Flat Belly Diet, Sassy Water, and Crohn's

New Years Day brings thoughts of resolutions, diets, exercise, and generally all sorts of good intentions to get our lives in order.  This year the "hot" fad diet is is the Flat Belly Diet.  According to WebMD this is basically a variation of a Mediterranean diet with the addition of a 4 day jump start designed to reduce water weight.  The book is written by Liz Vaccariello who is an editor at Prevention Magazine, and nutritionist Cynthia Sass.  It is designed to take off a few inches or more off from the waistline.

The 4 day jump start hinges upon a concoction called Sassy Water.  Apparently Sassy water is water flavored with ginger, cucumber, lemon juice, and spearmint leaves.  It sounds pretty tasty to me, and some of these ingredients have a diuretic effect so I suppose it might help you lose a few pounds of water weight and help you jump start a diet.

Here is an example of the water recipe and a typical breakfast on the Flat Belly diet.

Sassy Water
2 liters water (about 8 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 medium cucumber. peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium lemon thinly sliced
12 small spearmint leaves

Combine ingredients and let it stand in fridge overnight. Drink all water the next day

Breakfast:one cup unsweetened corn flakes, one cup skim milk, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (which take forever to chew), and 2 tablespoons raisins. Smoothie:1 cup skim milk, 1 cup frozen fruit (blueberries, peaches, pineapple, etc.) Blend for one minute; then add 1 TB of flaxseed oil.

Now comes the real question - How does the Flat Belly Diet rate for someone with Crohn's?  Well... the water sounds good, and provided the lemon juice or ginger doesn't give you an upset stomach it should be ok.  Raisins have a lot of iron, which many Crohie's are short on due to malabsorbtion of nutrients.  However, raisins are also pretty fibrous so if you were flaring they might not be good.  Blueberries as well have those little seeds that are sometimes not recommended for people with IBD if they are on a low residue diet. 

The flaxseed oil is a healthy choice, but I have heard that it can cause the big D so be aware.

If the Flat Belly Diet is in fact like a Mediterranean diet it is probably basically sound for a person with Chrohn's.  You would have to watch the very fibery veggies and whole grains to make sure they do not disagree with you.  Also, of course with someone with Crohn's it's more important than ever to check with your doctor before you start any new diet plan.