The COVID-19 pandemic has chased everyone indoors and limited our ability to do day-to-day tasks, such as grocery shopping. For some, this is simply an inconvenience, but if you’re one of the 60 to 70 million Americans living with a digestive disease, limited access to food can have serious consequences for your health and well-being.
The pandemic can trigger digestive problems thanks to increased stress, decreased access to special foods, and even COVID-19 itself.
It’s important to prevent any flare-ups of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or celiac disease that could require in-person medical care, so here’s how to maintain your digestive health during lockdown.
Stress is an immunosuppressant: It can have adverse effects on everything from your ability to sleep and heal to your immune system.
It’s especially detrimental to people with digestive problems such as IBS and GERD.
During a global health event as traumatic as COVID-19, it’s therefore critical you take care of your mental health and try to keep your stress levels as low as possible.
Here are several best practices to help you do so:
If you’ve seen the news in the last few weeks, you know that grocery shelves across the country are being picked over, and then some. If you’re having trouble sourcing specialty items that you need for your digestive health, go straight to the source.
For example, whole-grain foods producer Bob’s Red Mill sells all of its flours, grains, and snacks online, and customers can have items shipped directly to their homes. Those having trouble sourcing fresh produce can also sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program: Pay a fee and receive a box of fresh, local, seasonal produce each week. (This has the added benefit of supporting a local business.) You can do the same with animal proteins via a CSA-style butcher box. Just google “local butcher + your location.”
There are plenty of workarounds for continuing to eat well despite the sparse supermarket shelves.
One of the most challenging aspects of this lockdown is fighting to keep your motivation. There will be days when you don’t have the energy (or, depending on your situation, the time) to make food, and that’s understandable and completely normal.
We recommend that you batch-cook food that is gluten-free if you’re celiac, low fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols (FODMAP) if you have IBD, and limit acids and other trigger foods if you suffer from GERD. Treat this like meal prepping, and carve out one day to make several batches so you’ll always have something healthy to reach for.
If and when the time comes that you just don’t feel like making dinner for the tenth night in a row, you can dig into your freezer and pull out a fresh, homemade, digestion-friendly meal.
Several gluten-free options that are easy to make ahead of time and freeze:
Low FODMAP options:
GERD-friendly options:
The fact of the matter is that cooking every meal, every day is a tall task, and it’s okay to get takeout, so long as you limit how often you do it, and you do it smartly.
That means if you suffer from GERD but really want pizza, either go light on the acidic red sauce or avoid it completely, subbing in olive oil or even white sauce.
If you’re gluten-free, make sure you call the restaurant ahead of time and ask if they’re celiac friendly. For some restaurants with a gluten-free menu, there’s still cross-contamination. For example, many pizza places that offer gluten-free crust don’t have separate stations for GF options, so flour is flying everywhere and could contaminate your meal.
If you have any concerns about your gut, whether you’re experiencing symptoms like gas, bloating, or changes in your stool, you should always contact your gastroenterologist. We currently provide telemedicine, with remote appointments guaranteeing you receive expert care from the safety and comfort of your home.