Legal Disclaimer: This site is for education, reference, and encouragement only based on my experience with having Crohn's and my knowledge as a human anatomy and physiology teacher. I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. But it is what worked for me.
My Gameplan for Beating Crohns - What worked for me!
My two "non-negotiables" - no cheating!
Non-Negotiable #1: Gluten-Free
Gluten has been linked to gut inflammation and dysbiosis - science here
Any time you go out to eat, let the server know you can't have gluten. Most places are really helpful when you tell them.
Whenever you purchase food in the grocery store, check the label. Information about label reading courtesy of the Celiac foundation.
Non-Negotiable #2: Extreme sugar restriction
Refined sugar is basically the most inflammatory thing that we find in our diets. There's an excellent TED talk on this in the resources section.
For anything that comes from the produce section, i.e. whole fruits and vegetables, I don't count sugar. This is because the sugar is in a matrix of other nutrients, and isn't the refined sugar that's really the probolem.
If it has a nutrition label, then I count grams of total sugars, and I won't go over 30 grams of sugar a day.
30 grams is hardly anything! It will take some time to get used to it, but honestly after a couple of weeks I didn't even notice and I no longer have sugar cravings!
Other helpful interventions
Collagen - This protein has the ability to directly repair the gut barrier. Science here. You can get it as a supplement, but I prefer to get it via food, especially via bone broth. In the resources section I have a recipe for my bone broth beef stew and chicken soup, which are two of my favorite ways to get it into my diet.
No alcohol - Crohn's disease was not the only reason I decided to give up alcohol completely, but it helps! Alcohol is pro-inflammatory, and if we're being honest it's poison, so eliminating it can only help.
Probiotic Supplementation - These can help put good bacteria back into your gut. When selecting a probiotic be sure to use one that is packaged to survive the stomach acid before reaching the intestines. Be sure to discuss any supplements with your doctor!
Vitamin D Supplementation - Most of us are vitamin D deficient due to inadequate dietary intake and sunlight exposure. There is some scientific evidence this can contribute to Crohn's. Supplementation can help with this. Be sure to discuss any supplements with your doctor!
Avoiding Trans Fats - Trans fats are artificially created through a chemical process called hydrogenation. If a nutrition label says something is hydrogenated, avoid it!
Lots of healthy Omega-3 fats - You can get these from fatty fish, or from fish oil supplements. Be sure to discuss any supplements with your doctors!