CDED Diet

Phase 2: Reintroduction

Weeks 7–12 · Greater dietary variety. Partial Enteral Nutrition (PEN) is reduced to 25% of total caloric requirements.

⚕ Clinical notice: Educational summary, not a complete food list or a self-directed diet plan. Phase 2 in the trial uses limited, staged reintroductions, including from week 10. The nutrition team must specify quantities, frequency and texture; these reintroductions must not be extrapolated to people with strictures.

Clinical safety and follow-up

These situations are not a list of absolute CDED contraindications. They require different actions and individual assessment.

Red flags: urgent assessment

Severe abdominal pain, heavy or non-stop bleeding, or vomiting blood: seek emergency care.
Persistent vomiting with distension and absent bowel transit, or marked deterioration in general condition: urgent assessment; do not try to manage this by changing the menu.

Do not wait to finish a diet phase or reach a fixed time point if the patient deteriorates.

Before starting or adapting the diet

Symptomatic stricture or suspected obstruction: medical assessment before prescribing foods or textures. The CDED phase does not determine a safe texture.
Malnutrition or very low intake: assess nutritional status and refeeding risk. In children, assess growth and anthropometry by age and sex, not a fixed adult BMI threshold.
Malnutrition alone does not indicate parenteral nutrition. It is reserved for situations where oral/enteral intake cannot meet needs or cannot be used, and for specific complications.
Pregnancy, breastfeeding or recent surgery: individual planning and nutritional follow-up. These do not automatically contraindicate all nutritional interventions.
Food allergy: check ingredients and product information. With cow milk protein allergy, do not use a formula containing intact milk protein; the clinical team must select an alternative, without automatic substitution.

Contact the team for reassessment

Ongoing weight loss, inadequate intake, poor tolerance or lack of response: bring review forward according to progress, without waiting three weeks if there is deterioration.
Rising CRP or faecal calprotectin: interpret alongside symptoms, examination and progress. An isolated marker does not by itself determine severity or the need for emergency care.

CDED requires gastroenterology and nutrition supervision. This reminder does not replace clinical assessment or an emergency care protocol.

Mandatory Foods

Trial reference foods; exceptions and adaptations require a prescribed plan

Fresh chicken breast
Without skin, unprocessed. Maintained from Phase 1.
150–200 g/day
Eggs
2 units/day
Fresh potatoes
Peeled, cooked and cooled before consuming.
2 medium/day
Apple
Peeled.
1 unit/day
Bananas
2 units/day

In Phase 2, PEN is reduced to 25% of total caloric requirements.

Phase 2 Additions

Examples, not a complete list: weeks 7–9 and 10–12 are not interchangeable

Wholegrain bread: a limited reintroduction
This does not allow any bread or pasta. Do not automatically substitute white, toasted or crustless bread.
1 slice/day
A wider range of vegetables and fruit
The original table includes broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, pear or kiwi, among others. They are not generally excluded throughout Phase 2.
Weeks 7–9 / 10–12
Legumes: reference measured dry
Permitted, not mandatory. Measure before soaking or cooking; eat cooked. Combined daily reference, not per dish. See provenance and limitations below.
½ cup/day dry

Reference amounts and timing

Legumes: ½ cup per day measured dry, before soaking or cooking; always eat cooked. This is the combined daily reference, not an amount per dish or per type of legume. These are permitted, not mandatory foods. It is not equivalent to ½ cup cooked.

Wholegrain bread: 1 slice per day, preferably homemade, within the prescribed plan. Bread and legumes are placed from the start of Phase 2 (week 7), based on their inclusion in the weeks 7–12 list without a specific delay. Do not automatically add them to every meal.

Weeks 7–9: only additions specifically permitted for that period. From week 10: a wider range of fruit and vegetables in small amounts, retaining exclusions. This is not an unrestricted diet. A menu Monday does not identify the treatment week.

These references do not define grams per cup or slice, or a dry-to-cooked conversion. The team must specify the household measure and individual amount, especially for children or people with strictures; sieving does not guarantee a safe texture.

Provenance: operational detail cross-checked against a protocol published for adults in 2025, not efficacy results or an exact transcription of the Levine 2019 supplement. Cano-Mármol et al., 2025, Table 2.

Foods to Avoid

Examples of restrictions; check exceptions in the individual plan

Dairy products and animal fats excluded by the protocol.
Industrial products, ready-made sauces and additives restricted by the protocol.
Wheat products outside prescribed exceptions; limited wholegrain bread reintroduction does not allow any bread, pasta or pastries.
Alcohol, soft drinks and deep-fried foods.