Hi all!

For the past few days I've not had an appetite in the morning due to bad crohns pain. I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I don't like skipping it. Because eating food is not appealing, I've found eating a 1-2. tbsp of whipped butter as the only thing I can stomach. Plus it tastes good lol Is this weird? Healthy?

Also I'm supposed to gain weight so I increased my protein and fat, only to lose more weight. Went from 99 to 95.9lbs this week. What am I doing wrong?

Why on earth do you think you will gain weight on a low carb diet? Are you on low carb to manage your crohns? If you want to gain weight, you will need to up your carbs. Do you know what foods trigger your crohns?

You probably wont find many people here trying to gain weight lol.

I think butter for breakfast is fine, butter anytime of day is fine! In

Are you exercising? Weight training will increase appetite, and sets a good stage for positive hormone balance.

My wife always has trouble gaining weight, shes on her 2nd pregnancy now, and the plan is the same as last time;

Eat breakfast
Eat lunch
Eat dinner
Before bed: drink 16oz of half and half with a little sugar free strawberry syrup.

It should be noted that she eats up to about 100g carbs per day, with rice, corn and potatoes as her carb sources. She normally weighs in at about 105lbs, but she only got up to 119 when our first baby was born.

UP your calories, up your carbs. Carbs like: Nuts, seeds, and fruit. if you still aren't gaining weight would you consider eating legumes? I'm not sure how tall you are but 95lbs seems really low... depending what age you are.. are you still getting your monthly? if not, you need to up your carb intake stat. If after you do all of this and you still aren't gaining weight.. you should up your carbs to 100 carbs a day. thats still considered "low carb" but it's more maintenance.

breakfast: Try to eat a couple tablespoons of nut butter over not eating at all. you need more calories and way more carbs.

Hi bluiza,

I have been doing low carb do to my crohns. I don't do well with fruits and starchy foods, plus Im celiac. I'm basically stuck with fats, seafood, and some cooked veggies. I thought I could gain weight low carb if my calories are high enough...although as most people know its hard to over eat fatty meats and veggies. For now its my only option until I can get my crohns under control.

from what i've read, eating low carb will help you lose weight if you're too heavy but also help you gain if you're underweight. so i'd keep eating low carb but eat lots of low carb veggies, adding fats too. stick to whole foods and it seems like you should start to gain. your body has to heal and that will take some time.

Hi yoga11,
Thanks for all the suggestions, unfortunately I can't have nuts, seeds, and fruits due to allergies and it causes major pain in my intestines. I'm 5'7". I know my weight is very low. I thought maybe eating a lot of fat would help keep weight on. I know carbs are probably better for gaining. Ugh. So stuck.

Don't worry about ladling on the butter. There are plenty of people here who enjoy it on its own, and a school of people who add it to hot drinks. Coconut oil is good too - very light and smooth.

I think breakfast is the most important meal of the day is just some old, outdated urban myth that people have accepted as true without any scientific scrutiny. Nothing wrong with skipping breakfast if you don't feel like eating. In fact, it might be healthy to have a longer fasting period each day.

However, there's nothing wrong with butter either.

If butter is one of the foods that you can best tolerate, then go for it. What foods CAN you eat that don't cause a reaction?

I feel for you on the need to gain weight. I have 4 friends diagnosed with crohns. I've seen their struggles. I know veggies (good carbs) can be problematic too. I have one friend who can only tolerate asparagus but no red meat. It's really difficult to gain weight and trying to find tolerable foods can be extremely painful and difficult. I hope you can get it figured out.

If you have trouble digesting meat, a course of Betaine HCL therapy has done wonders for me.

Butter for breakfast? A lovely idea? I do coffee with heavy cream and coconut oil.

I agree with Nancy. Breakfast is NOT necessary (for everyone). If you're not hungry don't worry about it.
But if it makes you nervous not to eat then I say continue on with the butter. Can you eat carby vegetables? (Like carrots, pumpkin, parsnips, beets etc...)

a bit off topic, but IS the low carb helping your Crohn's? I have Ulcerative Colitis, and was reading recently that stopping eating wheat could "cure" it. I'm wondering if there is any truth to that!

Hi anglgrl,
Unfortunately I can't right now, but once the pain goes down I think I will be able to