Crohn’s Diet

How food choices can help manage symptoms of Crohn’s disease

Like colitis, Crohn’s disease  is an inflammatory disease of the digestive tract. But where colitis causes inflammation of the colon (the word colitis means “inflammation of the colon”), Crohn’s can affect any area of the gastrointestinal  (GI) tract (though it most often affects the colon and/or small intestine).

Diet does not play any role in causing Crohn’s disease, but it is probably not surprising that diet is one factor that can be extremely significant in the daily management of symptoms, especially during times of the painful flare-ups that those with Crohn’s continually suffer from.

Customizing a Crohn’s-Friendly Diet

One of the reasons that there is no such thing as the diet that is best for managing Crohn’s disease is that every person with the condition has a unique set of food triggers—foods that consistently aggravate their symptoms. That said, there are some foods that seem to be common triggers for many Crohn’s sufferers, and so while any diet for managing Crohn’s must be tweaked to suit the individual, using the dietary guidelines that have helped many others successfully manage their symptoms makes an excellent start.

Some dietary recommendations for people with Crohn’s disease don’t really differ from the recommendations for a healthy diet in general: to maintain a diet that is high in protein, to try and eat regular meals with snacks in between, and to avoid alcohol, saturated fats and fried foods.

However, some suggested food restrictions for Crohn’s may seem counterintuitive because they contradict the basic nutritional guidelines we have become so accustomed to. For example, most people with Crohn’s are encouraged to avoid whole grains and other high-fiber foods because they can cause irritation and discomfort.