If you have the inflammatory bowel disease I hope that you are on board with the current wisdom regarding this disease.
How you now approach IBD may flip your perception on what constitutes a healthy diet.
Please do not overdo your fiber intake, you should guard against a lot of spices and you should always think twice before consuming any fruits or vegetables.
I know this flies in the face of what you have been told about a healthy diet but my research reveals that such a diet may help to alleviate some of your pain associated with this disease.
IBD is characterized by a persistent inflammation of your intestinal tract.
This disease can be debilitating.
Those of you with this disease know that the symptoms are usually abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite and fatigue.
And your symptoms can last for weeks to years and then disappear for long periods of time.
But those of you that have to deal with it know all of that.
There are two different conditions that fall under the category of IBD.
They are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
They affect your GI tract in different ways.
With Crohn's disease the inflammation in all layers of your intestinal wall prevents your small intestine from properly absorbing nutrients and disturbs your fine balance of water that is needed to move your foods along in your intestine.
That will often lead to diarrhea.
When you add in to this equation a loss of appetite, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies it becomes a real problem.
Now with ulcerative colitis the inner lining of your large intestine becomes inflamed.
This prevents the normal absorption of water from your colon; this is the last 5 feet of your intestine.
This now causes the diarrhea and the extreme pain and discomfort that you endure.
More than half of you with IBD will eventually have surgery to remove part of your intestine or to correct abnormalities.
Unfortunately food will not prevent or cure it, but your correct diet may diminish your symptoms.
Your strategy on foods is to focus on foods that will reduce this inflammation.
This is to reestablish healthy bacteria in your gut and to pamper your intestinal tract.
I suggest that you keep a food diary to determine which foods trigger your flare ups and which foods seem to appease the disease.
Work with your doctor to ascertain whether you have sensitivities to certain foods and to establish whether you need supplements to replace some of the nutrients you lose during your bouts of IBD.
And as always you must eat well to be well.