Dustyn's Story: The Role of Nutrition in Managing Crohn's Disease

IBS and IBD

Diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in April 2009, Dustyn has over time learned the importance of diet on his IBD. As a husband and a father to two girls, that lesson has been a very important one.

It took close to a year for him to be diagnosed and treated. His family doctor focused on trying to treat his IBS first, with little impact on the issues he was experiencing. Following a colonoscopy, Dustyn was admitted to the hospital, where he stayed for 5 days. After being provided the medications and vitamins he needed to get himself on track, he left feeling like a new person.

Combining Diet and Medication

Now, Dustyn’s IBD holds very little day-to-day impact on his life due to a combination of medication and diet. He followed a Low FODMAP diet at the beginning, but has since been able to follow it less strictly. Thanks to the nutritional advice he’s received from a few different dieticians, he’s now conscious about what he’s eating and how it might impact his IBS/Crohns. Because of this, he also knows how to correct his diet to get his “bad days'' back on track. After being recommended Nutritional Therapy for IBD by his gastro doctor at the UofA, Dustyn has utilized the material provided to tweak his diet in a positive way that allowed him to minimize those bad days: “And that in itself is a good feeling when you aren’t worried about your stomach being upset or bloated all the time.”

The Cost of Healthy Food

Dustyn is not unfamiliar with the challenges that come with following a diet. Right now, his biggest obstacle is the cost of groceries in the current economic times. Overcoming that obstacle isn’t easy and requires sacrifices to be made – like cutting some certain foods that are good for him from the grocery list.

“Stick to the diet - you will notice benefits,” Dustyn advises. “It might not cure everything, but you will certainly notice a change in your gut and see some benefits.”