Medical Health

Ulcerative Colitis Advice

On my earlier post Best of the Web: Ulcerative Colitis, I listed a few websites recommended by health professionals. Now I would like to say that I also like the University of Maryland writeup.

Here are the main lifestyle suggestions I have found on these websites:

1) Exercise.

2) Avoid stress.

3) Avoid milk products.

4) Don’t eat foods that bother you, period.

5) Stay on a low fat diet.

6) Eat lots of vegetables and fruits.

7) If vegetables and fruits bother you, cook them.

And I would add a few additional pointers:

1) Stay away from most fresh vegetables and fruits. Eat frozen produce. (See A Fish and Vegetable Diet.)

2) Avoid all grains. (But you might want to try Quinoa.) Do not eat granola!

3) Do not eat red meat.

4) Do not eat at restaurants.

5) Do not eat processed food (meals, meats, snacks, frozen dinners, cereals, etc.).

6) Fix your own meals. Don’t trust other people to make your meals for you.

7) Take tumeric every day. (See Frontier Turmeric Root Ground and New Chapter Tumericforce.)

8 ) Take a good, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil every day. (I only recommend Nordic Naturals – Ultimate Omega and Ascenta, Nutra Sea HP Fish Oil.)

9) Get out for a hike or walk every day, or use the treadmill.

10) Get plenty of rest. Do not overwork yourself. Take time off. Relax.

Also see Ulcerative Colitis and Diet and Colitis, Fish Oil, Chocolate, Tea and Spices.

Tags: diet, Digestion, health, prevention

BPA-free Biodegradable Plastic Bottles

We hear about how plastic bottles are filling our landfills and oceans, but bottled water manufacturers and consumers can solve this problem. We do have biodegradable choices, and biodegradable plastic may cost us a little more in the short term, but I’m sure the costs will fall in the future, as our health and our planet’s health improve.

See www.biogreenbottles.com and BioGreen Biodegradable BPA-Free Sport Bottle with Wide Mouth DuoFlow Lid (26-Ounce). These bottles are BPA, DEHA and DEHP Free, and they are made in the USA.

Tell the bottled water industry that we insist on safe biodegradable plastic.

Also see the post Avoiding BPA in Plastic.

Tags: Cancer, hiking, prevention, running

Dr. Weil’s Anti-inflammation Pyramid

I was just looking at the anti-inflammation food pyramid on drweil.com and saw that Dr. Weil included beans, whole grains, and dairy products in his selection. However, I once read that if a food causes you indigestion most times you eat it, then you should cut it from your diet. Repeated bouts of indigestion (and flatulence) can bring on intestinal (and then general) inflammation and ill health. Beans, whole grains, and dairy products cause indigestion in many people, especially as they age.

As a remedy for indigestion and general inflammation, I find that Dr. Sear’s Zone Diet (minus the dairy and soy products) works the best. And since this diet is somewhat restrictive, I take calcium supplements (1000 mg per day, divided into 2 or 3 doses) and Vitamin D (1000 IU per day). I also drink one glass of lactose free skim milk at lunch.

Also see Cancer Prevention Foods and Spices

Dr. Weil and Crohn’s Disease

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

Colitis, Fish Oil, Chocolate, Tea and Spices

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.)

Best of the Web: Ulcerative Colitis

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

Ulcerative Colitis and Diet

If you are looking for dietary methods for toning down the symptoms of ulcerative colitis, read Dr. Barry Sears’ book The Anti-Inflammation Zone: Reversing the Silent Epidemic That’s Destroying Our Health, 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.

Drug-induced Gastrointestinal Disorders

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

It is important to figure out what is bothering your digestive tract, since indigestion is not only a symptom but a condition that can lead to more serious ailments. You should be aware of how your medications affect your digestion and you should probably avoid foods that bother you.

Cabbage Cures?

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

Some people drink cabbage juice (the fresh juice is sweet, with a bit if an edge). If you buy a good WIDE MOUTHED juicer, the process is quite easy.

Others go on cabbage soup diets, but I am sure that you would want to investigate its health effects, since boiling the cabbage destroys nutrients and since protein is an important component of all healthy dietary regimes.

Tags: Cancer