Meats and Fish

HAMBURGER

I have it seldomly and in small portions. A small burger on the grill (NOT FRIED). Once in awhile (maybe everyother week), I will have something with ground beef in it. I always buy the leanest meat I can find and I rinse it before putting it into whatever I'm making. I do whatever I can to get the grease content down to a mimimum. I rarely, if ever, order a burger at a restaurant.



STEAK

I have this maybe once a month. That's about all my stomach can handle. I LOVE steak and mushrooms! We usually by filet mignon. Before eating this I usually take a digestive enzyme, but even this isn't enough for me. My stomach doesn't know how to move or digest this, so I usually end up mixing a Miralax cocktail before I go to bed. It doesn't give me an upset stomach, it just helps break down the meal and get it through my system. If I don't do this, I am up most of the night, usually sitting/sleeping in a chair hoping gravity will get this rock out of my stomach.



CHICKEN

This probably makes up 75% of my meat/fish intake. I almost always bake or boil it. If I have to fry it in a pan, I use extra-virgin coconut oil. It is spendy, but very theraputic on your stomach and is the best oil to fry things in (even over olive oil). Coconut oil can withstand a much higher temperature. Olive oil is great on things at room temp.

FISH

I make orange or white ruffy, haddock, and cod. I also order others in restaurants, such as sea bass, walleye and salmon. Salmon in small portions is okay...it's a little too rich for me. Again, I bake it, usually without breading. I found a breading by Progresso that is for baking; it was pretty good. Fish is not my all time favorite food, but my body feels so much better after having this meal. It is seems to be very theraputic for me. I usually serve it with Quinoa. This is an awesome find! A good friend of mine found this for me when I was trying to get my hemoglobin levels up. I always battle anemia, so this was a nice addition to my diet since it's high in iron. It has replaced rice in our household.

VENISON

My husband is a deer hunter. I used to dread him bringing home a deer because I didn't want to eat it. It has turned out to be a great meat for me. It is very lean and digests better than hamburger. I substitute it every once in awhile in our meals. My kids don't know the difference.

HAM

I don't do. It does not digest well for me and it's too salty.

PORK

I do this seldomly. My family loves porkloins and I will occasionally join them. It's not horrible, but it doesn't seem right in my stomach. It takes a little more effort for my stomach to digest this compared to chicken.

PROCESSED MEATS

Absolutely not! This is one thing I do not do (at all) with the exception of a DaVonni's hot roastbeef hoagie every once in a blue moon.

I really caution you with eating hot dogs. This is by far, hands down, my worst enemy. It takes my stomach much pain and effort to get this through my system. Every once in awhile I crave it when my family is eating them. All it takes is a few bites and I'm awake most of the night.

Cereals

I live on cereals! I eat them in the morning and sometimes throughout the day. I usually have a bowl before I go to bed. I can't explain it, but it feels good on my stomach. I usually eat Rice Crispies with banans on it. There isn't much nutrients in RC, so I try to make up for it in the bananas :) I'm also getting vitamin D from the milk...which most of us lack. Here's a list of cereals and their "do's" and "don'ts".

Cooked Cereals
I don't do many, but I've read that OATMEAL is very theraputic for your stomach. (I've never been a big fan, but could eat it if I had to.) Again, make sure it's very mushy.

CREAM OF WHEAT is another good one.

MALT-O-MEAL -- is one of my worst memories/experiences. I ate it to get my iron levels up right before my surgery for strictures. It put me in the hospital. My stomach could not break it down, it felt like cement in my stomach. I don't know if it would be any different now, since I don't have the strictures...I'm still too nervous to try it. I haven't seen anything written on it either.

Cold Cereals

"Do's"
RICE CRISPIES/RICE CEREALS
FLAX CEREALS
SHREDDED WHEAT -- I do this sparingly...too much fiber for me

"Don'ts or Caution"
Anything with corn-- Corn Flakes, Kix, etc...
Anything with lots of bran
Cheerieos is a "don't" for me, it might work for you
Sugar cereals -- I try to keep my sugar intake as low as possible


Again, trial and error...see what feels best. As I began to educate myself on my diet, I began to see that the things recommended to me actually worked. I read the book "Eating Right for a Bad Gut" (nice title), and it had so much helpful information on diet. I get a lot of my info from that book and other sources.

It's a process, you won't figure it out over night.

Vegtable "Do's" and "Don'ts"

From my experience and reading, I have found that boiling vegtables way past crisp, all the way to soft, is best. This does take some nutrients out, but we want to digest without irritation. Here is a list of vegtables that I have found to agree and others that I need to use caution or avoid all together.

"Do's"
AVACADO -- I do A LOT of this! I have a hard time putting on weight and this is one food that helps me with that. I mix a little salsa in with it and put it on quesadillas, white flour chips or on white bread (sounds odd, but I love it). At times, I will mix a little flax meal into it.
BEANS (I cook baked beans down quite a bit. Same with green beans...they are very soft.)
BROCCOLI -- I do this very seldom
CARROTS -- cooked way down; lately I have been able to do them raw w/ peanut or almond butter
EGG PLANT
KIDNEY BEANS
GARBANZO BEANS
LETTUCE -- I go light on this
MUSHROOMS
PARSLEY
PEAS
POTATOES -- I do a lot of these...baked and mashed; NOT FRIED
SPINACH
SWEET POTATOES -- I found sweet potatos sticks in the organic sections at Target...okay, but very bland

"Caution"
ARTICHOKES
BRUSSEL SPROUTS
CABBAGE
CELERY -- I tolerate this
CHIVES
CUCUMBER -- I tolerate this peeled
GARLIC -- I try to stay away from large amounts of this
KALE
OKRA
ONIONS -- I tolerate this
BELL PEPPERS -- I tolerate this peeled
PUMPKIN -- I tolerate this
SNOW PEAS -- I tolerate this
SCALLIONS
SQUASH
TOMATOES

"Don'ts"
CORN -- this does not digest well AT ALL. This includes popcorn, too. Eat it sparingly, if at all.
Really depressing around corn-on-the-cob season.
BEETS

Again, this is a trial and error process. If you're not sure, take small amounts and see what your stomach does with it. Sometimes it's just not worth it. For me, kernel corn--I avoid it all together. My stomach does not know what to do with it and it sits in my stomach for a LONG time. Popcorn I eat sparingly...it's hard not to have some at the theater!

Fruit "Do's" and "Don'ts"

Fruit has a fiber matrix. You want the matrix to be broken down as much as possible. A banana is a good example...over-ripened is better. The yellow to green bananas are very hard for our stomachs to digest. The same is true for vegtables...over boil green beans, carrots, etc... to make them very soft and easy to digest.

Here is a list of fruits that work for me and agree with facts I've come across over time.

Do's:
Apples (peel it)
applesauce
bananas (over-ripened)
oranges (I drink the juice, I avoid eating much (if any) of it because there is so much nondigestable fiber)
peaches and pears (canned or fresh...no skins. I buy the canned fruit in "lite syrup")
apricots
cantaloupes
cranberries (jellied)
honeydew melons
mangoes
nectarines
papayas
plums

"Caution" Category:
blueberries
grapefruit (I have this seldomly)
kiwi
strawberries
currants
lemons (peel it)
pineapple (I would put this in the "don't" category for me)
tangerines
watermelon (I would put this in the "don't" category for me)


Don'ts:
blackberries (I tolerate this)
boysenberries
cherries (I tolerate this)
dried fruits
grapes (peel it)
raspberries (I tolerate this)

It's going to be a process of figuring out which ones you will tolerate. This is a good baseline to go by.

Today I was out looking at other's blogs on Crohn's Disease. There is a lot of good information out there and I was excited to find a few things that I deal with on a regular basis. The first being diet...I am always interested in what other people are doing. The next was on vitamin D. While being treated in Milwaukee, my doctors really pushed vitamin D and now that I'm at the Mayo Clinic it's rarely talked about with me. The last site I looked at had to do with natural remedies. I found a pharmacist that has Crohn's and firmly believes that we are responsible for helping with our condition (which I completely agree). Even with her background, she looks into ways we can naturally help take care of our bodies. All three of these sites had good info, for more info go to:

http://blog.journey-with-crohns-disease.com/2010/03/01/healing-naturally/#comment-196
http://livingwithcrohnsdisease.blogspot.com/

http://www.everydayhealth.com/blog/kelly-building-a-crohns-disease-community/importance-of-diet-in-crohns-disease/

Key pieces to my health over the past 2 years

After recovering from surgery, two years ago, I have been trying to figure out a successful diet and way of life to keep me healthy. While I was going through this, we moved back to Minnesota and my Crohn's started acting up again. The first important thing I did was get into see one of the best doctors for Crohns at the Mayo Clinic. She has been key for me getting onto the medication I need and staying on top of my blood levels and tests. Next, I also met with a nurse at our natural food store. She sat down with me and gave me some insight on how to approach this disease naturally. One of the biggest benefits I received from meeting with her was her advice on taking L-Glutemine. For anyone that has had to take prednisone, you will appreciate this...this drug acts like a natural prednisone and brings down inflammation. This drug has proven to be a must for me daily. I can tell when I don't take it. I have to say that when I introduce anything new into my body, I run it by my doctor first. My diet has also played a major role in how I feel as well as exercise. I think these 4 things have been a big factor in my success over the last 2 years. I plan on going into more detail on all of this in the near future.

My first blog entry!

Welcome! This is my first attempt at setting up a blog and I look forward to learning as I go. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I formerly taught technology, business and journalism type classes at a junior and senior high school in St. Paul, Minnesota for 5 years. Now my life revolves around taking care of my family, which I love! I am also in the process of renewing my teaching license and hope to be back in the classroom once my youngest is settled in kindergarten. When not doing things for my family, I love to do things that revolve around photography. I enjoy taking pictures and putting together digital photo albums. I also have a love for music. My background is in music performance on flute/piccolo, but now I get my music fix by teaching my daughters piano. After many different ideas on what to make my blog about, the obvious hit me! I have battled over the last 4 1/2 years with Crohn's Disease and it has drastically changed my way of life (for the good)! It has been a battle and I have gone through lots of tears and pain, but it has strengthened my character and faith and it has also given me an education on the disease and nutrition. I take care of myself and my family differently because of what I have experienced. I often say that it is the best and worse thing that's happened to me. I have been put before many people that have been newly diagnosed and struggling with what to do. I have scrambled to get information to them (always having to re-invent the wheel). This blog will be a great way for me to help and encourage others that are going through this battle feeling lost and hopeless. I plan to implement on this blog the elements of diet, books to read, doctors, medicines/treatment, alternative medicines, exercise, faith, and anything else of benefit.