The IBD Dietitian

The IBD Dietitian Helping to move from flares to remission| Rebuild gut health.Thrive
IBD Dietitian | PhD Researcher 🎯Remission-focused🧠 Science.📍Online support +1:1

25/08/2026

Are you cutting out more and more foods because they seem to trigger your IBD symptoms?

Food restriction can feel like the safest solution — but it can quickly become a slippery slope.

Before removing another food, the question is: is the food really the trigger?

Find the trigger before you restrict. 🌿

Feeling well with IBD is a great place to be — but feeling well doesn’t mean monitoring should stop. IBD is a chronic co...
25/08/2026

Feeling well with IBD is a great place to be — but feeling well doesn’t mean monitoring should stop.

IBD is a chronic condition, and ONGOING care remains important even during remission.

Regular review can help monitor disease activity and identify concerns relating to nutrition, bone health, quality of life and other aspects of long-term health.

The goal isn’t only to act when symptoms return.
It’s to monitor and protect your remission.

If you’re feeling well but haven’t had an IBD review recently, consider asking your IBD team what ongoing monitoring is appropriate for you.

Not sure whether your nutrition is supporting your IBD and long-term remission?

I offer 1:1 IBD nutrition consultations for personalised support, or you can explore my Thrive with IBD program for more comprehensive guidance.

🔗 See the link in my bio to learn more.

📌 And save this post as a reminder: feeling well doesn’t mean we stop looking after your IBD.
Source: Crohn’s & Colitis Australia – Australian IBD Standards 2016

🍆❤️ And finally… the plate I promised you!Well, technically, this is breakfast the next morning. 😄I fully intended to ph...
23/08/2026

🍆❤️ And finally… the plate I promised you!

Well, technically, this is breakfast the next morning. 😄

I fully intended to photograph my freshly made Odo at dinner — especially those beautiful green spring onion tops I was so careful not to overcook.

Then I sat down, started eating… and completely forgot. 😂

And actually, I’m okay with that. Sometimes it’s nice to forget about capturing the perfect picture and simply be present and enjoy your food.

Luckily, I always make a little extra of dishes I love, so here is round two!

🌾 And what am I eating my Odo with?

Bajra roti — a traditional flatbread made from pearl millet flour. Odo with bajra roti is a combination I particularly associate with winter and food from home. ❤️

Bajra is a nutritious wholegrain that provides fibre, plant protein and minerals including iron and magnesium. It’s also a lovely way to add more grain diversity to our diets.

And it’s naturally gluten-free.

For people living with IBD who also have confirmed coeliac disease, bajra can therefore be another option instead of wheat-based roti or bread.*

But having IBD itself doesn’t automatically mean you need to avoid gluten.

And you certainly don’t have to eat Odo my way!

🫓 Try it with Lebanese or Turkish bread
🍞 Spoon it over sourdough toast
🌾 Or enjoy it with the bread or flatbread from your own culture.

IBD nutrition doesn’t have to mean leaving your cultural foods behind.

Sometimes it’s about knowing what to keep, what may need modifying, and how to maintain variety without unnecessary restriction. 🌱

Need individual help navigating food and IBD? I offer virtual IBD nutrition consultations. Visit the link in my bio to explore your options or book a discovery call through my website .

*If you have coeliac disease, ensure ingredients and preparation are appropriate to avoid gluten cross-contact.

22/08/2026

🍆🔥 Part 2: Let’s turn that smoky brinjal into Odo.

If you watched my last Reel, you saw how I roasted a whole brinjal over a flame until beautifully soft and smoky.

Now we’re turning it into Odo — one of my favourite traditional dishes from my native place. ❤️

I love traditional food like this: simple ingredients, lots of plants, spices as per your threshold and SO much flavour.

🍆 You’ll need:

• 4 large flame-roasted brinjal/eggplant
• Peanut oil traditionally — EVOO for me today
• Spring onions, white & green parts separated
• Garlic + red onion
• Ground coriander + cumin
• Red chilli powder
• Garam masala
• Turmeric
• Salt

How I make it:

Once cooled, peel away the charred skin. As I shared in Part 1, I like to keep some of the softened purple skin when appropriate.

Roughly chop the soft, smoky brinjal.

Heat your oil and sauté the white spring onion, garlic and red onion until softened and starting to colour.

Add coriander, cumin, chilli, garam masala and turmeric. Cook the spices through, then cover briefly over low heat.

Add salt and the smoky brinjal, mix well, cover and cook for 5–7 minutes.

Finally, stir through plenty of green spring onion tops. I cook these for only another minute or so to keep that beautiful fresh green colour. 🌱

And that’s it — my Odo is ready. 🍆❤️

But I’m stopping here…

Because there’s another part of this meal that makes it particularly special to me — what I eat it with and how we traditionally eat Odo back home.

And quite frankly, I’m ready to dig in! 😄

Come back for Part 3 and I’ll show you the complete meal. 👀❤️

Part 1 → Soft, smoky brinjal 🍆🔥
Part 2 → Turning it into Odo 🌱
Part 3 → What am I eating it with? 👀

Save this recipe if you’d like to try Odo yourself.

21/08/2026

🍆🔥 A little tradition, a little nutrition science — and one small change I make to a recipe from home.

This is the beginning of Odo, one of my favourite traditional dishes from my native place — similar to what many people know as baingan bharta.

The whole 🍆 brinjal (eggplant) is slowly roasted over a flame until the flesh becomes beautifully soft and smoky. Traditionally, most of the charred skin is peeled away.

But when I don’t need to, I like to leave some of the softened purple skin behind. 💜

Why?

🍆 The purple skin contains anthocyanins- a polyphenol with antioxidant properties (including nasunin - a polyphenol)

🌱 The brinjal itself also contributes fibre, and once cooked this way, the flesh becomes incredibly soft and easy to mash.

For people with IBD, there may be times when your IBD team recommends temporarily modifying certain types or textures of fibre. This recipe is easily adaptable — the skin can simply be removed more completely when needed.

Otherwise, if it’s well tolerated, I love the idea of keeping more of the whole plant rather than automatically removing it.

My approach to IBD nutrition is often:

Keep what you tolerate.
Modify when you need to.
Bring foods back when you can. 🌱

And this smoky brinjal? It’s only step 1️⃣ ☝🏼

Next post: I’m turning 🍆it into Odo 🥘 and sharing the full recipe — a dish from 🏠 home 🫠that remains one of my absolute favourites. ❤️

🔥 If you’re not experienced with cooking directly over an open flame, please use an oven/grill method instead.

Protecting remission is a team effort. 🤝IBD can affect more than the gut, which is why different stages of your IBD jour...
20/08/2026

Protecting remission is a team effort. 🤝

IBD can affect more than the gut, which is why different stages of your IBD journey may call for different expertise — from gastroenterology and IBD nursing to nutrition & dietetics, pharmacy, psychology, surgery and other specialist support.

You may not need every professional listed here. But you can ask your IBD team:

“Is there anyone else who should be involved in my care?”

You don’t need to navigate every aspect of IBD alone — start with the healthcare professionals already involved in your care and ask what additional support may be appropriate for you.

And if IBD nutrition is the piece of your care you need support with, that’s where I can help.

🔗 Virtual IBD dietitian consultations available via the link in bio. Or check my website

20/08/2026

Feeling well with IBD is a great place to be — but remission doesn’t mean monitoring stops. 🤓

Ongoing care can help us keep an eye on inflammation, nutrition, bone health and your overall long-term health — even when symptoms are quiet.

Because the goal isn’t just to reach remission. It’s to protect it.😇

Save this as a reminder — and follow along as I unpack what good ongoing IBD care can look like.

More Australian children are expected to be living with IBD over the next decade.Australian modelling estimates that IBD...
19/08/2026

More Australian children are expected to be living with IBD over the next decade.

Australian modelling estimates that IBD prevalence among children under 18 could increase from 43 per 100,000 in 2025 to approximately 51 per 100,000 by 2035.

But behind these numbers are real children and families trying to answer questions like:

What should my child eat? Are they getting enough nutrition? Are they growing well? Do we need to restrict certain foods? And how do we make eating feel normal again?

*Paediatric IBD* care is about MORE than controlling gut inflammation. Nutrition, growth, development and a healthy relationship with food matter too.

As an IBD dietitian working across BOTH - paediatric and adult IBD, this is exactly why I believe people living with IBD should have access to specialised nutrition support.

💻 1:1 virtual IBD dietitian consultations are available for personalised nutrition support.

🌿 I also offer Thrive with IBD, my structured nutrition program designed to help people & families with a child with IBD better understand food, build confidence and develop practical strategies for eating well with IBD.

If you or your family are looking for evidence-based IBD nutrition support, visit the link in my bio to explore how you can work with me.

When IBD begins in childhood, it affects more than the gut. 💜Childhood and adolescence are important years for growth, d...
18/08/2026

When IBD begins in childhood, it affects more than the gut. 💜

Childhood and adolescence are important years for growth, development, learning, relationships and building confidence around food.

So when a child is living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, good IBD care isn’t only about controlling inflammation.

We also need to think about:

🌱 Are they growing as expected?
🥗 Are they getting enough nutrition to support growth and recovery?
🎒 How is IBD affecting school and everyday activities?
💛 How are they coping emotionally?
👨‍👩‍👧 And how is the whole family navigating life with a chronic condition?

This is why children and adolescents with IBD benefit from specialised, age-appropriate multidisciplinary care — with nutrition forming an important part of that bigger picture.

For parents and carers: what has been one of the biggest challenges of managing IBD alongside your child’s everyday life?

If you’re living with IBD and feel exhausted, foggy, anxious or struggle with sleep — you’re certainly not the only one....
16/08/2026

If you’re living with IBD and feel exhausted, foggy, anxious or struggle with sleep — you’re certainly not the only one. 💜

The 2025 Australian State of the Nation in IBD report gives us an important glimpse into what life with IBD can really look like:

🧠 70% reported fatigue and/or brain fog
💭 48% reported anxiety and/or depression
😴 31% reported insomnia

These are MORE than statistics.

For many people, living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis can affect energy, concentration, sleep, mental wellbeing, work, relationships, social life and the ability to simply get through the day.

And sometimes these challenges can feel particularly difficult because IBD is often an invisible illness — others may not see what you are managing behind the scenes.

This is why good IBD care needs to look at the WHOLE person, not just gastrointestinal symptoms or inflammation.

Nutrition, mental wellbeing, sleep, fatigue and quality of life all deserve a place in the conversation alongside medical treatment.

💜 If any of this feels familiar, know that these experiences are shared by many people living with IBD — and they are worth talking about with your IBD healthcare team.

Which of these impacts of IBD do you think is talked about the least?

Source: Crohn’s & Colitis Australia – State of the Nation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Australia, Final Report 2025.

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