Six Similarities Between IBD Diets

Recently I did a series where I compared 6 different IBD diets. Including carnivore, plant based, FODMAP, Auto Immune Protocol, SCD, and IBD AID. This week I am going to discuss 6 key takeaways between IBD diets that I found during my research and own experience.

Finding the right diet for you to help manage your IBD symptoms. Is one of the most important decisions you will make to help manage your IBD. I hope this blog post shows you that no matter what diet you choose to follow. There are a few key takeaways that are important when managing any chronic digestive condition.

During my research I noted that there are a few similarities between IBD diets that most, or all of the diets have. These include:

• Nutrient density

• Ultra processed food content

• Grains

• Trigger Foods

• Other key takeaways

Nutrient Density

Let’s begin with nutrient density.

People with IBD have inflamed gastrointestinal tracts. The GI tract is where we break down and absorb nutrients from our food. Beginning in the mouth with the salivary glands, and ending in the colon/large intestine.

When inflammation is present, especially chronic inflammation, absorption rates are often affected. This can lead to lower rates of absorption from foods.

For this reason it is crucial that any diet you follow to manage IBD be nutrient dense. Every single bite you take needs to increase nutrition within your body. It needs to be a step in a healing direction.

If your body is struggling with digestion. You need to make sure that every food you eat is going to be worth it. What is the point of having your body struggle to digest foods that it doesn’t even receive any nutrition from?

That is why one of the key similarities between IBD diets is that they are all nutrient dense diets.

Ultra Processed Foods

This leads us to the second key take away, and probably the most important one of them all.

None of these diets contain any ultra processed foods.

This is the most important aspect for healthy in general. Humans were not meant to eat processed foods. Pizza does not exist in nature. There is no stream that provides soda. No plant named Preservative E120. These are not human foods.

And if you are a human that has a serious digestive disease like IBD. You need to eliminate all ultra processed foods from your diet. 

Ultra processed foods have been linked with increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, digestive disorders, cancer, and premature death.

These diets also eliminate refined sugar. Refined sugar is a known inflammatory food. And also an ultra processed food.

The second of the key similarities between IBD diets examined is that they all completely eliminate ultra processed foods.

Grains

All of the diets that I examined, except a plant based diet, completely eliminate grains. Grains are a controversial topic among IBD dieticians and nutritionists. What is a grain? Are grains harmful? Can they be eaten in remission?

My personal experience, and what a lot of the research shows is that if you are in a flare.  Or have recently (within the last 6 months to a year) been in a flare. It is safest to eliminate all grains. This includes glutinous grains such as wheat, rice, and possibly even oats.

I personally feel better when I eat a grain free diet (excluding oats). Although grains are not necessarily an unhealthy food. They can cause digestive issues if you have an chronic condition. Grains may feed bad bacteria on your gut. Which can lead to dysbiosis, a key underlying issue with IBD.

Trigger Foods

Most people with IBD find that there are certain foods that set off their symptoms. These may be otherwise healthy foods, that are allowed in any of the IBD diets.

These are personal trigger foods. There is no real way to identify these, except through trial and error. A great way to learn about your own personal trigger foods is by using a symptoms and diet diary.

Whatever IBD diet you choose to follow. You will also have to remove your personal trigger foods from this diet as well. Once you are in remission, you may find that your trigger foods bother you less or not at all.

Other Key Takeaways

There are a few other key similarities between IBD diets that I compared.

The first is that all of them promote eliminating alcohol from the diet. Some allow limited amounts of alcohol while in remission.

Alcohol is a poison (that’s why it makes you drunk). It is a known inflammatory. And a known factor in the causation of many diseases.

I personally have been alcohol free since February 2022. If and when I get into deep remission. I would only consume small amounts of organic red wine. And I mean small amounts.

Another key similarity is that all of the IBD diets I compared are low fat. This does not mean fat free. But by being free of ultra processed foods, they are naturally going to be low in fat. Some fats are beneficial to health, like omega 3 and omega 6 fats, these fats can be found in avocado, seafood, ghee, and nuts.

Too much fat in the diet will affect digestion. Fat can be difficult to digest. And when we are healing from a serious digestive disease, we need to help our digestive system as much as we can.

Spicy, oily, and fried foods are also not included in any of the IBD diets found. These are both common GI tract irritants, and should be avoided when trying to heal.

 

Hopefully this summary of similarities between IBD diets has shown you some key takeaways on using diet to help manage IBD.

Whatever diet you decide to follow. Remember that these above steps are likely to help you along your journey.