Posts Tagged ‘Elemental Diet’

Crohns Disease Cure

09.30.09

Mild to moderate cases are usually treated with oral medications called aminosalicylates that can relieve inflammation and keep Crohns in remission.More serious cases are treated with corticosteroids such as Prednisone, and medications such as Remicade and Humira that can reduce inflammation and heal fistulas.

Due to the potential side effects of these medications, many people opt for natural anti inflammatories such as fish oil. It has been proven to be beneficial in intestinal health, and can be as effective as prescription drugs as a Crohns treatment.

If you have Crohns disease, you will usually be seen regularly by a specialist team. Treatment will aim to increase your quality of life as much as possible, but there is no cure. If you have Crohns disease it’s important that you eat a healthy, balanced diet with a high fibre content, unless you are prone to blockages.

This is especially true when your symptoms flare up, as you will need to replace lost nutrients, although you may not feel like it. If you can eat a normal diet, you should continue to do so. However, you may find that certain foods disagree with you or that you need to eat more of particular types of food such as starchy carbohydrates (eg potatoes, bread and pasta).

When your Crohns disease is active, your doctor may recommend that you have a liquid diet, made up of simple forms of protein, carbohydrates and fats. This is called an elemental diet and is commonly used to treat children.

Many people with Crohns disease find that treatment with medicines is effective. Medicines used to treat Crohns disease include:
•    corticosteroids (eg prednisolone) to reduce inflammation
•    medicines to suppress your immune system (eg methotrexate or azathioprine)
•    a medicine called infliximab – your doctor may recommend this if you have severe Crohns disease that hasn’t responded to other medicines

During flare-ups you may consider taking painkillers, but your GP may advise you not to take certain medicines such as ibuprofen (eg Nurofen) as they can make Crohns disease worse. It’s usually fine to take paracetamol as a painkiller, but check with your GP first. It’s not a good idea to take antidiarrhoeal medicines all the time as they may cover up signs that your disease has become more severe. Speak to your GP if diarrhoea is a problem.

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Crohns Disease Foods

08.12.09

Although diet cannot cause or cure Crohns disease, some studies suggest that people who eat foods high in saturated fat and sugar or who eat processed foods may be more likely to develop the disease. Certain foods may also reduce symptoms and make recurrences of the disease less likely.

•    Eating fruits and vegetables, lowering fat, and eliminating sugar may reduce the risk of developing Crohns disease. Although a low-fiber diet is one of the risk factors for developing Crohns disease, some people with Crohns disease find that fiber makes symptoms worse. If fiber bothers you, steam or bake your vegetables rather than eating them raw, and avoid high fiber fruits such as apples.

•    Certain foods may aggravate symptoms of Crohns disease – most often, dairy products, fats, and spicy foods. People with Crohns disease may want to avoid these foods.

•    Eat five or six small meals a day.

•    If symptoms are severe, an elemental diet may be recommended. Elemental formulas are liquid diets that contain only the basic building blocks of food and need not be broken down into smaller substances along the digestive tract.

Some people find it difficult to stick to an elemental diet, but after a period of time, often other foods can be reintroduced. One study suggests that adding omega-3 fatty acids to an elemental diet may boost its nutritional content and make it more likely that people with Crohns disease will adhere to it.

Because of decreased appetite, malabsorption, chronic diarrhea, side effects of medication, and surgical removal of parts of the digestive tract, many people with Crohns disease have vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In particular, people with Crohns disease may lack adequate vitamin D, B12, and K, plus folic acid, calcium, and zinc. Your doctor may recommend that you take a multivitamin daily.  Zinc (25 mg), folic acid (800 mcg), vitamin B12 (800 mcg) — These vitamins are used by the body to repair cells in the intestine.

In addition, drugs such as sulfasalazine and methotrexate may case levels of folic acid in the body to drop, requiring supplementation. Vitamin D (1,000 IU per day) — is necessary to maintain strong bones. People with Crohns disease, especially those who take corticosteroids, often have low levels of vitamin D and are at risk for osteoporosis.  Fish oil (2.7 g per day) — Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil may help fight inflammation and reduce the chances of recurrence, but studies have been mixed. The study with the most positive results used a special type of fish oil – “enteric-coated free-fatty-acid form” – that is not sold commercially.

Some researchers suggest that measuring the blood levels of different types of fatty acids may help determine if fish oil would be useful. Do not take high doses of a fish oil supplement if you take blood-thinning medication.

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