When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I didn’t know much about nutrition or how much of an impact it makes on our health. Feeling so sick and yucky, all I wanted to do was eat comfort food. It tastes delicious and often doesn’t require much work to prepare. Sounds like a win, right? Ironically, the food I used as a way to cope with feeling so miserable was making me more miserable. Looking back, I worsened my symptoms with my diet when I could have set myself up for healing from the start.
Since then, I’ve learned a lot about nutrition and re-worked my entire approach to food. I’ve been blown away by how much I healed simply by switching out my basic pantry staples. Supporting my gut through whole, nutrient-dense foods had a profound impact on my life! The gut is home to billions of bacteria that play a key role in digestion, nutrient absorption, and immune function – all crucial aspects of our flourishing. Avoiding processed foods, which typically contain preservatives, added sugar, seed oils, and artificial ingredients, also supports these functions by lowering inflammation. Giving the body the fuel it needs in the form of whole, nutrient-dense foods is one of the best ways to support the healing process.
If I could go back to my 22-year-old self who was severely suffering from chronic illness, these are the diet and lifestyle changes I wish I had made from the start. Disclaimer: These things are my personal experiences that I found most foundational to healing from Crohn’s disease. That said, everyone is different, and what worked for me might not be what your body needs. This is not medical advice, please consult your doctor for your specific health needs!
Bone broth is liquid gold. It provides the body with essential amino acids and is rich in glutamine, collagen, and gelatin, which support gut tissue repair. When my system is overburdened with toxins, inflammation, or under an autoimmune flare, my body is not in an optimized digestive state, and food can cause more distress and inflammation. Bone broth is a great addition to everyday life, or used during a fast. Doing a bone broth fast allows the gut to rest from the burden of digestion while still providing essential vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, electrolytes, and hydration. This allows the gut to start focusing on repair.
I made my own or used Fond Bone Broth.
This article explains bone broth fasting in depth!
It’s not meant to last forever, but an elimination diet is crucial for resetting. Not only does it eliminate inflammatory foods that could be causing issues, but it also establishes a baseline I could work up from. I’ve tried several different elimination diets such as Whole30, Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), Plant Paradox, and the Carnivore diet. Since everyone tolerates foods differently, I needed to understand what foods were causing havoc in my specific system. With the carnivore diet, I ate such a simple ingredient list (beef, salt, and water) that I could be sure I tolerated everything I ate. Once my symptoms disappeared, I added new ingredients one at a time to see how my body reacted. I built back my ingredient list over time to a much more normal diet.
Another way to approach a diet change is to get a food sensitivity test. This test measures the body’s immune response to specific foods through IgG antibodies. If I could go back, I would have asked for this test from the beginning, and I could have known exactly what foods were causing me problems.
Whenever possible, I look for organic fruits and veggies. Limiting pesticides is a great way to lower the toxic load on the body. For animal products, I eat 100% grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, and pasture-raised eggs. These foods not only have more nutrients than conventional meat and eggs, but I also don’t have to worry about consuming wheat, corn, and soy as a byproduct of the animal’s feed.
Being outside is wonderful for many reasons – fresh air, sweating as a natural detox, and vitamin D from sunshine! Most of us are deficient in vitamin D, but it is one of the main vitamins that support and regulate the immune system. This is especially important for autoimmune diseases because our immune system is already out of whack. I try to get daily sun exposure on my skin without sunscreen. (Sunscreen contains toxic chemicals and blocks some absorption of vitamin D.) I started with just a few minutes each day and worked up to longer periods so that my skin built up tolerance without burning!
While none of these are instant fixes, supporting our bodies with nutrition is crucial to healing. Natural healing takes time. Giving our bodies the right nutrients and limiting inflammatory foods impacts our health more than I originally realized, and it’s exciting to see the healing that comes through it.
