With Crohn's, is it wise to soak nuts before using?

The short answer is yes, it is wise to soak nuts before eating or using them for baking. A diet which maximizes the nutritional potential of foods while avoiding detrimental foods will be higher in nuts. Because Crohn's predisposes individuals to micronutrient malabsorption and diseases processes deplete micronutrients, guarding the nutritional potential of foods is imperative. The chelating effects of phytate-rich nuts are undesirable; therefore, soaking nuts to lower phytic acid is a positive step toward improving the nutritional potential of this almost perfect food.

"Living with Phytic Acid" from The Weston A. Price Foundation
"It is not necessary to completely eliminate phytic acid from the diet, only to keep it to acceptable levels. An excess of 800 mg phytic acid per day is probably not a good idea. The average phytate intake in the U.S. and the U.K. ranges between 631 and 746 mg per day; the average in Finland is 370 mg; in Italy it is 219 mg; and in Sweden a mere 180 mg per day.

In the context of a diet rich in calcium, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin C, good fats and lacto-fermented foods, most people will do fine on an estimated 400-800 mg per day. For those suffering from tooth decay, bone loss or mineral deficiencies, total estimated phytate content of 150-400 mg would be advised. For children under age six, pregnant women or those with serious illnesses, it is best to consume a diet as low in phytic acid as possible.

In practical terms, this means properly preparing phytate-rich foods to reduce at least a portion of the phytate content, and restricting their consumption to two or three servings per day....

In general, nuts contain levels of phytic acid equal to or higher than those of grains. Therefore those consuming peanut butter, nut butters or nut flours, will take in phytate levels similar to those in unsoaked grains. Unfortunately, we have very little information on phytate reduction in nuts. Soaking for seven hours likely eliminates some phytate. Based on the accumulation of evidence, soaking nuts for eighteen hours, dehydrating at very low temperatures—a warm oven—and then roasting or cooking the nuts would likely eliminate a large portion of phytates.

Nut consumption becomes problematic in situations where people on the GAPS diet and similar regimes are consuming lots of almonds and other nuts as a replacement for bread, potatoes and rice. The eighteen-hour soaking is highly recommended in these circumstances.

It is best to avoid nut butters unless they have been made with soaked nuts—these are now available commercially. Likewise, it is best not to use nut flours—and also coconut flour—for cooking unless they have been soured by the soaking process." [Emphasis mine.]

Do potatoes worsen Crohn's symptoms?

Potentially.  Here is the evidence I've found in support of eliminating potatoes to ameliorate Crohn's symptoms.  But what I've really learned, is that they should not be a part of any wellness diet, regardless of the specific underlying pathology.

Potatoes are polysaccharides.  Elaine Getschell, (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) among others, theorized that polysaccharides (starches) feed undesirable bacteria in the small bowel and large intestine causing IBD symptoms.  Since potatoes are predominantly starch (polysaccharide), digestion occurs in the large bowel.  Eliminating potatoes removes what is potentially a very significant source of polysaccharides, cutting off nourishment for harmful bacterias in a vulnerable gut.  See my post "What is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?"

Potatoes are nightshades (solanaceae) containing  alkaloids, which are toxins, which may affect nerves, muscles, and joints in susceptible people.  Patients in the arthritis community commonly eliminate nightshades from their diets for symptom relief. See Dr. Childer's Arthritis Nightshades Research Foundation.  See my post entitled "Do foods from the nightshade family worsen the symptoms of CD?"

Potatoes contain glycoalkaloids (alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine), natural defense mechanism, which makes the intestine even more permeable.  Peeling and high heat cooking does not eliminate glycoalkaloids.   To make matters worse, frying potatoes intensifies these molecules.  Diarrhea is among the effects of glycoalkaloid intake. Those with gut integrity issues are best to avoid worsening permeability.  See  my post entitled "Do glycoalkaloids worsen Crohn's symptoms?"  

Potatoes are a mainstay of the high carb SAD diet, which is associated with a plethora of negative health effects including inflammation, cancers, and metabolic syndrome. As a general rule, reducing or eliminating high carbohydrate foods is health-promoting.  

There is great interest in carbohydrate reduction in many wellness communities.  In the paleo community, see, for example, Mark's Daily Apple and Robb Wolf.  For an alternative wellness plans by medical doctors, see, for example, Dr. Mercola at Mercola.com and Drs. Eades and Eades at DrsEades.com.  For low glycemic foods see Atkins, South Beach Diet, and  Low Glycemic diets.

I cannot identify any downside to eliminating potatoes, other than dealing with the shock of others who find it astonishing that we are able to go on living without potatoes.  My kids don't miss them and neither do I.  We roast carrots and mash squash, and with all the other yummy food we're eating, we've never looked back.