For those suffering from the disease constellation known as Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel disease, what to eat is a constant worry and challenge. Information about “trigger foods” and “anti-flare” diets are ubiquitous.
Prescriptive diets such as GAPS, Simple Carbohydrate and Paleo are correctly identified as being useful in the management of Crohns/UC/IBD, but what is lost in this information is the highly personalized nature of the “food prescription”.
The need to “heal and seal” the gut before introducing a wide variety of foods is lost in the pages of paleo and low-carb diet books and recipe blogs with the exception of GAPS: Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet which presents the most comprehensive, step by step approach to gut healing available in one book.
GAPS is widely known as a dietary treatment approach to help heal autism, child behavioral health issues, as well as autoimmune diseases such as Crohns/UC/IBD but it is an incredibly difficult diet to follow.
Many patients come to me after trying and failing these diets and these are the most prominent reasons why:
1-Ultra low and low carb diets are very hard to sustain, they require willpower, dedication and plenty of kitchen time to make them work. The motivation to carry on a restrictive diet for years is daunting.
2-You have to follow the process of introduction of foods as defined in the GAPS diet and you cannot jump ahead or speed this process. Jumping into any low carb diet without properly laying the foundation for proper digestion and elimination is most likely destined to fail.
3-Nut flours are not your friend-you can’t just replace wheat with almond flour and gluten free products and call it a day. The oxalic acid alone in almonds alone can be more irritating than gluten.
4-Eggs are really two foods: a protein (whites) and a fat (yolks). If you suspect egg allergy, try the whites and yolks separate as you may tolerate one better. In the GAPS diet, runny egg yolks play an important role to “heal and seal” the gut and there use specifically in the under cooked state is vital to the gut healing process.
5- Stewed and well-cooked fruits and vegetables are the best carb sources on low carb and elimination diets. Raw food purists and those looking to grab a piece of fruit and run will be dismayed, but putting some fire to your food increases its digestibility while making those yummy sugars available for quick and sustained energy.
6-Fear of fats, especially animal fats like tallow, can result in lack of satiety and boredom. For the average sized person eating under 100 grams of carbs per day, counting fat calories is generally unnecessary and products like avocado oil, walnut oil, duck fat, beef tallow and even bacon grease can be flavorful and satisfying components of your diet.
7-Bone broth is essential and mandatory, there is no substitute and no better thing you can do for your health, satiety and gut integrity than consume at least a cup a day of high quality bone broth.
8-Probiotic foods involve fermentation and dairy, two areas that could cause trouble for IBD/UC/Crohns. You should extensively supplement with at least two brands of high quality probiotic supplements, one freeze dried (shelf stable) and one refrigerated.
9-Maybe its the wrong diet. If you have SIBO, small intestinal bacterial over growth, you may not benefit from a low carb diet. Gluten free is not a panacea-whole wheat contains high level of prebiotics and wheat transformed through starter cultures can be a nourishing and hypo allergenic food for some people. Which leads us to….
10-Maybe you don’t know your trigger foods and are eating the wrong things even though they are ‘allowed’. Or, you could be depriving yourself of perfectly healthy and viable foods, only exploration through clinical food allergy testing (IgG and IgA), self-challenge through an elimination diet AND food journaling can give you clarity on this for where you are today.
Whether you suffer from an auto-immune disease or just want to fine tune your diet, a temporary low carb diet can be healthy and rewarding. Those serious about restoring their gut health naturally often try a carbohydrate reduced diet in hopes of healing. The success or failure of these diets comes down to determination and the right guidance to connect the dots toward proper and complete digestion and elimination.
Anyone attempting a low carb diet to treat a disease or syndrome should work with a healthcare professional, especially a naturopathic doctor, to insure safety as well as to create the best possible likelihood for success.
Copyright 2017 by Natural Medicine Works
I have suggested the GAPS diet for someone with UC. However, when in the acute stage where bleeding has occurred there is no way fruits can be included. Cooked fruit becomes sweeter and is absolutely not helpful. The GAPS diet followed from stage one would still be unsafe for acute stage UC as certain veggies with seeds like zucchini are allowed , but should be forbidden as they can get stuck causing diverticulitis. Acute stage UC is very difficult to treat from a nutritional standpoint. I would agree that bone broth and fatty foods like avocado are helpful in this stage of the healing process.