The #1 Best Thing You Can Do to Manage IBD

What is the #1 best thing that you can do to manage IBD inflammation and symptoms? You might be shocked that there is one single thing you can do to help improve symptoms. Although it won’t create complete healing.  It is the most important step in starting the process.

So what is the #1 best thing you can do to manage IBD?

Completely eliminate all ultra processed foods from your diet.

There is so much advice out there on how to manage chronic disease. Most of it is conflicting and confusing. In my years of research, I have read every possible diet plan to heal IBD. From eating vegan, to eating a carnivore diet. Intermitted fasting, to spacing your meals out throughout the day. Eat lots of fiber, eat less fiber. Eat complex carbs for better digestion, eat simple carbs for easier digestion. And everything else in between. Sifting through the mountain of information online is overwhelming.

I can’t say for certain if any of the above diet plans will work for you. But this one piece of advice will certainly set you off in the right direction. Completely eliminate all ultra-processed foods from your life.

 

Lets look into this a bit further.  We will discuss:

• What exactly are processed and ultra-processed foods?
• Ultra processed foods and IBD
• Health washing in the supermarket
• Healthy food perception

What are Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods?

The difference between processed and ultra-processed is how the food is made.

Almond butter that contains only one ingredient, is still processed food. The almond is processed to create almond butter.

Ultra-processed foods go through multiple processes before being consumed. They contain many ingredients that are highly manipulated.

Examples of ultra-processed foods include, but are not limited to:

• Pizza
• French fries
• Birthday cake
• Cookies
• Fast food
• Soft drinks
• Microwave meals
• Refined items.

These foods contain multiple ingredients, and food processing steps.  They often include hidden nasties and food additives in their ingredients. These nasties may not be obvious when reading the label on the front of the food. 

There is little debate over how unhealthy these types of foods are.

Ultra-processed foods cannot be found in nature. And they cannot be made from ingredients easily found in nature. They require chemical or mechanical modification of some kind.

 

So, What is The #1 Best Thing You Can Do to Manage IBD?

Removing all ultra-processed foods from your diet completely is the #1 best thing you can do to manage IBD.

Ultra-processed foods are associated with the onset of IBD. Studies have found that high intakes of ultra-processed foods increases the risk of developing IBD.

If you already have IBD it makes sense to eliminate the very food that may have caused the disease from your diet. Chances are, continuing to eat these disease-causing foods, is making your symptoms worse.

It makes complete logical sense that processed foods could cause a flare-up of symptoms. They are not natural foods found in the environment. Your body was not designed to process and digest these man made ‘food’ items. They are toxic to your body, and reek havoc on your gut microbiome.

If you are already suffering from IBD, you may fear that your children or family members may be at higher risk.

Talk to them about the connection between IBD and ultra-processed foods. You may be able to lower their risk of ever developing IBD.

I developed IBD symptoms during my first year of university. This was a very stressful period for me with school pressures. And also learning to cook and look after myself for the first time ever.

My diet during this period was shocking. I would eat fast food at least twice a week, I ate cup noodles almost every single day.  Boxed mac and cheese was a staple in my diet.

I did not know how to cook for myself. I know now that it was a combination of stress, poor diet choices, and a salmonella poisoning incident. That led to the development of my Crohn’s disease.

If you are just starting your natural health journey, you may be feeling overwhelmed. This is so much conflicting information out there.

Clear your mind of all other distractions. Focus on this single thing: remove all ultra-processed foods from your diet completely.

Start from there and see where it takes you.

All people, suffering from a chronic disease or not. Would benefit from removing these toxic foods from their diet. It is so clear to me that the health of the entire world would be so much better without these foods.

In fact, there is only one question I still have on the subject. Why these foods are still heavily marketed, and sold worldwide? To children, sick people, and everyone in between?

These ultra-processed foods are known to cause disease. Unfortunately, the answer is also clear: profits over people.

 

Health Washing

 

One of the most deceptive things about ultra-processed foods, is how they are marketed.

I would argue that many of these ‘food’ items, should not even be considered food. 

When you go into a fast-food joint, you see ‘meal deals’, or ‘happy meals’ advertised.  The use of these words, makes you feel that you are getting a wholesome meal in that brown paper bag.

Or, when you pick up a box of granola bars from the supermarket, and there is a picture of fruit and nuts on the front of it. It is placed there by marketing experts who are trying to make you think that you are eating fruit and nuts.

When in fact the granola bars are most likely made of refined sugar, processed grains, and preservatives. Or when a gummy ‘fruit snack’ has pictures of healthy fruits plastered across the front of the box. You assume that you are eating at least a semi-healthy, fruit-filled item.

That is simply not true; it is false advertisement strategically placed there to trick you.

If something has to advertise to you about how healthy it is. You may want to consider the true health benefits of the item.

Slogans used on the packaging of processed foods are also intentionally misleading. Using labels like ‘helps children grow’. ‘Builds muscle’, or ‘helps nourish your brain’ confuses or misleads customers.

These slogans may trick you into thinking an ultra-processed food is healthier than it is.

Another way that ultra-processed food is hidden from us, is how it is perceived by the consumer.

For example, if you are buying your favourite brands can of tomatoes. You might assume that those tomatoes are healthy for you. While some canned tomatoes might not be damaging to your health. Not all canned or packaged items are created equal.

It’s essential that you look at the ingredients of all food items you are buying. You may be surprised to find that those canned tomatoes contain hidden nasties. Refined sugar, preservative E120, and a stabilizer.

I believe that those hidden chemical ingredients cause disease. They are not found naturally in our body, or nature.  Therefore our body does not know how to properly digest them.

In order for me to heal, I eliminated all food items with food additives. Preservatives, chemicals, stabilizers, ‘numbered’ ingredients. Even when they come from a natural source, like ‘citric acid’.

These once natural items have been chemically or mechanically altered. They are no longer a natural product.

I would be wary of all packaged food items in general. Single-ingredient packaged food items are the safest packaged food items to consume. Like green pea pasta, or almond butter.  They only have one ingredient.

 

So, the answer to this question is obvious. What is the #1 best thing you can do to manage IBD?

Remove all ultra-processed foods from our diets.  It can help eliminate, and even heal disease. From IBD, and cancer to diabetes.

Once you become aware of this fact, you may be shocked at how difficult it is to find food items that are not ultra processed.

It is empowering to know the #1 best thing you can do to manage IBD.  And take real steps to providing a healing environment for your body.