From the MayoClinic website

The following foods are generally allowed on a low-fiber diet:

Enriched white bread or rolls without seeds

White rice, plain white pasta, noodles and macaroni

Crackers

Refined cereals such as Cream of Wheat

Pancakes or waffles made from white refined flour

Most canned or cooked fruits without skins, seeds or membranes

Fruit and vegetable juice with little or no pulp, fruit-flavored drinks and flavored waters

Canned or well-cooked vegetables without seeds, hulls or skins, such as carrots,
potatoes and tomatoes

Tender meat, poultry and fish

Eggs

Tofu

Creamy peanut butter — up to 2 tablespoons a day

Milk and foods made from milk, such as yogurt, pudding, ice cream, cheeses and sour cream — up to 2 cups a day, including any used in cooking

Butter, margarine, oils and salad dressings without seeds

Desserts with no whole grains, seeds, nuts, raisins or coconut

They also have some daily menu ideas. The link is below!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/low-fiber-diet/my00744

Hi Brittany!

I also follow a low-fiber diet for my Crohns - I usually cope by eating a lot of soups and cooked vegetables instead. Broccoli doesn't bother me - and my specialist has always adviced me to try out high-fiber foods regardless and see if they bother me. For example some fruits I handle quite well (banana, kiwi, ...) whereas others (apples, pears, oranges, ..) give me cramps. So I would suggest trying out different fruits and vegetables and see how it goes - make sure to start with smaller portions so you don't upset your stomach. Good luck!

A nutritionist could help you --get a referral from your doctor. That Mayo Clinic list sounds like it's worth reviewing. I wonder if running veg thru a food mill, which captures a lot of the fibrous material, vs. using a blender/food processor which just pre-digests some of it, might allow you to eat purees of your favorites.

An unfortunate loved one has Type 2 Diabetes, IBS AND kidney stones. Talk about a difficult diet to figure out. Oy.

I know everyone's different but my Crohn's got way worse on low fiber diets. I did the specific carbohydrate diet for 2 years, 13 years ago. After two years I found a good naturopath to help ease me off. I've been drug free and healthy for over ten years. (my Crohn's was severe-I did this to avoid surgery). You may not realize how little education most dr's get on nutrition, but it's virtually nil. Nothing against doctors, I'm married to one!

Hi Brittany,

So sorry to hear you are dealing with this. I'm on a low fiber diet myself for UC and I know it's frustrating. I saw a nutritionist and she had the following suggestions:

- Pureed vegetable soups, the kind that come in cardboard cartons like this: http://www.pacificfoods.com/our-foods/creamy-soups/organic-creamy-butternut-squash-all-natural-soup.

- Homemade broth/stock: if you find you can't tolerate even super processed veggies like in carton soups, an even milder option is to make stock at home (e.g. with a chicken carcass) with vegetables like celery, onion, carrot, etc, then strain out the actual vegetable matter. You'll still get some of the nutrition from the veggies and it should be very benign.

- As far as fruits go, very ripe banana and cantaloupe are supposed to be the best for first attempts

- If you can tolerate dairy, greek yogurt is AWESOME for those of us with IBD -- but stick to Chobani or Fage as other brands like Oikos thicken the yogurt by adding milk powder (extra lactose, usually not good for us!). Aged cheeses are also good options because they tend to be lower in lactose: farmer cheese, cheddar, swiss, and parmesan are good starters. There are also some "low lactose" cottage cheeses out there.

That's my list for now. I'm mostly focused on getting more food diversity and increasing calories so it sounds like your situation is more permissive than mine, but I guess the other thing I would stress is to change your mindset about high fiber==healthy. High fiber is healthy for people with normal functioning GI tracts. Vegetables are still super healthy and important for people with IBD, and unfortunately they happen to be high in fiber, but low fiber does not by definition mean unhealthy, especially when your GI tract is abnormal.

Hope this helps!

I have ulcerative colitis and found thr book "what to eat with IBD" by traci d'alessandro to be incredibly helpful. She distinguishes between soluble (good) and insoluble (bad) fiber for those with crohns and colitis. For example, apple skins are insoluble (bad) because your body can't break them down, but applesauce (soluble) is good because it actually helps gel the contents of your GI tract and reduce irritation. Good luck, it will get better!

This may sound stupid, but does cooking the heck out of vegetables (like that broccoli slow-poached in olive oil until it is spreadable) change the fiber content? If so, you could still get nutrients that way, but with less fiber. Seems like cooking them sort of pre "digests" them for you. Which actually is a theory as to why our brains evolved the way they did - because cooked foods helped us eat more nutrients with less energy.

I have a friend who has Crohn's - eating out is a nightmare with her because she is so sensitive, especially to MSG. It makes me so sad because I love vegetables, and she does too, but can't eat many of them.

http://www.cassandraforsythe.com/blog/Complete+FODMAP+List+For+a+Happy+Gut

This is a great list. As someone who can hardly digest anything - good list to follow!

Just as an aside; you probably don't need to be on a low-fiber diet in the long term. I'm an RD working in a GI clinic (we see lots of Chron's/UC) and we rarely recommend low fiber diet once medications begin to be effective and patient's symptoms are in remission. I'll second others here who suggest seeing an RD; ask to see one at your next outpatient

visit.

The problem with fiber for Crohn's is that with narrowing of the bowel from the chronic inflammation, an intestinal blockage is a real possibility. The liquid waste sneaks through, but the undigested fiber gets "stuck". Could lead to a very scary situation.