Juice Fast Conculsion…

Monday, November 4

I woke up is morning and decided I'd start a water fast immediately, instead of starting this evening. It wasn't in my plans when I went to sleep last night, but when I awoke, the thought crossed my mind since I had not eaten since 7 pm Sunday night.

It's now 5:01 pm and I'm almost 24 hours with nothing but water. I'm a little tired and have a mild headache. My gut, however, is feeling better than it has in weeks. I intend on water fasting through Wednesday evening, and then juicing. I'll update this blog entry each day with my diet and activity. Here's the plan:

Monday: Water fast
Tuesday: Water fast
Wednesday: Water fast through 6 pm. Then watermelon juice only
Thursday: Melon juice only
Friday:  Fruit juice
Saturday-Monday: Luna's 3-Day Cleanse
Tuesday and beyond: Fruit and vegetable juice


Tuesday, November 5

Today was amazing! I took the day off work since I didn't expect to have much energy without eating for over 24 hours. It's amazing how just two days of water makes the symptoms go away. I had more energy today than I've had in weeks. My joint and muscle pain is gone. Completely gone. Crazy actually.

Today at 7:00 p.m. it will be 3 full days on water. I'll introduce watermelon juice only with no pulp. Watermelon juice is extremely alkaline forming, so this will help heal any inflammation, and will be an easy transition for my GI tract to accept and digest.

I even had enough energy to play tennis this evening. That is absolutely crazy if you think about it. I had more energy with only water than I've had eating the last few weeks. Now, of course the body can't live this way long term, but it's a great way to give my GI tract a rest. Let's pray than when I begin juicing that my healing stays on tract.


Wednesday, November 6

Everything went well today. I slept quite a bit, then took my Thunderbird in to get a drive belt replaced (motorcycle, not the car). Water all day went well. All symptoms other than my bowel movements have disappeared. Yay!

On another note, my son turned 23 today. I don't feel old enough to have a 23 year old;)

Thursday, November 7

Today was an easy day up until when I arrived in Austin. I went there on M/I Homes business. I have traveled many many times with my juicer, but this time I forgot an important part to my juicer.

I traveled with a small watermelon, cantaloupe, apple, carrots and persimmons in my luggage. my small carry on luggage weighed a ton. Upon my arrival, I went to my room and  I began preparing my fruit for juicing. I cut the watermelon and cantaloupe in small pieces just to realize that my juicer wasn't going to work with the missing part.

Ultimately, I had the woman at the front desk of the hotel call me a cab and I went to Whole Foods for some juice. Fortunately, there was one less than 2 miles away. I found some cold press juice by Sujo. I was very thankful to find this because not only was it cold pressed, but it was free of pulp. Perfect!

When I returned to the hotel, I gave my cut up melon to the helpful front desk agent, and was set for juice for the night and for Friday. The only real issue with today was that it cost me $50 in juice and $20 in cab fare. Otherwise, all is well.

My energy levels are fine and body inflammation appears low. My colon is not normal yet, but I'm sure every day it is getting better :)

Friday, November 8

Today has been an easy day as well.  I had all of my juice from Whole Foods and the day was uneventful as it relates to Crohn's. no improvement in my bowels, however. From a business perspective, it was a wonderful day in Austin. I'm on the return flight at the moment, and should arrive around 8 pm.

Saturday, my sweetie and I were going to start Luna's Living Kitchen 3 Day cleanse, but we will have to delay that. When I called to order the cleanse today, I was informed that we had to make the order yesterday in order to have it for the weekend. So, I'm not quite sure what we are going to do. We may end up going to Luna's and buying juice by the jar, to get us through until Monday, or we will just make our own juice this weekend and maybe start with Luna's on Monday.

I thought it would be nice to take a break from having to spend an hour or more in front of a juicer this weekend, but plans evidently have changed…

On another note, this weekend I have two tennis matches: a singles match on Saturday at 5:00 pm, and a mixed doubles match Sunday at 3:00 pm with a partner I've never met. It's the Blakeney vs Weddinton club competition. This should be fun. I'm hopeful that my energy levels will be normal. The last few matches I've played, I was clearly fatigued. I play a really good woman on Saturday. i have no idea about the doubles team we play.

Saturday, November 9

Today was a relatively long day. I'm tired so I'm going to keep this short. In the scope of things, I had a reasonable amount of energy today, but I really didn't have much sleep last night. During a cleanse you should really get more sleep than usual and I likely only had about 6 hours sleep. 

I lost my singles match this afternoon against a very strong player. The first set she whooped me 6-2. The second set I was up 4-1, then got a charlie horse in my left calve. She ultimately beat m3 7-5. In looking at what causes charlie horses from a nutritional standpoint, a lack of calcium or potassium can cause it. Also, dehydration can cause it. So I've made juice with kiwi, which is him in potassium, and will have some almond milk this evening for calcium. I'm also going to make sure I'm fully hydrated.

I have a doubles match in the morning at 9:00 a.m. as well as one to 3:00 p.m. No more charlie horses please.

I'm a bit tired, so I'm off to sleep soon. Sweet dreams!


Sunday, November 10

I'm on my 10th day of no solid foods. I've had a major improvement in the last day. If you don't want to hear about bowel movements, then now is the time to stop reading.  Ultimately, I slept through the night last night without having a bowel movement. Better yet, is that today's stool was free of mucous. 

I've been having several bowel movements a day of not much other than mucous, but today was the first day that was not the case. So I am certain my inflammation has subsided and I'm on the way to eliminating the inflammation. Yay.

Also, I've been writing down some of the juice recipes. I will start a blog just with some of the recipes here in the near futures. Some times, I simply put things together of what I have left in my refrigerator, and duplicating it isn't likely. For example, if I have one pear, an apple, plum, peach, and cantaloupe, I may just put them all together without the thought of it becoming a recipe. Now and then I get a combination I really like.

So look for a blog on recipes soon.

Otherwise, my day was pretty good. When you're cleansing, your body is cleaning house and it uses more nerve energy than  when 100% healthy, so I'm a little more tired at the end of the day during this cleanse.


Monday, November 11

I'm so tired of juicing. Because my boyfriend is juicing too, we spend about 2 hours in front of the juicer each day. Arrrrgh....

Otherwise, all is well. I'm a little more tired at the end of the day, but that is expected while your body is cleansing. It is using much of its nerve energy cleaning house and there is not much left at the end of the day.

My gut doesn't seem to be improving much. It certainly has improved since when I started, but I've plateaued it seems...


Tuesday, November 12

Not sure why, but I am thinking of food way too much today. I'm not really hungry, but I'm missing the taste of food. Tonight we pick up Luna's Living Kitchen's 3 Day Cleanse. Yay. I get a break from the juice machine. Very cool. 


Wednesday, November 13

Today is my 10th day. I needed to start with Luna's cleanse. I'm needing a little motivation to continue and buying Luna's cleanse helps keep me vested in continuing. At least I know I'll stick it out until Friday since I've invested about $200 for the next three days of juices.

My bowel movements still don't show the improvement I would have like to have seen by now. I suspect I will discontinue the juice fast by Monday. I'll introduce blended bananas over the weekend and solid food on Monday. Depending upon how my body reacts to solid food, particularly, how my bowels react, I will decide whether or not to go back on the juice. 

I'm kind of over it at the moment, but I don't really know what alternative I have. I certainly don't want to have to go back on medication, so juice is my primary solution otherwise. Cross your fingers that the next few days brings healing to my gut.

Other than the bowel not being back to normal yet, I do feel substantially better. Fatigue is gone, and the pain in my joints and muscles are gone, meaning my body inflammation has subsided significantly. The only Crohn's symptom I'm showing of any sort is too much mucous in my bowel movements. Let's hope the next couple days fixes that :)


Thursday, November 14

Perfect timing. I think I'm ending this juice fast tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. If once on solid foods, it appears there has been not enough improvement, I'll very quickly return. However, some times it is hard to tell if bowel movements are normal when you're not eating normal. 

I will say that I believe the past day and a half have shown improvement. The Crohn's mucous is nonexistent today. Yay. 

I'm still a bit tired at the end of the day, which is normal when juicing. So I will need to go back to a plant based whole foods diet soon to see if my energy and bowel movements returns to normal. 

I have a mixed doubles tournament this weekend, so I'm not sure if we're going off the cleanse on Saturday morning, or if we're going to stick it out through the weekend, in spite of the tournament. 

Otherwise, I'm just missing the taste of food, and chewing. Haha. 


Friday, November 15

So today will be the last day of the juice cleanse. At about 7:00 p.m. this evening it will have been 12 days now. I feel great. I'll eat some type of fruits this evening and then see how things turn out in the morning. Wish me luck!


Saturday, November 16

Yay. Bowel movement is normal. No hint of Crohn's. Inflammation evidently was handled. I'll transition and have some steamed squash tonight.

By the way, I have the playoffs for your mixed doubles Charlotte Tennis Association Ladder 8.0 mixed doubles today. I'm excited and feel great! We're going to do awesome :)

Symptoms…

So I'm feeling some Crohn's symptoms: fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and of course irregular bowel movements. I've immediately transitioned to a healing juice diet. You can check out this blog for a reminder:  My Water Fast and Juice Healing Retreat

Right now I'm just juicing. I'll water fast two days next week, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then revert to the balance of this fast.

My boyfriend is such a sweetie. He's going to cleanse with me. This way it will be easier since there won't be as many temptations having the person I spend most of my spare time with joining me.

Wish me luck!

A Home Cooked (and uncooked) Meal

It's interesting how life has changed from two years ago. Saturday night I had and great whole foods plant based meal prepared with organic ingredients. It was absolutely delicious. It started out with a salad. Everything was fresh organic veggies and fruit. Two years ago, I wouldn't have considered such a meal...

Salad:
Spiraled zucchini and carrots
Vegan rice (cauliflower)

Cashew Curry Dressing:
Soaked cashews
Curry powder
Clove of garlic
Himalayan Salt
Agave Syrup

I also had veggie fajitas. After steaming the veggies, I simply poured the sauce that had been warmed on top of the steamer over the veggies.:

Steamed veggies:
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Crimini mushrooms
Red Onion
Serrano peppers
Red and yellow sweet peppers

Veggie Sauce:
Fresh tomato juice
Sesame seed oil
Cumin
Turmeric
Himalayan salt
Cracked pepper

The sales and guacamole was also made from scratch:

Guacamole:
Avocado
Tomato
Red Onion
Cilantro
Lime juice
Serrano pepper
Himalayan salt

Salsa:
Serano and poblano peppers
Tomatilla
Tomatos
Lime juice
Cilantro
Cumin
Garlic clove
Himalayan salt
Red Onion

Add all of this to some organic corn tortillas and you get an extremely healthy meal! The only ingredient that is acid forming is the corn tortillas. Otherwise, it's all alkaline forming, Who would have known you can eat healthy and delicious :)

For those with Crohn's or colitis, the onion and garlic can create inflammation; and the Serrano and jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes are irritants; so this is only for those in remission.

Why Do Doctors Give You Nutrition Through an IV?

How many of us with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis have found ourselves in the hospital, getting our nutrition through an IV because your GI tract doesn't absorb or digest properly?

It is a regular occurrence that when things get really bad, doctors do this so that we get the proper nutrients while giving our digestive system a rest. When things are this bad, we don't care that we don't get to eat our favorite foods. The only objective is to get the nutrients we need so that all of the cells of the body can be nourished, without having our digestive tract have to do any work so it can heal.

Well... with that in mind, doesn't it make sense that you can avoid a flare up the same way? If you got all of your nutrients through an IV you wouldn't have to ever worry about a flare up because your digestive system would have nothing to digest and nothing to irritate it, and therefore you don't get inflammation or ulcers. Right?

Sure, that makes sense! But...

It's not like you can be on an IV all your life. And you can't just stop eating and expect to be healthy. You have to have nutrients and good luck self administering an IV;)

So what do you do?

You can come close to accomplishing the same benefits by juicing.

There are two things juicing does that helps dramatically. First, raw fruits and vegetables are enzymatically alive, which means these foods have live enzymes within them to help digest 40-60% of that particular food.

Cooked and processed foods are enzymatically dead or denatured, which means there are no live enzymes within that food to help with digestion of that food. Your digestive system has to do all the work on its own. These dead foods will stress the entire body including the digestive system, the pancreas, the immune system, the body’s energy and the body’s enzyme reserves.

Easing our digestive functions by consuming enzymatically alive foods will help significantly.

Second, juice without fiber or pulp is the easiest way to get the nutrients we need. Fresh juice is not only full of enzymes, but it is already broken down and ready for absorption. Juicing gives us the nutrients without having our digestive system have to do much work. Removing the pulp from the juice helps reduce the amount of wast that the colon has to process. Your entire GI tract gets a rest.

There are only two basic rules to follow when juicing: the body needs to be slightly alkaline, so the fruits and vegetables juiced need to be alkaline forming, and you should not include foods that are irritants to the GI tract.

I use juice like medicine, but also as half my meals each day. Here's some things I suggest you include in your juice daily:

• Apples
• Carrots
• Watermelon
• Any other melon

Avoid adding any of these to your juice:

• Garlic
• Spinach
• Kale
• Collard Greens

Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Alternatives - FB Support Page

I'm excited because me and another Crohny have developed a new FB support page for those with Crohn's and colitis. This page is specifically for those seeking advise and support of how to manage symptoms without medication. Ultimately, medical therapy for Crohn's and ulcerative colitis becomes less effective with time. Up to 40% of us with UC will require surgery for complications at some point and nearly two thirds of us with Crohn's disease will require at least one surgery.

The longer we have Crohn's or UC, the more likely we are to develop complications that can be fatal. If you have UC for eight or more years, every year your chance of getting colorectal cancer increases, and cancer of the digestive tract is the leading cause of death for people with Crohn's.

Crohn's and Colitis Alternatives, my new FB page, is for people with an IBD that's fed up with their medical options and wants to improve their odds through natural holistic means.

Medicine is a therapeutic treatment in which an illness is treated by producing a second condition that is incompatible with the original condition. In other words, it creates another "illness" within the body that conflicts with the original illness, versus, removing the cause of the original illness.

Diet and nutrition, physical and mental health, and proper rest, as I have learned, can be ways to remove the causes of an IBD flare up and allow a C&C sufferer to learn how to live symptom free. This page was created for those who want support and want to exchange information that may help manage their disease in order to improve their odds and quality of life.

Whether the goal is to get completely off medication, extend the time between flare ups, or simply to be able to reduce the amount of meds taken. If you have C&C and this sounds good to you, or if you have a friend or family member with the disease, please pass on the page:  www.facebook.com/lifewithcrohnsorcolitis

The page has been up for less than a day, and we have 30 "Likes" so far. Yay! 

Prayer Request

I have such mixed emotions associated with something that happened Friday, and I'm having difficulty expressing it...

Let me first give a little background.  I'm pretty convinced that I'm supposed to help people with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis live a healthy life without medication. When I was diagnosed and Dr. Sigmon told me that chances are that I'd have to be on medication the rest of my life, I just somehow knew I'd find an alternative. I was diagnosed with severe advanced Crohn's colitis, and according to Dr. Sigmon, in his over approximate 30 years of being a gastroenterologist, only one person could he recall managed a life without medication, and her condition was not as bad as mine.

I figured if one person could figure a way to get of the meds, then there must be a way for me to do it too.  That became my mission.  I found Dr. David Klein's Self Healing book by searching for ways to cure Crohn's online. Within his book, I connected with my holistic doctor, Dr. Zarin Azar, and sure enough, within a year, I was off meds and have been able to manage Crohn's without meds ever since. 

This blog has been a way for me to remember everything that has occurred with my journey, all of the advice I received from Dr. Azar, and the detail of what I researched. I envisioned that part of my purpose for blogging all of this was to eventually write a book that could help others, as well as have a venue for those suffering from the diseases to get ideas of things they could try to improve their lives during this journey and this seemed like a logical approach.

On another note, I used to frequent a Crohn's and Colitis support FB page, and had used it regularly to give me the will power to continue on the holistic route. Often when I was feeling tempted to eat something I knew was bad for me, I'd visit this site and read about all of the people suffering with these diseases, that eat the standard American diet, and that was all I needed to give me the will power to stick with my healing diet, and my holistic path.

One time when I visited the site, https://www.facebook.com/ItTakesGuts, Aaron, the founder of the site, had a post indicating that they were looking for another administrator. I don't recall exactly how he said it, but he was looking for someone with a lot of education on the different treatments available. Well, that wasn't me. But because of this desire and belief that I am supposed to help others live a healthy life in spite of Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, I messaged him and basically asked if they were ever looking for an administrator that managed the disease holistically, I'd be interested


He had a few questions and we went back and forth a little, and the next thing you know, he asked me to join as the holistic admin. I've been doing this now for about a month.  Being an admin on this site was really my first attempt at helping others.
I visited my parents in Michigan last week. I left on Wednesday afternoon and took my motorcycle up to the Port Huron area for the extended weekend. I arrived on the 4th and returned on the 6th. So as you can see, I wasn't there very long at all.
Rich had one of his sons with him. The other wasn't in the best of health and didn't make it. Ironically, he was scheduled for a colonoscopy the following Monday and they suspected that he might have Crohn's. I was involved with a conversation with Jan, when this was discussed between my mother and Rich. My mother responded to Rich, "Tammy has Crohn's." and quickly the conversation changed to discussing what life is like if his son, Josh, at only 11 years old, was diagnosed with the disease.

I have known in my heart that the knowledge and experience I have with Crohn's must be used to help others, and based upon my past history with authoring a couple of books, I assumed this is the way I'm supposed to do it, but based upon what happened in the past couple of weeks, evidently there's also another way.

What was pretty cool, is that my mother reconnected with a family, the Hughes, that used to live a couple doors down from us when we lived in Warren. We lived there when I was 4 years old, through the age of 10 I believe. What I am certain of is that we moved away when I was 10. There were three children in this family. 

Well, timing would have it that Rich, one of the kids, was visiting his mother, Jan, for the holiday as well. I'm pretty certain that my mother just recently reconnected with Jan, and had yet to see any of the kids. But things worked out that we could stop by and visit with them Friday night, the 5th. We stopped by and it was very cool to see them, and also kind of amazing how they were still so familiar. 

As we were talking, I heard my mother say to Rich, "Tammy has Crohn's." So of course I entered their conversation and learned that his son, Josh, was having some medical issues and he was getting a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy the following week. This lead to a discussion about how it is to live with Crohn's.

Unfortunately, I received a message from Rich on this past Friday, and Josh was diagnosed with a severe advanced case of Crohn's, earlier that day. His Crohn's has affected his entire digestive system from his esophagus through this colon.

I don't know about any of you, but I consider this a request to me and Rich by God. Think about it? I reconnect with Rich after 39 years of no contact. My mother connects with his mother just recently, and Rich happens to be visiting Michigan when I'm visiting, and somehow we're able to see each other with such little time up there? I've been wanting to help others, and now I'm going to be given the chance. 

I must admit that I'm a little scared. I know I have been saying that I want to help people, but somehow I thought it would be indirectly by being the admin on the support site, and by writing a book. It didn't even cross my mind that the future of a young boy of a childhood friend may depend upon my support. I believe God hand selected me, which scares the bejesus out of me because I don't want to let Him down. Also, I never considered myself as someone God would call directly upon.

I can't imagine that we would be lead to each other after almost 40 years if Josh wasn't meant to have his condition improved due to my involvement. I ask you all for your prayers for this little boy and his family! Give his parents and brother the faith and commitment it is going to take in order for them to help him in this journey, and give Josh the wisdom needed to make good decisions for his long term health and happiness. And finally, give me the wisdom to advise the family in a manner that helps them the most.

Managing Fatigue

Fatigue! It's common with Crohn's and colitis sufferers, especially when they have a flare up since a significant amount of nerve energy is directed to healing, and often even when we're in remission we get fatigued for many reasons. Ultimately, anyone fighting illness or chronic diseases is more apt to fatigue and tiredness that a healthy person.  

So, what can we do to fight fatigue? Fatigue is often related to a lack of nerve energy, or lack of certain nutrients. 

Nerve energy is essential to our health and absolutely needed to fight illness, disease, and fatigue. With Crohn's and colitis, if you have a flare up, much or most of your nerve energy goes toward managing your symptoms, and sleep is the best cure for a lack of nerve energy. Sleep is the most effective way to replenish your nerve energy.

Stress management is crucial to nerve energy as well. If you're stressed, your solar plexus, which radiates nerve energy throughout your body, contracts, and you simply have less nerve energy. 

Also, because certain nutrients can be a factor associated with fatigue, a diet rich in vegetables is helpful. Vegetables, particularly green leafy vegetables, have the majority of the nutrients that when lacking, contribute to fatigue: iron, magnesium, B12, folic acid (B-9), and potassium.

Iron is a mineral needed for hemoglobin, the part of red blood cells that carry oxygen. When iron levels are low, red blood cells can't carry enough oxygen to the body's tissues, causing fatigue. So if you're iron deficient, a whole food supplement, or green leafy vegetables will help. I'm a big fan of juicing, so whenever I have any issues with my gut, juicing is better because the leafy veggies are a little tough on the GI tract, and the nutrients of juice is absorbed very quickly while giving the GI tract a rest.

Vitamins B12 and B-9 (folic acid) are needed for the production of red blood cells. B12 helps the body use iron and is also required for proper digestion, the absorption of food, the synthesis of protein and the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats. 

Also, B-12 is produced in the GI tract, and it is difficult to get enough B-12 from Crohn's and colitis sufferers because B-12 is typically in protein foods that are the longest to digest and are acid forming, which isn't good for our GI tract and often triggers a flare up. I eat only plant based whole foods, but they don't contain vitamin B-12, So I self administer vitamin B shots. 

If you add supplements to your diet, shots are the best to administer if possible because they're more immediate and bypass the GI tract. If you take oral supplements, try to get the type that dissolves in your mouth or drops if you have Crohns in the upper GI tract. I don't like taking pills of any sort, even supplements, as I believe they aren't the most gentle on your upper digestive system. If you have UC or Crohn's only in the colon or rectum, a whole food supplement is fine to take, however.

B9 is needed for the body to produce red blood cells. Because it's easily destroyed during cooking, it is one of the most common vitamin deficiencies. Eating raw vegetables, beans and nuts usually is sufficient for B-9.

Magnesium is needed for the production of ATP, Adenosine triphosphate, a coenzyme used as an energy carrier in our bodies' cells. It is the main energy producing molecule in the body. So, when magnesium is lacking our cells are less able to produce energy and this leads to fatigue and tiredness. Magnesium is easily obtained through fruits, vegetables and fish.

Finally, potassium is a mineral that is needed for organs to properly function. Low potassium is associated with cancer, digestive disorders, and chronic fatigue syndrome among others. Again potassium is found in fruits, vegetables and fish. 

Green leafy vegetables contain all of these nutrients other than B-12. No other food that I know of contain as many of the essential nutrients to fight fatigue as they do. But during a flare up, they are not gentle enough on the GI tract to eat, so consider adding a green juice to your daily routine. I drink about 16 oz a day of green juice that includes all of the required nutrients above, except B-12. It is my diet source for fighting anemia, fatigue and keeping my nerve energy strong. 

Food Sequencing

I was juicing the other day, and the different items I juiced, stayed in layers in the container. It visually reminded me of how our stomach is supposed to look if we eat properly. 

Consider that different foods require different time frames to exit the stomach and enter the small intestine. 

Generally fruits takes 15-30 minutes to exit the stomach and meat takes about 3-4 hours.

if when you eat, you mix all of your food together, any quick digesting foods must wait until the slowest digesting foods leave the stomach before they too can leave.

Depending upon what you eat, this process can take up to 6 or 8 hours. And while waiting, the faster digested foods like fruits, vegetables and some of the starches undergo some decomposition and fermentation. This produces gas, acid and even alcohol along with indigestion.

My photo represents food sequencing, or layering. I know it's not as tasty to eat all of your fruit first, then your vegetables, then your meat. But if you do so, the food will layer in your stomach, similar to my photo, and exit your stomach on time. This keeps food from fermenting or putrifying in your stomach which can cause many issues.

Generally, eat the food with the most water content first, and food with the least, last. Simple food sequencing may resolve your acid reflux or heart burn, among other discomforts in your GI tract. This is particularly helpful for those with Crohn's or colitis.

The Test Results are in!

Good news... bad news... but mostly good news!

I've known that I have some inflammation due to some symptoms I've had with my bowel movements. So for the past ten days, I've been juicing, and have been anxious to get the test results so that I can assess what to do next.

I went in for tests on Thursday. Specifically, I wanted to know my sedimentation rate and hemoglobin. For some people a c-reactive protein test is an indicator of inflammation. However, for me, the sedimentation rate is more accurate from past tests. 

How the sedimentation (sed) rate works is when blood is placed in a tube, red blood cells settle to the bottom. Inflammation can cause the cells to stick together. Because clumps of cells are heavier than individual cells, they settle to the bottom more quickly. The more red cells that fall to the bottom of the test tube in one hour, the higher the sed rate. A sed rate of 0-20 is normal for a woman.

During flare-ups I've had sed rates of 85 upwards to over 100.  Once in the past I had a sed rate of 65 and was able to manage to get it back to normal without medication, but with some drastic dietary and other actions. 

Hemoglobin is the oxygen carrying protein inside red blood cells. Since oxygen is essential to healing, not having enough hemoglobin makes healing difficult. So a high sed rate and low hemoglobin makes healing very difficult indeed. Hemoblobin for a woman my age should be around 12 to 14 gm/dL. 

So I was hopeful to have a sed rate under 65 and normal hemoglobin. I really would like a sed rate of 0, but I knew that I had some level of enervation or inflammation due to my symptoms, and a sed rate under 65 would be good considering.

Well... I got the results late Friday.

Hemoglobin: normal at 12.4
Sediment Rate: 40.

I'm actually thrilled with these results. What this means to me is that I can simply stay on my "healing diet", get enough vitamin D by getting in the sun about 15 minutes every couple of days, and make sure that my nerve energy is ample for healing. I do this by getting ample rest, meditation and managing stress. By doing these things, I will likely resolve the mild inflammation without any drastic action or medication within a couple weeks:) Yay! 

Therefore, that's what I'll do until I have a full week of no symptoms. Then I can loosen my diet to what I refer to as my "post-healing diet". I've posted some details before about my healing diet, so I thought I'd post information about my post-healing diet, which is the diet I will transition to and should stay on to keep in remission without medication.

I posted four requirements of a healthy diet for Crohn's and colitis on my last blog. I've added a couple other important requirement here. I've learned that if I stick to these six rules, I don't get inflammation. When I deviate, I get symptoms that indicate my colon has been irritated or inflamed and that's what will lead to a flare up.

1. Avoid foods that introduce harmful or toxic substances into the digestive system. 
2. Eat and drink only easy to digest and assimilate things.
3. Only eat foods that can be eaten in its natural state.
4. Intake only those foods and drinks that contribute a broad range of nutrients.
5. Eat predominantly alkaline-forming foods. 
6. Avoid any food that is spicy hot.

1. Avoid Toxic Substances:  Foods that introduce harmful or toxic substances include the following, plus much more. Read the ingredients of everything you buy that is a packaged food and if it doesn't sound like a word that describes food, it is often toxic to some extent :

• preservatives
• artificial sweeteners or coloring
• refined sugar or flour
• msg
• genetically modified organisms
• fried oil (BHA/BHT)
• caffeine
• trans fat
• pesticides
• Olestra (fat substitute)
• brominated vegetable oil or anything with bromate

Ultimately whole organic foods avoid any of these toxins so you can be certain you're good to go if you stick to plant based whole foods.

2. Foods Easy to Digest and Assimilate:  The easiest food on the digestive system is juice, because it is already digested and therefore is ready for immediate absorption and assimilation. Cold press juice is the best because it keeps most of the nutrients and food enzymes in tact. 

Fruit is the next easiest. It is considered partially digested in its raw ripe form, with exceptions. The skin of an apple for example, is difficult to digest, but the apple meat itself is in a state comparable to a partially digested vegetable. Melons are the easiest to digest. Speed of digestion, doesn't necessarily mean ease of digestion. For example, whole milk exits the abdomen in about two hours, which is the same as most seeds. However, due to casein and lactose in milk, most people cannot digest dairy products as easily as seeds. 

3.  Raw Food:  If you consider this 3rd criteria of eating foods that can be eaten in their natural form, this eliminates many foods.  Although a healthy person will synthesize hundreds of enzymes required for digestion and assimilation, the body is dependent upon the enzymes within the food for the most perfect digestion. Therefore, it is essential that our food have their enzymes intact and that occurs if it is eaten raw.

Cooking destroys not only the enzymes, but destroys almost all known food factors and makes a food’s nutrients mostly unusable.  Depending upon the extent in which the food has been cooked, it reduced to inorganic minerals, caramelized sugars and starches, coagulated proteins, poisonous fats, and it weakens the vitamins and other values. It not only loses most if not all of its nutritional value but what remains can become toxic debris in the body according to Dr. T. C. Fry, and believed by Dr. David Klein and Dr. Herbert M. Shelton to name a couple.

Most nutritionalists confirm that cooking changes the organic nature of the food and changes its nutritional content and our ability to assimilate the nutrients for the worse. There certainly is controversy to what extent cooking destroys nutritional value, but every source I could find with any credentialed nutritional expertise confirms that cooking kills the foods enzymes which the body relies upon to assist in digestion and reduces the nutritional value to some extent.

Therefore, since Crohn's and colitis creates digestion and absorption problems, it simply makes sense that those with the disease need the food enzymes and full nutrients of food, and hence, raw food is a recommended food state. This is one of the core beliefs of my holistic gastroenterologist, and has become one of my core beliefs based upon my personal experience as well.

4. Nutritional Food:  A very important factor about nutrition is that we must eat and drink in a manner that allows what we eat and drink to be digested and assimilated properly. Meaning, if we eat food that gives us all the nutrients we need, but we eat them in such a way that their value cannot be realized, then this is not healthy. Some foods require acid digestive enzymes and others alkaline, and some neutral. If we eat foods that require acid enzymes with food that requires alkaline enzymes, then the two enzymes cancel each other out and the digestive enzymes are significantly less effective.

Therefore, eating "mono" meals, or combining foods properly allows us to digest and assimilate food properly.

5.  Alkaline Forming Foods:  The human body must maintain its fluids at a slightly alkaline pH in order to survive. Neutral pH is 7.0; acid pH is below 7.0; alkaline pH is above 7.0. The bloodstream pH must be maintained within a pH range of 7.35 to 7.45; blood pH outside that range results in death.

Metabolic waste acids are produced in every cell.  Acidifying factors include acid-forming foods; exercise; and stress, mental and emotional. This requires a sufficient reserve of alkaline minerals in the body for their neutralization. Which is why eating predominantly alkaline forming foods is essential to our health. Under perfect conditions, acid wastes are minimal and easily neutralized and transported to the organs of elimination. However, a chronic acidic condition constantly stresses the body, resulting in physical and mental issues including big problems for Crohn's and colitis sufferers.

Excess alkaline minerals are now problem, however, as our kidneys are adept at eliminating them.

After foods are eaten they are oxidized in the body, resulting in the formation of a residue. If in this residue the minerals are sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, the food are alkaline forming. If the residue includes sulfur, phosphorus, chlorine and un-combusted organic acid radicals, they are designated as acid forming  foods. You can see based upon the content of the residue that alkaline forming foods are better for us. Don't confuse the alkaline or acid residue with alkaline or acid enzymes. Enzymes are part of the digestive process and food residue is a result of digestion. That residue remaining in our digestive tract effects the PH balance and a chronic acid PH is problematic for most people and certainly for those of us with Crohn's or colitis.

6. Avoid Spicy Food:  If it is spicy hot to the mouth it will irritate your digestive system. You might like the taste of spicy foods, but your gut does not. Avoid them.

I admit that I don't stick to these six rules 100% of the time. But I do intend to following these requirements most of the time. And the times that I don't, need to be spaced a part so that I don't stress my colon for an extended period of time. These requirements are not only good for the colon, but for the stomach, small intestine and entire digestive tract.

I realize this is a lot of information so future blogs will break down the six requirements for remaining in remission in more detail. Stay tuned...

Going in For Some Tests

I've not been very good sticking to my diet lately, and have some symptoms that lead me to believe that if I don't take control of things quickly, it could end in a flare up.

Beginning with a motorcycle trip to Orlando for the  Memorial Day weekend, I've not gotten the proper rest, and definitely have varied from my diet that has kept me in remission. I've eaten too much Mexican, and spicy foods are aggravants. Additionally, I've had alcohol too frequently. I've not given my system time to correct itself between each situation in which I've enervated my colon.

It's not surprising that I am having some symptoms that concern me as it relates to my bowel movements: color, smell, mucous, frequency, etc. The good news is that I don't have any other symptoms, so I'm hoping I've caught this early enough. Symptoms of this sort are usually a precursor to a flare up for me. So I've gone to "my healing diet" over the past week. Basically, this means I've been eating only raw fruits and vegetables that are alkaline forming and easy and quick to digest. 

I've only been eating partially digested foods, that are easy and quick to digest. As it relates to fruits, most are naturally partially digested other than things like the skin of an apple. So I'll peel the apple or juice the apple so the peel doesn't aggravate my GI tract.In regards to vegetables, they are either very lightly steamed, or juiced. 

Raw food is the richest in nutrients and enzymes. The enzymes within the food help digest the food. Food that is cooked over 108 degrees, lose their enzymes and much of their nutrients. So raw, easy to digest, fruits and vegetables, are the most gentle on the GI tract because the enzymes within the fruits and vegetables facilitate most of their own digestion. The nutrients are assimilated quickly and the waste, which is little, passes easily and quickly as well. This gives your GI tract a break.

This diet over the past week hasn't made as much improvement that I had hoped for. Things haven't gotten worse, but they haven't returned to normal. I've only seen mild improvement in my bowel movements.

So I've scheduled an appointment with my GI Doc on Thursday morning so we can take some tests to help identify how radical I need to react. I've not had to see my medical doc for over a year. 

I'm certain that the tests on Thursday will show I have inflammation. The question is to what extent. I have learned that if my sediment rate is 65 or lower, I can manage things by simply sticking to the healing diet for a while, as long as I'm not too anemic.

I've also learned that if it is 85 or higher, that I must take radical action which may or may not work. And it may result in me temporarily taking medication. 

What I have learned from Dr. Azar, my holistic GI, and Dr. Klein, a nutritionalist specializing in C&C, is that I can help speed the healing of both if I give the colon a rest. Meaning, I'm to keep the environment in my digestive system in the best possible state for healing: 

1. Avoid foods that introduce harmful or toxic substances into the digestive system. 
2. Eat and drink only east to digest and assimilate things.
3. Only eat foods that can be eaten in its natural state.
4. Intake only those foods and drinks that contribute a broad range of nutrients.

The reasons behind these four criterion, I'll review on my next post.

Once healed, then the trick is to keep it from getting inflamed again, and that's when I transition to a "post healing diet" that is not near as restrictive as the "healing diet."

When I first began to manage things this way, I was on Mesalamine and Budesonide. I got in remission on the meds, while on the healing diet. Then I weaned myself off the meds by reducing the quantities weekly over a couple months. Only after having no symptoms for 90 days, did I slowly begin to introduce other foods and transition to a post healing diet. 

Any ways.... This is what I do whenever I feel symptoms of inflammation. Once I get the test results I'll post an update, but until then, I've gone to a juice diet only to hopefully expedite healing the inflammation. 

This is basically what I'm doing.

Apple and carrot juice twice daily (cilantro too)
A green vegetable juice twice daily 
Watermelon juice twice daily

Apple and carrots have pectin in it and pectin protects and cleanses the colon. I drink 8-16 oz first thing in the morning and again in around dinner time.

The Green vegetable juice is to make sure I keep my iron levels up: Bok choy, cilantro, basil, cucumber, zucchini, red bell pepper, celery, and carrots with a little bit of Himalayan salt. Kale, collard greens and spinach, I avoid at this time because they contain oxalic acid which will irritate the GI tract. I drink 16 mid morning and again in the evening.

Watermelon juice is extremely alkaline forming, and helps neutralize the acidic environment. I drink this throughout the day.

This juice diet I use is specifically when I'm trying to avoid a flare up. It seems to give me what I need to control my inflammation, supply a reasonable amount of nutrients, and allows me to have enough energy to go through a typical work day.

I know this is a marathon post, and I hope I haven't bored you all.... I hope this information.

I'll be back in touch after my test results.

It Takes Guts!

I've "liked" a FaceBook page about IBD since about a week after my diagnosis, back in 2011. I was amazed at how many people truly suffer with Crohn's or colitis (C&C) and I consider myself blessed to have found a holistic way to manage my disease. The symptoms and medication that most people with C&C have to deal with the majority of their life is sad, and due to the lack of good available information on how to manage these diseases without mediation, many don't even know where to start.

I have come to the conclusion, however, that many people with C&C don't want to have to change their lifestyle to manage their disease. Many are wanting some medical cure to take care of everything. It's much easier to take medication than to change your lifestyle for some. So even if a holistic approach exists, many will chose not to take it. But for those that wish to take a holistic approach, there simply aren't many sources available to educate yourself on the topic

These days, when I visit this FB Page, I tend to do so to give me the motivation to continue on my current path. When I am tempted to go back to my old way of eating and drinking, I visit this FB Page and read of the issues that others have, so that I can see the repercussions of reverting back to my old ways.

Recently, when visiting the page, one of the Admins posted a request for an additional Admin. They were looking for someone who had a  lot of experience with different medications so that they could help field questions from their members in that regard.  Clearly that would not be me, since I've only had one medicine regimen out of the many available to C&C sufferers.
Regardless of my completely different approach, I inquired if they would be interested in having an admin that is managing their disease holistically. After a couple of emails back and forth inquiring about my knowledge with one of the current admins, Aaron, they agreed to add me as the "holistic" admin for their page.

I'm a little excited about the possibility of helping others who want to attack their C&C naturally. Wish me luck. It really would be awesome to be able to assist others who have a desire to manage their disease naturally.

Feel free to visit the page and like it if you have one of the diseases or have a loved one suffering: Guts