why don't top gastroenterologists and Specialists for Crohn's frequently discuss the ideal diet for Crohn's disease this video Dives deep into that topic exploring the best dietary practices for managing Crohn's disease from the perspective of a GI surgeon and gut microbiome specialist I'll share crucial insights gained over the past decade from treating patients with crohn's disease in my clinic these tips are invaluable for anyone dealing with crohn's and looking to effectively manage their condition stick around for some practical [Music] discussion hi I'm Dr Chan oser a surgeon dedicated to reducing inflammation caused by gut microbiome imbalances My Method known as the Mind gut immunity approach has been refined over the past 12 years we've learned many lessons and have updated our strategies for the coming years 2025 and 2026 our protocols have helped countless patients overcome autoimmune disease and digestive disorders we tackle complex conditions like Crohn's disease without relying on medication this may sound surprising but when you examine intestinal inflammation and autoimmune disease through the lens of the gut microbiome it becomes clear that most inflammation is driven by gut health issues such as diet digestion sleep stress and exercise if you're curious about our approach and want to hear more about our success stories check the link in the description or visit mgic clinic.com to schedule a discovery call with me I'll provide you with some useful tips to get started also you can find numerous success stories from real patients on our site offering insights into what you can do and apply to your own life so let's dive in here is a 2022 multi-disciplinary review paper that analyzed nutrition in Crohn's disease here's another one from 2018 focusing on Elemental diets with crohn's disease flares and another 2015 study that shows micronutrient deficiencies in Crohn's disease in this video I'll discuss the ideal diet for Crohn's disease whether you're aiming for remission or managing a flare up finding the right diet during a Crohn flare can be challenging especially if you're trying to avoid medications like steroids or biologics over the years many of my patients with crohn's disease have reversed their symptoms and reduced inflammation without medication what sets these individuals apart because often times GI doctors will tell you that Crohn's disease is incurable offering tests and medications as the only options from my personal experience with autoimmune intestinal disease I can tell you that much of this advice is not accurate this video will highlight the ideal diet for Crohn's disease the common mistakes people make and how to achieve significant healing the first key point the importance of phytonutrients just look at the numerous studies emphasizing the role of phytonutrients in managing Crohn's disease here's a study on the gastroprotective effects of polyphenols and its imp impact on Crohn's disease another 2023 study examines antioxidants in inflammatory bowel disease and here's one from 2018 discussing Prebiotic fiber and resistant starch as it relates to microbiome changes in Crohn's disease there are countless papers on phytonutrients and Crohn's disease to keep it brief let me summarize a few points phytonutrients are molecular compounds found mainly in plants and fungi that have a strong positive effect on human health these include super Foods micronutrients and antioxidants research consistently shows that phytonutrient supplementation helps alleviate Crohn's disease symptoms phytonutrients fall into several different categories such as tpes phenols chlorophyll thiocyanates enzymes oils prebiotics and alkaloids these groups are essential for health while there are some other smaller groups like betal Lanes from beets and hereson from mushrooms focusing on these eight categories cover most phytonutrients deficiencies in these nutrients can disrupt the Mind gut immunity connection the goal is to maximize and optimize phytonutrient intake from everyday Foods by maximize and optimize I mean increasing the diversity and density of phytonutrients in your Crohn's diet which is crucial for health a Crohn's diet low in phytonutrients makes it harder to overcome inflammatory diseases inflammation can be significantly reduced by maintaining a diet rich in phytonutrient nutrient so I strongly advocate for high does phytonutrient supplementation with every single meal My Philosophy is that every eating opportunity should be utilized to nourish the Mind heal the gut and reset immunity neglecting these opportunities can lead to deteriorating health effects benefits of phytonutrients phytonutrients play a crucial role in modulating the immune response to inflammation if you have a predisposition to Crohn's disease or inflammation phytonutrients can help regulate your body's response many individuals with crohn's disease have a deficiency in phytonutrients which hampers their ability to maintain a balanced gut microbiome fiber and resistant starches known as prebiotics promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and as you know from my other videos 80% of the immune system resides in the gut making the composition of gut bacteria extremely important you want a microbiome that combats and prevents inflammation and phytonutrients significantly contribute to achieving this balance nutritional requirements in recent years intermittent fasting has gained wide popularity as a supposed anti-inflammatory practice however I want to challenge this notion generally fasting for extended period of times is not beneficial I repeat it is not a good idea here is a study from 2024 that shows intermittent fasting increases the risk of cardiac death by 91% people are literally dropping dead because they're not eating but as you know there are still a lot of people out there that think this is a good idea including people with crohn's disease I was one of them so shortterm when you stop eating you feel good and that's because you don't have all that food being metabolized by pro-inflammatory bacteria in your intestines and your colons that's why you avoid eating so initially when you stop eating you might feel better because there's no food being metabolized and you just feel better however over several days weeks and months of intermittent fasting various issues can arise number one you can have weight loss and muscle wasting number two thyroid dysfunction number three cortisol and sympathetic endocrine disruption four sleep disturbances five you have protein calorie malnutrition which can impede wound healing and compromise how inflammation is addressed you can have nausea reflux and the feeling of fullness with the decreased appetite and you will have severe unmitigated intermittent fatigue and when these problems develop eating becomes even more challenging you might feel very bloated gassy lethargic and low on energy after meals these symptoms can deter you from eating adequately in the future creating a vicious cycle that's difficult to break especially if you're underweight being underweight with a body mass index of 18 or lower can be particularly problematic you can easily calculate your BMI using the BMI calculator by entering your height and weight if your BMI is below 18 and you have Crohn's disease you are in serious risk I have treated patients with a BMI as low as 13 which is very severe and have gotten them past the finish line but when you have a low BMI and Crohn's disease it means your body is in catabolic State breaking down protein rather than building it up which is detrimental to intestinal healing additionally these patients often cannot tolerate food and struggle to eat requiring careful coaching through the process the reason I emphasize this is that the solution to a dysfunctional gut microbiome should never be to stop eating or avoiding food instead the focus should be on fixing the inflammation first then eating normally unfortunately many people have given up on trying to find the ideal diet for Crohn's disease and may end up avoiding food altogether all right macronutrients if you're trying to determine the ideal macronutrient balance for managing Crohn's disease you need to focus on fats carbohydrates and proteins to reduce inflammation I've seen that approximately 50% of your daily calories come from fats while carbohydrates and proteins each make up about 25% this suggestion is based on my extensive experience working with thousands of patients rather than on specific scientific studies if your goal is to lose weight you might need to lower your intake of carbohydrates and fats even more while increasing your protein consumption and reducing overall calories conversely if you're trying to gain weight it's important to increase your total calorie intake and find a more balanced ratio between carbs and fats tracking these macronutrients can help you achieve your desired health goals it requires some effort but it's worth it the approach can significantly improve your diet balance and long-term Health the ratios of these macronutrients are crucial because they influence the gut microbiome which consist of bacteria and fungus that thrive on sugars starches and fibers all of which are considered carbohydrates so you have these bad bacteria funguses and they're processing sugars carbs and fiber and they create inflammation simple sugars like glucose and fructose can stimulate the growth of both harmful bacteria and fungi similarly simple starches such as those found in processed flour can lead to bacterial and fungal overgrowth however complex or resistant starches encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria fiber also promotes The Selective growth of beneficial bacteria you may be thinking that this all sounds very complicated and difficult to manage why not just avoid carbs altogether well you can do that with a carnivore diet a carnivore diet consists exclusively of meat completely eliminating fiber and include some electrolytes so you have things like animal Meats which are red meats and white Meats they have an emphasis on organ Meats um you got to watch out for the liver because you can have fat soluble vitamins such as a and d which are high and can cause toxicity um also have fish and seafood and some of these diets highly emphasize animal-based fats and eggs if you're adhering strictly to a carnivore diet you will eliminate all Dairy and fiber from your diet this is different from say a low carb diet keto diet for Crohn's or an Ain for Crohn's because it involves completely avoiding all forms of carbohydrates including fiber lactose starches and sugars low carb diets keto diets and Atkins for Crohn's disease are not ideal if they still include problematic types of fiber and carbs it's important to note that the carnivore diet usually stems from the Paleo diet and originally the paleo diet was focused heavily on plant-based foods with occasional meat aligning more closely with the phytonutrient diet that I advocate for however over time the concept of a paleo diet especially for Crohn's disease has evolved into more of what we consider now as a carnivore diet when followed correctly the carnivore diet can be effective because it eliminates all carbs sugars and fibers that feed the bacteria and the fungus in the gut this approach can be particularly useful during a flare up however for long-term Health it is essential to assess whether this diet is sustainable and will produce the desired results while it may help during an acute flare it may not be the best solution for permanently addressing the microbiome issues I have a detailed video on this topic so be sure to check it out in addition to the carnivore diet there are other diets that focus on avoiding certain carbohydrates one such diet is the specific carbohydrate diet or the SCD diet the SCD is designed to manage and alleviate symptoms of various G gastrointestinal disorders by eliminating specific types of carbohydrates that are difficult to absorb and can ferment in the gut and here's a detailed summary the SC eliminates specific types of carbohydrates known as disaccharides and polysaccharides which are thought to contribute to bacterial overgrowth and fermentation in the gut I've created an entire video comparing this diet to the phyto diet for managing Crohn's disease in my opinion it's more effective to address gut microbiome dysfunction using precision probi iotics and then support these healthy strains with phytonutrients the SCD diet is not a targeted approach and does not yield consistent results another diet worth mentioning along the same lines that specifically restricts certain types of fiber is called the low FODMAP diet which avoids fermentable carbohydrates the low FODMAP diet was designed to manage symptoms of Crohn's Disease and other functional gastrointestinal disorders by limiting foods that contain certain types of fermentable carbohydrates rates here's a detailed summary so you may be wondering with so many diets out there that avoid carbs which ones actually work and how does this relate to inflammation in the gut microbiome the issue that I have with these diets and I'll say it again is that they often try to avoid addressing the underlying problem of gut microbiome dysfunction at the core if you have bacteria and funguses that process carbohydrates fibers and sugars it can lead to overgrowth in the production of harmful metabolites you can also get conditions like sibo small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and candida and these are good examples of the issue where there's an overgrowth of bacteria and fungi these conditions can result in higher histamine levels elevated inflammatory cyto kindes and a range of symptoms such as fatigue bloating brain fog and lethargy I've discussed these symptoms in detail in some of my other videos so here you have a dysfunctional gut microbiome you're trying to restrict carbs sugars and fiber and in doing so you're trying to decrease inflammation the other diets I've mentioned so far deal with the carbs sugars and fibers aspect of this equation but do not effectively address long-term gut microbiome Health essentially these diets provide a temporary solution delaying the problem to a later time so that takes me to my next point the ideal Crohn's disease diet should be microbiome specific avoiding carbs does not address the root cause of the problem which is the gut microbiome and its dysfunction this issue can only be effectively managed with targeted phytonutrients and specialized probiotic formulations designing the perfect phyto diet requires careful planning and expertise this is why I emphasize the Mind gut immunity approach We Begin by recalibrating the gut microbiome with Precision probiotics in the first week these probiotics are not found in stores they are supported by clinical data and are specifically formulated for gut related issues instead of needing High CF you counts or multiple strains or Refrigeration all you need are four highly targeted and effective strains that establish a protective biofoam in the gut to combat bad bacteria to support these healthy colonies we need phytonutrients which are mostly found in plants certain proteins can trigger immune responses for example complex proteins May provoke inflammation therefore some people avoid complex proteins entirely and generally I see the same caution with them as well however it's easy to take these diets to too far for example a vegan or plant exclusive diet can be one such extreme the vegan diet is a plant-based regimen that excludes all animal products that includes meat Dairy eggs and honey and it focuses on a variety of plant-based foods to meet nutritional needs and here's a summary the major issue is that most people don't consume enough protein leading to protein calorie malnutrition which is detrimental when trying to heal inflammation in the intestines and the colon you need amino acids and protein should make up about 25% of your daily caloric intake additionally many vegan foods are just unhealthy including processed foods food additives fake meats and fake cheeses with harmful chemicals I call this vegan junk food this approach certainly doesn't work for my clients now a more balanced approach could be the Mediterranean diet the Mediterranean diet is inspired by the traditional eating habits of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and it emphasizes Whole Foods particularly plant-based Foods healthy fats and lean proteins and here's a summary a limitation of the Mediterranean diet is that it doesn't allow for precise tracking of phytonutrient intake and hear me out on this one it's also very crucial to ensure that half of your calories are coming from Omega fats which are essential for a gut microbiome Health while the Mediterranean diet includes many of the beneficial Foods it lacks consistency in terms of nutrient tracking which can be problematic my clients follow a phyton nutrient-rich diet which means we meticulously monitor the intake of carbs fats and proteins which are macronutrients as well as micronutrients daily this targeted approach ensures that the diet supports and optimizes the gut microbiome which is essential for managing autoimmune inflammation so that brings us to our last concept food Diaries and food sensitivity tests in Crohn's disease the ideal Crohn's disease diet should consider individual food sensitivities I have a video dedicated to food sensitivity testing for Crohn's disease explaining the best test to get and how to interpret them it's important for any diet to account for personal food aversions sensitivities and allergies the best way to determine this is by keeping a food diary although it might seem basic and tedious it's a requirement for all of our clients now when you're inflamed almost all the foods might seem problematic however when you're feeling better you can tolerate what foods you normally wouldn't be eating when you're unwell therefore food sensitivities can change over time and it's crucial to keep track of this Evolution here are the basic types of food sensitivities the first you have a classic skin prick test this is where you are going to a doctor's office and they put in a bunch of allergens into the skin and they see how your skin reacts this is a classic allergy test next you have a serum IG test this is a blood test that looks for allergies anaphylactic type reactions to certain types of food groups next you have an igg4 test these tests look for food sensitivities and this is the most common type of test you can find on the commercial Market you can even order some of these yourself and then there's a serum MRT test and MRT stands for mediator release test and this is the newest test I would say for food sensitivity the reason this test is kind of cool is because it looks at the Lucy the white blood cell and how it reacts to a certain antigen in food so if the white blood cell degranulates and becomes smaller that means means that there's a heightened sensitivity and the results get logged into a chart that you can follow I frequently review and interpret these tests for clients helping them understand the results I also have a detailed video on how to interpret food sensitivity test for Crohn's disease and the role in IBD this video covers the different types of tests their pros and cons and the best timing for these tests during the recovery process it's often not advisable to take these tests while in flam due to the high rate of false positives testing when healthier gives a more accurate picture of true allergies and sensitivities the AIP diet is designed to help manage autoimmune diseases by reducing inflammation and promoting gut health it's a stricter version of the paleo diet and focuses on eliminating potential dietary triggers of inflammation and autoimmunity the diet typically progresses through several phases first you have an elimination phase where you're eliminating all the foods that may cause inflammation or immune reactions these can include things like rains legumes Dairy eggs nuts seeds night shades and then you have a reintroduction phase where you gradually reintroduce these eliminated Foods one by one to identify which triggers are present for your symptoms and this helps personalize the diet to each individual person then there's a maintenance phase where you can maintain a diet and avoid the triggers while focusing on nutrient dense anti-inflammatory foods same is also true for a low histamine diet the only reason I'm mentioning it here is that it often makes its way into conversations about inflammation and the idea here is that you avoid foods that trigger histamine commonly but as I've mentioned previously the microbiome is the main producer of histamine in the body so things like bacteria candida and sibo are all things that need to be addressed the low histamine diet spends a lot of time trying to avoid common trigger foods but it doesn't address the gut microbiome component and it's not specific to each individual since every person has different triggers I have several videos comparing the phytonutrient diet to each of the individual diets I mention here today so check out the description below to see those videos because I go way in depth into some of these diets and why they fit and what you can look out for the key points of a low histamine diet include avoiding High histamine foods like aged cheeses fermented foods processed Meats alcohol vinegar certain fish and avoiding histamine liberators which are foods that release histamine stored inside of it which means avoiding foods that release histamine stored in the body such as Tomatoes strawberries eggplants spinach avocados certain nuts and then you also want to avoid foods that have biogenic amines and these are things like bananas chocolates and certain Citrus Foods these inhib histamine degradation all right here's a recap here are the principles of an ideal Crohn's disease diet number one is phytonutrients we've subscribed to a phytonutrient diet number two is nutritional requirements we're talking about both macronutrients and micronutrients number three is microbiome specificity number four is food sensitivity at the mind go immunity Clinic we spend considerable time developing custom plans for each individual based on these principles we also provide coaching to ensure accountability and compliance which is why we achieve consistently great results compared to practices Focus solely on medication we teach people how to manage their diets from home and when traveling and we offer meal plans food guides recipes and grocery lists this support ensures our clients are never lost and can manage their condition effectively from anywhere all right this wraps up this session be sure to check out my other videos comparing different diets to the Phyto diet and how they they compare if you found this video helpful please share it with others and don't forget to like And subscribe for more content such as this [Music]

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