Crohn's & Grilled Food: A Good Combination?

Who doesn't love the smell of food cooked on a grill? And the sound of sizzling meat and vegetables is as much a part of summer as the sounds of lawnmowers and children playing. But what does grilling mean for Crohn's patients? Is it part of our summers, too, and should it be?

Crohn's patients have impaired immune systems, and there are substances related to grilling that may not bother healthy people but may adversely affect us. Some of these, like nitrates and nitrites, and can be avoided to some extent by food choices. Others need some grilling changes.

One question that Crohn's patients aren't alone in asking is, should we use a gas grill or a charcoal one? There is no question that a properly connected and cleaned gas grill burns much cleaner than charcoal. Charcoal adds a smoky flavor that many people love, but it gives off carbon monoxide, particulates, and soot. If you do choose charcoal you should use an additive-free lump charcoal instead of traditional briquettes. Briquettes can contain wood scraps, saw dust, coal dust, sodium nitrate, borax, paraffin, and lighter fluid, all of which may get into your food. All of them can make you sick, and personally, I don't want to eat any of them.

One problem with grills, if the cook isn't careful, is that food may not be cooked all the way through. You should preheat the grill for at least 15 minutes before you start cooking, and 25 minutes may be needed. It needs to be hot enough to kill bacteria as well as cook the food. Steaks can be done to rare or medium rare with few problems for most people, as long as any bacteria on the surface are cooked enough to kill them. Ground meat, pork, and chicken should be cooked completely through. They can harbor bacteria such as E.Coli and salmonella, and in the case of pork, the parasitic disease trichinosis, which could make a healthy person sick, and put a Crohn's patient in the hospital.

Marinating meat can do more than add flavor (and if you're using a gas grill, you can add smoke flavoring to get that charcoal taste); it can also keep your food from developing heterocyclic amines (HCAs) which have the potential to cause cancer. Marinating, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), can cut HCA formation by up to 99%. With an impaired immune system to begin with, a Crohn's patient shouldn't eat anything that can increase her risk of cancer.

While you're preparing food to go to the grill, remember some food safety basics. Use separate surfaces, plates, and utensils for raw meat; don't use them again for cooked meat or any other food. Avoid cross-contamination of bacteria like E.Coli and salmonella. Refrigerate meat that is marinating until right before you put it on the grill. Make fresh marinade to baste meat during cooking; don't use the marinade that the meat soaked in.

It's worthwhile for a Crohn's patient to invest in a meat thermometer. Using a thermometer is really the only way to tell if meat is cooked through; looking at it or even cutting it open is not as safe as using a thermometer.

You can cook potatoes and vegetables easily on a grill. Unless you're cooking kebabs, wrap the vegetables in foil and keep them at the side of the grill where the heat is less intense. They don't generally need to cook as long or at as high a temperature as meat.

So, if you have Crohn's disease, can you, or should you, eat grilled food? It largely depends on you: what foods can you easily tolerate, and are you in a relapsing phase (flare) or a remission? If you're having a flare, you probably won't want to eat anything at all. But if you're in a remission, follow basic food safety, use a gas grill or a charcoal grill with additive-free lump charcoal, and eat foods you know are cooked completely and that aren't triggers for you. Those guidelines will let you enjoy grilled food along with the rest of your family and friends.