Not quite the same...but I am back.

After a healthy break from writing, I’m ready to start posting again. Since I get so many comments saying something like, “Great post. Loved the info, but how are YOU doing?”, I thought I ‘d inaugurate my return with a short update on my own health and how I’m doing in healing colitis using natural means.

Since my fecal transplant therapy (FTT, now called Fecal Microbiota Transplant, or FMT–they’re the same thing: a poop transplant) almost exactly a year ago (February, 2011), I’ve been flirting with 100%. Some of my symptoms returned about two weeks after FMT, but I was still improved over my condition pre-FMT.

Pre-FMT, I had 3-4 loose stools per day with no blood and no mucus, and my energy levels were hit or miss. Post FMT, 1-2 mildly formed stools with much improved energy levels. I was now (and still am) able to go on a 10k run or do heavy squats in the gym without fear of soiling myself. But I still wasn’t 100%, and I’m shooting for the stars here.

So I did an elimination-challenge. As a result, I spent six weeks at the top of the charts–100% for six whole weeks! But then I began challenging my body with the foods I eliminated. Tomatoes? Fine. Eggs? OK in moderate quantities. Dairy? Ack! My system went haywire after 1/4 cup of SCD yogurt (Click here to learn more about the SCD, Specific Carbohydrate Diet; it saved my life). I never got to nuts. I’ve yet to regain 100%.

I’m still chasing it.

Since the elimination, I have tried other natural treatments which have given me glimpses of my post-elimination glory days. Things that have helped me are:

• Juice fasts, and intermittent (18-24 hour) fasting.

Juicing has helped my energy levels tremendously, and I highly recommend it; especially daily wheat grass. Fasting gives your gut and body a rest, so it can focus its energy on maintenance and repair (to put it simply).

• Heavy doses of probiotics.

I’ve been slowly upping my dose, and have safely taking 750 Billion CFU/day with good results. For those of you who haven’t yet experimented to find your therapeutic dose of probiotics, let me encourage you start the process now. Probiotics are proven effective.

• Natural antibiotics.

For some time now, I’ve been using natural antibiotics with success. I’ve started an antibiotic/anti-parasite herb mix (PARA 3-L from Good Herbs) that has really helped. I started it in January, and will take it daily until March, and then re-evaluate. I hesitate some at mentioning the name of it here, until I know it works, because it has wormwood and black walnut hulls in it, so you shouldn’t take it without a qualified health professional’s counsel.

So I’m flirting, still, with 100%. I’ve been able to expand my diet to include sprouted wheat. I make an unleavened sprouted wheat sourdough I could kill for, and my body allows me a tiny bit of very dark chocolate occasionally without consequence. Other than that, I’m eating within SCD parameters but I also avoid dairy, nuts, legumes, or eggs. But my body will allow me raw veggies now, so I enjoy lots of good salads.

Most days I have good (not great, yet, but good) energy, and unless I really do something stupid, I have 1-2 quasi-formed stools/day, which I can hold if I need to. I have had a few very short bouts with profound depression, which I’ve never had before in my life. I’ve always had the tendency (it runs in the family), but have never experienced it before. Through that, I discovered that really high doses of B-vitamins will improve it. Yes, I’m getting my B levels tested soon.

I am still stuck with this horrendous itching, which comes and goes with my symptoms. It’s like my own little colitis activity meter, really. Some people’s knees ache when the weather changes; I itch and scratch until my skin falls off, when my colitis changes. So far, no good explanation for it.

I’m currently taking:

• PARA 3-L (anti-microbial herb mix)
• 150 billion CFU of Custom Probiotics 11-Strain mix
• 1 tablespoon fish oil
• Quercetin (in the product, Repair Guard), 6 tabs/day for repair, anti-inflammatory, and also regulates histamine (itching)
• Vitamin supplements
• 1-2 Zyrtec/day (to control my itching).

That’s where I sit today. Next time I’ll discuss the other half of my enzyme post in a short discussion of when/why enzymes could be helpful.

Until then…

Onward to Health,

In the beginning of November, I had my first successful non-SCD experiment: Sprouted Wheat. Why sprouted wheat? Because I hate nut flour, and because my elimination diet showed that my body doesn’t tolerate nuts right now anyway; because I love bread; and because I have generally been without symptoms for long enough now that I was willing to try an excursion, an SCD excursion to be precise. I wanted to try it because sprouts (not SCD legal) are super-foods, and because, after 2.5 years without it, I wanted some bread dammit.

So my wife and I sprouted some wheat berries, dried them at low temperature, ground them into flour, and made a simple soda bread: (sprouted) wheat flour, water, salt, baking soda, and a squidge of honey. I made it like a flat bread, only about 1/2″ thick and cut it into squares. It’s great with homemade jam. I tried these bread squares with homemade jam for a week in the beginning of November and… Eureka! Turns out my body (including my sickly colon) loves sprouted wheat! I’ve been eating modest amounts of it for a month now with no adverse effects. So in celebration of my first non-SCD food victory, I have written a poem that I’d like to share with you. It’s both in celebration of my success with sprouted wheat, and a tribute to my favorite author. I’m sure you’ll be able to guess the author as you read the poem. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I call it “Bread Squares with Jam.”

Bread Squares with Jam

I am Flare.

I am Flare.

Flare I am.

That Flare-I-am!

That Flare-I-am!

I do not like that Flare-I-am.

Do you want bread squares with jam?

Excuse me?

Bread squares with jam;

Will you try them, Mr. Him?

I do not want them, Flare-I-am.

I do not want bread squares with jam.

Do you want them

Here or there?

I do not want them

Here or there.

I do not want them anywhere.

I do not want bread squares with jam.

I do not want them, Flare-I-am.

Do you want them

On a table?

Would you eat them

If you were able?

I do not want them

on a table.

Though, I might eat them

If I were able…

I might want them

here or there;

Hey! I might

want them anywhere.

Then try them!

Try them and

you will see.

Maybe…

No! I do not want bread squares with jam.

I do not want them, Flare-I-am.

Say! Would you try them

with these pills?

Would you try them

with fewer ills?

Not on a table.

I might if I were able…

No! Not with pills;

Not with fewer ills.

I would not try them here or there.

I would not try them anywhere.

I would not eat bread squares with jam.

I do not want them, Flare-I-am.

Would you? Could you?

as a sprout?

Eat them! Eat them!

Mr. Colonpout.

I would not,

could not,

as a sprout.

You may like them.

You will see.

Would you like them

in a tree?

I would not, could not in a tree.

Not as a sprout! You let me be.

I do not want them here.

I do not want them there.

I do not want them as a sprout.

My name is not Colonpout!

I do not want them on a table.

Though I might want them if I were able…

No! I do not want them with pills.

Flare! They’ll bring many ills.

I do not want bread squares with jam.

I do not want them, Flare-I-am.

A mall! A mall!

A mall! A mall!

Could you, would you

in a mall?

Could you, would you

With Elaine Gottshcall?

With Elaine Gottschall?… Hmmm?

No, not in a mall! Not in a tree!

Not with pills! Flare, let me be!

I would not, could not, on a table.

I could not, would not; I’m not able!

I will not try them with pills.

I will not try them with fewer ills.

I do not want them as a sprout.

And my name is not Colonpout.

I will not try them here or there.

I will not try them anywhere.

I do not want them, Flare-I-am.

Say!

With yogurt?

Here, with yogurt!

Would you, could you, with yogurt?

I would not, could not,

with yogurt.

Would you, could you,

without pain?

I would not, could not, without pain.

Not with yogurt. Flare, I cannot eat your grain.

Not on a table. Not in a tree.

I do not want them, Flare, you see.

Not with pills. Not in a mall.

Not with fewer ills. Not even with Elaine Gottschall!

I will not try them here or there.

I will not try them anywhere!

You do not want

bread squares with jam?

I do not

want them,

Flare-I-am.

Could you, would you,

with an enzyme?

I would not,

could not.

with an enzyme!

Would you, could you,

if you had time?

I could not, would not, with an enzyme.

I will not, will not, if I have time.

I will not try them in a mall.

I will not try them at all.

Not with yogurt! Not as a sprout!

Not with Elaine! Don’t call me Colonpout!

I do not want them on a table.

Though, I might want them if I were able…

No! I cannot try them without pain.

I cannot try your jam with grain.

I do not want them here or there.

I do not want them anywhere!

I do not want

bread squares with jam!

I do not want them,

Flare-I-am.

You do not want them.

So you say.

Try them! Try them!

And you may.

Try them and you may, I say.

Flare!

If you will let me be,

I will try them

And you will see.

***

Say!

I like bread squares with jam!

I do! I like them, Flare-I-am!

And I will eat them on a table!

And I will eat them; seems I’m able.

And I will eat them with your pills.

And with live yogurt. And with no ills!

And as a sprout. And in a tree.

They are so good, so good you see!

So I will eat your jam and grain.

And I will eat them without pain.

And I will eat them in a mall.

And I will eat them with Elaine Gottschall.

And I will eat them with an enzyme.

I will eat them. I’ll make the time.

And I will eat them here and there.

Say! I will eat them anywhere!

I do so like bread squares with jam!

Thank you! Thank you, Flare-I-am.

“Man, you know what your problem is? You got no juice.” (“Juice”, 1992).

With IBD (Crohn’s and Colitis), often it is difficult to eat enough vegetables or fruits; the fiber can be killer during a flare up. Even when we are symptom-free, we can be more sensitive to fiber from fruits and vegetables than gut-normal people. So what do we do? Most of us stay away from those foods (at least for a while), or limit our quantities.

But our bodies need them. We need the vitamins; we need the minerals; we need the enzymes; and we need the calories. So, what do we do?

One alternative you can use is to lightly or moderately steam your vegetables, and lightly cook, peel, and puree your fruits. This breaks down the fiber matrix and makes them more easily digestible. I did this during the first few months of the SCD, and it helped me to be able to eat a wider variety of vegetables (leafy greens like spinach, and hard vegetables like broccoli, carrots, and beets; good fruits like apples, peaches, and pears). However, when we are healing, we often need a larger quantity of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and nutrients for rebuilding, than we would if we were well.

What else can we do to get the valuable nutrients and healing properties of vegetables and fruits?

You can juice them!

Juicing has lots of benefits, and only a few of the usual caveats for people with IBD. It is my goal in this post to outline why juicing (vegetables, especially) can be beneficial for people with IBD, the healing properties of certain juices which I consider important for folks with IBD, and my recommendations for buying a juicer (if you decide to start juicing).

Juicing & Nutrition

Note: In my opinion, pureeing is not juicing. The juicing process that I refer to in this post refers to the process of separating nutrients and water (juice) from fiber (pulp). The juicing process breaks the cell walls of the plant material and encourages it to release the contents into your glass. Therefore, in this post, when I refer to juice, I mean fresh, homemade juice that contains little to no pulp (plant fiber).

The biggest benefits you will see from juicing are from better nutritional intake. You can drink more vegetables than you can reasonably eat, and with the fibrous pulp removed, the fruit or vegetable is in its most accessible form, ready to be absorbed by your body. Start slowly, and build up your intake to about 8 or more ounces per day. The reason I say to build up slowly, is that, as with everything new, you must test it to make sure it does not increase your symptoms. With that said, many people, even gut-normal people, experience a loosening of stools during the first 1-3 days of juicing. Be prudent.

When you begin juicing, you should notice a difference in your energy pretty quickly. The combination of natural sugars, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, chlorophyll, and natural blood sugar modulating compounds will increase and level your energy throughout the day. For this reason, I like to drink my glass of juice in the morning with breakfast.

Absorption rate and efficiency will be determined by your own gut. If you have active diarrhea, rapid transit times could hinder your absorption. Likewise, if you have active inflammation in your small intestine your absorption rate will be effected. This is true for all foods, and the point here is to increase your nutritional intake of vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial substances from plants. Juicing does that by turning the plant into what is essentially an elemental nutrition drink which will require little digestion, and will be absorbed as easily as possible.

Can’t I just buy V8 or something?

Fresh, homemade juice is worlds above store-bought juice. Juice from the grocery has been pasteurized, which means it has been heated to 140 degrees Ferenheit or more to minimize the chances of bacterial contamination. This heating process destroys essential but fragile enzymes you would otherwise get from fresh plants. The pasteurization process also destroys fragile vitamins, such as vitamin C.

Vitamins and minerals are often added ex post facto to the juice before packaging. As a consumer, you have no idea where these added vitamins come from, what form they are/were in, and how they were added. Often, for example, added vitamin C is in ascorbic acid form (which often contains a starchy carbohydrate, and is illegal for SCDers), instead of the gentler mineral ascorbate form. Ascorbic acid can increase diarrhea in people with IBD.

The aging process also breaks down the juice; light, heat, and oxygen break down the nutritional contents such that in many juices, you’re just getting sugar-water and vitamin additives—Oh, and do not forget the preservatives the companies add.

The goal here is THERAPY. And if food is your therapy, it needs to be fresh, fresh, fresh. There are two undying principles to food as therapy: (1) Quantity matters; 400 mg of vitamin C, for example, is not a therapeutic dose. (2) Quality matters; organically grown vegetables from the store (better, organic veggies you grow yourself) are more nutritionally valuable, and contain fewer pesticide residues. Studies show that rinsing alone is not effective at removing pesticide residues. The best method is to scrub your vegetables, if you must buy commercially grown produce. But let me ask you this: How do you effectively scrub broccoli or baby lettuce?

Organic vegetables are also better for juicing for some of the same reasons they are better for fermenting (see my post on fermenting foods): They contain low to no pesticide residue and they are typically grown in more mineral rich soils. If it is not in the soil, it will not be in the plant.

Juices for IBD

Before I launch into specific vegetables, let me outline some general principles for juicing as it relates to IBD.

First, for IBD, minimize your intake of fruit juices. The sugar content is just too high, and too much could cause you gut problems. For that reason, I focus here on vegetable juices. If you simply must sweeten your juice with fruit, use half- to a quarter of a pear or apple.

Second, most vegetable juices are at least half carrot. The carrots mellow the flavor of other juiced vegetables, which can often be quite bitter. So plan on 50-60% carrots in any one batch of juice. Carrot juice is also high in sugars and the same caveat should apply for carrots as applies for fruit: be careful with quantity. You can also sweeten juice with beets, but be careful, they are potent, and can cause symptoms if you drink too much.

Third, make only what you are going to drink at that moment. Don’t make juice for the day or the week. Some sources say you can save juice for 4-6 hours if you immediately keep it cold and dark for that time. But not everyone agrees on that point.

Wheatgrass and Barley Grass:

I’ll start with the most nutritionally therapeutic, wheat- and barley grass. Interest in these grasses and their healing properties started in the 1930’s when some dairy scientists at the University of Wisconsin noticed that the nutritional value of milk produced by cows in spring and summer was much higher than milk produced in the fall and winter. They tested this observation on lab animals, and found that they thrived and gained weight on the spring/summer milk, but got sick and lost weight on winter milk. Some even died. The difference was in the grass the cows ate. Milk was richest and most nutritious when the cows were eating the fresh, quickly growing grasses of the spring and summer.

The person who has done the most to popularize the use of wheat- and barley grass is a woman named Ann Wigmore. Ann grew up in eastern Europe in the early 1900’s watching her grandmother use fresh, green wheatgrass and other wild plants to heal ailments in WWI soldiers. She was later diagnosed with colitis and began chewing and juicing wheatgrass (not as a therapy, per se). Soon she was healed of her colitis.

In 1968 she founded the Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston, Massachusets. There, she treated the sickest of the sick. Doctors in the northeast U.S. would send her their terminally ill cancer patients, those with chronic autoimmune diseases, those with IBD. She treated them all with great success rates using a regimen of wheatgrass, diet, and rest.

Don’t take my word for it, though. Read Eydie Marie Hunsberger’s, How I conquered Cancer Naturally. She was near death when she went to see Ann.

Suggested Use: Start with 1-2 oz. freshly juiced wheatgrass 1-2 times daily. The maximum upper limit on a therapeutic dose is argued, but most experts agree that 8-10 oz. per day is a good dose to use. Ann Wigmore regularly used wheatgrass enemas as a part of her therapy. She claimed that it was difficult to ingest by mouth that much wheatgrass juice. She also believed that colon and liver health were paramount to overall health. Wheatgrass enemas are absorbed quickly into the hepatic portal vein, and they encourage detoxification of the liver.

Tips: Buying fresh wheatgrass is very expensive ($5-6 per serving). You’d do better sprouting and growing your own grass. A pound of hard red wheat berries (don’t use the soft white berries) runs $1.34 at my local co-op grocery and gets me between 20-30 servings of wheatgrass. I’ll let you do the math.

Do use caution in starting a wheatgrass routine for two reasons: (1) Wheatgrass is rich, and can make people nauseous at first. I didn’t experience this, but others have. So start small. (2) Wheatgrass is a good detoxifying agent. Too much too fast can cause detox reactions.

You can also buy wheat- and barley grass in a supplement form if you like, but most have other products or fillers added that may or may not agree with your gut.

Nutrients (3.5g fresh): 1750 I.U. Vitamin A; 280mcg Vitamin K; 11mg Vitamin C; 1.1 mcg Vitamin E; 10 mcg Thiamin; 1 mg Choline; 71 mcg Riboflavin; 45 mcg pyridoxine; 1 mcg B-12; 263 mcg niacin; 84 mcg pantothenic acid; 4 mcg biotin; 38 mcg folic acid; 18 mcg Calcium and Phosphorous; 3.6 mg Magnesium; 2 mg Iron; 0.35 mg Manganese; 3.5 mcg Selenium; 1 mg Sodium; 17.5 mcg Zinc; 7 mcg Iodine; 19 mg chlorophyll; trace amounts of cobalt.

For more information on wheat- and barley grass, follow the link below

http://www.healthbanquet.com/wheatgrass-juice-research.html

Or read: Wheatgrass Nature’s Finest Medicine: The Complete Guide to Using Grasses to Revitalize Your Health, by Steve Meyerowitz

Celery and Parsley Juices:

Celery and parsley are vegetables I juice as often as I can.

Celery juice is full of electrolytes (Careful! Too much can have a laxative effect), and is also reputed to be good for eczema and skin rashes, which can be a side effect of IBD. I have tried them for my rashes, and I did notice that during the time I was taking celery (and parsley) juice, I needed less of my prescription cream to get rid of a rashy spot.

As legend goes, King Henry VIII of England had terrible rashes (and a voracious appetite for adultery…karma anyone?). He ate pastries, drank lots of ale, and loved fatty, sugary foods (don’t we all?). The story goes that he was finally able to keep the rashes under control using celery juice from a peasant herbalist who was using it to successfully treat people from his home nearby.

Parsley juice is believed to be wonderful for all sorts of skin problems, especially those associated with allergy. To use it to treat allergy symptoms, juice 1-2 glasses of parsley and carrots every day for 2-3 weeks.

Other Green Juices:

These juices will increase your energy! Kale, spinach, collard greens, chard, dandelion, cabbage, are all vegetables that are great for juicing.

Green juices, including celery and parsley increase your mineral salts base, which your body uses to maintain blood pH (Ideally your blood pH

Juicing can be a fun and powerful way to increase your nutritional intake of vegetables. This is especially important for those with active diarrhea.

Buying a Juicer (Again, except for the Amazon affiliate links and the SCD Lifestyle link on this blog, I don’t receive compensation for promoting products. If I think a writing about a certain brand or product will help save you time or trouble, I mention it. If not, I don’t.):

There are more juicers out there than I ever imagined. When I first began looking for a juicer, I quickly got overwhelmed and had to put the project down for a few days. After some searching, I found a very helpful juicer site, which had videos, recommendations, and commentary on which juicers are good for which applications. I’ll let you do your own homework, but that site helped me a ton.

In thinking about a juicer, try and be realistic about how much you will use it, and what you would like to do with it. I typically use mine five or more times per week, so I wanted something that would last. The reason I consider use first rather than budget, is that I can always save and wait to get the right juicer; however, if I go cheap, then I could end up with something I do not like or do not use. That would be a real waste of money. So I find the juicer I will use first, then consider my budget. In considering cost, though, I first think of cost per use rather than the one-time purchase price.

For example, if you spent $100 dollars on a cheap juicer you may or may not like, that has a two-year warranty, you may use it once per week. Over the course of the year, that is about $1.92 per use. Over the life of the warranty, that is about $0.96 per use. If it breaks after two years, you will have to make that purchase again. You can see how the longer you own the juicer and the more you use it, the cheaper the cost per use.

Now say you spent $300 on a juicer you really liked, and could use for lots of things. It has a 15 year warranty. This juicer you love and use five (or more!) times a week. Over the course of the first year that juicer costs you $1.15 per use. Over the life of the warranty, your cost per use is about 7.5 cents. Paying more up front can save you money in the long-run.

I knew I wanted something that would last, something that had multiple uses in the kitchen, and I knew I wanted something that would juice wheatgrass. That’s why I went with an auger juicer. It was good for juicing fruits and vegetables, juicing wheatgrass, making baby food and nut butters, grinding coffee, and I’ve even ground sprouted wheat with it, though the grind is not fine enough to call it real flour. I ended up with the Omega 8006 and really like it.

Onward to Health,

Why I don’t recommend HCl and digestive enzymes:

I know many doctors and natural healing programs recommend supplementing with HCl and/or enzymes. Indeed enzymes are therapeutic and can be used for treating certain diseases, but for IBD, I still do not believe that we should supplement with digestive enzymes or HCl for the purpose of increasing digestion unless we know that we have enzyme, acid, or other production deficiencies. Many of us have been on acid reducers of some sort, and that may be a reason for investigating your acid production, but before you try buying HCL and enzymes, there are lots of natural ways to improve digestion. I recommend trying those first.

HCl

But, but...it burns!

HCl can be downright dangerous if you do not use it properly, and has been consistently shown to increase diarrhea in people with inflammatory bowel (Crohn’s and Colitis). It can help your HCl production rebound, if it is low, but do not rely solely on a home baking soda test to tell you whether you have low acid production. Relying only on the one home test is like trying to write a novel on a paper napkin: you have just enough to get a few ideas, but the real thing takes lots more work. For example, I failed the baking soda test, but my acid production is just fine as measured by other tests. If I had started HCl based on that test alone, I could have risked taking acid supplements I did not need.

The most likely reason for poor digestion of food, if you have Crohn’s or Colitis, is the increased transit time caused by (you guessed it) diarrhea. Food simply does not spend the time in your gut it needs to be properly broken down and absorbed. This is where improved digestion can help, but the low hanging fruit here is to stop your diarrhea–that will do the most to improve your digestion. Historically, HCl supplementation has increased, not decreased people’s diarrhea.

With that said, if you think you have low acid production, go see your doctor and have him or her measure your acid production before you start on HCl.

Digestive Enzymes

Your body does not make all the enzymes you need to break down your food—no one’s body does. Historically, humans have not had to produce all of the needed digestive enzymes; they have eaten enough fresh and raw food (which contains its own enzymes) such that we have never developed the evolutionary need to produce a wider variety of enzymes. For hundreds of thousands of years humans have instinctively supplemented those enzymes through their diet.

Further, if we supplement with enzymes, we do not know what that will do to our own enzyme production capabilities. Our bodies have multiple feedback mechanisms by which it measures what is going on around the body. This is how hormone levels are regulated, for example. When you take prednisone or another corticosteroid, your adrenal glands quit or slow cortisol production because the feedback mechanisms signal that, because of the high levels of cortisone in the blood due to your pills, they do not need to produce as much cortisol. So they go to ‘sleep’. This is why you have to wean off of corticosteroids; the weaning process allows your adrenals to wake up and begin producing again. It makes sense that such a complex orchestra like the digestive system would also have feedback loops which measure pH, enzyme levels, fullness, and more (indeed, this is the case). When we supplement with enzymes, then, it makes sense that the body could send feedback that slows or changes our own enzyme production. The bottom line with this is, in the absence of a measurable deficit, who knows better how much enzyme you need when you eat, you or your gut?

With that said, there is precious little written on this topic. The common reference(s) I have found to negative feedback from enzyme supplementation is from nutritionists counseling cancer patients.

The main reason people recommend taking enzymes for IBD is to improve digestion. Improved digestion will, in theory, reduce the residue delivered to the colon, increase absorption, and help with nutrition; all improvements which will help you heal. I agree with that theory. However, the assumption behind this theory is that those with IBD have a higher incidence of poor digestion. That very well may be the case, but we don’t know. What we do know is that poor digestion in people with IBD is first and foremost likely to be from diarrhea. So the first step is not digestive enzymes, but to stop your diarrhea. That said, I believe that people with IBD (and Westerners in general) have poor diet, before they develop poor digestion. Most of their life, they have subsisted on a processed, packaged, canned, and otherwise calorie-rich, enzyme and vitamin-poor diet.

This is the place to start: stop your diarrhea and change your diet, first. Unless you have a measured production deficiency, or physiological hurdle to proper digestion, your digestion should rebound as your diarrhea subsides and your diet gets better.

The dilemma here is that diarrhea (or some other poorly functioning mechanism) gives us poor digestion, which leads to higher colonic residue, which exacerbates our symptoms. Improve your digestion, and you reduce the amount of undigested food in the colon, and you decrease symptoms. Adding more digestive enzymes while you have active diarrhea may (might, maybe, possibly) improve your digestion, but if it does improve things at all, the change will be small. Here’s why: Enzymatic reactions, just like all other chemical reactions take TIME. If insufficient enzyme is present, you can improve the reaction by adding enzyme, but if there isn’t sufficient time for the reactions to take place, no matter how much enzyme is present, you still won’t digest your food. So, I say it again: stop your diarrhea first.

Below I give you some natural (and mostly free) ways of improving your digestion without buying enzymes.

I recognize that when we are sick with IBD, when we are in a flare, it is impossible and often unsafe to eat a diet consisting of 70-80% raw vegetables. But now you have a goal as you heal: eat as much fresh, raw food as your body can handle. The quantity will, ideally, increase as you heal.

In the meantime, here are lots of natural ways to improve digestion without using a supplement. The proponents of enzymes are correct when they say that improving digestion will assist the healing process, but you do not necessarily have to use store-bought enzymes to accomplish that goal.

So unless you have had your gall bladder removed, you have had tests which prove that your pancreas does not perform properly, or you have congenitally low enzyme production levels, then try some of these natural methods of improving digestion, before you jump into yet another supplement:

1. Increase the amount of natural enzymes in your diet by increasing the amount of raw food in your diet. Raw foods, especially fruits and vegetables, contain lots of enzymes that aid in their digestion. Raw vegetables are not the only source of raw food. Raw honey is also loaded with enzymes, and so are sprouts (sprouts are not SCD-legal). I highly recommend sprouts, if you can handle them, as they contain 30-35% protein (one good source of complete proteins), lots of enzymes, lots of vitamins, and they are considered an anti-oxidant super-food (read: anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory). Grow your own; it is cheap and fun.
2. Juice it! Those of us with IBD often cannot handle the fiber of a mostly raw food diet. Juicing vegetables allows you to get the vitamins, enzymes, chlorophyll, and micronutrients from the vegetables without the fiber.
3. Chew (and/or puree). Yep, chew until your food is liquid. In the U.S., we eat way (way) too quickly. Gandhi was quoted as saying, (something like) we should chew our liquids and drink our foods. This takes time, but it is well worth it. I am always the last to finish dinner at our house because I chew so meticulously. Chewing like this also has the added benefit of slowing me down. It helps me linger at meal time and forces me to relax. For example, this weekend, my wife and I went to a wedding rehearsal lunch. Some people finished their entire lunch before I could finish my salad. I had to ask the waiter to keep my plate warm until I was ready for it. You can also puree foods in a food processor, but chewing well mixes the food with your salivary enzymes and improves the digestion of your food more than any other suggestion here. That said, both will increase the digestibility of your food and help to decrease the undigested food residue load to your colon.
4. Take a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar 15-20 minutes before you eat. This gets your natural enzyme production going—sort of like warming up before you go for a run.
5. Use bitters. Natural bitter herbs have been used for millennia to stimulate and improve digestion. Again, use these 15-20 minutes before a meal. Just the same, this has also been the traditional function of the pre-dinner salad, which used to contain a variety of greens, many of which were bitter (today’s salads, filled with sweet baby greens or iceberg lettuce, are not nearly as healthy, and do not perform this function; so add some bitter greens to your salad for a healthier, more therapeutic salad). These greens were eaten before the main meal to stimulate digestion.
6. Eat ginger. Ginger increases the activity of lipase and other digestive enzymes. Gingerols are the source of ginger’s hot and spicy flavor. They stimulate bile flow. They are also responsible for ginger’s anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea and antioxidant properties. Ginger contains a protein-digesting enzyme called zingibain which is one of the most powerful protein digesting enzymes known, every bit the rival of the great papaya enzyme, papain. One of the essential oils in ginger, zingiberene, works in conjunction with gingerols to protect the lining of the stomach. The aromatic oils in ginger are useful for aiding digestion and reducing gas.
7. Eat more fermented foods. Fermented foods have been used to improve digestion for millennia. Fermented vegetables, for example, are rich in healthy bacteria (bonus!), are high in vitamins (especially vitamin C and B vitamins), and are loaded with helpful enzymes. The bacteria also predigest the vegetables, making them easier to break down in the body.

The bottom line: In dealing with and healing from IBD naturally, we already buy so many supplements—everyone has their favorite, THE supplement without which you cannot heal. Improving your digestion is one area in which you can build good habits and experiment without ever purchasing a single pill.

Onward to Health,

Consider this short post an update on my health.

The bacteriotherapy last February got me back to normal, 100%, for about two weeks. Then my symptoms began to return, which lead to the realization that there was another layer of healing; another factor that needed to be addressed. But I was still better than before the bacteriotherapy. Now I was down to 1-2 loose stools per day, from 3-4–an improvement, but not total healing. So bacterial manipulations were a key treatment for me, just not the only treatment.

I turned to antibiotics and probiotics and started cycling a Berberine complex with probiotics. More improvement, but nothing permanent. My itching improved, and my energy improved, but still couldn’t kick the diarrhea. On to diet.

Having gone through several cycles of Berberine complex (2-3 weeks on/ 4 weeks probiotics) and probiotics, I began an elimination diet. I fasted for 24 hours, followed by 24 hours of broth, followed by 24 hours of banana/avocado smoothies, and then a slow introduction of safe foods. I eliminated totally, eggs, dairy, nuts, tomatoes, and limited my fruit intake. Eureka! I had six weeks of completely normal body before I decided to test the foods I eliminated. Eggs were first and set well with me. Dairy, on the other hand–dairy in all forms–made me blow up. It took three weeks to recover from my first dairy experiment: yogurt. From there I tried regular cheddar cheese and raw milk cheese, but neither set well with me. Each experiment took me a few weeks to recover from. I’ve struggled to recover my 100% since testing those foods, despite other fasts and elimination trials. I vowed that if I could regain that 100% symptom-free state, I’d never test another food again (well, almost never).

So, you can imagine my apprehension when, after only five days of 100% symptom-free living, it came time to have my annual colonoscopy, Monday, 9/26 (actually it was six months overdue; I’d been putting it off). I had just spent the last week at 100%, and didn’t want to jinx it for anything–except maybe colon cancer. It was an agonizing decision. I knew that the prep and scope would set me back, but each time I have a scope, I have a significant number of polyps removed, so I’d rather have a setback than let one of those polyps go unnoticed and become cancerous. I know there is mixed support for colonoscopies in the natural healing world, but I decided to do it anyway, begrudging the inevitable setback.

They did indeed find polyps. They found one that was 3 cm. That was the biggest inflammatory polyp my doctor had ever seen. He rushed it to biopsy. Concerned, he asked me to come in for follow-up in 48 hours.

The pathology report came back with two pleasant surprises:

1. The polyps were completely benign (yea!)
2. The tissue samples analyzed by the pathologist described my colitis by saying the samples looked like, “quiescent, mild colitis that is under therapy” (double-yea!) This means I have hard evidence for both me and my doctor that my methods are not madness–they are working!

My doctor was pleasantly surprised, and described my colitis as “patchy and mild”. In my last scope, 18 months ago, he had described my colitis as “severe and consistent throughout the colon.”

Improvement. Clinical improvement. This is huge for me. I feel like celebrating–except I’m still trying to kick the post procedure diarrhea.

Onward to health,

Mentoring, coaching, and teaching are pursuits in which I have been involved for about ten years. It makes sense to merge my skills and experience in these areas with my experience in natural healing methods for IBD. You can visit my coaching page, or you can read the description below for more information.

Coaching is one way you can continue to build your team–the group of people who will help you, guide you, and be there for you as you heal and deal with IBD (Crohn’s, Colitis) or IBS. Having a good coach, can keep you on track, help you avoid mistakes and pitfalls, and help you achieve your goals.

Coaching…Chronic Illness, Life, Athletics, Groups and More

Coaching is very popular in the business world, and with athletes (of course). Stop and ask, Why is it that top executives and elite athletes find it essential to have a good coach?

We can learn from them.

A coach challenges you to take steps you might not take on your own. A coach can help you see your life and your life potential in ways you couldn’t or wouldn’t otherwise. A coach will hold you accountable for the choices you make, and help guide and focus those choices toward your goals so that you live up to your potential.  A coach has an extensive tool kit which can help you achieve your goals.

What Is Coaching? 

Coaching is not counseling or therapy. Although a coach may need to help you work through issues that are hindering your progress, generally coaches don’t dig into issues like a counselor would. Coaches help their clients to set and achieve goals that improve their quality of life, further their career, improve their health, etc.

Most importantly, coaches help clients to  strengthen their own skills. A coach won’t do it for you, but if you are motivated, or are willing to engage, a coach can help you achieve your goals.

How high will you jump?

What Happens When You Get a Coach?

• You are challenged to take your goals and dreams more seriously
• You are challenged to make more effective, more focused actions daily
• You are encouraged to explore new avenues, and to fully embrace old avenues of success
• You gain forward momentum quickly. With the encouragement of a good coach, you can achieve your goals more efficiently
• You learn to set better goals

What can a coach do for you?

• A coach will help you to set goals, make an achievable plan to meet those goals, and provide accountability and experience to guide toward improvement
• With a coach, you will be encouraged to do more than you likely would on your own
• A coach will help you focus to achieve your goals more efficiently
• A coach can be a resource for you, supplying structure, accountability and support, and tools for you to achieve your goals

On top of all that, coaching for those (of us) with chronic illness can:

• Help you make choices that can improve your quality of life
• Help you make decisions that will help you thrive in the workplace
• Help you make a lifestyle choices to increase your energy, lose or gain weight, use less medication, increase your fitness
• And much, much more!

My Experience (read my story in more detail):

As part of my life’s journey, I have mentored, coached, and taught in some combination for over ten years. Of all the endeavours in which I’ve engaged, mentoring and coaching is my favorite. I was diagnosed with colitis in 2002, and have been living medication free since 2009, so I know firsthand how hard it is to live with a chronic illness  (mine is inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD). Like many people with IBD and other digestive conditions, I relied on modern medicine early after diagnosis. And, like many with chronic illness, I struggled to find treatments that worked. They mostly made me feel worse. That’s when I turned to natural medicine, and found the path to healing! Within a week of changing my diet, I began to improve. Since then I have dedicated the majority of my free time to learning about Crohn’s and Colitis, and viable, reliable natural treatments for them.

Make no mistake, my healing road has been long and difficult, and there were (and still are, sometimes) days where I wanted to quit, but the dream of being symptom free, drug free, and energetic kept me moving forward, even on the darkest days. I have dealt, and still deal, with the day-to-day troubles and triumphs of living with chronic illness. I have extensive knowledge and experience with natural treatments, as well as experience navigating the modern medical system (in the US).

I have been a competitive athlete for over 20 years, so the diagnosis and following illness of colitis hit me hard. As a coach, I use my experience healing from and dealing with chronic illness to encourage my athlete-clients to continue to challenge themselves. Challenges range from climbing a flight of stairs or walking around the block, to running/racing a marathon or riding a century (100 mile bike).

In coaching, I use my decade of mentoring, and teaching, coaching, and other experience to help my clients to take steps forward in meeting the challenges of their daily lives. No matter whether you’re newly diagnosed, whether you have been living with chronic illness for years, whether you have a loved one with chronic illness, you want to lose or gain weight, improve or build a healthy lifestyle, or if you are an athlete looking to rebuild and maximize your fitness, the right coach can help you take valuable steps forward in your life’s journey.

I specialize in coaching people who:

• Have Inflammatory Bowel and Irritable Bowel, chronic autoimmune illness, or other digestive disorders
• Want to lose weight; change their diet and lifestyle
• Want to increase their fitness
• Are competitive athletes (elite and recreational) training for specific events, or for a racing season
• Want to adopt healthy habits

I also offer family and group coaching. Group and/or family coaching is tailored specifically for the group. Contact me for group or family coaching.

Ready to try it? Book a complimentary 15 minute consultation and we’ll talk and see if coaching is something that can help you.

Onward to Health,

Oregano

General principles for all natural antibiotics:

• Unlike conventional antibiotics, there are few side effects. Most have none at all. This is a great relief(!), especially if you’ve been suffering through the side effects of steroids or immune suppressants.
• Unlike conventional antibiotics, they have multiple action (they work on microbes in and through many different mechanisms);
• For geeks like me: In general, they are effective for both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, though there are always a few caveats…
• Their chemical complexity prevents the formation of bacterial resistance, and is effective even with resistant microbes;
•  Always, before you start a new treatment, tell your doctor, make a plan with your naturopath;
• Always, always follow with probiotics for a minimum of two months after your last dose of natural antibiotic. (Consider taking probiotics concurrently with your antibiotic, but in smaller doses).
• Take probiotics at least one hour after or two hours before your antibiotic.
• Since antibiotics reduce the levels of bacteria in your gut, and since they reduce the levels of vitamin K, and vitamin K-dependant clotting factors in the blood, you should make sure you eat or juice plenty of leafy greens whenever you are on antibiotics. Leafy greens are the only significant dietary source of vitamin K.
• There is strong evidence that IBD has an infectious origin. If this is true, then for IBD, you want to take the natural antibiotic until the infection is cleared. How will I know that? You will know that because your symptoms will lessen and/or (if you’re doing other things like diet and probiotics correctly) disappear. Take them for about 3-5 days after your symptoms get better.
• Because microbes have a life cycle (bloom, recede, dormant (in some), bloom, …etc.), you may need to repeat the antibiotic treatment more than once. How much, how often, and how long you are on the antibiotic will depend on your infection: how long you have been infected, how thoroughly you are infected, what your diet is, which mix of microbes are your problem, etc.
• It could take six months to a year to clear your infection, so be patient. You should see improvements along the way.

Oh, and did I mention they don’t encourage bacterial resistance? That’s huge. Bacteria can quickly (within a few generations) become resistant to modern pharmaceutical antibiotics.

There are many other natural antibiotics out there. I have chosen to write about these few, because I think they are universally the safest and the best for IBD. Others, like Wormwood, Uva Ursi, and grapefruit seed extract, may not be as useful, or safe to use in IBD (e.g., they may increase diarrhea or irritate the gut), so I have left them out; though I know there are people who use them with success.

One glaring omission here is garlic. It is a good antibiotic, but not nearly as strong as those listed below. While aged garlic is much more palatable than fresh, raw garlic, it irritates the gut so consistently in people with IBD, that I left it out. Sorry garlic lovers.

I list the antibiotics below in my order of preference. So if you’re looking for a place to start, start with a good Berberine complex and work your way down the page. If you decide to start natural antibiotics, remember that you may experience, in the beginning, some temporary die off symptoms. Remember, these are a good sign (as long as they go away in a week or so; if they don’t stop or get worse, call your doctor).

Some initial die-off symptoms you may experience are: headache, fatigue, achyness, nasal drip, increased diarreah, gas, bloating, moodiness. These largely caused by the toxins released as microbes die. It’s important during this time to drink plenty of water, get lots of rest, eat a clean diet, and most of all, don’t panic. The symptoms will pass. You can help your body during this process by eating lots of greens, either lightly steamed, raw (if you can handle it), and juiced (this is the best way). The vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are good for you, and the chlorophyll will help rid your body of the toxins.

Using natural antibiotics and probiotics in healing Crohn’s and Colitis

In my posts on probiotics, I mention cycling natural antibiotics and probiotics as a good method of healing from IBD. There are two ways that I see to do this:

• Take the natural antibiotic consistently (with 7-10 billion cfu of probiotics) until the infection is cleared; until your symptoms subside. Then continue with probiotics at higher doses after stopping the antibiotic. Repeat as necessary.
• OR—use a four-week cycle. Four weeks of natural antibiotic, 4-6 weeks probiotic. Repeat.

I prefer the former, having tried the latter without consistent success.

Natural Antibiotic Supplements

Staphylococcus aureus

Berberine

Berberine is a natural antibiotic which is found primarily in three natural herbs: Goldenseal, Barberry, and Oregon Grape. There is some controversy among practitioners over the dose and length of time berberine can be used, but there is little controversy anymore about its effectiveness.

Berberine is effective against antibiotic resistant infections, and works particularly well for bacterially induced diarrhea. It is known to be antibacterial, antihemorrhagic, antifungal, antiseptic, antiameobic, astringent, expectorant, diaphoretic (induces perspiration—a good thing for reducing fevers), a mucosal anti-inflammatory, mucosal stimulant, mucosal tonic, and is cytoxic to tumors (kills them; protects you from cancer).

Berberine is often used to treat severe systemic infections, and has been used successfully against, among other things, antibiotic resistant staph infection (the scary one). It has also been used to treat the also especially scary, antibiotic resistant E. coli, O157:H7, which causes bloody diarrhea and sometimes death. Berberine has been shown to surpass many pharmaceuticals in its dependency and effectiveness against diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic (produces toxins in the colon) E. coli, and has been shown to minimize intestinal secretions in cholera and E. coli infections.

When taken internally, berberine supports the healthy functioning of the mucous membranes of the body (by promoting IgA antibodies; increasing macrophage activity), acts as an anti-inflammatory, as well as retaining its anti-microbial properties. Berberine markedly reduced inflammation in rat studies.

This is important (why I tried this one first): Berberine has been shown not to hurt beneficial flora, and does not promote bacterial resistance; therefore you can take this safely with your probiotic. It is also been shown to be highly anti-inflammatory. I’d still separate your berberine dose from your probiotic dose by one hour, though; but in theory, you could take them together.

Side effects and contraindications:

Berberine, in extremely high doses (way, way, more than the recommended dose) can interfere with B vitamins, cause liver damage, nervous tremors, and excessive drying of the mucus membranes. Do not use during pregnancy.

Caution: Berberine is not for long-term use. I use it for two-week courses only. Long-term and at high doses, it has been associated with thyroid problems, and can interfere with B vitamin uptake.

Dosages:

I recommend Integrative Therapeutics Berberine Complex. It is what my naturopath researched and suggested to me. I started it after re-introducing dairy (unsuccessfully) during my elimination diet. The yogurt worsened my symptoms, and I couldn’t recover. After ten days, I started the Berberine. 24-hours later, my symptoms settled down. Three days later, I was back to normal; symptom free. The dose of this brand is two caps, three times daily.

General dosing:

300-1200 mg/day, or 1-4 droppers of tincture, both with ample (6-8 oz.) water, for up to 14 days.

Berberine can be used in conjunction with Echinacea for short periods (don’t over-use Echinacea, or it can become ineffective in your body).

Comparable to Cipro.

Wild Oregano Oil

(for more on Wild Oregano see, The Cure is in the Cupboard, and The Miracle of Wild Oregano, both by Dr. Cass Ingram—Note: The former is a much better read than the latter, but you will learn from both.)

Wild Oregano Oil is probably the most comprehensive natural antimicrobial we know of today. I use the term ‘comprehensive’ because, while there are other extracts that are just as, or even more potent (such as grapefruit seed extract) than wild oregano, wild oregano has other broader properties that make it beneficial to the body. Those other substances, like sweet wormwood and grapefruit seed extract, do not demonstrate the myriad benefits (outside of killing bacteria) that wild oregano exhibits. They can also be toxic and cause, or encourage diarrhea.

In contrast, wild oregano oil is completely non-toxic even at extremely high doses, and, beyond the initial die-off symptoms, does not cause diarrhea or other side effects. It is anti-bacterial. It is anti-fungal. It is a burly killer of parasites. It is a powerful antioxidant. It has anti-inflammatory, and strong analgesic (pain-numbing; in this, one study found its analgesic properties to be about 66% of that of morphine) properties. And it helps kill tumor cells and prevent cancer. There are many more claims on wild oregano, but those are the ones I could verify.

Using Wild Oregano for IBD:

There are only two brands of wild oregano that I can recommend: (1) North American Herb and Spice; and (2) Joy of the Mountains. These are organic, wild, and diluted in high quality olive oil as a carrier oil. Make sure you’re getting a truly wild Mediterranean oregano, not a farmed or bred version from Mexico or Israel. Some brands even use a false oregano which is really another plant. There are at least five other plants commonly called oregano which are not. These can be downright dangerous. Only the whole, wild, Mediterranean plant holds value for us here.

Please do not use the oregano essential oil. It is not the same as wild oregano oil. It is too strong (needs dilution), and may cause you more harm than good.

In using wild oregano to treat Crohn’s or colitis, it is best to take the oil and also a spice mix oil, a separate product which is mixed with other antimicrobial spices, in pill form. Studies have shown that wild oregano oil produces, in vivo (in the lab), a 99% kill rate, even of antibiotic resistant forms of E. coli, strep, tuberculosis, etc. However, when the oil is used concurrently with other antimicrobial spices such as cinnamon, bay leaf, olive leaf, cumin, or sage, the kill rate is consistently 100%. You can take the spice mix either as an oil pill or as a crude spice mix pill. I prefer the timed release mixed oil pills.

It is important to understand, that wild oregano, unlike berberine, kills EVERYTIHNG—even good bacteria; so if you use it at a therapeutic dose, you also need to be taking a minimum of 10 billion CFU of a probiotic and supplementing with fermented foods (if you can tolerate them). You may need to slowly work up to 10 billion CFU before you start the antibiotics. The point is to take probiotics during and after a course of natural antibiotics, and to work up slowly with each to an effective therapeutic dose (see my post on finding your effective therapeutic dose of probiotics)

Wild oregano, like Berberine, in many cases has been shown to surpass conventional antibiotics in its effectiveness.

Dosages: (for North American Herb and Spice, Oreganol P73 Super Strength Oil. If you use regular strength Oreganol, or Joy of the Mountains, then increase the dosage to three times that which is recommended here.)

• Sublingual doses are the most effective, but oregano oil is spicy, so judge this one for yourself. The spice is not very hot at all under the tongue, but once it hits your taste buds, it can be quite hot. Another option is to take it orally with water. See this video from Jini Patel Thompson for instructions on taking oregano oil with water.
• Start with five drops under the tongue, 3x daily. Increase the dosage slowly as needed. Most authors I’ve read say that if infection is your problem, and oregano isn’t working, then it’s the dose, not the oregano itself, that is the problem—so take more. I’ve safely taken 10 drops, 6 times a day.  The same dose can be used orally, just take with water.
• You may find that oregano oil ‘bites back’ at first. You may burp it, you may get some heart burn at first. These will pass as you get used to the oil. If you want to avoid these initial hiccups, take your oregano oil doses with a meal.

Comparable to Vancomycin, Flagyl.

Olive Leaf

Olive leaf is in the category of other antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal spices. Olive leaf has been used in medicine for thousands of years, and is well-known for its potent antimicrobial action. In the 1800′s, scientists isolated an active component of olive leaf, oleuropein. This is just one of many active components of olive leaf. It has been shown effective on, E. coli, Klebsiella peumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella enteritidis, Staphylococcus auereus, Candida albicans, herpes, molds, and parasites.

It is also a potent antioxidant. Studies show that olive leaf can prevent the oxidation (break-down) of LDL cholesterol. Olive leaf has also been shown to increase macrophage activity by enhancing the nitric oxide pathway (gives more ammo to the good guys!).

Olive leaf is not spicy like Oregano Oil, so is easier on those with a sensitive palate, and is easier to give to children.

Olive leaf does not harm beneficial bacteria, and does not foster resistance.

Dosages:

500-3,000mg/day in divided doses (usually 3x per day). Try the Seagate brand extract.

Aloe Juice, Jel, or Freeze-dried Powder

See my posts on Aloe for more information on aloe and IBD.

Aloe not only has antimicrobial properties, but is a natural immune booster as well. It promotes healing in the gut and strengthens the GI immune system. There is evidence that bolstering, not suppressing the immune system is beneficial for treating Crohn’s and colitis. Aloe increases macrophage activity in the gut. Macrophages are immune cells which engulf and remove pathogens from our bodies. Aloe is great for soothing inflammation, can help stop intestinal bleeding, and can help with acid reflux.

Side effects and contraindications:

None; however, make sure you get an aloe brand with the laxative components removed. These laxative components, aloin and emodin, are from the rind. The pulp, or gel inside the leaf, however, contains no aloin or emodin, and is not a laxative. George’s Always Active Aloe Vera is the only brand I know of that has the laxative component removed. For IBD, do not use a flavored brand, or any brand that uses citric acid or sodium benzoate (as a preservative).

Dosages:

Gel may be better for chronic gut problems (1/2-2 tsp per day). Aloe powder, 1/2-2 tsp. Per day in water. Aloe juice, 2 oz. 2-3 times per day. Take on an empty stomach.

A quick note on other cool natural substances…

Raw Wildflower Honey

Honey? Yep, honey. Natural, unpasteurized, raw wildflower (not clover) honey is antibiotic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, helps with allergies, isa good tonic, is antifungal, and is an immune stimulant.

Honey is the concentrated nectar of flowers gathered and partially digested by honey bees. This digestion alters the nectars slightly. When the nectar is regurgitated by bees in the hive, it is mixed with their digestive enzymes, which fosters the nectar’s transformation into new compounds. In the hive, the honey is further concentrated through evaporation. Because the bees peruse many, many different species, and because many of them are medicinal (e.g., elder, Echinacea, wild geranium), the properties of those flowers are present in the honey. Wildflower honey is best.

Unpasteurized honey contains a complex mix of enzymes, esters, antimicrobials, minerals, proteins, hormones, organic acids, vitamins, and carbohydrates. Do not feed raw honey to children under two years old.

One study of a group of 58 boys of the same age and general health showed promising results. Half were given 2 tablespoons of unpasteurized honey daily for one year. The other half were not. All boys received the same diet, rest, and exercise. At the end of the year, the honey-eating half of the study showed an 8.5% increase in hemoglobin, and an overall increase in other measured vitality, energy and health indicators.

Honey has been effectively used to treat ulcers in third-degree burns; using honey reduces or eliminates the need for skin grafting. It has also been shown to be more effective than pharmaceutical antibiotics in the treatment of stomach ulcers, gangrene, and many more conditions. The caveat here, is that I don’t know what doses they were using for stomach ulcers and gangrene. The burn study used a topical application.

Though high doses of sugar in any form are known to suppress the immune system, in small doses raw wildflower honey is a good immune stimulant. I take 1-2 tablespoons/day; one in the morning, and one in the evening. Any more than that, and you’re an addict (it tastes fantastic).

Ginger

Ginger has antibacterial, antiviral, circulatory stimulant, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antifungal, analgesic, antitussive (anti-cough), and many more beneficial properties. Ginger has a long history as a food additive, especially in warmer areas of the world. Traditionally used to treat colds and flu, it is especially useful with children and is safe in large quantities (for gut-normal people; for us with IBD, we always have to test a new food or supplement—always test something new to make sure it doesn’t exacerbate your symptoms). It contains a powerful digestive enzyme with the unfortunate name of zingibain (where do they come up with these things?)

Ginger can increase the digestion and uptake of other foods, spices, and herbs (like turmeric). It’s anti-cough properties rival codeine, and it has strong expectorant and antihistamine properties that are especially helpful with colds and other respiratory infections. It reduces inflammation, stimulates immune activity and sweating (good for reducing fevers), and is a good pain reliever.

It’s antispasmodic (anti-cramping) properties can help with diarrhea, though this in unconfirmed in IBD.

Best taken fresh:  1 oz. Of fresh root steeped in water for 8-10 min. 1-2 cups per day.

Licorice

Licorice is in a special category. It has strong antimicrobial properties, but has equally strong immuno-stimulant, and anti-inflammatory properties, so I struggled with writing about it here, where I list natural antibiotics, per se. I might write more about it in the future. Licorice is well documented, and well-studied. It is an immuno-stimulant herb which also has antimicrobial activity. It also augments the effects of other herbs. It is especially good at colds, flus, upper respiratory infections, and aiding in the repair of ulcerations in the gut (esp. the stomach). It can also be used to restore adrenal function (good after a round of prednisone or other steroid), and is known to increase general vitality. Evidence shows that it stimulates the thymus gland, increases white blood cell generation and activity, stimulates interferon activity, and enhances antibody formation. It is also known for its anti-stress and anti-fatigue properties, and there is evidence that it has immunomodulating properties.

References:

• The Cure is in the Cupboard, and The Miracle of Wild Oregano, both by Dr. Cass Ingram.
• Immunotics, by Dr. Robert Roundtree and Carol Colman.
• Herbal Antibiotics, by Stephen Harrod Buhner.
• Listen to Your Gut, by Jini Patel Thompson.
• E.H. Thompson, 1973. Ginger Rhizome: A new Source of Proteolytic Enzyme. Journal of Food Science. 38(4), 652-55.

Who is that guy back there?

For those who came to the site and voted on topics, thank you. The results are in!  I’m just back from vacation and ready to dive in to your chosen subjects.

The topics will be, in order of most votes first:

1. Natural antibiotics and IBD
2. Finish the supplementation series
3. Juicing and IBD
4. Comparing different dietary approaches for IBD.

The first, Natural Antibiotics and IBD, comes out this weekend.

Onward to Health,

You will need to attend the SCDLifestyle free webinar to learn more and sign up for the advanced course.  At the end of the webcast, there will be a special link for you to use to register for the Advanced SCD course. Purchase the course using that link, and it will send you the details for the free coaching session.

Sorry if there was confusion. Please contact me using the contact page, if you have questions.

Onward,

Matt

We all need someone who will encourage, motivate, and tell us the truth–for better or for worse.

After college, I became that person for other men (mostly) and women, just as my mentor was for me. I began mentoring and coaching people at 23, and soon found that not only did I have a knack for it, but it gave me energy–I loved it! I’ve been doing it every chance I get ever since.

So with the diagnosis of colitis, and my recent struggles with a 2008 flare (before natural treatments), I struggled with how to continue to mentor and coach. I began coaching colleges at work. But professional coaching is only partially satisfying, as it’s scope is limited, often, to the workplace and surrounding affairs. So, I’ve decided to begin officially coaching people like me, who are dealing with digestive illness. I’ve decided to apply my coaching skills to help people heal from digestive illness naturally.

With that said, I’m offering, through SCDLifestyle, up to 50 free 30 minute coaching sessions. These sessions will be available to those who sign up for their advanced SCD course. (What is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)?).

One of my biggest complaints about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (which has worked wonderfully to control my symptoms) is that it wasn’t laid out in a way that is easy to follow. SCDLifestyle has changed that with their e-book, which lays out the first 90 days of the diet in a simple, readable fashion. I have a link to their book in the upper right corner of the blog page.

You can read about, and sign up for SCDLifestyle’s advanced SCD course here.

If you’ve never had a life coach, now is the time to try it out!

Onward to Health,