Fats You Should Eat or Avoid When You Have Crohn’s Disease

Posted by AweSamo March 5, 2026
Fats You Should Eat or Avoid When You Have Crohn’s Disease

7 Ways to Increase Your Healthy Fat Intake if You Have Crohn’s

Learn how to work healthy fats into your everyday diet.

1. Try Nut and Seed Butters

Not only are nut and seed butters delicious, you can add them to all sorts of things, like a banana, rice cake, or a slice of sourdough bread. Pureed butters are also a way to consume nuts and seeds without irritating your digestive tract. In fact, nut and seed butters are even safe to consume if you have strictures.

“Sometimes people with Crohn’s disease struggle with the amount of fiber that’s in whole nuts, but that doesn’t mean that you have to cut out nuts altogether. Having lots of different nut butters … is a really great way of incorporating nuts,” says Sophie Medlin, RD, a consultant dietitian at City Dietitians and the chair of the British Dietetic Association for London.

“Almond butter and peanut butter are go-to favorites, but there are all kinds of delicious nut and seed butters, including cashew, walnut, pecan, pistachio, hazelnut, and sunflower seed,” says Webb.

2. Experiment With Avocados

Avocado toast anyone? Avocados are a versatile food that can incorporate healthy fats into any meal. Add slices to a sandwich or salad, make a breakfast taco with chopped tomato and scrambled eggs in a corn tortilla, or enjoy avocados in guacamole. Avocados not only taste delicious; they’re jam-packed with nutrients.

“Avocados are full of healthy fats, and they’re a great source of potassium, magnesium, and easy-to-tolerate fiber,” says Webb.

Avocados have vitamin C, vitamin E, folate, and, since they have lots of monounsaturated fats, avocados help reduce LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels. Be aware, however, that avocado is high in certain FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols), indigestible carbohydrates that can cause gas in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that commonly coexists with Crohn’s.

3. Use Pesto or Hummus Instead of Cheese on a Burger or a Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Topping your hamburger or grilled chicken sandwich with pesto or hummus rather than cheese will help you replace saturated fat in your diet. Hummus is also delicious as a dip or in pasta sauce if you’re lactose intolerant. During a flare, it can also be a good way to get fiber into your diet in a way that’s less likely to irritate your digestive tract, as the garbanzo beans in hummus are pureed.

4. Snack on Dark Chocolate

If you have a sweet tooth, you may be happy to know that eating dark chocolate is recommended for people with Crohn’s disease as a healthier — and often better-tolerated — alternative to milk chocolate.

 Antioxidants and flavonoids, active components in dark chocolate, may be good for gut and cardiovascular health, respectively. Unsurprisingly, however, dark chocolate should make up only a small portion of a balanced diet that promotes low inflammation.

Eating dark chocolate on its own is unlikely to confer health benefits, unfortunately. It needs to be part of a healthy diet, along with other antioxidant- and flavonoid-rich foods, including brightly colored fruits and vegetables, Medlin says.

5. Swap in Greek Yogurt for Mayonnaise

For a healthier, low-fat option, Greek yogurt can replace mayonnaise in potato salads and on burgers. Try it with canned salmon and a squeeze of lemon — it’s more easily digested by people with Crohn’s than mayo, and it contains probiotics.

Medlin says yogurt that contains probiotics helps promote gut bacteria that aid digestion. “[It’s] something that people should be consuming or adding to the diet if it’s not already there,” says Medlin.

But traditional dairy-based yogurt contains lactose, making it a high-FODMAP food that can cause gas and bloating in people with IBS or lactose intolerance. If lactose is a concern, there are lactose-free dairy yogurts, and many plant-based yogurts also contain probiotics. Coconut yogurt in particular is low-FODMAP.

6. Add Anchovies or Sardines to Pasta, Sandwiches, or Pizza

Trying anchovies or sardines on pasta, sandwiches, or pizza is another way to increase your consumption of healthy fats. Medlin says increasing your oily fish intake is one way to consume more omega-3 fatty acids. As previously mentioned, increased omega-3 intake may lead to better health outcomes and lower levels of inflammatory markers in Crohn’s, though other studies haven’t found such benefits in people with IBD.

“Omega-3 fats found in fatty fish, such as salmon and sardines, have been linked to a decreased risk of developing IBD, improved gastrointestinal symptoms in people with IBD, and a reduced risk of colon cancer [in the general population],” Webb says.

If you’re a firm believer that anchovies don’t belong on a pizza, consider making a tuna sandwich for lunch or grilled salmon with vegetables for dinner.

7. Drizzle More Olive Oil Than Coconut Oil Onto Your Pan

Medlin recommends extra-virgin olive oil for its many health benefits. “[It] contains lots of amazing plant powers that really help people cope with inflammation….” Olives and olive oil are great things to include in your diet, whether or not you have Crohn’s disease, she says.

If you’re deciding between oils, choose olive oil over coconut oil. “The only [oils] you really want to avoid or not have too much of are coconut oil and palm oil. Coconut oil is very high in saturated fat,” Simon says. “I wouldn’t say it’s a banned food and not to have it at all — you should have it in moderation like you would any other form of saturated fat.”

Proper nutrition is crucial for a strong immune system, and increasing the proportion of healthy fats in your diet can help you reach your nutritional goals.

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