Living with Crohn’s Disease: How to Go on a Liquid Diet

If you’re living with Crohn’s disease, you’ve probably paid the high price for eating a rich and extra solid meal. So when your gut just isn’t happy, you turn to light meals through a liquid diet instead so that you can still get adequate nutrients from easily digestible food sources.

You’ve probably heard of the elemental diet, which is a common form of liquid diet involving getting nutrition from fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, glucose and vitamins instead of whole foods. However, going on a strictly elemental diet takes commitment and effort. You also need to work with a doctor to tailor fit a specific diet plan for you.

Fortunately, you can adopt a liquid nutrition diet for a day or two, or even a few hours daily, to help your gut recover and avoid common flare-up symptoms such as lack of appetite and nausea.

Juicing Your Veggies and Fruits Can Be Less Antagonizing to Your Sensitive Gut

This is just one of those indisputable facts of life: getting enough vegetables and fruits in your diet is a must. On the other hand, there are times when those with Crohn’s disease simply can’t stand the fibre from veggies and fruits, as these can easily inflame and irritate their gut.

With juicing, however, very little fibre will remain in the juiced up veggies and fruits, so you can stomach it better without risking further irritation. With regards to portions, try to aim for 80% veggies and 20% fruit in your juices to avoid a spike in your blood sugar. Use a cold press juicing machine for making these blends.

Eating Bone Broth Helps Not Only Your Skin and Joints But Also Your Gut

Bone broth is made from boiling meat bones from beef, chicken or both. People all over the world use it for stews and soups for the unique flavours they offer, but it’s only recently that people consume them for their health benefits, as well.

Bone broth contains L-glutamine, an amino acid, and collagen, which are not only beneficial to the skin and joint health but gut health, too.

Blending Your Food Breaks Down Fibre and Also Gives Your Gut a Much-Needed Break

If your gut isn’t in the mood for fibre, consider blending your food and making a smoothie instead. The easiest and most filling smoothies include almond milk and banana or avocado blends—you can add a dollop of almond butter for some fat.

If you’re not up for your usual green smoothie during a flare-up, consider blending soups instead. Mix root veggies like squash or sweet potato with bone broth and you’re good to go.

But don’t forget that the most vital liquid for a liquid diet is plain water, especially if you have Crohn’s because you can easily get dehydrated if you don’t watch your water intake. You can also opt for herbal teas if you want some flavour and a boost of ingredients that calm the gut, such as peppermint, green tea, ginger or fennel.

Keep in mind that as with many diets, there’s no one-size-fits-all diet that will work, so you need to customize yours to your specific needs.