# Need Easy Recipes for a Special Diet



## Andy M. (Mar 30, 2017)

You don't often see me in this category.

My younger daughter asked for my help in coming up with some ideas for a friend of hers who has Chron's Disease and needs to lose some weight to prepare for a surgery.  She doesn't like to cook.

I checked out the FODMAP lists of acceptable foods.  

*What I'm asking for is easy to prepare recipes* that satisfy Chron's Disease requirements and are super easy to prepare.

I thought salads supplemented with some meats would be fairly easy and also suggested visiting supermarket salad bars.  

I'd appreciate any help.


----------



## GotGarlic (Mar 30, 2017)

I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 1989. There is no specific diet for Crohn's disease; different people have problems with different foods. In general, high fiber foods - especially cruciferous vegetables, dried fruits, salad greens and any vegetable skins, seeds and nuts - are more likely to cause pain and possibly an intestinal obstruction - when a patient is having a flare-up, especially when they're facing surgery. 

A low-residue diet minimizes pain. Easy to digest foods include fresh meats, poultry and fish, cantaloupe, bananas, applesauce without seeds, potatoes, white rice, bread, and pasta, and well-cooked green beans and asparagus. 

My doctor has never mentioned the FODMAP diet to me. I would have her check with her doctor before restricting foods unnecessarily. Getting enough nutrition with foods the patient can tolerate usually takes precedence.


----------



## CakePoet (Mar 30, 2017)

You also have the ask the person with Crohn's Disease what  the person can eat.  My neighbor has Crohn and so does a friend and I have to do two meals because  they react to different things.

Because if the person has  the runs, well then small portions 8 times a day and I mean small , lost of water in small portions , not to fatty, extra salt, low fiber ( not so much veggies).

And if the person has constriction in the intestine, then no long fibrous veggies, nuts, grain or citrus. And when it comes to meat minced or puréed meat  . Veggies should be cooked and if worse comes to worse, liquid or puree diet only.

But is the person healthy right now, most things goes that doesnt trigger it.


----------



## GotGarlic (Mar 30, 2017)

CakePoet said:


> And if the person has constriction in the intestine, then no long fibrous veggies, nuts, grain or citrus. And when it comes to meat minced or puréed meat. Veggies should be cooked and if worse comes to worse, liquid or puree diet only.



You mean no whole grains, right? Rice and foods made from refined white flour are fine. 

Not sure what you mean by "long fibrous foods." Cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage are not long but they can cause a blockage if a stricture is present. High fiber foods kind of stick together as they move through the intestines. 



CakePoet said:


> But is the person healthy right now, most things goes that doesnt trigger it.



This person is preparing for surgery right now, so I don't think she's healthy.


----------



## CakePoet (Mar 30, 2017)

Gotgarlic: sometimes it hard to translate  from  Swedish to English. It more about the length of the fibers,  for example, rhubarb have long fibers while banana has short.

My neighbor have had surgery while well, maybe because he was  way too skinny and losing muscles so they had to wait, until his body was bit better and he had a second one  not long ago just to correct something.


----------



## Andy M. (Mar 30, 2017)

GG, one site recommended a low gluten diet as part of treatment to minimize flare ups.  Specifically wheat products.


----------



## GotGarlic (Mar 30, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> GG, one site recommended a low gluten diet as part of treatment to minimize flare ups.  Specifically wheat products.


Which site? I would restrict a search to only university sites, or the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. 

Gluten has nothing to do with Crohn's disease. Celiac disease is a separate illness with similar symptoms where the patients have an autoimmune inflammatory response to gluten, but Crohn's is different. 

Here's some good information: https://www.ibdrelief.com/diet/role...y-bowel-disease/diets/low-fodmap-diet-and-ibd

"Low FODMAP diet and IBD

Evidence has been found to show that a low FODMAP diet helps to relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but there is currently no evidence to suggest that it works for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), although some people with IBD do find it helpful in controlling some of their symptoms."

So, it depends [emoji2] My aunt has Crohn's and onions cause a flare-up for her. Onions, garlic, etc., have never been a problem for me.


----------



## CakePoet (Mar 30, 2017)

My  friend can eat as many wheat bread as he can stuff his face with but give him rye and he  gets a  flare up.  My neighbor cant eat bell pepper and whole barely.


----------



## CharlieD (Mar 30, 2017)

I have mild cron and I cannot eat veggies. It's all I can say.


----------



## GotGarlic (Mar 30, 2017)

CharlieD said:


> I have mild cron and I cannot eat veggies. It's all I can say.



That's another good point: Crohn's can affect people in a mild, medium or severe way. Some people go into remission for long periods of time, then have a flare-up. Others have flare-ups for a longer time that are more difficult to control. My doctor says I have a particularly aggressive form, where I have had inflammation in my joints and other soft tissues like my eyes and skin. It's pretty rare and what I ate had no effect on it. So it's a very variable disease.

Andy, your daughter's friend may want to ask her doctor for a referral to a registered dietician who can tailor a diet to her specific needs.


----------



## GotGarlic (Mar 30, 2017)

CakePoet said:


> Gotgarlic: sometimes it hard to translate  from  Swedish to English. It more about the length of the fibers,  for example, rhubarb have long fibers while banana has short.



It doesn't quite work that way. You can cut rhubarb into small pieces, but it's still a high fiber food - insoluble fiber - that can cause a blockage, because as the food travels through the intestine, it can become a mass that can't get through the narrowed area of the intestine. Bananas contain a lot of sugar but not a lot of soluble fiber, so more of it is broken down and absorbed in the small intestine and doesn't make it to the large intestine, which is typically where the strictures occur. It's pretty liquid when it gets to the large intestine.


----------



## caseydog (Mar 30, 2017)

GotGarlic said:


> Andy, your daughter's friend may want to ask her doctor for a referral to a registered dietician who can tailor a diet to her specific needs.



^^^^^^^ This! 

This seems like one of those times that an internet forum isn't the best place to get answers. It sounds like there are a whole lot of variables. 

CD


----------



## Addie (Mar 30, 2017)

caseydog said:


> ^^^^^^^ This!
> 
> This seems like one of those times that an internet forum isn't the best place to get answers. It sounds like there are a whole lot of variables.
> 
> CD



My sentiments exactly. I am very hesitant to offer any medical advice to anyone. Specially on the internet. And then this is fourth person advice. From Andy's daughter's friend to the daughter to Andy and now members of the forum. I am sure Andy meant well, but Crohn's Disease is a very complicated illness. As we have all seen here. 

Andy's daughters' friend needs to see a registered licensed dietician or a licensed medical practitioner.


----------



## dragnlaw (Mar 30, 2017)

GotGarlic said:


> A**  Which site? I would restrict a search to only *university sites,* or the *Crohn's and Colitis Foundation*.
> 
> B**  _Gluten has nothing to do with Crohn's disease_. Celiac disease is a separate illness with similar symptoms where the patients have an autoimmune inflammatory response to gluten, but Crohn's is different.
> 
> C**  Here's some good information: https://www.ibdrelief.com/diet/role...y-bowel-disease/diets/low-fodmap-diet-and-ibd



A**  I agree 100%.  University sites are good and so are 'registered' sites for specific  diseases.  (eg. Duke/John Hopkins)

B**  Although I agree 'in principle' (per se) I personally know several people who have Crohn's and all of them are sensitive to Gluten. So although it may be considered a 'popular misconception' that there is an automatic link between the two, the frequency with which it happens cannot be ruled out. AND I also know several people who have IBS - and with all of them gluten is also on their list.

C**   And is this a registered site? or a University associated site?


----------



## dragnlaw (Mar 30, 2017)

GotGarlic said:


> Andy, your daughter's friend may want to ask her doctor for a referral to a registered dietician who can tailor a diet to her specific needs.



Spot on GG!  Andy that is your best response to your daughter. 

I understand that her friend is suffering and just reaching out to whatever she can grab but 

your best advice to both your daughter and to her 

is for her to talk some more with her doctor and give her a hug and encouragement.


----------



## CakePoet (Mar 31, 2017)

GotGarlic; as I said  it hard to translate between Swedish and english and you got what I meant.


----------



## GotGarlic (Mar 31, 2017)

dragnlaw said:


> A**  I agree 100%.  University sites are good and so are 'registered' sites for specific  diseases.  (eg. Duke/John Hopkins)



Duke and Johns Hopkins are both universities. I don't know what you mean by "registered." 



dragnlaw said:


> B**  Although I agree 'in principle' (per se) I personally know several people who have Crohn's and all of them are sensitive to Gluten. So although it may be considered a 'popular misconception' that there is an automatic link between the two, the frequency with which it happens cannot be ruled out. AND I also know several people who have IBS - and with all of them gluten is also on their list.



It most certainly can be ruled out that there is an automatic link. Your personal experience is just that. My personal experience contradicts it. And gastroenterologists who see many patients every day and perform research involving many more surely know more than you do about how often these issues occur together.



dragnlaw said:


> C**   And is this a registered site? or a University associated site?



No, although it comports with what my doctors have taught me over the years. I actually can't find any studies on FODMAPs and Crohn's disease. I think it's probably because, as I said earlier, people with more severe cases of Crohn's are generally not encouraged to restrict food unnecessarily because it's difficult enough to get sufficient nutrition. 

Andy, is it possible you confused IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's and colitis)? A low FODMAP diet has been shown to help IBS but not IBD.


----------



## Andy M. (Mar 31, 2017)

Thank you all for your contributions.  I'll pass your suggestions and references along to my daughter.


----------

