Friday, August 23, 2013

Crohn's Super Food - Avocado


Crohn's nutrition includes certain foods that are the epitome of the Crohn's diet, summarizing its goals into the actions of these foods, which are lessening bathroom usage and overall pain by minimizing the pain itself but also the opportunity for one's body to produce pain. These foods are named super foods, and can help any person diagnosed with Crohn's emotionally get involved with the Crohn's diet, because these foods are delicious and, so, encouraging to be disciplined on such a diet.

The avocado is a fine example of super foods. Incredibly high in nutrients, avocados have been considered to be difficult to digest. However, because of how fatty and oily avocados are, the textural density is quite low, making it easy to digest. Yes, avocados are fatty, but a good fatty-the fats lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol, where LDL is "bad" and HDL is "good."

Another benefit is that avocados slow down the absorption of other carbs in the blood stream through good fats called monosaturated fats. Sugar comes from simple carbs, and the reason why the Crohn's diet shuns simple carbs is due to the simple sugars, which by nature get in and get absorbed by the blood stream quickly-too quickly. The more sugars, the more pain. So, avocados slow this down process naturally, diminishing resulting pain. This means avocados makes digestion easier.

An avocado actually has 60% more potassium than bananas. This is a crucial element of understanding for people diagnosed with Crohn's because potassium is a nutrient that gets thrown out by the body easily; more frequent visits to the bathroom or having diarrhea means the disposing of crucial potassium. So, to ensure levels of potassium are not too low, Crohn's nutrition encourages potassium rich foods, thus the emphasized avocado intake and its title of "super."

Avocados also help motivate metabolism-high metabolism means more energy, something that those with Crohn's struggle with due to the energy put into painful chases of the toilet.

Another obstacle some with Crohn's may find on their way to better health through the Crohn's diet is anemia, or a deficiency in the amount of red blood cells. This may be caused by not enough protein absorption, usually through the source of meats, as it may be too difficult to digest, and/or bloody stool. So, avocados are found to also promote red blood cell growth-obstacle vanquished.

Another benefit includes the fact that avocados help build up emotional health as it fights against stress and depression, a common theme to those who struggle dealing with a normal life due to an excessive amount of time spent in the bathroom or simply in pain rather than studying, working, paying the bills, or building social bridges crucial to the human psyche.

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