Both Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease are types of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease, in which the lining of the colon becomes inflamed and develops tiny open sores, or ulcers, that produce pus and mucous. The combination of inflammation and ulceration can cause abdominal discomfort and frequent emptying of the colon. The symptoms of these two illnesses are quite similar, but the areas affected in the gastrointestinal tract are different.
There are different approaches to treating IBD. In this article I will explain the main techniques to heal these diseases from a nutritional perspective: food intolerances, SCD diet and a holistic vegan diet.
Dr. Jean-Pierre Willem explains in his book “Les intolérances alimentaires” (Food Intolerances) that the origin of most of the diseases is food intolerance.
Food intolerances of the type delayed food reaction are characterized by the production of antibodies against the food antigens. The consumption of too much intolerant food leads to an excessive amount of antibodies, which then leads to different symptoms.
Colitis may exist due to 3 different reasons, according to Dr. Willem:
Dr. Willem says that Crohn’s disease can be improved with the hypotoxic diet or Dr. Seignalet diet, but this diet is not enough to heal the ulcers. So he suggests the use of natural medicine: essential oils, homeopathy, etc.
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet was originally started by Dr. Sidney Valentine Haas in order to treat celiac disease and other IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) patients. He helped to recover Elaine Gottschall’s daughter who was suffering from Ulcerative Colitis. Then, Elaine Gottschall created the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and wrote the book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Intestinal Health Through Diet”.
Since then, this diet has been applied very successfully to help many patients suffering all kinds of bowel diseases. One of the most popular advocates of this diet are Jordan Reasoner and Steve Wright, who run the website SCDlifestyle.com.
As they explain on their website, “The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is a group of foods which are grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free, and unprocessed. While removing many foods that are toxic and digestively harmful, the diet remains natural, extremely nourishing and representative of what our ancestors ate.”
Other very successful diets have been developed from the SCD Diet, such as GAPS diet, more focused on the treatment of psychological and neurological diseases.
The science that is behind this kind of diets is, as Reasoner and Wright explains: “the fact that not everyone’s digestive tract has evolved to optimally digest complex carbohydrates and other man-made food products like sugar. The main principle of the diet is that carbohydrates are classified by their chemical structure; they are monosaccharide, disaccharide, or polysaccharide. On the diet, only monosaccharide carbohydrates are allowed to be eaten as all others require extra digestion steps to break the chemical bonds down to monosaccharide carbohydrates.
Any food that is not properly digested causes bacterial and yeast overgrowth when undigested carbohydrates are fed on by bacteria and yeast in the intestinal tract. This starts a chain reaction of excess toxins and acids which cause irritation of the small intestine cells damaging them and causing food absorption issues which only helps to continue the cycle.
The diet is an all natural way to break this cycle of bacteria and yeast overgrowth by eliminating the food sources they feed on. By working to restore gut flora to normal levels, the intestinal tract is allowed to start repairing any damage by itself.”
David Klein, Ph.D, proposes a holistic approach for treating any kind of disease in his book called “Self Healing Colitis & Crohn’s”, but he mainly focuses on Colitis & Crohn’s diseases. He has a very deep holistic approach: diet, exercise, sun, emotional and spiritual balance etc., based on the Life Science approach.
As for diets, he defends the Vegan Healing Diet, which is mainly based on a big intake of fresh fruits and some lightly steamed vegetables. Juicing and smoothies are also encouraged. Some of the Vegan Healing Diet Guidelines are:
Dr. Klein also recommends to follow the Vegan Post-Healing Diet once the symptoms of the disease have disappeared. It mainly consists of a raw food diet with lots of fruit, some nuts and seeds and a set of general recommendations.
In Dr. Klein’s book you can find the exact list of allowed and forbidden food for both diets.
Every person is a different case, even if suffering the same disease. Some persons may feel better just avoiding some food intolerances, while other ones will need a more strict diet, such as SCD or vegan diets.
More symptoms associated with the inflammatory bowel disease may give some clues about the better treatment for each person.
Bibliography:
Dr. Jean-Pierre Willem, “Les intolérances alimentaires”
Elaine Gottschall,“Breaking the Vicious Cycle”
David Klein, Ph.D, “Self Healing Colitis & Crohn’s”
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