The diet of patients with Crohn’s disease must be complete and balanced. This is the conclusion reached by the experts consulted by CuidatePlus.
“In general, restrictive diets should not be recommended. In some specific situations, some dietary guidelines can be given, but always under the recommendation of the specialist. A frequent mistake is to think that diet is the cause or may be the cure for the disease , which leads many patients to make unjustified food restrictions and that can also lead to deficiency or malnutrition problems, “explains Yago González Lama, responsible of Institutional Relations of the Spanish Foundation of the Digestive System (FEAD).
Restrictive diets, good or bad?
Javier Gisbert, president of the Spanish Working Group on Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (Geteccu), agrees, arguing that “in a study carried out by Geteccu in which 30 Spanish centers and 1,300 patients participated, it was shown that around 50 per hundreds restricted the diet for fear that an outbreak could precipitate them. Once they had an outbreak, most of them had dietary restrictions to try to control it. However, all of this has been shown to have no effect. ”
Ruth Serrano Labajos, a collaborating nutritionist with the Association of Crohn and Ulcerative Colitis Patients in Madrid , recognizes that to date there is no conclusive scientific evidence that food improves or impoverishes the disease. Although, unlike Gisbert, he points out that “he begins to see studies that show that there are certain foods that influence inflammation.”
Easy to digest foods
The expert explains that, in the outbreak phase, “the most important thing is not to increase symptoms and avoid damage to the lining of the intestine.”
It advises, according to tolerance, easily digestible foods:
- Cereals without added and non-integral sugars (baby porridge, rice, oats, toast, semolina, tapioca, couscous, etc.).
- Potatoes and sweet potatoes.
- Eggs, meats (soft and lean) and fish.
- Legumes, greens, vegetables and fruits low in residues (algae, compotes without skin, juices without added sugars and strains without pulp, chickpeas, red lentils without skin, purees, pumpkin, etc.).
- Oatmeal, rice, herbal teas and broths.
- The cooking technique should be simple, such as boiling, steaming, papillote, oven, griddle, soft stews, etc.
- If necessary, the energy, protein, vitamin and mineral intake, especially iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid, would be increased.
What foods to restrict
“Only those foods that systematically produce symptoms in the patient should be restricted . Although this is the same as recommended in a patient without Crohn’s disease, ”explains Gisbert.
Otherwise, “if we start restricting things, we will end up making life impossible for our patients,” he adds.
Consequences of a poor diet
And not only that, but a poor diet can have important consequences. “There is a malnutrition trend of 50-70 percent of patients with Crohn’s disease,” says Serrano.
The causes of this malnutrition are:
- Local and systemic inflammation.
- Drug interference.
- Do not eat what is necessary to avoid pain.
- Nutrient loss due to injury and diarrhea.
- Malabsorption due to injury to the digestive system.
The nutritionist also warns of the consequences:
- Longer recovery time from illness.
- Diarrheaand anemia .
- Inhibition of some functions of the digestive system.
- Decreased drug efficacy.
