The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut: The Complete Nutritional Guide to Ileitis, Colitis, Crohn's Disease, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Book was recommended to me and found a lot of great information in it.

I went to my last gastroenterology appointment expecting my doctor to change my medications since I have been having a flare for a year and the medication was not getting it under control, but instead he said "avoid eating wheat and dairy". Perplexed, I came home and ordered several books on Amazon about the effects of diet on inflammatory bowel disease. This was one of them.In the second chapter, the author shares the results of a large survey of people with IBD about what foods give them trouble and which they seemed to tolerate. This seems to be a good starting place. In the third chapter, he emphasizes the importance of keeping a food diary.He also gives a very well explained description and diagram of how eating foods high in arachidonic acid (such as animal fats) cause inflammation (chapter 10), while eating omega-3 foods such as fish oil help heal by causing "good" prostaglandin and leukotriene production.He teaches why processed foods with added salt are relly bad for your health by explaining the "K factor", the ratio of potassium to sodium. I have found from experience that when I am feeling especially drained, it is because my electrolytes are out of whack. Now I know what foods to eat and which to avoid to prevent this.He is a big advocate on reducing roughage for IBD patients, i.e., no skins or peels, veggies cooked thoroughly and, NO NUTS (unlike the SCD diet).However, the original reason I bought the book was to find out why my doctor prescribed for me the diet he did. In this book you will not find any mention of the effects of avoiding wheat or gluten. Several of the foods recommended are Wheaties and Cream of Wheat, without even the caveat that some people may be intolerant. Lactose intolerance is given a chapter and mentioned in a few other places.Overall it seemed a good book full of conventional dietary wisdom, and there was a little bit of "the human element" thrown in with a discussion about goal-setting and having a good attitude.

I liked that the author is a Ph.D in this area, but we have more current scientific information, and he contradicts newer data on crohnsandcolitisfoundation.org. For instance, he says to avoid nuts and seeds, altogether. The Foundation says that for most people, they are safe to eat, during remission. Also he uses a 120 pound woman and a 150 pound man as the basis for much nutritional and metabolic information, as if these were the norms. Since this does not represent American weight demographics, I found it difficult to relate to. He also recommends limiting fat intake to 25% of the daily diet, even when it comes to healthy fats like olive oil. This book was clearly written during the "low fat" fad of the 90's and early 2000's. Further, he recommends adding Flax Oil as a supplement. This contradicts current studies that show that flax oil can cause nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain. We who suffer with IBD already have enough of this.On the plus side, he does, do an excellent job explaining the differences of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats. The data we currently have on this still holds. He also recommends keeping a food journal in order to track your personal response to specific foods you eat. This is an excellent recommendation.I would say read this book, already armed with the newest information. Some of the science is still good, and he makes many good lifestyle recommendations. The book Crohn's and Colitis for Dummies is more current and has better data on current treatments.

I was diagnosed with severe UC just over a year ago. I had rapid-cycling flares-- sick for two or three days, recovering for a few, well for two, then sick again-- on a weekly basis. It was virtually impossible to function. I'm 45, male and have always lead a very active life. I was dependent on Prednisone for six months. Every time the dose went down, I got sicker. I was also on 6mp, Apriso, and colocort enemas, all to no avail. I had read Elaine Gottschall's "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" and tried the diet, but with limited success. In June, just before Father's Day, I went in for my second colonoscopy in a year and was facing the possibility of starting Remicade. I was extremely depressed and at times, wished it would all just end.After doing a lot of research online, I found Dr. Scala's book and it appealed to my scientific mind because he had reviewed scientific literature as well as conducted his own interviews with IBD patients. I received the book two days after my colonoscopy and read it in one sitting. I immediately implemented it. Since then, it has been like a miracle, at least for me. Within a few days, I was starting to become active again. Within a few weeks, I was back to my old self. Within a month I was off Prednisone and 6mp. Over five months later, I feel great. I'm living a normal life again-- working, going to the gym, active sex life, going out to dinner, etc. I only take Lialda daily as well as my vitamins.I don't know if it will help everyone as I think we all have some highly individualized causes of our symptoms that medicine just can't explain yet. But this book, this man, literally saved my life and I am so thankful to him and to God.

This book makes so much sense to me. I have very recently been diagnosed with Crohns disease and it seemed absolutely clear to me that my latest relapse leading to the diagnosis coincided with a short break from a fairly strict high protein diet I had been following for weight loss. Having read this book I can see that the food I had been eating while on the diet was nearly all food which is considered ok in the guidance offered in this book. While following that diet properly I had felt better than I had done for years and my spell "off the wagon" for just a couple of days included pretty much all the food which this book advocates avoiding! The advice and explanations are clear and logical, and while some of the advice, such as peeling apples, seems quite surprising, it is even more surprising that, for me anyway, it works! Unfortunately I am having to bring my condition under control through drugs at the moment, but have shown the book to my consultant, and made it clear that in the long term I want to manage it though diet rather than drugs. I have to be honest and say that he does not feel that diet plays any part, good or bad, in the onset or management of Crohns disease, but he is willing to work with me on it. Whatever your view this book is well worth a read in my opinion.

I guess when this book was first written the information and guide lines were current, but now many of the dietary do's and don'ts in the book are not current. I have been following the autoimmune Paleo Fodmap free diet for help with IBS and Coeliacs and have had the best results ever. Many of the food recommendations in this book are not good, for example onion, garlic and apples are big NO's on the Fodmap diet and this guy recommends eating them. Some of the nutritional advice was good, but I have read so many books on this subject, especially up to date books that I feel this book is well past its sell by date.

I bought this book for my 85 year old mother-in-law. She has suffered from Crohn's disease for most of her adult life. Following a recent 'flare up' of the debilitating condition, she went back to her doctor, who sent her back to hospital. She was seen by several specialists, including a nutritionist and a dietitianist.On release from hospital she was given several diet sheets and other information leaflets. I read them. Two of the diet sheets contradicted each other.I searched the web and came across this book. I bought it for her. It is easy to follow and has much advice and background information on her disease. She finds it interesting to read and now knows more about her condition than she knew before. She follows the recipes exactly.The advice in the book allows her to experiment with her diet without using ingredients which would cause another flare up.Result? She has had no recurrence of the problem since having the book, apart from one time when my sister-in-law took her to a restaurant for lunch!

This book was super helpful. I found out about this book on Crohn's forum and saw some great things written about it. As most diets, it is very difficult to follow it al, the way, but it gave me a great idea of some of the ch ages I needed to make to help me feel better.

An excellent book for anybody who is experiencing gut problems. I have yet to finish reading the book but it really is very clearly written, easy to understand and so far full of very good advice. Highly recommended.