If you make suitable changes to your diet, you can find that it is possible to reduce your Crohn’s Disease symptoms. You may have found that the quality of your life have been severely affected because you feel embarrassed about your condition. You may also feel depressed and withdraw from others and find it hard to go out socially. Watching what you eat can actually help to relieve some of the symptoms of pain and diarrhea associated with your condition.
An elimination diet plan works well for a start. It is said that crohn’s disease symptoms are often triggered by food allergies. Often enough, you may not be even aware that you are allergic to specific food ingredients. Hence, it is important that you maintain a food diary from now on. You will need to see if there is correlation between symptoms and specific foods and note them all down. Common food allergens include wheat, milk, eggs, food additives, food colorings and peanuts. If you suspect that you have certain food allergies, you can also choose to go for a food allergy test with your doctor to confirm.
There are also some other foods that you may not be particularly allergic to but can be irritating to your digestive system. It is necessary that you cut down the consumption of these foods to reduce your crohn’s disease symptoms. Common foods on this list include caffeine, fatty foods, chocolate, sugar, and alcohol. Refined and processed foods may also be a trigger for your symptoms. The less that you eat these foods, the better.
With those foods that are considered safe, you can find different ways of cooking them. There are several recipe books for all kinds of special diets. You can find them either online or on Amazon. It is possible to enjoy delicious meals even though you have Crohn’s disease.
You may also want to consider having more fiber to your diet. Fiber can help to bulk up your diet, which can help to prevent and decrease your diarrhea. Fiber rich foods are found in vegetables, fruits, oat bran and psyllium husks. Add fiber in each of your three meals on a daily basis can do much for help.
Diet changes can greatly reduce the severity and frequency of your Crohn’s disease symptoms. Recording down the type of foods that you are eating and your symptoms thereafter, can help you find out what foods trigger your symptoms. It may sound like a lot of work to maintain a food diary at the start but it is worth your time to take the trouble. Your food diary can then help you with meal planning for home cooking. Also, if you need to meet your friends for dinner in a restaurant, you can order what you already know is safe for your digestive system. It is possible to enjoy your social outing, once you find yourself worrying less about your Crohn’s disease symptoms.
Sandra Kim Leong is a writer on detox diet. For more free tips, please visit her site at http://www.detox-cleansing.net.