What Foods Are Good for Crohn's Strictures? A Guide to Low-Residue Eating

October 16, 2025 •

5 min read

Approximately one-third of individuals with Crohn's disease will develop strictures, which are areas of narrowing in the intestines. When this occurs, a specialized diet is often necessary to prevent blockages and manage painful symptoms. This guide explores which foods are good for Crohn's strictures and how to safely incorporate them into your diet.

Quick Summary

For managing Crohn's strictures, a soft, low-residue diet is recommended to reduce digestive stress and minimize obstruction risk. Emphasis is placed on easily digestible, low-fiber foods, well-cooked textures, and adequate hydration. Individual food tolerances vary, so consulting with a dietitian is key.

Key Points

Embrace a low-residue, low-fiber diet during flares to minimize stress on narrowed bowel segments.
Choose soft, well-cooked foods and avoid raw vegetables, skins, seeds, and pips to aid digestion.
Chew all food thoroughly and eat slowly to pre-process food and lessen intestinal burden.
Stay adequately hydrated with water, broth, and other tolerated fluids, especially if experiencing diarrhea.
Work with a gastroenterologist and registered dietitian to create a personalized, nutritionally complete dietary plan.
Use a food diary to identify personal triggers, as individual tolerances for foods can vary widely.
Address poor appetite and weight loss by focusing on small, frequent, nutrient-dense meals or nutritional supplement drinks.

Understanding the Impact of Crohn's Strictures

Crohn's disease can lead to chronic inflammation that, over time, causes scarring and thickening of the intestinal wall. This process results in a stricture, or a narrowing of the bowel, which makes it difficult for food to pass through. Symptoms of a stricture can include abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, nausea, and vomiting. In severe cases, a complete bowel obstruction can occur, requiring immediate medical attention.

Dietary management is a crucial part of controlling stricture-related symptoms. For individuals with stricturing Crohn's disease, following a low-residue, low-fiber diet is often recommended, especially during flare-ups. This approach reduces the amount of undigested material, or 'residue,' that passes through the gut, lessening the workload on the narrowed sections of the bowel.

Core Principles for Eating with Strictures

Proper food preparation and mindful eating are just as important as the foods themselves when managing Crohn's strictures. Here are some key principles to follow:

Eat slowly and chew thoroughly: Taking time to chew your food well breaks it down into smaller, more manageable pieces before it even reaches the intestines, making it easier to pass.
Prioritize soft, well-cooked foods: Cooking vegetables until they are soft and tender helps break down tough fibers. Pureeing or mashing foods can be even more beneficial.
Remove skins, seeds, and pips: These parts of fruits and vegetables are high in insoluble fiber and are difficult for a strictured bowel to process. Always peel and de-seed fruits and vegetables before consuming them.
Eat smaller, more frequent meals: Instead of three large meals, try eating five to six smaller, nutrient-dense meals throughout the day. This helps prevent the digestive system from becoming overwhelmed.
Stay well-hydrated: Drinking plenty of fluids, such as water, broth, or non-pulp juices, is crucial for keeping things moving through the digestive tract smoothly and preventing dehydration, especially during episodes of diarrhea.
Keep a food diary: Since everyone's tolerance is different, tracking which foods cause symptoms can help you personalize your diet. This is a valuable tool for managing your condition over time.

Foods That Are Good for Crohn's Strictures

Soft Fruits: Choose ripe, peeled, and cooked fruits to reduce fiber content. Excellent choices include bananas, applesauce, melons (without seeds), canned peaches or pears, and pureed fruit.
Tender Vegetables: Focus on well-cooked or pureed vegetables without skins. Good options include carrots, squash, zucchini, pumpkin, potatoes (without skins), and spinach. Steaming or boiling works well to soften them.
Lean, Soft Proteins: Protein is essential for healing and maintaining muscle mass, but opt for lean and tender sources. This includes fish, skinless poultry (chicken, turkey), eggs, and smooth nut butters. Ensure tough or gristly parts of meat are removed.
Refined Grains: Unlike with a standard healthy diet, refined grains are often better tolerated during a stricture flare-up. Good options include white bread, white pasta, white rice, and cereals like Cornflakes or Rice Krispies.
Healthy Fats: Monounsaturated fats like olive oil and avocado can provide important calories and are generally well-tolerated. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish like salmon, may also help reduce inflammation.
Dairy (if tolerated): Some individuals with Crohn's are lactose intolerant. For those who are not, or for those who use lactose-free products, smooth yogurt, certain cheeses, and milk can provide essential calcium.

A Comparison of Foods for Crohn's Strictures


Category	Suitable Choices	Foods to Avoid
Fruits	Ripe bananas, applesauce, cooked and peeled peaches, pureed fruit, melon (seedless)	Raw fruits, dried fruits, berries, citrus fruits, fruits with skins, seeds, or pips
Vegetables	Well-cooked carrots, squash, pumpkin, zucchini (skinless), potatoes (skinless), strained purees	Raw vegetables, tough-stalked vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower), corn, skins, and seeds
Grains	White bread, white rice, refined pasta, Cornflakes	Whole grains, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, high-fiber cereals (bran flakes, muesli), seeded crackers
Proteins	Lean fish, skinless poultry, eggs, smooth nut butters, tofu, pureed lentils	Tough, gristly, or fibrous meats; sausage skins, jerky, crunchy nut butters, chickpeas
Fats	Olive oil, avocado, smooth butter/margarine, canola oil, fatty fish	Fried foods, highly fatty foods, coarse nuts, seeds

Managing Nutrition During a Stricture Flare-up

During a severe flare-up or if a stricture is significantly narrowed, it may be difficult to consume enough calories and nutrients from solid food. It's especially important to manage weight loss and malnutrition during these times.

Boost nutrient density: Add extra calories and protein to suitable foods. This can include stirring grated cheese into scrambled eggs or mashed potatoes, adding cream to soups, or spreading margarine or nut butter on white toast.
Utilize nutritional supplements: Over-the-counter or prescription nutritional supplement drinks can provide a complete source of nutrition when solid food is difficult to tolerate.
Exclusive or Partial Enteral Nutrition (EEN/PEN): In some cases, especially in children, an exclusively liquid diet of formula is used to induce remission. This can be very effective in giving the bowel a chance to rest and heal.
Stay hydrated: As symptoms worsen, the risk of dehydration increases. Sipping on water, broth, or oral rehydration solutions is critical.

Working with a Healthcare Team

Effective management of a Crohn's stricture diet requires a personalized approach. While the general guidelines are helpful, individual tolerances can vary widely. It is essential to work closely with a gastroenterologist and a registered dietitian who specialize in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Your healthcare team can help you:

Tailor a diet plan that meets your nutritional needs while minimizing symptoms.
Determine when dietary modifications are temporary (for inflammatory strictures) or long-term (for fibrotic strictures).
Identify and address specific nutritional deficiencies common with Crohn's, such as iron, B12, and vitamin D.
Monitor for signs of obstruction and adjust the diet as needed.

For more detailed information on IBD nutrition, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation offers numerous resources to support patients.

Conclusion

Managing a Crohn's stricture involves a careful and consistent dietary strategy, primarily focused on soft, low-residue, and well-cooked foods. By reducing the burden on the digestive system, a proper diet can help manage pain, decrease the risk of obstruction, and support overall health. Always remember that this is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and professional medical guidance is essential to developing a plan that is safe and effective for your specific needs. Through careful attention to diet and collaboration with your healthcare team, it is possible to live well despite having Crohn's strictures.

Frequently Asked Questions

A low-residue diet is a temporary, short-term dietary approach that limits foods containing large amounts of fiber and other undigested materials. For Crohn's strictures, it is used to reduce bowel movements and minimize the risk of food causing an obstruction in the narrowed intestinal areas.

Insoluble fiber, in particular, adds bulk to stool and can be very difficult for a strictured bowel to process. This can lead to pain, cramping, and potentially a blockage. Sources of insoluble fiber, such as whole grains, raw vegetables, and nuts, should generally be avoided or highly modified.

No, not all fruits are off-limits. You should avoid raw fruits with skins and seeds, but you can often tolerate ripe bananas, applesauce, and cooked, peeled, and seedless fruits like peaches, pears, and melon. Pureeing fruit can also make it easier to digest.

Focus on soft, well-cooked vegetables that are peeled and deseeded. Options include cooked carrots, squash, zucchini, and potatoes without the skin. Pureeing vegetables into soups or smoothies is another way to make them easier to tolerate.

If you are losing weight, it is crucial to focus on increasing your calorie and protein intake. Try eating smaller, more frequent meals, and enrich your food with extra calories using full-fat dairy, oils, or smooth nut butters. Your doctor or dietitian may also recommend nutritional supplement drinks.

Dairy tolerance varies. If you are lactose intolerant, you should avoid or limit dairy or opt for lactose-free products. However, some people with Crohn's can tolerate smooth dairy items like yogurt and certain cheeses in moderation.

Alcohol can irritate the GI tract and potentially worsen symptoms during a Crohn's flare-up. Limiting or avoiding alcohol, especially during flares, is generally recommended.