Crohn's Disease :: Health and Disease :: Gastrointestinal

> Health and Disease > Gastrointestinal > Crohnâ€™s disease

Crohn's Disease
by author Chantelle Drobot, ND

We have all checked with our gut from time to time to make major decisions, but imagine having to check in for the most basic of lifestyle choices. How do I feel today? Can I eat this without consequence? This is the reality for people with Crohn’s disease.

This chronic inflammatory condition most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine although it may be present anywhere within the digestive tract. It causes abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and nutritional deficiencies and the symptoms are generally exacerbated by stress. Crohn’s disease is characterized by lesions in the lining of the digestive tract which, when irritated, become inflamed and begin to bleed. The digestive tract no longer is able to move food through at a rate that allows for absorption and instead spasms, causing uncontrollable diarrhea, fatigue, and blood loss.

Although Crohn’s disease sometimes erupts in acute episodes, minor lifestyle changes can generally keep the severity of the symptoms under control and in remission. Three main factors are important:

removing possible irritants from coming in contact with the digestive lining
protecting the lining from present irritation
encouraging the lining to heal and return to a state of normalcy

Think Food Substitutions

Dietary factors are the biggest contributor to irritation within the digestive tract as food allergies or sensitivities cause physical stress on the lining of the digestive tract, which then leads to irritation and inflammation. When reactive foods are removed the digestive tube is allowed to heal and symptoms decrease. The biggest offenders seem to be wheat, sugar, caffeine, and dairy products, specifically milk; however, for some individuals removing all gluten products for a time seems to be highly beneficial. Replacing these products with suitable alternatives allows the digestive tract a reprieve from constant irritation so it can begin to repair.

Finding substitutions for wheat, sugar, and milk has become much easier as most health food stores now carry a number of suitable alternatives. Look for bread made from the alternate grain product spelt or from sprouted wheat, a grass product that provides fibre without the negative effects of starch. Rice pasta can be substituted for regular pasta and rice or rye crackers are acceptable cracker alternatives. Milk substitutions include goat’s milk, soy milk, or rice milk and sugar can be substituted with honey, maple syrup, or molasses. Avoid chemical sugar substitutes, however, because they have negative side effects.

Host a Gut Bug Party

Protecting the lining of the digestive tract is the second priority. In a healthy digestive tract, the digestive tube is covered by a mucous membrane. When this lining is consistently irritated, it produces mucus to attempt to “flush” the irritating agent out of the tube, resulting in diarrhea. Over time this constant irritation damages the mucous membrane, causing bleeding and pain.

The lining of the digestive tract is covered by over 400 species of micro-organisms, weighing an astonishing two kilos. These organisms live in the digestive tract and are the primary protectors of the mucous membrane from damage and irritation. Stress, hormonal changes, sugar consumption, and poor nutrition remove these good bacteria, which leaves the digestive tract open to infection from organisms that should not be present in high amounts, a condition called dysbiosis. Replenishing and supporting good bacteria is an important component in restoring proper digestive function.

Probiotics, nutritional supplements that contain the strains lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium bifidum, streptococcus thermophilus, and lactobacillus bulgaris, replace these beneficial organisms and restore the healthy environment of the digestive tract. They can be purchased from any health food store and should be taken daily.

1 2

Next Page >>>

Chantelle Drobot, ND, is a naturopathic doctor at Calgaryâ€™s Integrative Health Centre. Her clinical focus includes hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, stress-related conditions, allergies, and cardiovascular conditions. integrativehealthcentre.com.

Source: alive #266, December 2004

Probiotics
Friendly bacteria are called probiotics, meaning "for life" (in contrast to anti-biotics which means "against life"). Probiotics, in essence, balance the internal environment and are essential to health in many ways.

Probiotics
Probiotics may well become the miracle of the 21st century. These friendly flora--probiotics means "for life"--actually function as a second immune system. Unfortunately, we all too often overlook them as the vital key to health and well-being.

Fabulous Fibre Gets Things Moving
Fibre is not the most fashionable of foods. It's not as noble as protein, not as satisfying as fat and not as tempting as sugar or starch. But when you have to get things moving, who do you call? Not the mighty garlic.

How to Get Fibre in Your Diet
We have come a long way in our understanding of the important role of fibre in the past 30 years, though Hippocrates proclaimed the benefits of fibre more than 2,000 years ago.

Fun and Fabulous Fare with Fibre
Increasing your intake of high-fibre foods helps prevent disease and is another important step toward better health. Fibre keeps the bowels healthy and fills your stomach so you tend to eat less.

Healthy Bugs
Probiotics is the name for these beneficial bacteria, which the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the US (FAO) define as "live microorganisms, which when administered .

Consumer's Guide to Benefical Bacteria
Going probiotic shopping? Read this before you buy. Though you may not be aware of it, your gastrointestinal tract is inhabited by thriving colonies of more than 400 types of micro-organisms. Not all of them are friendly.

Fibre-Fest
"In our ongoing love affair with refined and packaged foods that have been stripped of fibre, we have sacrificed one of our greatest allies in our quest for health.

Bacterial Buddies
Let's face it, bacteria have earned a bad reputation because we associate them with disease. We go to great lengths to keep them at bay using antibiotics and antibacterials.

Soothe Inflammation
Inflammation is associated with a wide range of chronic and acute diseases.

Crohn's Disease
As a youngster, Ferne Sherkin-Langer just couldn't escape the fact that she was different.

There's No Life Without Friendly Bacteria!
Among all the people that influenced my professional futureand left a profound impression in my life is Gaylord Hause.

Nourishing the Gastrointestinal Tract
Modern day agricultural practices include the use of germicides, radiation and fungicides meant to kill harmful bacteria and other micro-organisms. They also kill beneficial bacteria, leaving our foodstuffs virtually sterile.

Alcohol and Body Fat - the Truth Revealed
The holiday season is a time for rejoicing with friends and family and along with the fun often comes plenty of alcoholic beverages. Before you indulge, take a closer look at the way alcohol affects your 30 billion fat cells.

Cleansing Foods
After spending the cozy days of winter sipping hot chocolate and finishing the holiday cookies, our body systems can feel sluggis.

Fibre 101
Fibre is essentially what is left after your body has extracted all the nutrients out of the fruits, vegetables, and grains that you eat; it is the indigestible cell walls of plant foods.

The 21st-Century Epidemic
Diabetes is one of the biggest drains of our society's resources -both financial and human. The total economic toll of diabetes in Canada is an absolutely staggering excess of over $10 billion annually.

A Breakthrough in Weight Loss
Why are so many people struggling with their weight today? With the thousands of weight loss programs and products being offered, why do most people still find it hard to lose excessive weight and keep it off? Fortunately, Canadian researcher.

Effective Weight-Loss Programs
There are hundreds of weight-loss programs that vow to help create a lean, muscular body with little body fa.

New Roots Herbal
Peter Wilkes, founder and president of New Roots Herbal, is no newcomer to the natural health industry. In 1977, Wilkes founded Community Natural Foods; two years later, he launched a second company, Christmas Natural Foods, in Richmond, British Columbia..

A Miracle Man With a Mission
In 1994, 19-year-old Jordan Rubin was suffering from the ravages of Crohn's disease. Once healthy and vibrant, Jordan became a mere shadow of his former self as his immune system faltered and his weight plummeted from 180 to 104 pounds.

Your Detox-Product Shopping List
From the car fumes we breathe to the pesticide residues on our foods, toxic contaminants are, sadly, a daily reality. Your local health food store is your best source of the wide range of natural foods, herbs, and supplements needed to support natural detoxification.

Regulating Cravings and Appetite
How many times have you heard someone say, "I tried eating just one cookie but eventually ate the whole box? This unfortunate approach to eating represents one of the major problems encountered by those who wish to lose weight and improve their health: how.

Top 10 Supplements
In June 2002 the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article that concluded nutritional deficiencies are an important cause of chronic disease.

The Unspeakable Truth
Nobody wants to talk about it, but regular elimination is a health concern for many of us. Almost everyone struggles with it at some time or another. Constipation is so common in the elderly that almost 50 per cent experience it.

Probiotics For Life
The key to good health is to boost levels of probiotic or beneficial bacteria strains in the body while at the same time minimizing the proliferation of unhealthy bacteria. It's that simple.

What's Old is New
The phrase "functional food is everywhere these days, but what does it mean? From a natural health perspective, functional food refers to nutritionally superior food products that have been enhanced through processing, fermentation, or growth technologies.

Probiotics
Without these probiotic microorganisms, we could not survive. They help digest food, especially fats and proteins, they make vitamins like vitamin B12 and vitamin K that our bodies can't make and they inhibit pathogenic bacteria.

Probiotics or Prebiotics?
In the right places and amounts, bacteria can actually be valuable to our health and wellness. Beneficial bacteria found in probiotics such as yogourt and prebiotics such as fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) can keep the digestive system functioning normally.

Fibre-Licious
The increasing age of our population puts more people at risk of diabetes, but poor diet and lack of exercise are also contributing factors. Greater understanding of the risk factors for this disease can prevent a diabetes diagnosis.

Full of Beans
Blood sugar levels are easy to manage with a diet that focuses on whole foods and beans, which consistently appear on the low end of the glycemic index (a measure of how a given food will raise blood sugar when compared to pure glucose). Beans are an excellent source of protein, but they also contain protective fibre; for example, one cup (250 mL) of chickpeas provides 11 grams of fibre.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Support
In Canada, six million people suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and currently its symptoms are second only to the common cold as the most frequent cause of absenteeism from work and school. IBS is commonly characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel function such as constipation and diarrhea. Some people have mild symptoms, while others have chronic, disabling symptoms.

Eating to Live
Promote better intestinal health by maximizing the benefits to be derived from these four pillars: probiotics, phytochemicals, digestive enzymes, and dietary fibre.

Gut Feelings
We often think of bad bacteria as the cause of infection that needs antibiotic treatment. Probiotics can help you replenish good intestinal bacteria that are vital to digestive health.

Crohn's Disease
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory condition that most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine, although it may be present anywhere within the digestive tube. The inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can extend deep into the lining of the affected organ. Symptoms, often exacerbated by stressful conditions, include abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and nutritional deficiencies.

Probiotics
The word probiotic is derived from the Greek language and literally means "for life. It describes the beneficial bacteria that inhabit the human intestinal tract. To a very large extent, the intestinal flora play a major role in the health of the host; therefore, probiotics can be used to promote overall good health. However, there are numerous specific uses for probiotics based upon clinical studies.

Navigating the Supplement Maze
Your first trip to the local natural health store's supplements aisle can be overwhelming. The myriad of nutrient and herbal helpers that populate the shelves can make it difficult to navigate your way to just the right supplements for your own good health.

Yeast
A recent conversation with Edith, an old friend, reminded me that even an ordinarily vivacious and energetic health professional can occasionally have trouble with weight and depression.

The Importance of Probiotics
The term probiotic is derived from the Greek and means "for life. It is used to describe the beneficial bacteria that inhabit the human intestinal tract. The intestinal flora play a major role in the health of the host, and probiotic supplements can be used to promote overall good health.

Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis
Diverticulosis is a condition in which there are small extruding pockets in the wall of the large bowel. Most commonly they occur in the descending colon or sigmoid colon, which is the last part of the bowel prior to its exit from the body. Diverticulitis is an inflammation of those pockets, which can lead to symptoms of diarrhea, pain and bleeding.

Fill Up, Not Out

Still Smoking?

Canadians Need More Vitamin D

Good eating habits

Breaking the fast: Try this nutrient-rich meal on the go

A School Food Revolution

Crohn's Disease: A Naturopathic Approach

Decidedly Delicious
One of the great challenges of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is absorbing adequate nutrition. A focus on nutrient-rich foods that taste delicious is required, so that the sometimes bland, non-trigger foods become more palatable.

Good-for-You Bacteria
Bacteria have invaded our home refrigerators. Yes, even the tidiest and most immaculately clean fridges may be harbouring these little bugs. But the bacteria I refer to aren't clinging to a back corner; they are found in food and they are good for you!

A MAP for Crohn's Disease
Every time I arrive at my doctor's office for an appointment, the first thing I do is ask to see the latest pictures of the receptionist's gorgeous grandchildren. The last time she pulled out her ever-growing album, it was with an uncharacteristic air of sadness.

Probiotics
There is a newfound interest in probiotics, and food companies haven't missed a beat. They have put these latest nutritional money-makers into flavoured sticks, special drinks, yogourts, cheese, and anything else you can put a bite on.