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Women's Health


Crohns Disease Diet

 

Managing Crohns with Food

Managing Crohns disease simply by altering eating habits is not rare. In fact, some studies suggest that Crohns disease could be cause in full or in part from food intolerances and sensitivities.

Results will vary from one case to another, but there are some common food changes which often help most 

people who suffer from Crohns disease. Limiting or eliminating products which contain cow's milk for instance, has helped resolve the Crohns disease problems for many people. Eliminating gluton or wheat products works well for others too.

In most cases however, restricting how much simple sugars, starches, and simple carbohydrates you eat seems to work the best for Crohns disease sufferers who attempt to control their problems with dietary changes. And this success suggests there may be more validity to the Candida yeast overgrowth theory than some might think.

Fungus causing bacteria such as Candida thrive on sugar. By limiting how much sugar you eat on a daily basis, you're denying that bacteria the food it needs to survive, thus you're naturally keeping the overgrowth under control. Since simple starches and carbohydrates are converted to sugar within our body, these food items need to be avoided or severely restricted too, because they also help the yeast bacteria to grow, multiple, and thrive within our bodies.

Other theories suggest that by changing your diet, you're effectively improving your nutritional intake, and this in turn can help control Crohns disease symptoms, complications and side effects. 

Now, if you suffer from Crohns disease, there are several steps you should try for managing the problems using your diet. The first thing to try of course, is to find out if you may have a food allergy or sensitivity. Finding this out can be a slow process, but it's well worth it in the end.

Start by removing one food item from your daily eating. Let's say you choose to remove cow's milk. You'd simply not eat any foods containing cow's milk for about five to seven days. This includes drinking milk, cheeses, and related foods. After about a week, take note of how you're feeling. If it's obvious you're feeling much better than you may want to keep foods with cow's milk out of your regular eating habits. Alternatively, you might try adding that food back in for a day and see if it makes any difference in how you feel.

Try this with separate food types each week until you find one or more that seems to make a difference in your Crohns disease symptoms. Remove wheat products one week for instance, and glutton another.

If there doesn't seem to be a change in your Crohns disease symptoms from removing one type of product each week, then you may not have any food allergies or sensitivities. At this point you should try restricting or eliminating simple sugars and starches from your diet instead. This is easily done today with the plethora of low carb diets around, so pick one such as Atkins and stick with it for a week or two. Guage how you feel at the point and make adjustments as needed.

If you don't want to restrict your carbohydrate and starch intake too much, you could try a daily regimine of extra vitamins and minerals instead. Use herbal supplements so you're body is able to absorb the nutrients better, and again guage how you're feeling after a week or two of consitant use.

I can't guarantee all Crohns disease sufferers will benefit from the above steps, but many have throughout the years so it's definitely worth trying before taking more drastic measures.

Managing Crohns with herbs

Managing the symptoms, side effects and complications which arise with Crohns disease is the primary goal of most doctors and medical specialists. The same effects however, can be achieved by using safer, more gentle substances in your body instead of the commonly prescribed drugs. There are many herbs and herbal remedies which work quite well for addressing, reducing, and in some cases eliminating the side Crohns disease symptoms and side effects.

Internal bleeding is a common complication of Crohns disease, and this can be dangerous if left untreated. An herbal way to treat bleeding however, is the use of Cayenne. Simple cayenne pepper such as what you use to flavor meals at the dinner table will stop external and internal bleeding. Cayenne is an herb also known as Capsicum, and it can be purchased in capsule form at almost any drug, herb, or natural health store.

Inflammation of the intestinal lining is another common complication of Crohns disease, and there are several herbs which can help reduce or eliminate this problem as well. White willow is a natural anti-inflammatory herb which will also reduce pain for instance. 

Slippery Elm is a wonderful herb to use for both inflammation and diarhhea though. This herb coats, soothes and heals irritated and inflammed tissues in the stomach, bowels and kidneys. Slippery elm is also one of the best herbs to use for diarhhea. It normalizes the stools, while soothing and healing the intestinal tract lining.

Intestinal blockages are a common side effect of Crohns disease too, because the inflammed intestinal tissue can create scars with shrink the passageway. Since Slippery Elm helps normalize stools, this can be an herb to help with blockages as well. Alternatively you might try an herbal laxative instead, such as Senna or Cascara Sagrada.

Another frequently seen complication of Crohns disease are subsidiary infections caused by fistulas which have reached out to other organs such as the kidneys, bladder or vagina. An excellent herbal treatment for infections is Garlic. This is a powerful antibiotic and antifungus herb which can solve a variety of infection and bacteria related problems inside the body.

Using these herbs and others like them to treat Crohns disease symptoms and complications is a much more gentle and safer way to treat your body. These herbs have little to no harmful side effects, and they have the added benefit of being extremely high in essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body desparately needs when you have Crohns disease.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.


Breakthrough Crohn's Disease Guide Written By a Patient, For Patients


Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

 

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Breakthrough Crohn's Disease Guide Written By a Patient, For Patients



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