Recommended Diet

So diet is very important in Crohn’s disease. Traditionally patients have been told “don’t worry about it, eat whatever you want.” But now we have a lot of research and data that shows that what you eat plays a very, very important role in your response to medications and the overall course of Crohn’s disease. One specific diet for example, that is gaining a lot of attention lately due to research and great outcomes. Is this specific carbohydrate diet. We call it the SCD Diet. Basically a diet that is lactose free, grain free, gluten free, and a lot of other components such as avoidance of processed food. And when patients adhere to this specific carbohydrate diet, they see remarkable improvements in their overall energy and their disease severity and response to treatment. For patients with really severe disease, a exclusive enteral nutrition, basically supplements protein shakes exclusive to the digestive tract, have been shown to be very effective in calming the digestive tract’s inflammation and improving outcomes. Both of these diets, you could read about it online, but it’s highly recommended that you see a dietician with expertise in this because we want to make sure that you’re getting enough nutrients, enough nutrition. We don’t want you to be losing the weight on these diets.