Crohn's disease is a serious chronic inflammatory bowel disease that is usually treated with anti-inflammatory and immune suppressive medications. Many people with Crohn's disease find that the way they eat can affect their symptoms. Eating low-carb meals, as recommended by the specific carbohydrate diet -- or SCD -- can help Crohn's sufferers feel better, stay healthier and even use less medication, according to a recent pilot study done at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Work in concert with your doctor whenever you change your dietary habits and while dealing with chronic medical conditions.
The SCD was developed by biochemist Elaine Gottschall to help her daughter who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, another inflammatory bowel disorder similar to Crohn's disease, at the age of 4. The SCD is lower in carbohydrates, especially disaccharides like sugar and polysaccharides like starches. Gottschall based her diet on low-sugar and low-starch foods that are the most nourishing and easiest on the intestines, such as non-starchy vegetables, animal protein, fats, nuts and some fruits.
Theory Behind the Diet
The SCD is designed to help people with all sorts of digestive problems, and aims to break the vicious cycle of the bacterial overgrowth that ferments undigested foods in the intestines of people with Crohn's disease and other intestinal disorders. This problem is now known as SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and is often seen in people with Crohn's disease, according to SIBOinfo.com. Decreasing your carbohydrate intake removes the main source of food for the excess bacteria in your small intestines, which helps to control their number -- and your symptoms -- by starving them.
Although anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of a low-carb diet for people with Crohn's disease abounds on the Internet, it was only in 2012 that the first pilot study was published on this topic. The small trial included 11 patients with either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis who were put on a low-carb SCD for six to 10 months. The results showed that 100 percent of the patients were able to manage their symptoms with the diet and 82 percent were able to discontinue their medications.
If you want to try a low-carb approach to improve the symptoms associated with your Crohn's disease, breakfast cereals, pancakes and toasts are not an option. Instead, try low-carb breakfasts based on non-starchy vegetables, eggs, animal protein and nuts. For example, you can serve eggs with slices of smoked salmon and avocado drizzled with olive oil, have a serving of a onion, carrot, green beans and beef stew left from yesterday or prepare low-carb sugar-free almond flour-based muffins.
Low-Carb Lunches and Dinners
For the other meals of the day, any combination of non-starchy vegetables, animal protein and healthy fats will do. For example, you can have a chicken, avocado and mayo lettuce wrap using lettuce leaves instead of bread to make it a convenient low-carb meal. A stew with your favorite vegetables, but no potatoes or other tubers, and either lamb, pork or beef makes a nourishing meal for people with Crohn's disease on a low-carb SCD diet. If you feel like a treat, small amounts of fruits or desserts prepared with low-carb almond meal or coconut flour and small amounts of honey are good options.
- Lamb neck fillet with vegetables and herbs (focus on meat) image by Sophia Winters from Fotolia.com