About this blog

This blog examines current ideas on alternative treatments for Crohn's disease. Although the medical community will tell you that diet doesn't matter, or that alternative treatments are worthless for treating Crohn's disease, this is only because there hasn't been as much double blind clinical testing for most alternative treatments. Therefore they cannot with certainty offer them to you. But, the truth is, many treatments can have an effect on Crohn's disease, or at least improve your general health. We attempt to examine them here.


Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Eat Your Broccoli

This article makes the claim that broccoli and plantain have compounds that prevent e. coli from moving in the intestinal cells. E. coli is a known instigator of Crohn's disease.

WedMD Article on Broccoli

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Zac Bush and Restore



We tried Restore, and every member who tried it had challenging die-off reactions, and were never able to take this product enough to produce any good results.

Dr. Gundry's Prebiothrive: Can Prebiotics Selectively Feed Only Your Good Flora?

Things have changed in the world since GAPS and SCD diets came out. Now the big buzz is to eat enough prebiotic foods in order to feed your own good flora and become healthier. But what if you have dysbiosis and are overwhelmed with bad bacteria?

Well, I had heard reports that PHGG, a form of guar gum, could help Crohn's disease,by selectively feeding gram positive bacteria like bifidobacterium. Good Gut Solution at Crohns.net has a new product called Perfect Pass Prebiotic that they claim will help. And recently I tried Plant Paradox Diet from Dr. Gundry, and I noticed he has a fiber product that included guar gum. Dr. Gundry claims it would resolve leaky gut.

So I decided to do a Prebiothrive trial this summer, about a month ago. I started out with 1/4 teaspoon. Normal dosage looks like about a tablespoon or something. Prebiotics actually usually give me no die-off reactions, but this one did.

About 3 weeks into it I started having colon issues: diarrhea, nausea, dehydration, and also body pain, headache and joint pain.

My issue with this product is that I can't know what the prebiotic fiber is really feeding, and I cannot take the risk that it is feeding something that is bothering me or is actually more core problem. So I'm done with this product for now.


Acacia Gum
Acacia Gum is one of the most fiber-dense prebiotic ingredients on the planet.1

Agave Inulin
Agave inulin comes from the blue agave plant and is an excellent source of dietary fiber. Fiber-rich agave inulin tastes sweet…while having minimal impact on blood sugar levels.2

Flaxseed
Flaxseed is one of the great prebiotic foods readily available. It’s a great source of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids to help with heart health. It also has antioxidant properties to help protect against free radicals.3

Galacto-oligosaccharides
Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are a group of carbohydrates that are used to improve bowel function. These prebiotics can improve mineral absorption and support your immune system.4 Some prebiotic foods rich in GOS are beans and lentils–but due to their high lectin content, it’s advisable to get GOS from the best prebiotic supplement available.

https://gundrymd.com/supplements/prebiothrive/
Guar Gum
Guar gum is a fibrous substance made from guar beans. Guar gum can increase fiber content in some foods and help maintain regular bowel movements.5


Metagenics SPM Active: What a Pain in the Gut

Late this spring, I was experimenting with a new supplement called Metagenics SPM Active. My understanding is that this is a partition of fish oil that helps resolve inflammation in the body. The idea is that the body produces substances to reduce and resolve inflammation when it is no longer needed, but with long term illnesses, the body cannot keep up with the need for these substances, and inflammation becomes chronic, like in autoimmune disorders.

So this product is actually supplying a needed nutrient that the body is lacking if it is in that state. Sounds great, right? How could that cause die-off or detoxification reactions?

Well, I started out at a high dose, thinking that it could only make me feel better, not worse, right? After a few weeks of it I had a little bit of increased symptoms, so I backed down to one third the dose. But then toward the end of May, I started having incredibly bad stomach pain, so bad I thought sure I needed to go to the hospital. I stopped taking the product. These events would last several hours, or a whole day, and then be gone. But then I would also have other signs of die-off/detoxification like body pain and digestive symptoms. This went on for the next three months, gradually lessening over time.

I even went to see my gastroenterologist to make sure that I didn't have gallstones and to get her thoughts on the situation. She diagnosed gastritis, after an ultrasound showed no stones, and prescribed an acid blocking medicine. I have not taken this.