What CAN You Eat?

We all get this question.
You know, when you go to someones house for dinner, they ask you what you can eat, or can't. Frankly it's not that easy to answer.
My answer always is, "Everything" and that gets me strange looks because they know that's not true.
It's just easier than trying to explain the foods that:

1. cause me problems
2. sometimes cause me problems
3. don't cause any problems
4. I outright avoid.

Easy right? Sometimes I will just eat whatever is put in front of me and pay for it later...though, I don't do that very often. I'll even tell them not to make something special for me, I will eat what you make, but will leave on my plate what I would normally avoid.  I hate making people feel THEY need to make changes for me. It's not fair to them.

So, I'm going to try and make a list of items of things I can and cannot eat. This is tailored for me and will be different for you. This also changes on "bad" days such as a flare.

DRINKS

I try and stick to just water because it's the easiest, BUT, I drink Brita filtered water. I cannot drink water straight from the tap, it's causes problems for me, I've been using Brita for almost 30 years now.
I avoid soda, but do drink it occasionally, because of the sugar and causes bloating. If I drink it at a restaurant, I ask for no ice (ice is usually made from tap water) and I know I'm heading home afterwards as I try to avoid public washrooms.
Fruit juices are also out.
I drink coffee and tea occasionally, but with coffee, only brewed coffee and not instant. With 1 teaspoon sugar and no milk or cream.
Milk is a straight "nope". Way too many problems drinking milk, even lactose free milk.
Alcohol is also a no go. I will have a small glass of white wine at Christmas and that's it. I do miss drinking long island iced tea though...

VEGETABLES

I ALWAYS avoid "gaseous" vegetables like, onions, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, etc.
I also ALWAYS avoid all raw vegetables. They can cause blockages in the intestine because of strictures. I once was hospitalized from eating raw carrots...never doing that again, it was a very bad experience, throwing up every 5-10 minutes.
I avoid leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, kale, etc. You know....the ones you're suppose to eat. LOL
Any vegetable needs to be cooked down so it's soft.
My normal vegetables are cooked carrots, corn, potatoes or squash. I will have cucumber, with the rind cut off.

MEAT

This one is fairly easy.... chicken, fish, pork or hamburger.
The only problems I've ever had with meat is with steak. It's too hard to break down, in me anyway.

DAIRY

I try very hard to avoid milk or some milk products like ice cream, cream cheese, cream, cottage cheese, sour cream, whipped cream, etc.
Though, I CAN have yogurt, some cheeses (mainly hard cheddar's) and frozen yogurt.
When I was a baby, I could not drink cow's milk and was brought up on goat's milk. I outgrew it and did drink cow's milk (loved chocolate milk) as I was in soccer and figure skating, but when I was diagnosed with Crohn's, it caused wayyyy to many problems, even Lactose free milk. So I avoid it all together.

GRAINS

I try and avoid grains, not easy but I stick to white or sourdough bread. But I can tolerate instant oatmeal. The good healthy grains like whole wheat etc, has too much fiber.
I do my best to avoid fiber as it causes me to go to the bathroom because of lack of large intestine.

FRUIT

Basically.... banana's. Everything else has fiber. Berry's have seeds and other fruit have a skin that contains the fiber. So the safe bet are banana's

NUTS AND SEEDS

And that's a firm NO! BUT my "go to" protein is smooth peanut butter and I eat A LOT of it!

It's hard to list everything, but I highly recommend to keep a food/drink journal. It was very helpful when I was first diagnosed.
I kept track of the time I ate or drank, what I ate or drank, when I went to the bathroom and type of bowel movement (watery, semi formed, etc.), as well as if there was gas or blood.

A food journal is a must, especially for the newly diagnosed.