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What Are the Diet Concerns for Crohn's Disease?

Crohn's disease is a digestive disorder characterized by symptoms such as localized pain in the abdomen, cramps, diarrhea, ulcers, and bloody stool, according to information from the Mayo Clinic. Although Crohn's disease cannot be cured through dietary means, an effective Crohn's diet will enable the individual to manage symptoms, avoiding outbreaks and bringing the disease under some level of control.

  1. Crohn's Diet Basics

    • Understand that the primary concern for dieting with Crohn's disease is providing your body with the foods it needs to remain healthy. This means consumption of a basic diet that can meet your body's daily needs without triggering an undue flare-up in the symptoms. To accomplish this, follow some simple guidelines to effectively manage Crohn's disease through dietary means. According to information from the medical site EMedTV.com, base your diet around a "heart-healthy" approach, aiming to consume liberal quantities of fruits, vegetables, and grains, a moderate amount of lean (low-fat) protein, and restrict consumption of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, alcohol, sugar, and salt. Overall, aim for no more than 30 percent of your total daily calories from fat.

    Advanced Crohn's Concerns

    • Understand that the second major concern for dieting with Crohn's disease is avoidance of trigger foods that cause an onset of symptoms. According to information from EMedTV, common trigger foods include the following: spicy foods, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, raw fruits and vegetables, and chocolate. Eliminate consumption of these items from your diet.

      The final concern in dieting for Crohn's disease is remaining constantly vigilant, attempting to ferret out any other foods that might trigger symptoms. Although eliminating the foods listed above will get rid of the majority of the triggers, you may very well have individual triggers caused by certain other foods and food types. Therefore, always remain cognizant of the foods you are eating, striving to draw a cause-and-effect correlation between the intake of certain foods and an outbreak of Crohn's symptoms. Constantly managing and modifying your diet in this way will keep your Crohn's under control.

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