluble fiber than insoluble fiber. What we mean by “soluble” is that these fibers dissolve in water, making them easier to digest. Insoluble fiber is the type of fiber you may think of as “roughage” that is less digestible.

For example, a banana is preferable to a raw apple with skin — the banana breaks down far more easily. That said, you can still eat apples in the form of applesauce, so there’s no skin.

Blended, peeled fruits are great (think smoothies) as are more delicate fruits, such as raspberries and blackberries. We recommend taking the skin off of fruits and vegetables to achieve a low-residue diet for easier digestion.

The same concept holds true for vegetables — focusing on softer squashes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes is a great way to go. As well, cooking your carrots, beans, and leafy greens is better than eating them whole or raw.

Omega-3 fats are healthy

Instead of digging into a steak, we recommend enjoying fatty fishes that contain omega-3 fats. These fishes include mackerel, tuna, and salmon.
Sources of protein

Good sources of protein that many people with Crohn’s tolerate well are chicken, turkey, and lean pork, as well as eggs and tofu.

Grains are good

Outside of the above, we also recommend grains such as rice and polenta, as well as soothing oats — try some oatmeal for breakfast.

For a more in-depth look at dietary suggestions for people with Crohn’s, click here.

Dietary don’ts when you have Crohn’s

We wanted to focus on what most people with Crohn’s can eat, but, this condition often comes down to what you should avoid.

When you have Crohn’s, it’s important to figure out what your trigger foods are and then avoid them. For many people, those foods include:

Dairy, if lactose bothers you
Raw, whole nuts
Sweetened and fizzy beverages
Caffeine
Alcohol
Whole-wheat foods
Sweets and sugar
Artificial sweeteners
High-fat foods like butter, processed meats, and fried foods

Remember that these recommendations are just a starting place, and people react differently to foods. To help you figure out which foods trigger your Crohn’s disease, we can place you on an elimination diet during which we limit your diet and then slowly add foods back, noting when something bothers your digestive tract.

To figure out the best diet for your Crohn’s disease, please call our Brighton Beach area office in Brooklyn, New York, at 609-793-9375 or request an appointment through this website.