Questions about a liquid diet.

When my brother was diagnosed recently they mentioned something about a liquid diet and how it can really help achieve remission, but they didn't go in to any detail really and we were given prednisolone to take home, since that time i have been researching things online and from what i have read the liquid diet can be just as effective as the prednisolone, but without all the potential side effects.

If this is the case then why would they not try this first, i would be interested to know what the liquid diet involved, and if any of you have done it how did you find it, did it work and so on, as my brother is only fourteen nearly fifteen do you think he could stomach the liquid diet, i mean with the taste and stuff, is it like a drink like Ensure clinical strength or is it more specialized.

Thanks for the help with my questions.

You can use the Ensure, but hear it is hard to get it in the UK? There is also modulen but I have no experience in that stuff. If you have Ensure, or Boost, it would really help your brother to have bowel rest.

For a liquid only diet I think you would need to get something on prescription, things like ensure aren't nutritionally complete and contain lots of sugar. Modulen IBD is specially designed for this situation. Unfortunately, modulen is way, way more expensive than Prednisone, and I am sure UK doctors are told to give the cheapest option first!

Rebecca85 said:

For a liquid only diet I think you would need to get something on prescription, things like ensure aren't nutritionally complete and contain lots of sugar. Modulen IBD is specially designed for this situation. Unfortunately, modulen is way, way more expensive than Prednisone, and I am sure UK doctors are told to give the cheapest option first!

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I don't think that price was an issue as i'm sure she said we can try it if we wanted to, but we had alot to take in in terms of advice that day so i think it was left as an option.

I think the main problem with liquid diets is sticking to them. Firstly the specialist liquids are supposedly not that great tasting (though you can get flavours for the modulen) and secondly people can be really really hungry. For a 15? year old it might be hard to resist temptation if all his friends are eating, and I don't think it works if you don't stick to it 100%. So it would have to be your brothers decision. Long term the liquid diet does seem better than steroids, but it's a darn sight easier to pop a few pills! I wasn't given the option at first diagnosis, and once the Pred kicked in and I was no longer in constant pain there was no motivation, however I would definately ask about a liquid diet if I have another flare like that.

Peptamen is available on prescription and is a pre-digested elemental diet so it helps achieve bowel rest where Ensure, Boost, and others like that would not. Plus the others are all packed with sugar too.

And like Rebecca said.. well, first of all the taste is not great but if you really need it, you get used to it, believe me. Second it is hard not to eat real food. I am on 6-7 Peptamen 1.5/day and am still hungry. I eat less than 10 ounces of food a day I would say but I'm all screwed up. Losing weight again and need surgery but they won't operate on me underweight or on high steroids but it's the steroids that are holding weight on me (water retention). Catch 22.

Rebecca85 said:

I think the main problem with liquid diets is sticking to them. Firstly the specialist liquids are supposedly not that great tasting (though you can get flavours for the modulen) and secondly people can be really really hungry. For a 15? year old it might be hard to resist temptation if all his friends are eating, and I don't think it works if you don't stick to it 100%. So it would have to be your brothers decision. Long term the liquid diet does seem better than steroids, but it's a darn sight easier to pop a few pills! I wasn't given the option at first diagnosis, and once the Pred kicked in and I was no longer in constant pain there was no motivation, however I would definately ask about a liquid diet if I have another flare like that.

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Thats the thing he says he doesn't have any bad pain and the only reason he can't go back to school yet is the frequency of him needing the loo, this was one of my main concerns when they gave him the prednisolone i thought that this was for people who were in really bad pain not just having the runs a bit there is no blood or anything any more, so to me other options would have been better, although i'm new to learning about crohn's that is just my way of thinking.

Hiya, Meg was given Ensure Plus, they said they wanted to go down this route to avoid steroids, she really enjoyed the chocolate and banana flavours. She ended up having a liquid diet for 12 weeks, as she couldn't eat any solid food as it made her vomit due to the stricture. She regained her weight, and had all the vitamins and calories she needed and was painfree until her surgery resection date. She said it tasted fine and she lived on 6 or 7 a day. I tried it and it tasted nice!! (She has never had any diarrhea ever.)

But isn't a stricture scar tissue? In which case Pred wouldn't help?

Prednisolone treats active inflammation. Depending on the type of inflammation and where it is, you can have different symptoms. The thing is, you have to treat the inflammation as quickly as possible to prevent scarring. There are milder drugs out there, but they won't reduce inflammation as effectively. And other drugs that work to reduce inflammation can take a long time to kick in, and come with their own side effects.

At the time they didn't know what what going on before the colonoscopy, endoscopy and barium meals. The doc just said to try the liquid diet before considering steroids as this can calm the gut very effectively as it happened it was just a stricture in the small bowel and so she stayed on liquids, (she never ever felt hungry on it) and yes the stricture was due to scar tissue.

A little info about Ensure Plus:

Ensure Plus®

Complete, Balanced Nutrition®


Each bottle of Ensure Plus has the right balance of 350 nutrient rich calories, 13 grams of protein and 24 essential vitamins and minerals to help you take charge of your health.
For oral use
For interim sole-source feeding
For those who have fluid restrictions or require volume-limited feedings

Ensure Plus is ready made and comes in 220ml bottles, very convenient if you have days out or sleepovers as our 16 year old does. LOL

I guess it depends on your doctor, whether you get offered the liquids or not. My appetite was undiminished, and I wasn't having any problems keeping food down, that probably influenced the decision. Like I said, I would have liked the chance to try the liquids, especially as I was prescribed the pred even before I was diagnosed, but as I was in hospital at the time I didn't do any research till I got out.

Rebecca85 said:

I guess it depends on your doctor, whether you get offered the liquids or not. My appetite was undiminished, and I wasn't having any problems keeping food down, that probably influenced the decision. Like I said, I would have liked the chance to try the liquids, especially as I was prescribed the pred even before I was diagnosed, but as I was in hospital at the time I didn't do any research till I got out.

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I have just looked at the cost of Modulen if i am right it's around 20 pounds a day that seems really expensive, but i'm not sure how much it costs the NHS for the prednisolone, but this must be a better option maybe even using it as an addition with food to help people stay in remission, we certainly don't want my brother to be on prednisolone long term, so our next visit to the doctor we will definitely be discussing the liquid diet.

Pred costs a few pence per day, depending on the dosage. And no, your brother shouldn't be on pred long term. Usually they will reduce the dose every week, and before he finishes the course they will start something like mesalazine. The exact drug depends on where is inflammation is. Mesalazine is a very mild, safe drug that will help stop inflammation from recurring. Why don't you have a look at our wiki to find out more about the different drugs and treatment options? Www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/crohns-disease

Rebecca85 said:

Pred costs a few pence per day, depending on the dosage. And no, your brother shouldn't be on pred long term. Usually they will reduce the dose every week, and before he finishes the course they will start something like mesalazine. The exact drug depends on where is inflammation is. Mesalazine is a very mild, safe drug that will help stop inflammation from recurring. Why don't you have a look at our wiki to find out more about the different drugs and treatment options?

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They gave us 60mg first week, then 40mg second, after that roughly down 5mg each week so about three months course of prednisolone, but after reading a few posts on here i see some people find it hard to get off the prednisolone thats what also worries me. In the info pack they gave us there was some info on something called azathioprene and 6MP so i don't know if that is the route they will take or not.

Hiya Marcus, Meg was given the liquid diet and Azathioprine it's a drug that suppresses the immune system. Try not to worry too much xxxxxxxx

Dallies said:

Hiya Marcus, Meg was given the liquid diet and Azathioprine it's a drug that suppresses the immune system. Try not to worry too much xxxxxxxx

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I know i should try not to worry too much, i keep asking him if he's okay and i think it's starting to annoy him slightly, so i'm going to have to stop being so in his face all the time and atleast pretend to be a bit more relaxed, and just try to talk about day to day stuff like we usually do.

How did your daughter find the Azathioprine, is it working for her.

It's only natural Marcus and you are a wonderful, loving brother. I was exactly the same with Megan, hovering over her and worrying just like you are and no doubt your parents are. Meg joined here but doesn't come on here or post, however she has made some good friends here that she fb and MSNs xxxxxxx She has got on very well with the aza, she takes it at night (100mg) we are not sure how long she has to continue taking it, will know more after our next appointment as she has had her op and is now in remission. She is currently studying for her A levels in sixth form xxx

I know it's never a good time to get crohn's what ever age you are, but it must be really hard for a teenager dealing with all the the things that come along with being a teen. How did Megan find getting on with school and her friends, it's just i think my brother is a bit worried about that not massively, he has had friends text him asking why he hasn't been at school latley and he wasn't sure what to say to them, i think he should just be honest, it's a very personal choice for him to make.

I'll PM you xx

marcus said:

I know i should try not to worry too much, i keep asking him if he's okay and i think it's starting to annoy him slightly, so i'm going to have to stop being so in his face all the time and atleast pretend to be a bit more relaxed, and just try to talk about day to day stuff like we usually do.

How did your daughter find the Azathioprine, is it working for her.

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It's still such a shock to you and it'll take time to come to terms with it. I think it's great that you care so much, even if it is getting on his nerves a little haha.

Last year I tried a liquid diet for 7 weeks, I followed guidelines from Jini Patel's book Listen to Your gut and the IBD Remission Diet. She sells a product called Absorb plus which is like ensure except it's powdered so you mix it with water and your own oils. The IBD remission die book also gives a recipe so my naturopath was able to replicate it with protien powder, maltodextrin and some vitamin powders. I found the diet provided me relief from pain but took a lot or resiliance to stick to it, it's amazing how much food plays in our lives, especially socially. I had difficulty maintaining my weight as I was just over drinking shakes and broth. I closely monitored via blood tests and this diet was the only time my albimum levels got close to what they should be. Still had D (3-4 times each hour) but they say thats expected on this diet. I found my gut wasn't real keen for me to reintroduce food and it took a long time to reintroduce food. It was no long term fix and the inflammation just appeared to be rested and upon re-eating it flared up again. I still have 2 - 3 shakes a day. I did stop them and my albumimum reduced to dangerously low levels (16 and should be above 30). Good Luck Your brother is very lucky to have you to help him through this mine field.:kello:

There is a liquid you can use but I can’t remember the name of. It begins with S and it is often used as a food in hospital and nursing homes for people who are very sick and are having problems eating solid food. You can buy it at the chemist. Not sure if this is what you mean?

As I posted previously, sometimes you just need to let your digestive system and bowels take a rest from constant processing and elimination. I learnt this from a health centre, where they were using water or juice fasting programs for a whole host of ailments:

http://www.treeoflife.nu/programs/detoxification-fasting/juice-fast-detox/

People can do supervised fasts for weeks or months, so not eating can be safe in the right environment and circumstances.

I have found that eating actually makes UC worse, especially if you are eating the wrong foods.

Last week I ate the wrong foods and had the worse flare that I have had in five years. It felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut with a knife, I had terrible cramps, diarrhea, exhaustion and was passing loads of blood. That was the Thursday and I had to take the day off work sick.

On the Friday morning I just ate plain fruit. Then from Friday lunchtime until Tuesday night I fasted with a combination of water and vegetable juices only, no solid food. I drank around two litres of juice and one litre of water each day throughout the day.

Started feeling better on Sunday night / Monday morning, and everything is now under control. The pain, cramps, diarrhea and blood have ceased, and my energy levels are slowly rising. I will now introduce broths and then soups before going back onto solid food.

With fasting you don’t eat solid food, but you still get essential nutrients from whatever vegetables you are juicing. So you get all the goodness, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, trace elements and nutrition you need, but without the fibre that would inflame an already inflamed system.

But as I was advised at the health centre, it is hard to fast whilst taking medication because most medication requires you to take it with solid food. I only started doing the fasts after I stopped the medication.

I think fasting is the best tool I have tried for calming things down.

So what are everyones opinions about a liquid diet being just as effective if not better than prednisolone or other medications, do you think that medications are taken over this more often because of convenience or because it's an easier option for the doctors to take, i would like to know what you all think as i'm still learning and want to help my brother make the best decision for him long term.

A liquid diet is great for the bowels to rest,but not a long term goal. Who wants to drink and not eat ?? Prednisone is usually the drug most doctors give to get the active disease under control ... but again not long term. It is used in a combination of another maintenance drug that usually takes longer to kick in and when you taper off the Prednisone hopefully the new or other drug that is milder will help sustain the disease. Long term Prednisone poses many side effects the only good one is people feel better so they eat and gain weight. If he is on Prednisone in his lifetime, Calcium and Vitamin d3 is so important, more so than many others. Having blood work done for B12, is alot important.

We dont have a magic pill or diet everyone is a hit and miss , trial and error. But because he is young nutrition should be his main goal, and keeping the Crohns in check. I am proud of you for caring. We are here to answer any questions keep us posted on how he is doing and what the docs are saying. BTW keeping him stress free goes a long way. Good luck.

Can a UK GP prescribe a liquid diet? It's been nearly a week now and I can't keep any food in at all and am feeling so weak. I thought this might work as a stop gap until I actually get a Gastro appointment.

StarGirrrrl said:

Can a UK GP prescribe a liquid diet? It's been nearly a week now and I can't keep any food in at all and am feeling so weak. I thought this might work as a stop gap until I actually get a Gastro appointment.

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Well the doctor mentioned it to us so i'm guessing yes, if you feel you would benefit from it ask them about it.

Thanks marcus that is a big help.

Sorry i can't offer more advice, but my brother has only recently been diagnosed, so we are still learning about treatments and things.

No worries I'm waiting for a diagnosis (confirmed IBD) but no gastro appointment as yet so you see my predicament.

My brother would have still been waiting for an appointment now, but we took him down the hospital when he didn't feel well the other week, i'm so glad we did now as we got seen to really quickly having different tests and things, hope you get sorted soon.

Went to A&E Wednesday but they couldn't help although they tried, tested blood & urine and tried to get me a gastro appointment but they couldn't either.

Sorry to hear your having to wait so long, if your suffering really bad (not sure how bad you are) i would go back down and try and get seen.

Well I could do but would be a waste of time and taxi fares. They sent me home not knowing what was wrong and knowing I wasn't being helped anytime soon by Gastro.

Out of interest what tests did your brother get given?

Hey guys,

Have just been reading this thread - doing a bit of catching up as have been offline for a few weeks.

There is another drink called elemental 028 extra. Again like the modulen its designed for crohns and others specifically. If you want to google it you will find shs international the company that makes it and their home page with more info. GP's can prescribe it - have to say it depends where in country you are as to how happy/keen they are. I was living in cambridgeshire when diagnosed dec 06 and still travel there for my appointments with gastro and others as they all know me - but my GP was really pro the drinks and I had no problems at all getting it on prescription. Now living in the leicester area my GP practice are not keen on me being on it more than a few weeks - keep in mind I originally ended up with 6.5 months! I do still have it on my repeat prescriptions and can order when I need it.

I also have regular contact with my gastro dietitian - even though she is cambridge based with my gastro we stay in touch via email - who keeps track of me both regarding my drinks and my diet. It has been an immense help.

If I can help in any way feel free to PM me.

Thinking of you all.

StarGirrrrl said:

Well I could do but would be a waste of time and taxi fares. They sent me home not knowing what was wrong and knowing I wasn't being helped anytime soon by Gastro.

Out of interest what tests did your brother get given?

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Well when i say my brother was seen to quickly that is not entirely correct, taking him to hospital was us saying enough is enough, as we have been taking him to his GP for some time for answers, a pediatrician for a fair few visits, and he had a visit to the childrens hospital, just to be told to take some movicol.

Then the other week we knew he needed to be seen and have some proper tests as my brother was going to the toilet alot he was very tired looked pale and was just not well, they kept my brother in for a few days and when we explained his history to one of the doctors he was fantastic and he also agreed with us he needed to have some tests done ( he said it sounded like crohn's ) and got us seen to with a matter of urgency we were and are so grateful to be getting some help after going round in circles we never even really knew of crohn's before so it has been a hard time for us.

Around a week or so being out of hospital my brother was given a colonoscopy and a few other tests done and i believe he will be having x-rays done also. All i can say is you know your body and you know if something is wrong, be persistent when you talk to the doctors and put them in the picture with how you are doing.

Thanks, i will google the elemental 028 extra.

Thanks for the tips marcus. Gastro have had my appointment request from Rheumatology (whose tests found the bowel inflammation) 5 weeks now and no sign of an appointment yet. Considering they are the ones who misdiagnosed me with IBS 3 years ago (when blood tests were coming back with inflammation), that's pretty bad!

Everyone now knows how ill I am so hopefully will be seen soon.

Im also considering this now, thanx for the thread. You say ensure plus is good? I have that in S.A as well.

I use boost everyday...and yeah they have sugar in them but when you are going to the bathroom as frequent as I have i dont think its a major issue...there are a lot of other drinks available too...Enlighten is a low res juice drink that is fortified and was given to me in the hospital in place of boost. But i drink between three and four boost a day and i have been able to maintain my weight. I also just recently bought a juicer...and am looking forward to some tasty drinks with that...

Hi Lynx, welcome to the forum! :bigwave: we would love to see your story on your own thread and tell us about you and your IBD story so everyone can meet you! Welcome aboard!

:thumleft:
Hi everyone, sorry for my late reply but I'm not always on this forum and have just picked up this thread,I'm just about to start modulen diet, I live in the uk and I have been very unwell over the last four months with lots of extra intestinal manifestations ie, reactive arthritis, gall bladder,uvietis etc as well as my crohns flares phew !!! :frown:
So I asked to be referred to the dietetics dept as I had read about liquid diet, the reason I chose this was I had researched how well it worked in younger people and I feel that my system is in overdrive and needs a rest.
Hence I had my appt and the dietician agreed for me to give it a go, she stated that it would be very hard to do, but my thoughts are that when you can't even sip water without running to the loo, then I'm willing to give it a go.:ybiggrin:

I'm awaiting for it to arrive as apparently it has to come straight from the manufacturer, the pharmacist will contact me as soon as it comes in and if your interested I'll let you know how I'm getting on.
But I would like to point out that I'm also doing it as iv tried low residue diet, non dairy, no gluten etc etc and am totally confused by it all as I still become unwell. My thinking is if I try it for eight weeks, they will slowly introduce four foods back in at a time and I will then know exactly what I can and can't eat am allergic to etc etc.

I have the backing of my gi too, as unfortunately I appear to be intolerant of meds too !!! :shifty-t:

Sorry for the long reply and I would just like to add that I'm not a young person !!! Well in my head I still think I'm eighteen but alas not in my body, face etc etc :yfrown:
I'm in my early forties !!! Oops !!!

Hope this reply is ok, there is no easy answers for any of us as we're all individuals trying to do the best we can to get our lives back to some sort of normality, but if you are interested I can keep you posted on how I'm doing.
Oh and I forgot to add that the reason I was sooo ill as well was because I also unbeknown to me had a c- difficile infection !!!! :mad2:
Hence why I was so unwell,but I'm still going to give it a go.
Nice talking to you guys, hopefully speak soon,take care Shelly:ghug:

Just want to add here, it sounds to me like you are very concerned about the side effects of prednisone. I've been on it, and from my understanding almost everyone who has been diagnosed with crohns had been on it at one point or another. For me the benefits far outweighed the negative side effects. I had increased acne, heartburn, and a bit if a chubby face, but prednisone is only a short term drug and really really helps to get a person back to normal. Once I was off the prednisone side effects went away and I can live a relatively normal life. Don't worry too much, short term pred will be ok and is the quickest way to feeling better.

Luckily in the end I improved slightly and didn't ask for a liquid diet as I was eating a little by the time I saw my GP. After being fed up of grazing all day last night I had a proper meal, first time in about 2 weeks, boiled rice and plain naan bread, and had such bad stomach pains will have to go back to eating like a sheep lol. Much better than not eating though.

I would recommend against the liquid diet, unless he's critical.

It's full of un-natural substances and sugar and I even think milk in some of them, or milk products. Full of things that are likely the reasons a lot of people are this way in the first place - an artificial, man made diet. There is no or little or pre-digested fibre, so going through the gut it doesn't hurt if it is diseased, but it's like eating a hot dog or a cake in liquid form. It's expensive too.

Try juicing. Get a juicer between $100-$200 (jack lalane one is pretty decent and fair price or get something similar - don't cheap out though). Get your nutrients from live vegetables & fruits. You'll get balanced nutrients, some calories, enzymes and all those compounds and things scientists don't know what they are yet or haven't found but you keep hearing about in the news - this compound cures this, this compound cures that. You'll get it all. What you won't get is the fibre. But when you eat, your body works hard to get the nutrietns separated from the fibre.

Juice (you can easily juice 10 servings of green veg in 1 or 2 drinks) and get fibre from whole grains you can tolorate like oatmeal etc. or a small portion of fruits and veggies. Start with stuff you like the taste of and are used to and branch out. Carrots, celery, spinach, cucumber, parsley & apple tastes awesome. Don't mix fruits and vegetables when juicing, try to keep them separate and go heavy on the vegetables. Only exception is apple - they knew something in the bible.

When you heal up, you can include more raw veg.

No laura, a liquide diet usually has supplements in them along with protein and carbs. It is used so that the bowel can rest as much as possible to allow it to calm down. The best way to lose weight....if you want to do that... is by eating sensibly, staying away from so called "diets" and exercising regularly. Over and over it has been proven that diets do not work for losing weight and maintaining weight loss. And remember any "diet" regardless of what it is has the potential for you to not be getting all the nutrients your body needs. Best thing to do is not go on a diet without the counsel of a doctor or nutritionist that knows what they are doing.

I really recommend asking about modulen, I have been on it for a week now and the results are so good! I have read that it is expensive, I go through a tin a day but I am getting them on the nhs, hope this is some help?

I was concerned about the sugar in the Boost - so I looked around ad they have a diabetic version which is lower in sugar and higher in protein that the regular kind. So I just by the Diabetic one - it is slightly more expensive than the others but I don't have the sugar ups and downs that I did on the others.

I tend to use a lot of this cause many times I just don't feel like eating at all. One of these and a cup of hot water is sometimes breakfast, lunch and supper. Good thing I still have 75 lbs of excess weight hanging around!!!

liquid diet didnt help me. it didn't put me in remission just made me use the bathroom and expell water which was even more unpleasant and I was left STARVING all the time. I was on this diet for a week while hospitalized. The prednisone shocked my system into remission...now I was also so anemic that I required a transfusion of 2 pints of blood and my colonoscopy results were severe crohns disease so it probably would have been ineffective of putting me in remission either way

I have done liquid diet with Modulen for 3 month and it worked miracles for me. At the time i was also taking pred which seemed to compliment the Modulen. It is extremely difficult to stick to and would take some support and understanding from the people around.
At present my crohns is pretty good but i still have a serving of Modulen every day instead of eating a dinner. It is excellent at settling an active flare. As for the price i wouldnt worry. I have had it on repeat prescription since 2001.

Hope this helps.

I would defiantly recommend this diet, I was on it for a the entire month of June and it worked wonders for me! Since July I have been drinking 3 of the shakes a day with food and I have been remission since June. I live in the us and I'm the only patient my doctor has on this treatment and I think he is surprised at how well I'm doing. The formula I'm on is called peptamen and it doesnt taste great, but Im allowed to add chocolate or strawberry syrup which helps. I think theres also a formula called vivonex which is sort of the same thing. I was never hungry throughout the diet because the shakes have 375 calories each along with every vitamin you could think of. I was told to drink 7 a day but 5 was all I could handle because they were so filling. While I was on the diet I gained 25 pounds and I'm back to my regular weight. If you have Any questions I'd be happy to answer them.

Hi Marcus,

I'm a bit late to his conversation but thought I'd just add my experience...

My son, 17, was diagnosed in May. His first and only treatment has been a liquid diet (but his is through an NG tube, he doesn't drink it). The initial treatment was the liquid diet only for six weeks, after that he was allowed to reintroduce all foods but maintain the liquid diet at 1/2 dose.

We were not given the option of a 'drinkable' formula. He was taught to insert the NG tube (which he learned within a couple of days) and then ingested the formula overnight. The greatest difficulty to was not eat during the day (altho he was allowed clear fluids, broth, jello, etc.). Now he eats all foods (except seeds, nuts, etc.) and continues to ingest the formula overnight at 1/2 dose, 5 nights a week - this is expected to continue for one year. (His only medication is an antacid, Nexium.) After one year, he is being transferred from the children's hospital to an adult GI clinic, so I'm not sure what will happen then...

The treatment has a comparable success rate as steroids in inducing remission (in children, not sure if its the same in adults).

For the most part, my son finds it an easy treatment. He can choose the two nights off per week to accommodate sleepovers, etc. Short vacations can be accommodated by skipping the two nights 'off' the week before and after. The time to ingest the formula (at 1/2 dose) is approx. 4 hours - he starts it when he goes to bed and it's done when he wakes. He's always been a picky eater and is happy to have his father and I pestering him less about his food choice as we know he's receiving lots of nutrition overnight! (Although we try to limit junk food.)

Prior to being diagnosed, he was always slim but then lost close to 20 lbs., within 8-10 weeks, he gained close to 30 lbs. and has stabilized at this healthy weight (5'10", 160 lbs).

I'm not sure how successful or practical this treatment is long term... our GI told us that the success rate of maintaining remission is not as high as with drugs, however, he did say that they have patients who have been using it for 5 years and have maintained remission (not sure if other drugs were added though).

Has your brother started the diet?

I see this is an older thread, but this is where the Liquid Diet wiki page sent me. Is there a more up-to-date thread for Liquid Diet info?

My hubby is interested in the liquid diet because they say it can give relief of symptoms temporarily and possibly induce remission. He's been on prednisone, but it didn't induce remission this time around. He could also use extra nutrients.

I heard Modulen was discontinued in the US. Would juicing and shakes, like Vega Sport/Spiu-tein/Mighty Shake, be a viable alternative? Or is Peptamen medically certified for IBD patients?

Please let me know if there are other boards already covering this topic. Thanks for the direction!