Fruit or Vegetable peels and skins

I was curious if anyone else has this problem.

I can eat pretty much any fruits and vegetables without any problems. This means pretty much anything without seeds (berries, cucumber, etc.). What I find to be a problem though is the skins.

Fruits and vegetables are known to be a good source of fibre. They contain two forms of fibre: solubule and insoluble. The skins and peels of fruits and vegetables are insoluble. This means that the body has trouble breaking them down, so they are often passed as they were consumed. You may notice this with seeds or corn you eat that is passed through you looking the same as how you ate it.

Anyways when I eat fruit and vegetable skin, I find that I often get pain. I try chewing very, VERY well, but usually the bad result still occurs.


This means that I am peeling all my fruits and vegetables, or not eating them otherwise.

I have had a small intestine resection (terminal ileum), which I think is likely the reason for this. Does this happen to anyone else too?

Mike.. Short answer YES. One of the reasons I can't have fresh vegetables/fruit. My current limit is over-ripe bananas... Just starting on adding some applesauce
Before the dietary restrictions, anything with a skin really bother me, even the peel from a grape.. And I loved baked potatoe skins... However, it may not be the skins per se... Fibre is bad for the inflamed digestive system.. It alone can cause the pain to increase... Akin to rubbing salt on a open wound.. You could do a very simple test... Skip the veggies for a while, then try some digestive cookies.. (Yeah, the kind they feed to babies).. Concept is that the soft fibre they contain are ok for a babies digestive tract as they move from liquids to a solid diet. If you are still feeling added discomfort, then my money says its the fibre.. If not, then the skins and certain raw fibre is the culpret.. Try liqufieng your veggies in blender (or skip all of that and liquify it all in a blender).. I had to liquify all cooked veggies when I started.. now I'm able to tolerate them if just overcooked/mashed

Kevin,

I am fine on vegetables and fruits without the skin. I currently eat 5+ servings a day of fruit. They are 100% fine to eat as long as I peel away the skin.

I think the skin fibre is definately too much for my body. As you suggested, others should definately consider juicing all fruits and veggies to see if they can tolerate them that way. The next step is to boil everything to make it mushy. It may not be what you are used to, but I still find food this way tasty.

i'm not sure yet if skinds cause trouble for me...but i do know a few weeks ago when i had the potato skin--i felt horrible. so..maybe that is my answer.
soooo much to learn about what is "ok" what is not--and..i don't know about you--but-sometimes what is ok one day-can be bad the next...so..it is frustrating.
basically-i am still afraid to eat. until i get that pillcam test and know what is next..i think i am operating on the assumption that i am still in flare or whatever (back to having some "d" despite meds..so..i don't know.. so for now: baby food/ mashed veges/ and ensure. (sooo boring..)

apple peels

Mike-I found out the hard way that Caleb cannot tolerate the peels on apple-lots of pain and diarrhea. He is allerigic to bananas.

Mike- I too cannot eat veggies or fruits without peeling them first. The peel is just too hard to digest. And fruits and veggies have always been one of my favorites so I peel and deal. lol It seems that fresh ones are the worst as far as causing diarrhea no matter if u peel them or not (peaches, fruits like that) but mmmm they're so yummy. Til Next time ~ Tonya

I can't eat fruits or veges either. Raw, forget it. Cooked, I can manage some without problem. God, I just want an apple! I keep giving them to the mini donkey and enjoy vicariously through him!

Steam The Vegetables, then Puree

Hi everyone,

I read the post here and thought to pass along the knowledge I learned years ago. Mind you, you must know where you are with your disease, especially if you have a closing stricture.. Otherwise, with great success, many thousands of folks have used the following process.. Even when in severe flares, to bring mass to the stool..

Veggies such as peppers, onions, butternut squash, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower can be handled by most. When these vegetables are de-seeded, then steamed (all together - in a huge pot), steam to tender. Carrots should always be skinned and cut small so they can cook at the same pace as the rest.

Once all veggies are to your liking.. Using a 'better quality' blender for Puree'ing.. Place all the veggies, skins and all within.. Add about 125ml of the water which remains at the bottom of your steaming pot into the blender also.. This will help with the puree.. Blend away, stop, move the unblended veggies around, so the blender can continue blending (you will see what I'm taking about)

In the end.. You will have very high nutritious veggie baby food!! Not even kidding.. So many vitamins are included in this process and the puree breaks down the fibres so your gut can digest and utilize them to form your stool.

Veggies are extremely important with this disease, so good luck to all!

I haven't had surgery, but did have severe inflammation in the TI and have been left with a small stricture. I can't do skins either, or very fibrous fruits like oranges and grapefruit.

Sorry. I don't understand the intent of your response. The only reason why I joined this forum cause I was asked by many others to help spread the word of healing through food. I'm not here to give disclosures and everybody must be their own advocate when it comes to their health, period.

All I am trying to do is help the 'newly' diagnosed and people who are interested in diet choices, that there are options with diet. The SCD diet has helped out thousands of folks world-wide live their lives med-free and surpass their flares when they do occur.

We are all in this boat together, and I'm not here to judge. Everybody has freedom of choice and they can do whatever they want.

If interpreted your response the wrong way, I apologize. I thought the whole point of forums is to help and educate people.

Hello Gstar, I'm a bit confused. Do you mean my post above? I hope not, cos I enjoy your posts and find them very informative and helpful. I make a lot of blended soups, but I hadn't thought of cooking and blending the peels, but I will give it a try.
My grandfather always told us to 'eat the skins cos half of the goodness is just under them.'

Good Morning Grumbletum,

No worries, I must of simply misinterpreted your previous post. I was taking it in the manner that the steaming/blending approach with veggie skins should not be tried with folks with strictures. Once you actually give this technique a try, you will be amazed at the end product! Not even a trace of fibrous veggie will be seen, and the mixture is so healthy and nutritious for you, its surreal.

Sounds like your grandfather is / was a smart man! A lot of the elders know how to properly food. These past four decades have been detrimental to our food chain. Chemical enhancers for taste enhancehent, food preservation, utilization of growth hormone, antibiotics to our livestock have drastically changed the structure of our foods. Not even mentioning all the soil fumigants and pesticides that are used on crops and livestock feed.

In Canada, the medical sector is now seeing IBD cases being found in immigrants who migrated from a part of the world (Asia) where IBD did not exist. These new immigrant families, who only lived in Canada for 10 or so years are now being diagnosed with IBD! If environmental factors and food are not HUGE contributors to this disease, the medical field should just call it quits now and stop guessing. How there is no clinical studies to date regarding 'diet'.. Just blows my mind..

Absolutely. It still amazes ( and disappoints me ) that not one of the doctors I've seen has mentioned diet when it can make such a difference to the quality of people's lives.