Diet

There is a common misconception about diet and chronic illness.
Many people, even with chronic illnesses of the digestive system, can often be seen eating foods that *could* be construed as inappropriate for their disorders. There are a lot of problems with that statement.
There is no true universal diet for all people with the same illness - no matter what several websites say. There is no diet that has consensus of all health professionals.

Here is what I know - we are all doing the best we can. Indulging in the wrong food - like having a cheat day - usually happens after long stretches of consuming the 'right' foods, but feeling no relief. Indulging in some high-risk foods does not always mean that it will make the disease worse, rather, might increase symptoms until it has passed through the worst portions.

Have you ever been on a diet for years on end, never allowing yourself any indulgences?

When you are told, at a young age, that you may have to eat the exact same foods day in and day out for the rest of your life, do you think you could handle that much discipline? That much self-control?
I think it would be easier if any of these diets worked long term. How many of us start something and then, months later, abandon it because there have been no positive results; no progress?

The longest stretch of time I have ever gone with a severely limited diet is 3 years. The second longest was 8 months. I have done a handful of diets - strict diets - and followed them entirely for 6 months (mostly because I don't believe you can get results that you want in less time, unless it happens to be medications - and even then sometimes that is not the case). To see real results from any diet takes months. Months of limits. No cheat days, no cheat moments, no weekend date-night exemptions. Asking to smell or just place a piece of chocolate on my tongue JUST long enough to get the flavour, then spitting it out before anything can absorb. Asking for boiled bland chicken at a 4☆ restaurant because you wanted a night out but still cannot deviate from your diet. Can you picture their faces when I had to ask that they refrain from using any spices, including salt or pepper?

When people are suffering day in and day out, trying to find any possible way to feel just a little bit better, spending years and years trying these new diets and these 'miracle cures' - only to feel disappointed. Even worse, to feel like a failure.
Sure there are foods that are pretty commonly known as triggers, the ones that instantly cause pain and grief and issues with digestion, but otherwise it is always a personal guessing game. Trial and error.
What's even more difficult is when one food is a trigger for a while, and then all of a sudden is no longer a trigger. Or something that used to be mild, or even feel settling, but suddenly causes issues.

Just like each individual, from every walk of life, in any situation, we are all struggling in one way or another, and 90% of us are just doing the best that we can.

Food does have a lot to do with illness, but it isn't everything. We all deserve to be spoiled now and then... and we all deserve a break, in however way we can experience a type of relief.
And sometimes, just once in a while, every now and then, when you are sentenced to a lifetime of pain and annoying symptoms, you may just want to indulge in a meal that maybe some websites claim are 'inappropriate' for the illness you have been diagnosed with.