Grace follows a whole-foods, plant-based (vegan) diet that is also free of modern wheat. In the beginning, when she was having a flare, we cut out all grains and animal products because these can irritate a damaged gut. But once the gut healed, she did great with whole grains other than wheat and the occasional meat/dairy. Some more detail:
- Absolutely Nothing Lab-Made; no chemicals/preservatives/emulsifiers (e.g., Xanthan Gum, Carrageenan, etc.) Carrageenan and other emulsifiers have been definitively linked to IBD
- Emphasize Whole Foods (e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables, grains) but this doesn’t have to be perfect. Here are some time-saving exceptions:
- Whole grain flours for baking (e.g., Einkorn, Almond, Chickpea)
- Olive oil (really pretty healthy and natural overall!) and occasionally coconut oil in baking and avocado oil in higher-heat cooking
- Canned and jarred sauces, baking mixes, etc. – we just make sure the ingredient list is all natural
- Sometimes will use white rice rather than whole grain, brown or black rice
- Plant Based: Generally speaking, no eggs, dairy, or meat. However, based on the work of Chiba et al, we make exceptions and this reduces the need for supplementation of vitamins/minerals that vegan diets lack
- Meat (e.g., grass-fed chicken or beef) once per 2 weeks
- Fish (e.g., sushi or canned light tuna) once per week
- Yogurt as a special treat, maybe 1-2x per week. We allow this because of the benefit of probiotics for the gut microbiome, but only when she is in remission.
- No Sugar: This is very important; the bad bacteria that create disease in an unhealthy microbiome just love sugar. That said, I make exceptions for birthdays and holidays. It’s about training the microbiome with the right diet on a regular basis; if you get the microbiome in great shape, it can handle occasional treat!
- I naturally sweeten my recipes with things like bananas and sweet potatoes, and judicious amounts of dried fruit like raisins and dates.
- No Wheat: This actually does make things difficult, but a lot of people have trouble with modern wheat because it has been so hybridized and now contain higher levels of ATI’s, a group of proteins that cause inflammation. A lot of times you can find recipes that are gluten-free or vegan, but not usually both! I can usually get away with substituting Einkorn flour for conventional wheat flour, although I have to admit that the texture is not the same and the recipes require some tweaking to account for this