A Crappy Subject

Crohn's Disease, fun? not so much. I have been living with it for over 10 years now. With abdominal pain and frequent trips to the bathroom it can make for a crappy life. Sometimes it's hard to live with. Sometimes it's hard to live with what everybody has to say about it. People tell you what to eat, to try going to different doctors and how I should just think my way into healing. Well folks, it just doesn't work like that. I have to poop! All the time. When I have to go I have to go and there is just no stopping it! It is no fun. There is no magic way to make the poop stop it just happens!!!

Eating is only part of the issue. Many Crohn's people have lost much if not all there intestines. That accounts for much of the urgency when having to poop. Many people suffer from Dumping syndrome, this is when right after you put something into your mouth you must go poop NOW! I am very lucky and do not have that. Sometimes it feels like I do.

Now back to the eating part. Food is very important to all of us but what you eat when you have Crohn's can make a big difference in how you feel. Many doctors suggest that you eat a low residue diet. Basically that is all refined flour and no nuts or fiber at all. I thought that I was supposed to eat this all the time. It seemed to make my pooping issue worse. I got brave and decided to think out of the box and eat a high fiber diet. The opposite of what I was told. Wow! It made all the difference in the world. I felt amazing and did not poop as much! I was so happy. I would still have flares but for the most part I was okay. At this point I started to learn that the low residue diet is for when you are in a flair and the more fiber that you eat the better you will feel. At least this has worked for me. I am no doctor and I suggest you talk to yours before you change anything .

One thing I will tell you to change, and I am 99.9% sure that every doctor will agree with me... Stop eating fast food! It's bad for you... I am not even sure that it is food. If you want to see a sick Becky just feed me something from the big yellow M and I will be pooping for days. Both the high fat content and highly processed food products reek havoc on the digestive system not to mention you heart! Just don't do it. Staying away from processed foods has made the biggest difference in my life. My gut is better and I have much more energy and just feel better!

Staying away from all processed foods was my next step. If it comes out of a box I pretty much do not eat it. I eat fresh fruits and veggies everyday. If I cannot find what I am looking for I choose frozen. If the ingredient list reads like a chemistry chart I put it back on the shelf. It takes much care and planning to cook and prepare my meals from scratch but for my optimum health it is well worth it.

I will talk more on this subject as time moves on. For now here is an amazing chicken recipe for you to get started with.

Thai Lime Chicken
1/3 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts/grind in food processor
1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp ginger ground
mix above ingredients
1/2lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1 lime
Squeeze lime over chicken on cookie sheet and then coat chicken with the mixture. Pre-heat oven to 350 and cook for 25 minutes.