Lower-fiber fruits and vegetables like white or sweet potato, zucchini, and melon are permitted in moderate amounts. A low-residue diet takes the low-fiber diet and adds more restrictions. Milk and milk products should be limited to no more than two cups per day.
Foods typically avoided on a Crohn diet include foods high in insoluble fiber and foods high in FODMAPS, which include broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, candy, ice cream, and fruit juices with high sugar content.
Squash is a healthy choice that is usually well-tolerated during an ulcerative colitis flare. It's full of fiber, vitamin C, and beta carotene. Any variety of squash (butternut, zucchini, spaghetti, acorn, winter, and summer) is best tolerated cooked.
Although there's no firm evidence that any particular foods cause Crohn's disease, certain things seem to aggravate flare-ups. So a food diary can help you identify personal triggers. Beyond that, limit dairy products, eating smaller meals, stay hydrated, and try to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and carbonation.
Potatoes. These starchy veggies can be a lifesaver during a Crohn's flare-up. Just be sure you avoid potato skins, as they are high in fiber and may cause digestive distress. Bake or roast white or sweet potatoes and scoop out the middle for a simple, delicious meal that won't leave you feeling under the weather.
Lisa Simon, RD, a registered dietitian in London, says there's a wide variety of healthy fats and we should encourage more people with Crohn's disease to eat foods such as avocados, nuts and seeds (unless your doctor says to be careful with these because of strictures), tahini, and extra-virgin olive oil.
Eating certain foods can sometimes help relieve the symptoms of a Crohn's flare-up. Refined grains, low fiber fruits, lean proteins, and yogurt are some options.
Rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutriens, zucchini helps get rid of the body of free radicals and excess inflammation. The lutein in zucchini encourages skin health by reducing inflammation responses.
Of the vegetables, patients with UC should mainly choose those that are not rich in water-insoluble dietary fiber, including beets, potatoes, carrots, and zucchini, which can be eaten cooked and, if well tolerated, raw.
Also, zucchini contains soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber help keep the gut healthy and promote good digestion. It does this by adding bulk to the stool to help it move more easily through the gut, reducing the risk for constipation.
While people should avoid raw fruits when they have a flare-up, they can eat ripe bananas, melons, and apples with the skin removed.
The skins of certain raw fruits have been known to cause major digestive distress for people with Crohn's. This same notion applies to vegetables with edible peels like cucumbers. If you have Crohn's disease, minimize discomfort from eating raw fruits and vegetables by peeling off the skin before taking a bite.
Carrots are nutrient-rich and contain Crohn's-fighting antioxidants.
Certain foods like whole grain breads, cabbage, onions, and dairy may worsen or trigger Crohn's flares.
4. Probiotic foods like yogurt, kefir, aged cheeses, miso and real sourdough bread can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome, something that is altered in Crohn's disease.
Foods such as milk, cheese, and butter can exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms because they contain lactose, the naturally occurring sugar in dairy foods. You're more likely to have difficulty with dairy when you have Crohn's disease that involves the small intestine.
A study published in June 2020 in the Journal of Coloproctology found sweet potatoes to be one of the top three anti-inflammatory foods eaten by people with Crohn's disease. Valued for their anti-inflammatory health benefits, sweet potatoes are delicious when roasted, boiled, and mashed, or even cooked on the grill.
Researchers from the Department of Food Science at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, report that daily consumption of about ¾ of a cup of strawberries may promote better gut health and forestall the onset of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and other forms of IBD.
Do: White Bread. Toasted bread or a bagel made with refined white flour are good for breakfast or as a sandwich base. Look for brands with 2 grams of fiber or less per serving. Low-fiber grains are easier to digest when you have Crohn's.
So much so, that a study in the February 2021 Inflammatory Bowel Diseases found that coffee had little to no association with Crohn's disease, though even those results were inconsistent. In either case, the high amount of caffeine in coffee can aggravate certain unpleasant Crohn's symptoms.