Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic non-specific inflammatory disease of the intestine of unknown etiology, including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Because it is a disease of the intestinal tract, it is important not to neglect diet while taking medication. A proper diet is a crucial part of the preventive treatment process and is closely related to disease recovery and avoidance of recurrence. So how should patients with inflammatory bowel disease eat? What can be eaten? What should not be eaten?
The dietary principles of inflammatory bowel disease patients grasp two major aspects.
The first, the diet should be easy to digest, rich in nutrients, high energy.
Second, the diet should avoid cold, spicy and coarse fiber.
One, the patient because of the long duration of the disease, the wide range of lesions, and with high fever, fistula, anemia, diarrhea pus and blood stool and other symptoms, a variety of nutrients consumed more, so it is recommended that the patient’s daily intake of high calorie, high protein, low fat, rich in vitamins and essential trace elements diet formula. The main food should be fine, with rich flour, good rice, etc. Coarse grains, such as foods made of cornmeal, millet and whole wheat flour, are forbidden to avoid increasing the intestinal burden and damage.
Side dishes can be lean meat, fish, chicken, liver, eggs, etc. as the main source of providing protein, and daily multivitamin supplements can help fill the food deficit.
Patients with dyspepsia or small bowel surgery, for example, can have vitamin B12 deficiency because they do not absorb enough of the vitamin from diet or oral supplementation. Vitamin B12 supplementation is necessary. Other vitamins such as vitamin D are also needed. Vitamin D is essential for bone synthesis and calcium metabolism, and can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Patients taking salazosulfapyridine often have folic acid deficiency. They should take folic acid tablets. For most patients with inflammatory bowel disease, it is worthwhile to take multivitamin preparations as a rule.
Second, what should patients with inflammatory bowel disease not eat? Diet should avoid raw, cold, spicy and coarse fiber.
1, eat less coarse fiber food. Limit too much fiber diet, such as nuts, seeds, cereals, corn, fruits and a variety of vegetables. Because a large amount of coarse fiber food will stimulate the intestinal tract and affect the absorption of nutrients, and aggravate the disease. In order to give the intestine a proper rest, mechanical stimulation should be avoided as much as possible in the diet, and a less crumbly diet should be used. Food fiber should be limited as much as possible, such as leeks, celery, white potatoes, radishes, coarse grains, and dried beans.
Patients with Crohn’s disease often have small intestinal stenosis obstruction, coarse fiber is not easy to pass, coupled with the wide range of disease damage, once too much fiber food into the small intestine will cause contraction and abdominal pain, should avoid eating coarse grains, tortillas, nuts, vegetables and other high fiber food, so as not to aggravate the obstruction with too much food residue.
2, should not eat cold food: cold food refers to cold melons and fruits, cold touch, cold rice. In summer, especially to avoid eating cold drinks and food just taken out of the refrigerator. Avoid raw fruits and vegetables, and properly reduce the fiber content of the diet to reduce the mechanical damage to the inflammatory bowel mucosa, thereby reducing symptoms.
3, avoid irritating food: spicy irritating food such as chili,, leek, onion, mustard, wine and other foods. These foods tend to stimulate the colon wall, so that the intestinal wall edema, congestion, smooth muscle spasm, causing recurrence of the disease. Patients should be contraindicated. Various strong and stimulating condiments such as onion, ginger, garlic and dashi with irritation are prohibited. Beer, white wine, cocktails, etc. should not be consumed. To avoid the stimulation of intestinal mucosa.
4, should not eat too much greasy food, greasy food refers to fatty meat, fried fried food. Inflammatory bowel disease diarrhea is often accompanied by fat malabsorption, severe cases with steatorrhea. Therefore, the amount of dietary fat should be limited, roast meat, bacon, red meat (steak, etc.) and poultry with skin, butter and other animal oils, margarine, bread sauce, mayonnaise, etc. can not eat more.
5. Be careful with seafood. Chinese medicine will be seafood as “hair” is a certain reason, seafood in the protein is different from the protein in the food we often eat, some foreign protein is easy to cause allergies, aggravate the inflammatory reaction, so inflammatory bowel disease patients must be careful to eat seafood.
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease should pay attention to the following issues in their diet.
1, it is advisable to eat less and more meals, eat 4 to 5 times a day. Try to reduce the intestinal burden.
2. Eat easily digestible and nutritious liquid or semi-liquid food, such as warm and moderate, soft rice porridge, fine noodles, etc., during the acute attack. It may be necessary to use elemental diet to minimize the volume of feces, and if necessary, use complete parenteral nutrition.
3. Gradually adopt low residue and light diet as the condition improves. Make the intestine rest, and gradually transition to liquid, dregs-free or less dregs semi-liquid after the symptoms improve
4, lactose indigestion can lead to abdominal pain, abdominal distension and diarrhea. Lactose intolerant patients should limit milk intake. Milk and dairy products are also not recommended during the active period of the disease.
5, food should be easy to digest, all kinds of food should be chopped and made soft, without large pieces of meat cooking, knife work should be fine. Often use minced meat, diced meat, shredded meat, minced meat and steamed egg custard and other forms. Fruits and vegetables can be made into vegetable water, vegetable puree, juice, fruit puree and other food.
6, cooking more braised, steamed, boiled, stewed as appropriate. Use as little oil as possible in cooking.
7, also do not eat too cold, too hot food.
8, although to high protein and high nutrition diet, but should not eat too much, eat too much, so that the gastrointestinal function of the system disorder, prompting the recurrence or aggravation of the disease. Although peanuts and beans also contain a large amount of protein, but the patient is poorly tolerated. Assuming the consumption of beef or pork fat diarrhea, can be changed to low-fat fish as the main source of protein.
9, pay attention to try not to eat gas-producing foods (lentils, soybeans, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, etc.), carbonated beverages, coffee, strong tea, chocolate, popcorn, nuts and seeds (peanut butter, other nut butters), etc.. Vegetables can be used potatoes, yams, carrots and other root foods containing less crude fiber.
10, milk, eggs, tomatoes, peanuts, potatoes, etc. have an allergenic effect, some people eat these foods are prone to allergies, but some people are not allergic. If a food can cause a digestive reaction, avoid it, and distinguish whether you are allergic or intolerant to it.
It is a good idea to create a dietary log to record which foods cause gastrointestinal symptoms, and to record in a small notebook the foods and amounts consumed each day, indicating the date, the food, and the symptoms that occur after taking a particular food. Certain specific foods may cause a relapse or worsening of the disease condition, discomfort or allergic reactions after eating them. If these “offender foods” are well avoided, certain GI symptoms can become relatively easy to manage.