Note: this is purely anecdotal and not meant to constitute medical advice. Please work with your doctor to find the best treatment for your Crohn’s disease. It is a serious disease that can be life threatening.
Most people with Crohn’s react differently to different foods. During my round of steroids, when my disease was still active, I had a very difficult relationship to food. I was frequently painfully bloated, nauseated, and vomited more times than I care to remember. When you have developed the most efficient way of containing and disposing of your own vomit, that is a sign you are vomiting too frequently.
(Pro tip: puke into two plastic grocery bags, tie it off and put it outside in the dumpster.)
It took me a lot of trial and error and months of detailed food and symptom tracking to figure out what to eat. My go-to active disease diet is homemade applesauce with cinnamon, plain broth, and chicken soup with carrots and onions (I wasn’t vegan at the time).
For the applesauce, I would roughly core and chop about 6 apples and put them in a crock pot on low for 12-16 hours. I would add a generous amount of cinnamon, and sometimes honey or maple syrup. For people who cannot digest fruit and vegetable peels, I suggest peeling the apples before hand. Crumble raw pecans into the applesauce for better texture if you can tolerate them.
You could buy applesauce without additives, however hot fresh homemade applesauce comes with the added benefit of feeling like you’re doing quality self-care.
For a hearty healing stew, throw a frozen chicken breast in a pot with onions, carrots, garlic, celery, and some herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Top off with water or broth and simmer for 2 hours.
Now that I am avoiding animal products, my healing stew consists of: potatoes of various colors, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, fennel root, herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cover the vegetables with vegetable broth and simmer for 1-2 hours. Peel the vegetables if you have difficulty digesting the skins. You can also puree this in a blender to make it even easier to digest.
And… that’s all I was able to tolerate when I was sick! It sure made shopping easy, except for the crippling fatigue.
As my health and appetite improved, I was able to add in other foods, such as: nuts, bananas, whole wheat toast, oatmeal, rice, fruit juice. Eventually I was able to eat a wider variety of raw fruits, such as strawberries and blueberries, pineapple, apples, mango, etc. I had some trouble with cherries, but I think I may have eaten way too many. Jury’s still out on that one.
Cooked vegetables and greens with whole grains (quinoa or rice) has become the backbone of my remission diet. Basic recipe looks like this: onion cut into moons, bell pepper thinly sliced, finely chopped celery and maybe carrots, salt, add 2-3 servings of quinoa or rice, top off with vegetable broth, cook for the amount of time indicated for the grain.
Feeling wild? Throw in some coarsely chopped kale, spinach, collard greens, or chard. Red split lentils are a savory addition to this one pot meal, and this can become many different meals by switching up the spices.
Roasted potatoes are another staple that pairs well with the above meal. Roll taters in olive oil, sprinkle with salt, roast at 375 for 35 mins. I like new potatoes of all colors because they cook fast and have a high ratio of crispy skin to insides.
For me, the key to success on a whole foods diet is to focus on the wide variety of things I can have, and try to add in new and different fruits and vegetables depending on what is in season. Eating mostly produce has me at the grocery store about 2 times a week. I cook a pot of food every couple days, which provides dinner and 2 lunches, and sometimes left overs for the next night. This cuts down on the amount of time I spend cooking.
Check out cookbooks from the library for inspiration! Many global cuisines are whole foods and plant based, as processed food is a luxury of the “developed” world. Some of my favorites: Indian, Persian, middle eastern, Mexican, Columbian, Thai, Italian, Peruvian, and vegetable based/not fried Chinese foods.
Lastly, I want to stress the importance that cooking for myself at home has had. Restaurants are notorious for giving us gigantic portions. I do better eating 5-6 small meals a day. Restaurants also often put more oil or butter in their dishes than one would when cooking at home. Finally, for people who are lactose or gluten intolerant, it is nearly impossible to know what will be in your food at restaurants. Beware that saag paneer on the Indian buffet: it tastes so dank because of the heavy cream! Bring lactase enzymes or pay the price at 3am: you have been warned!
Eating Vegan with Crohn's Disease 