Breaking Down Fiber
Your Ultimate Guide to Eating Fruits, Vegetables and Other High-Fiber Foods with IBD
At some point, most people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) will have to follow a low-fiber diet.
Even if you have limited nutrition knowledge, you probably know that fiber is good for human health.
So, it surprises folks with Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis when a healthcare provider tells them to limit or avoid high-fiber foods, such as fruits and vegetables. It’s a catch-22. Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet, but too much fiber can upset an irritated or inflamed gut.
Confused? You're not alone!
- Nearly three million Americans and many more worldwide suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
- Most of these people don’t have a clue what to eat on a low-fiber diet.
- Without proper instruction, a low-fiber diet can worsen inflammation and nutrient deficiencies.
- Food triggers and safe foods are different for everyone.
- Not everyone with IBD needs to follow a low-fiber diet.
- There is a huge amount of incorrect, misleading and harmful information circulating the
internet , medical communities and elsewhere about nutrition and IBD.
We created this course to provide those of you with IBD the information and step-by-step guidance you need to eat well for your disease and to enjoy food once more.
"Colleen is an expert on how to eat with Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Since we began working together in 2011, I’ve seen significant improvements in our patients’ quality of life. She’s an outstanding teacher and appreciates the challenges associated with eating with IBD. I’m delighted she’s teamed up to create Wellness By Food; now I have a place I can send patients for quick and reliable nutrition information."
- Dr. Ellen Scherl, M.D., Gastroenterologist, Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC
In this course you’ll learn …
- How to eat a well-balanced, delicious, and gut-healing low-fiber diet that’s good for your overall health.
- How to eat fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods on a low-fiber diet.
- What high-fiber foods are appropriate for a “low-fiber” diet.
- When, why, and how to transition from a low to a high-fiber diet.
- More about dietary fiber (soluble vs insoluble), including why it’s important for human health.
- How to identify your high-fiber food triggers so you can have more control over your symptoms, like diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation.
- How to gain, lose, or maintain your weight on a low-fiber diet.
- Tricks for crafting yummy low-fiber meals that you and your family will love!
Best of all! You’ll learn all this AND walk away with practical advice for how to put your newfound knowledge into action.
This course is for you if …
- You have questions about the low-fiber, low-residue, or low-roughage diet and IBD.
- You want to enjoy eating on a low-fiber diet.
- You want to reintroduce high-fiber foods to your diet without worsening your symptoms.
- You want to eat well for your overall health despite your low-fiber restrictions.
- You want to invest your time and energy in something besides trying to navigate the huge amount of misleading, conflicting and incorrect information surrounding us about the low-fiber diet and IBD.
- You want to learn how to use food to improve your Crohn's or ulcerative colitis (because you know it does despite what your doctor might have told you).
- You want practical tips for reading food labels, ordering at restaurants, and planning meals on a low-fiber diet.
Your Instructor
I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist with years of experience counseling patients with Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, and pouchitis. My fascination with nutrition and gut health began in 2011 when I started working at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in NYC.
In 2017 I teamed up with Scott and Bertina to form Wellness By Food. Wellness by Food is an online nutrition resource for people with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis. Scott has Crohn’s and heavily relies on food and lifestyle to feel good. Bertina is a culinary nutritionist who has mastered cooking for IBD.
Our recommendations are based on years of research, clinical observations, and personal experiences.
With our expert nutrition advice + culinary skill + personal experience, we will show teach you how to love food once more.
Today I am able to eat and drink all the colors of the rainbow, having learned different ways to do that from Colleen. She took time to understand my history with food, emotions behind what or why I ate, and the details around both my IBS and IBD. She started slowly with me, literally teaching me to eat again. I feel healthier, like I’m getting a good balance of nutrition for myself, and confident that I can continue this nutritious lifestyle going forward.
Anisha C., person with IBD
From Scott, Co-Founder of Wellness By Food:
Like many of you, Crohn's disease changed my life. Most of my life I considered myself a “healthy person.” I was fit and felt great without obsessing over my diet or health. That all changed when I developed Crohn’s disease. And, oh man, was I confused about what to eat?! Figuring out what foods were safe became a full-time job.
Looking back, there are lots of things I wish I had known when I was first diagnosed with Crohn's. If I had, I know my journey would have been easier. For one, understanding food’s role in all of this is key, but it’s difficult. Your food reactions will be inconsistent and surprising. Sometimes a food will upset you; sometimes it won’t. Sometimes it will affect you days later; sometimes soon after eating. Finding your list of “safe” foods will take a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
In this course, I share with you my low-fiber experiences and discoveries. Even though there's no one perfect diet for everyone with Crohn's, I have many tips for helping you figure out what's best for you in much less time than it took me.
From Bertina, Co-Founder of Wellness By Food
Food has always been a big part of our lives. We have fond memories of sharing delicious meals with friends and family, hosting dinner parties, and sampling local delicacies while traveling the world. We enjoyed eating nutritious foods and were knowledgeable about healthy eating. That changed when Scott got diagnosed with Crohn’s. As it turned out, a lot of “healthy” foods weren’t so healthy for Scott’s gut. Suddenly, we had to throw away everything we knew about healthy eating and re-learn how to eat. Through lots of food experimentation and tracking, we learned what foods Scott could and couldn’t eat. From there we took more control over his symptoms and his healing process began.
Witnessing Scott manage his health through nutrition made me want to continue to learn how to use food to heal. So, I trained to become a certified culinary nutritionist. Now I get to show people how easy it is to prepare, cook and eat a wide-variety of wholesome foods. In particular, I love developing creative yet simple recipes that are safe and nourishing for people with IBD. Simple is the key word - simple ingredients, and simple instructions.
In this course I’ll share with you some of my favorite recipe makeovers, kitchen hacks, and practical tips for eating a healing and delicious low-fiber diet.
"Your website, tips and information you provide are awesome and so helpful!!! Thank you!"
- G.J., person with IBD