Crohn's Disease Dietary Therapy

Introduction

Please refer to my essay on Crohn’s Disease for more detailed information on this disorder.  Dietary treatment for Crohn’s Disease must start with a solid partnership with your physician or dietitian.  This information will supplement your knowledge of dietary factors that may beneficially influence your disease.  It is for the Crohn’s patient who is reasonably stable.  For those with very active disease with severe symptoms or if there is fixed narrowing in the bowel, this information may not be appropriate.  Consultation with the physician is advised.

It would seem reasonable to assume that the foods and liquids we eat or drink would be important.  Yet, it has been difficult to uncover whether certain foods are beneficial or that some are downright harmful for Crohn’s patients.  So what do we now know and what can we say about the specific foods which a CD person should eat or should avoid?  A large medical study has been published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in 2011 which analyzed what people ate before they developed CD (1).  They reviewed over 1,000 medical articles and found 19 that addressed this problem in a satisfactory manner.  Their findings were simply stunning.

There was an increased risk of getting Crohn’s if a person ate:

• a high protein and/or meat diet
• a high fat diet, meaning saturated fats but also polyunsaturated vegetable and omega-6 fats
• a low fiber diet

Some of the reports studied looked at all animal protein that was consumed – meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products.  Others looked just at meat.  The consensus seemed to be that Crohn’s patients should not go overboard on animal protein, especially meat.  In the past, it was felt that there was no limit to the amount of animal protein eaten.  The data now seems to show that a high protein diet, meaning 75-100 grams or more of protein a day may not be helpful and may actually be harmful.  Fifty grams of animal protein a day might be enough, about the size of a deck of cards.

Saturated fats are those found in well-marbled meat, bacon, all processed meat, whole milk, chicken skin, butter and lard.  But it is the information on the unsaturated fats that was important.  These are the fats found in fatty fish, nuts and vegetable oils.  We know that these fats and oils offer protection against coronary heart disease but to find that they may actually increase the risk of CD is disturbing.  Nevertheless, this is what this careful study showed.  So, high fat foods, including even vegetable oils need to be used in lower amounts.  

Finally, the study indicated that people who were destined to get CD had a low intake of plant fiber, meaning vegetables and fruit.  People who ate over 22 grams of fiber a day and especially those who had a high fruit intake had a significantly lower risk of getting CD.

It needs to be stressed that this careful review study looked at what people ate before they developed CD.  We just do not have good data on what is best after CD is diagnosed.  However, it does make sense to give this type of diet a trial as there is nothing in it that is detrimental and it just might be very beneficial.