Recipes For Crohn's Patient Please
 

My DIL has just been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. :( She needs to radically change her eating to a very bland, non-inflammatory diet. No more butter or high fat foods, not too much meat, not many fresh veggies or fruits, no whole grains, no spicy food, no alcohol, no caffeine, must quit smoking...the list goes on and on. I really want to support her efforts to live with this disease. She'll be visiting us soon for a long weekend and I want to serve her foods that work for her and are also delicious and appropriate for the rest of the family. I would love some ideas and recipes from anyone out there that is dealing with this health issue. Thanks!

~ C

I was taught in nursing school that people with Chron's and Ulcerative Colitis are encouraged to eat a bland diet so as to not irritate their GI tract.

Here's a good article:

https://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/creating-a-crohns-disease-diet-plan#1

Hope it helps - - -

Bland, no or very low residue. Which cuts out most vegies, most fruit, (bananas can help with binding), ok for mashed white potatoes, white rice. Very dull diet. From a Crohn's patient.

My youngest son was diagnosed with Crohn's when he was 17. He had some majorly difficult times for a couple years and was hospitalized four times. He has been receiving Remicade infusions for most of his life. He is now 37. He has learned by trial and error the things that bother his stomach - no eggs and other items. He and his family live four hours away from us, so I don't recall everything. However, I know he eats fresh fruits & veggies, spicy food (Mexican), drinks tons of coffee (but no soft drinks), etc. He and his wife are health nuts and only take into the house nutritious foods. Their two children didn't know what candy, cake, etc. were until they were probably four years old! So from my perspective, all foods are not negatives. Just try and learn.

Hello, my first time responding on the Board, been lurking for years, but as my husband has been living with Crohn's for over 35 years, I can appreciate your looking for recipes. I have found that simple is best, a dinner with roasted chicken, baked potatoes(sweet or russet) and broccoli, green beans, or peas (zucchini was a trigger for him) worked well. For breakfast he usually has oatmeal made with water (dairy is a trigger) and a little honey; eggs used to be a problem, but it may have been the toast, so now he does gluten free bread. He is okay with gluten free pasta and I make my own tomato sauce with ground turkey, peppers and some seasonings and no onions (a trigger for a lot of people). Fish would be okay, but he is not a fan. Beef is once a week as it is harder to digest, ham once a month. For dessert I make rice pudding with coconut cream, coconut milk, cinnamon and honey (sugar is definitely out as inflammation feeds on the sugar), there are a few recipes on the internet. We eat a lot of turkey burgers, too. For a snack he likes the Costco rice rollers made with rice and rice syrup. Hopefully there is enough here to help you with your visit. Good luck.

Thanks BonnieSueJ and M. Elizabeth. That gives me some sort of idea on how to shop before they come.

~ C

I am so sorry for her. I am a Crohn's patient. I know that every patient is different regarding the foods that don't cause issues. I would suggest cooked vegetables. I like mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. I like more, but those are all good cooked. They likely will need to cooked until somewhat soft, not crunchy. White rice is good and some kind of gravy over it might be nice. Fruits are better canned than fresh for me. I can eat fresh fruits at times, but usually peel them. The skins can be problematic for Crohn's. I also buy French bread from a local bakery without preservatives. I personally am fine with dairy, but others aren't. Some have a gluten or wheat issue. Think low-residue diet. There are lots of online sites with low-residue foods to choose from.
She will learn what works for her and if you have a good relationship, she will share this with you. I hesitate to tell people what I can and can't tolerate because I don't want to make everyone have to eat what I eat. I can usually find something to eat.

Snacks: I found that Luna bars have the protein I need and taste good. Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Cheerios are all good snacks, too. String cheese (if she can have dairy), boiled eggs, crackers. There are really quite a few choices and unless she is a very picky eater, she can find quite a bit to eat without feeling too deprived.

One really important thing is making sure she does not overdo. Resting might be very good for her. I hope you have a great weekend and she feels loved and supported.
Audrey

Thanks so much for your comments. These are some really, good guidelines. I certainly don't what to dictate what she eats at my house. It's just that I live an hour and ten minutes drive from the closest, major, grocery store and so I don't get there more than once a week. I want to be sure to have some of the foods that she needs on hand, so that she can made good decisions and not get sick. The typical Crohn's diet is pretty much the exact opposite of what my DH and I eat, so I don't have a lot of those foods in stock.

~ C

Maybe you could also ask her. She may not like or tolerate the same things as anyone else.

Big trigger for Crohn's or basically any illness is stress. A calm atmosphere is my suggestion. As you, don't want to be traveling to the supermarket during the visit, try and get input from her or your son.