Foods to avoid in Crohn’s disease diet are nuts, fruit with skin, popcorn, fried food, cured meat, seeds, tomatoes, coffee, alcohol, dairy, chocolates, carbonated beverages, cream sauces, butter, margarine, spicy foods, high fiber foods, beans, sweets and ice cream.

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people. The inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue. Crohn’s disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications. While there’s no known cure for Crohn’s disease, therapies can greatly reduce its signs and symptoms and even bring about long-term remission. With treatment, many people with Crohn’s disease are able to function well.

Following a diet devoid of foods, that trigger this disease, could go a long way in keeping Crohn’s disease under control. In this article, we will discuss 21 foods to avoid, if you are suffering from Crohn’s disease. We will also give a list of foods that you can consume with this condition.

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Crohn’s Disease Diet Plan: Foods to Avoid

Nuts

Nuts are nutritious, but when eaten raw, most people with Crohn’s won’t reap the benefits of their healthy fats and high protein content. You can’t masticate them enough to get them to a consistency that’s really easy for the gut to digest.  Like other rough and hard-to-digest foods, they can further irritate the lining of your gut, worsening your symptoms.

Fruit with skin

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but if it isn’t peeled, it can cause major digestive distress for someone with Crohn’s. The same goes for vegetables with edible peels, like cucumbers. Strip them off before you eat them. In fact, some people with Crohn’s find they can eat raw fruit and even some raw vegetables if they’ve been peeled. In general, cooked or canned fruits and vegetables are often a better choice than raw.

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Popcorn

Whole grains are good for everyone—except a person with Crohn’s disease who’s having a flare-up. Popcorn is technically a whole grain, and it’s probably among the hardest of all those grains to digest. The same goes for corn on the cob.  Anything that’s really tough to digest would possibly be detrimental and cause more symptoms and possibly slow the healing process.

Fried food

Chicken, fish, and other healthy foods became major nutritional no-nos once they hit the deep fat fryer. Fried food isn’t good for anyone, and its greasiness may be especially problematic for people with Crohn’s disease.

Cured meat

It’s extremely important for people with Crohn’s disease to get enough protein; at least 25% of your daily calorie intake should be protein-based. But eating fatty and cured meats, like bacon, is not the best way to add protein to your diet. These foods offer little nutritional benefit, while their high-fat content can aggravate diarrhea in some people. Instead, choose lean high-quality proteins, like fish, soy, and smooth nut butter.

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Seeds

During a flare, people with Crohn’s should avoid foods that contain lots of seeds, such as strawberries, raspberries, and tomatoes. Those things don’t get digested fully and can cause more diarrhea. You want to stay away from things that are rough on the digestive system, it’s kind of like sandpaper on an open wound. Also, skip rye bread and other baked goods that contain seeds.

Tomatoes

Maybe it’s the skin, maybe it’s the seeds, or maybe it’s the acidity, but many people with Crohn’s find that eating tomatoes in any form worsens their symptoms, whether it’s a raw tomato in a salad or spaghetti sauce.

Coffee

Many coffee lovers have to swear off java after getting a diagnosis of Crohn’s. Anything with caffeine is really bad.

Alcohol

Use caution when drinking alcohol, as it can be a problem for some people with inflammatory bowel disease.

Dairy

Because Crohn’s disease can damage the digestive tract, it can also cause lactose intolerance, an inability to digest the sugar found in milk and other dairy products. If dairy causes bloating, gas, or aggravates other symptoms, you may want to try soy or almond milk instead of cow’s milk. Choose harder, aged cheeses like parmesan, romano, or cheddar instead of soft cheeses like mozzarella or ricotta.

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Chocolates

Chocolates contain caffeine and dairy, so it might further aggravate your Crohn’s disease. It is best to avoid them and opt for vegan chocolates instead.

Carbonated beverages

Carbonated beverages contain an insane amount of caffeine and empty calories. Avoid them at all costs.

Cream sauces

Cream sauces contain a lot of cream and milk, which is not good for you in this condition. Opt for vegan sauces instead.

Butter

Butter made from dairy milk is not the right choice in this condition. Opt for almond butter instead.

Margerine

Opt for vegan margarine instead of the usual one.

Spicy foods

Spices have been known to further aggravate this condition. Follow a spice-free diet with fresh herbs instead.

High fiber foods

They are too difficult to digest and therefore not suitable for your stomach in this condition.

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Beans

Beans form a lot of gas in your stomach, therefore it should be avoided.

Sweets

Opt for vegan sweets instead of the usual one.

Ice-cream

Opt for vegan ice-cream instead of the usual one.

Other junk food

Junk food should be avoided at all costs as they are filled with fat, grease and empty calories and more often than not, have little or no nutritional value.

However, there are foods which might relieve you and are actually good for you during this condition. The list of such foods is as follows:

• Yogurt
• Almond milk
• Avocados
• Vegetable soups
• Oily fish
• Rice
• Applesauce: just like raw vegetables, fruits in raw form are rich in fiber and should be avoided. But applesauce is cooked and hence not banned.
• Poultry: red meat should be completely avoided by Crohn patients but they can intake their share of protein by taking white meat, turkey, and lean ground beef.

Following a simple diet is the key to keeping this condition under control.

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