How to Find the Best Protein Powder for Crohn’s Disease

📌 Overview and Key Takeaways

This is a Certified Nutrition Coach’s guide on how to find the best protein powder for Crohn’s disease.

Discover how to safely meet your protein needs with Crohn’s.

Last Updated
Jul 21, 2026

Author and Medical Reviewer

Written by Jack, CNC

Jack is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Nutrition Coach.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Consult a licensed healthcare professional before making changes to your diet.

Protein Powder for Crohn’s Disease

Is Protein Powder Good for Crohn’s Disease?

Yes, protein powder can be beneficial for people with Crohn’s disease when used properly.

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes chronic inflammation in your digestive tract.

This happens when your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in your gut.

Living with Crohn’s disease is especially challenging because certain foods trigger symptoms called flares.

These flares often cause bloating, diarrhea, and stomach pain.

Over time, flares can also lead to decreased intake and malabsorption that can cause weight loss and malnutrition.

Keep in mind that the exact cause of Crohn’s disease is not known.

There is also no cure for Crohn’s.

Various treatment options are available to manage symptoms and reduce inflammation, however.

One of the most effective is making dietary changes.

Although Crohn’s is not caused by what you eat, doctors and dietitians agree that food plays an important role in managing symptoms, especially during flares and periods of remission.

Certain foods worsen symptoms, while others reduce them and promote healing.

Paying attention to what you eat and how your body responds to different foods is therefore an essential part of living with Crohn’s.

That said, there is no single Crohn’s diet that works for everyone.

The foods that trigger your symptoms might be different from foods that trigger symptoms for someone else.

Additionally, specialized Crohn’s disease diets are controversial because they tend to be very restrictive.

Regardless, there are several general guidelines that anyone with IBD should follow.

Eating enough protein, for example, is important for someone with Crohn’s disease.

The inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease increases your protein needs, sometimes by as much as 25% (Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2023).

Crohn’s patients with active flares or with a risk of malnutrition should eat 1-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is significantly more than what is recommended for most adults (Eur J Nutr, 2021).

Adequate protein intake will help prevent weight loss, muscle loss, and other complications.

It can also help repair your mucosal intestinal barrier (Nutrients, 2017).

It is important to note that protein powder should not replace other dietary protein sources.

That is, you should try to get as much of your dietary protein intake as possible from sources like eggs, fish, legumes, meat, nuts, and seeds.

Eating enough protein from sources like these can be challenging for some people, however, which is where protein powder can help.

Adding protein powder to your diet is an easy way to fill in nutritional gaps.

But not all protein powders are created equal.

Which Protein Powder IS best for Crohn’s Disease?

Many protein powders contain ingredients known to cause painful side effects and even long-term gut health problems.

Among these problematic ingredients are food additives, dairy-based proteins, and protein concentrates and isolates.

🚫 Avoid Food Additives

Regularly eating ultra-processed emulsifiers, thickeners, and other additives can alter the composition and function of your gut microbiome (North Clin Istanb, 2020).

These shifts, known as gut dysbiosis, have been linked to the development of Crohn’s disease (Int J Mol Sci, 2022).

A healthy gut microbiome helps maintain your protective intestinal barrier and regulate immune cells called regulatory T cells that reduce inflammation (Annu Rev Immunol, 2020; Front Microbiol, 2019)

A dysbiotic microbiome thus makes you more susceptible to inflammation and less able to fight it.

⚠️ Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein shakes and powders:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

As a rule of thumb, if you cannot find it in nature or make it at home, it is probably a food additive.

🚫 Avoid Dairy-Based Proteins

Dairy-based proteins like whey and casein, although not a problem for everyone, can cause digestive issues too.

This is usually because they contain lactose – a sugar many individuals with sensitive stomachs cannot fully digest.

But you might be sensitive to dairy-based proteins even if you are not lactose intolerant.

For starters, the digestion of some caseins releases a bioactive peptide that has been linked to digestive issues (Adv Nutr, 2017).

Casein also forms a gel-like substance in your stomach that slows down digestion (Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2023).

For sensitive individuals, particularly true for those with cow’s milk protein allergy or intolerance, slower digestion can contribute to bloating, constipation, and other side effects.

🚫 Avoid Protein Concentrates and Isolates

If you have a sensitive stomach, you might also want to avoid protein concentrates and isolates.

Most protein shakes and powders are made from one or both of these ultra-processed protein sources, which have been mechanically and/or chemically stripped of everything but the protein.

This includes the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help you break them down.

You therefore do not digest them in the same way that you do whole foods, which could affect your gut health.

For example, one study shows that regularly consuming protein concentrates and isolates might disrupt your gut microbiome (Nutrients, 2018).

Another study shows that it could cause the formation of toxic byproducts in your gut (Mol Nutr Food Res, 2024).

Although further research is needed, individuals with sensitive stomachs can play it safe by choosing protein shakes and powders made from minimally-processed protein sources like egg whites and almonds.

They are more gut-friendly.

Order Samples to see for yourself.

Sources

1. The Lancet. Gastroenterology & Hepatology (Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol). Inflammation and malnutrition in inflammatory bowel disease. 2023.
2. European Journal of Nutrition (Eur J Nutr). Habitual dietary intake of IBD patients differs from population controls: a case–control study. 2021.
3. Nutrients (Nutrients). Dietary Protein and Amino Acid Supplementation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Course: What Impact on the Colonic Mucosa? 2017.
4. Northern Clinics of Istanbul (North Clin Istanb). Food additives and microbiota. 2020.
5. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Int J Mol Sci). Dysbiosis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Pathogenic Role and Potential Therapeutic Targets. 2022.
6. Annual Review of Immunology (Annu Rev Immunol). Interaction Between the Microbiota, Epithelia, and Immune Cells in the Intestine. 2020.
7. Frontiers in Microbiology (Front Microbiol). Infectious Threats, the Intestinal Barrier, and Its Trojan Horse: Dysbiosis. 2019.
8. Advances in Nutrition | Journal (Adv Nutr). Systematic Review of the Gastrointestinal Effects of A1 Compared with A2 β-Casein. 2017.
9. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr). Milk proteins: Processing, gastric coagulation, amino acid availability and muscle protein synthesis. 2023.
10. Nutrients (Nutrients). Effect of a Protein Supplement on the Gut Microbiota of Endurance Athletes: A Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot Study. 2018.
11. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Mol Nutr Food Res). In Vitro Fermentation of Animal and Plant Protein Isolates by the Human Gut Microbiota Under High and Low Carbohydrate Conditions. 2024.

Editorial Guidelines

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This article was written by a Certified Nutrition Coach and reviewed by a Registered Dietitian. We rely on peer-reviewed research and trusted medical sources, and regularly update our content to ensure accuracy and clarity.