This article is from the Inflammatory Bowel Disease FAQ, by Susan Blank smb@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
"Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis", Dr. Fred Saibil, M.D,
(Firefly Books,1997). ISBN 1-55209-114-7 (paperback).
"Eating Right for a Bad Gut- The Complete Nutritional Guide to
Ileitis, Colitis, Crohn's Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease",
Dr. James Scala (Plume, 1992). ISBN 0-452267668 (paperback).
This is the most useful and informative book on how to eat when you
have IBD. As well as complete, up to date information on all aspects
of nutrition, he also presents the findings of surveys from at least
100 people with IBD as to what they can and can't eat. as well as how
to prepare foods so that they won't upset you. He makes the point that
fibre will help with diarrhea, but it must be soluble fibre (such as
that found in bananas and metamucil) and not insoluble fibre, such as
that found in bran and raw vegetables. He suggests peeling all fruits
and vegetables and cooking them to the mushy stage before eating them.
You can retain your nutrition by using the cooking water in soups,
etc. and he also suggests a good level of supplementation for all
nutrients-at least 50% of RDAs. Included in the book are some useful
lists on what foods are well tolerate (Do's), what ones are tolerated
by some people if cooked well (Caution foods) and foods that seem to
bother the majority of people with IBD (Don'ts). Included in the don't
were: chocolate of any type, beets, beet juice, cabbage, fresh or
cooked corn, blackberries, raspberries, nuts, unless ground into nut
butters, all deep fried or very fatty foods.
As well as being generally bothered by foods high in fat or insoluble
fibres, each person also can have food sensitivities to foods that are
generally well tolerated. Dr. Scala recommends keeping a food diary of
food eaten and symptoms and looking for patterns. Try removing
different foods or food groups one at a time to see if symptoms
lessen. He cautions not to accept you can't eat a food because of one
bad reaction, always test at least three times to be sure. Dr. Scala
is to be commended for attempting this type of study, as it is so
difficult to establish scientifically with studies one diet that will
work for everyone when each person's reactions are so varied, and also
people's own tolerances very over time depending how active their
disease is. I think all of us with IBD tend to get paranoid about
food and tend to blame what ever we ate just before a bad attack, and
we need to bear in mind other factors such as stress, fatigue and
changes in medication before blaming the food.
 
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