What Can You Eat With Crohn's Disease?

For those of you out there just finding out that you have crohn's disease, this is the one question that you do not want to get wrong. So you search and you search, and you find some great information on the Internet. But the information that you find is so vague, and in some cases, so spread out, that you get frustrated and give up! Well my friend, you have come to the right place! I will give you all of the information that you need on crohn's disease, right here on this hub!

I will tell you all about its history, its causes and it's possible symptoms. Oh yeah, we'll also try to answer the question that bought you here in the first place: What can you eat with crohn's disease? So buckle up and enjoy the ride, okay?!

Crohn's disease is named for after an American gastroenterologist Dr. Burrill Bernard Crohn. Back in 1932, Dr. Crohn published a paper about the then unknown condition. At the time he had 14 cases that he was treating. Since then, crohn's disease has exploded to over a million in the U.S.A. alone!

Dr. Crohn dedicated his life to trying to find a cure for the disease. Along with his two colleagues, Dr. Leon Ginzburg and Dr. Gordon Oppenheimer, Dr. Crohn worked tirelessly to find a cure. Dr. Crohn believed strongly that the disease was caused by the same bacterium that caused a similar disease in cattle called Johnes disease.

He was unable to prove his theory because the bacterium called Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (or MAP for short), basically becomes virtually undetectable under an optical microscope. The technology for identifying these pathogens was non-existent back then. But with the advances in modern medicine, maybe we will see a cure to Crohn's disease, and finally finish Dr. Crohn's work.

What exactly causes Crohn's disease? No one really knows. As I said earlier, Dr. Burrill Bernard Crohn's, who the disease was named for, believed it is caused by the same bacterium that causes Johnes disease in cattle. But he was unable to prove his theory before he died.

There may not be a singular cause for crohn's disease, but there are several risk factors that can contribute toward you developing the disease. They include genetic, environmental factors and the immune system.

Genetic Factors - If you have a sibling that has crohn's disease then you are 30 times more likely to develop the disease! 30 times!

Environmental - Crohn's disease seems to be more prevalent in more industrialized countries. This environmental factor is also a dietary factor because the more industrialized countries eat more animal protein as opposed to plant protein.

It has also been noted that there has been a connection between hormonal contraception and the rise of crohn's disease in the U.S.

Immune System - Crohn's disease might be classified as an inflammatory bowel disease or IBD. But it has also been seen as a auto-immune disease. This is a disease where the body is unable to fight off infection.(Think HIV.)

There are numerous symptoms involved with crohn's disease. Too many to name here. So to avoid you from getting bored with reading this, I will just touch on some of the symptoms that show themselves to let you know that you might have the disease.

Ironically enough, most people who have crohn's disease have had it for some time before they were actually diagnosed. With that being said, here is a list of some of the symptoms of crohn's disease. They are:

Abdominal Pain - We have all had this in one way or another. So it's only natural to brush it off as something that you ate that didn't agree with you. But if you are continually having abdominal pain, maybe you should get it checked out by your family doctor.

Diarrhea - We have all had this also but if the diarrhea has blood in it then that might just be cause for alarm!

Severe Bowel Movements - I'm talking about going to the bathroom about 20 yimes a day! And you might have to wake up to go on top of that!

Arthritis - Having arthritis or any swelling of the joints should be cause for alarm for anyone!

As you can see, this is just a small list of the symptoms of crohn's disease. If you are experiencing any of them, then I recommend that you get your family doctor to check you out.

So, what can you eat with crohn's disease? Well, first of all you have to realize that you cannot continue to eat the same things as before. So you will have to completely change your diet and develop a new diet. A crohn's disease diet plan is a better word for it!

But most people when they hear the word "diet", they think of salads and water. They think of eating the same foods over and over again! This is not the case with a crohn's disease diet plan. You have to change you're thinking of a diet. You have to think of it as a lifestyle change because that's exactly what you will be doing! You will be making a lifestyle change for the better!

With that being said, let's talk about some of the foods that you CAN eat with crohn's disease. They are:

White Rye Or Light Wheat Breads

Eggs

Bananas, Cherries, Melons

Roast Beef, Veal, Pork

Milk

White And Sweet Potatoes(Without the skin)

Green Beans, Tomatoes, Carrots

The foods listed above are part of what is called a low residue diet. They are called this because they do not leave a lot of residue in your intestines. This dramatically cuts down on the trips to the bathroom and the irritation in the stomach.

Implementing this "lifestyle change " also allows you to take back your life. No longer do you have to worry about going to the bathroom all of the time. You don't have to worry about running to the bathroom when you're out of your home either. When you change your lifestyle, you can change the way that crohn's disease affects you.

There may not be a cure for the disease, but when you eat a different way, you can control the symptoms of the disease. And when you control the symptoms, you control the disease! Thus allowing you to beat crohn's disease!