Medical Health

In A Cure for Crohn’s Disease, Dr. Weil says,

To address inflammation, increase your dietary omega-3 fatty acids by taking supplemental fish oil, start with one gram a day and increase slowly to two to four grams a day. watch for any increase in diarrhea, and cut back the dose if necessary.

In his recent books, Dr. Sears recommends high-dose (that is, ultra-refined and concentrated) fish oil for inflammation but warns that taking more than 7.5 grams of EPA plus DHA will increase your risk of hemorrhagic stroke. EPA and DHA are the active ingredients in fish oil and you will find the amounts contained per dose on the product label.

And remember, if your inflammation is still causing you to bleed, you should probably avoid fish oils and other blood thinners until your bleeding slows down.

For more from Dr. Weil, see gastrointestinal problems. And definitely buy Dr. Steinhart’s book Crohn’s and Colitis (Toronto: Robert Rose Inc., 2006).

Related Post

If you suffer from colitis and you still have problems with bleeding, you should consider removing chocolate, green tea, fish oil, garlic, turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon from your diet — they thin your blood, making you more prone to bleed. (And if you exercise, you should probably lift less weight for awhile. Strength training puts pressure on your guts.)

Once you have the bleeding back in control you can reintroduce small amounts of these foods and spices back into your diet.

P.S. If you are taking vitamin E capsules (at dosages of 200 IU and up), you should probably discontinue those for awhile, too. Vitamin E thins the blood. (And I suppose you have already quit aspirin and ibuprofen.)

A staff member at a local hospital recommended these medical sites as good, reliable and reputable sources of information pertaining to ulcerative colitis and IBD:

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/colitis/

http://www.ccfa.org/info/about/ucp

http://mayoclinic.com

If you are looking for dietary methods for toning down the symptoms of ulcerative colitis, read Dr. Barry Sears’ book The Anti-Inflammation Zone, where he explains how to remove grains from your meals and how to balance protein, good fat, and favorable carbohydrate.

If you are to the point of recovery where you can again tolerate spices, be sure to try adding organic tumeric and organic ginger to your meals. Both spices fight inflammation and ginger alleviates gas and diarrhea. (But don’t go overboard: these spices can thin your blood and increase bleeding. SEE the “Colitis, fish oil, chocolate, tea, and spices” post.)

You might have a problem finding organic fresh ginger, but Frontier brand organic ground ginger root works just fine. Their Web site is www.frontiercoop.com.

NOTE: To view the article with Web enhancements, go to:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/437034

They say cabbage heals ulcers and prevents cancer. Here is one great site for finding information: The World’s Healthiest Foods: Cabbage