A good “rule of thumb” for the amount of vegetables and fruits to include in your meal is:
Vegetable serving: 1 fist (make a fist, that’s 1 serving of your vegetables)
Fruit serving: 1 cupped hand is a serving of fruits
Your carbohydrate choices can be very personal and specific with IBD. While bagels, bread, pasta and other processed carbs can be considered unhealthy choices what is one to do if they are the only foods that do not cause gut distress?
Ideally, we would hope to eat a healthy source of carbohydrates from fresh, organic fruits and veggies. Steaming and cooking veggies can improve your ability to digest them. Pureed fruits can help alleviate issues with seeds that can cause gut irritation for some.
Explore options that fit your situation and nutritional needs. Remember that you don’t need to eat every fruit or vegetable in the world. If you can find just a few that help improve your gut health stick with them!
Bonus – a helpful rule of thumb is to start with the “eat the rainbow” approach for vegetables and fruits (see Resource section for more info)
Try this:
Review the list of vegetables and fruits in the Resource section to build your rainbow.
