You Can Still Eat Chinese Food If You Have Crohn's

I have Crohn's disease. This is a fact of my life - there's no escaping - but it doesn't mean I can't go out and have a life. I've written elsewhere on AC about eating out in general, but this article will be a little more specific.

I've always loved ethnic cuisines: Mexican, Tex-Mex, Chinese, Italian, Thai and more. One thing they all have in common is flavor, and spice. None of them are bland. And all of them have the potential to cause a flare of Crohn's disease, or make a Crohn's flare worse. For me, the best choice, both given the restaurants in my hometown and given my Crohn's disease, is Chinese food. One of the reasons, I'm sure, is because Chinese food rarely uses much tomato, and tomato is listed as one of the foods most likely to cause a Crohn's flare. Chinese food contains no cheese, and dairy products are a frequent culprit in flares. Chinese food also includes a lot of rice, a food that is easy for most Crohn's patients to digest.

Foods to Avoid include those that most Chinese restaurants mark in some way as spicy. My favorite Chinese restaurant, that serves the most authentic Chinese food in my area, is the China Garden restaurant; they mark the spicy foods with a little red chili pepper. Some of the obvious ones are Curry Chicken, or almost anything with curry in it, Kung Pao anything, Beef (or Chicken) with Garlic Sauce, and Szechuan Chicken (or almost any "Szechuan" item). One of my favorite items of Chinese food has always been General Tso's Chicken, but I've had to give it up because the pepper and whatever else is in that deliciously spicy sauce always triggers a Crohn's flare for me. And a couple of days of heartburn, too. Like almost everyone else, and not just because I have Crohn's, I also avoid Chinese food with MSG.

A couple of foods that surprised me by causing a flare include another of my favorite Chinese foods: Sweet and Sour Chicken. I didn't connect the "sour" with spicy, and didn't consider the amount of fat caused by the deep-frying of the chicken done in most Chinese restaurant. It, too, causes a Crohn's flare for me. My other favorite, that I've never thought of as particularly spicy, just flavorful, is Cashew Chicken. The China Garden makes some of the best Cashew Chicken I've ever eaten, but it often triggers a flare. It may be because of the vegetables in it, or it may be the cashews, but either way, it's one to avoid, at least for me.

So, what are the Foods to Choose in a Chinese restaurant? For me, an appetizer of Egg Flower Soup is a great start. It is rarely spicy, there's not much fiber (depending on the restaurant), and it helps me to feel filled so that I don't overeat, an activity that can also trigger a Crohn's flare. A common Chinese food appetizer is egg rolls; these can swing either way. The good part is that they aren't overly spiced; the bad side is that they are often deep-fried, and can contain a lot of nearly-raw cabbage, which can be very hard on the intestines of a Crohn's patient. Most of the other Chinese appetizers, like BBQ Pork and Garlic Chicken Wings, I avoid; Fried Wontons can be OK if I'm careful about my other menu choices (again, the problem is fat; too much fat in your food will likely trigger a flare of Crohn's). I often choose Pea Pod Chicken; it comes with white rice, and the sauce is flavorful but not overly spicy. I don't eat as many of the pea pods as I'm sure the cook would hope, because their fiber can trigger problems, but it's a dish I can usually enjoy with no bad results. Almost any Chinese restaurant serves Fried Rice; because it isn't deep-fried, there isn't a lot of fat, and the vegetable in it are usually already finely chopped. This can be an excellent Chinese food choice for a Crohn's patient. My absolute favorite item of Chinese Food is Moo Shu Pork. The pork is shredded, the little pancakes have a rice base and little if any gluten (an item that frequently triggers Crohn's flares), and the sauce is a slightly sweet plum sauce. Unless I eat too much of it, I rarely have any problems with it.

Since every Crohn's patient can have slightly different reactions to any different food or spice, these are just suggestions. If you really like something I've said to avoid, try it -- and if it causes problems, put it on your "Do Not Eat Again" list. If you're having a flare, avoid anything with a lot of vegetables in it, since Chinese food usually contains only slightly steamed vegetables, which are much more nutritious than well-cooked vegetables, but can cause problems because of the higher level of fiber they contain. Stick to meat that doesn't come in a spicy sauce, and white rice rather than fried rice. Even with Crohn's, you can still enjoy a Chinese restaurant.