How I healed from Crohn's Disease

I was inspired by what the OP said, because he simply found a regimen (although questionable with smoking and drinking) that has worked for him. And thats great. And yet, once again only on HealingWell.com will we find members that are somehow offended by another members blessing. It's ridiculous! The OP made no claims and did not suggest to you that what you are doing personally is the 'wrong' way to do so? Did he? NO. So this is what starts a flame war between diet vs. meds.

Livingwell, I think what you said about being your own doctor is right. I fell into the same pit of lies. I prefer my method of treatment over my previous gastroenterologist any day. That is not to say that I don't trust my current doctor's knowledge. But, what bothers me, and leaves me questioning, is how they can blindly ignore diet as a method of treatment. I was robbed of the knowledge on how diet may or may not effect me. When I told my GI that I changed up my diet and thought I had some positive results, he put me down and said, no its ALL genetics --you can go ahead and eat whatever you would like.

We fuel our bodies with food three times or more a day! Our organs will not function without food! So how is it that diet has NOTHING to do with anything ?!

beave said...
The way I see it, some of these "lucky" ones think their mild course is something they have done for themselves with diet or lifestyle changes, and then they try to convince others that they must do it the same way. The truth is that those people were likely destined to have a mild course no matter what, so they're attributing it to something that *seems* like it makes sense (diet), but it isn't necessarily so.

I find this statement unethical. You're generalizing a population of people that may have a mild case of IBD and are too dumb enough to know if a diet is working for them or not. Newsflash, those who modify their diets are 100% on their own. Yes we may follow specific protocols, like SCD, paleo or whatever, but it takes a whole lot of experimentation and trial and error to find something that works. Excuse me, but this is my way of life. And if you are going to insult those who are, as you put, apparently blind to their own condition, then I might add that popping a pill is merely insisting upon convenience.

Post Edited (stereofidelic89) : 12/21/2012 9:07:24 PM (GMT-7)

Yes actually he did. The OP said he omitted processed foods and sugars. Sugar is the #1 inflammatory food.

Whether you consider any of his healing a regime or not, is entirely your opinion. When you take up meditation, yoga and relaxation on a regular basis, and allow yourself to heal through the mind, its just the same as healing a body part. I can identify with this personally because I went through a period of rebuilding myself mentally and spiritually. It's not right just because I've done this, but its also not wrong just because you have never done this.

Not really wanting to enter into this debate as it's pointless and I do see both sides but I do want to say that the IBD researches you quote NCOT are generally not researching the inflammatory/non-inflammatory nature of food. I posted elsewhere that Stanford University has started recruiting for a clinical trial examining the usefulness of the SCD as a maintenance therapy for CD. I have personally spoken to one of the Drs there who told me they had been using the diet with good success for Crohn's. Now, SCD did not work for my daughter but that does not mean I discount it. Meds have not worked for her either and to be honest her GI has used many "experimental" therapies on her which are NOT based on extensive research but on her own clinical experience. She has thrown random antibiotics at her in the hope that one would "work". Has used low dose, every other day prednisone in addition to ASAs, again, not an approved method of treatment which many of her colleagues would disagree with. In her words "treating IBD is an art not a science". She is considered one of the top pediatric GIs in the world by the way. Personally, it's clear to me that the docs really don't know what they are talking about and that many have had success with diet and alternative therapies which do not have the research/trials (money) behind them. There's no guarantee either way but that's no reason to tear someone to bits for sharing a positive outcome, no matter how "unscientific" it seems. Just my two cents.

NiceCupOfTea said...
Sugar is the #1 inflammatory food.

I have seen this claim made ad infinitum, but not once any evidence given for it. Meanwhile, the evidence that sugar is bad for you would appear to be tenuous at best.

wow

If this website wants to have any respect at all It should start taking a good look at itself and question what is allowed to be posted.

Amazing that someone comes on here and shares a success story and is allowed to be attacked. Then people defend it because there is no scientific evidence from a community of people who admit they have no idea of what's going on and are thought by medical schools that are driven by money making institutions. It should a bannable offense.

Doctor: You have Crohns, I have no idea what causes it because they never thought me that. Eat whatever you want, take this med. it will have little benefit for you, you will eventually get worse and need surgery.

Patient: What about the people who change their diet, feel better and go on an endless "remission" as long as they keep eating well.

Doctor: That's just alot of BS. Those 10s of thousands of people are just lucky and went into spontaneous remission.

NCOT, Beave: Yes the doctor is right. There is no scientific evidence , don't listen to them. They don't have a PHD.


They can stick their PHD's up you know what.

This website through it's moderators have to decide if it truly wants to help people or be another pawn for closed minded, fear mongers who have done nothing to help people who come to this site looking for help.

Not only does the OP's post seem unscientific, it's contradictory. On one hand he's saying he eliminated all processed foods and sugar from his diet and is leading a healthy life, and on the other hand he's saying he reintroduced all the bad stuff back in to his diet including smoking and that he doesn't follow a strict diet or exercise regime. Also, knowing the way the medical system works here, I find it very hard to believe that his GI would recommend surgery if he had ulceration going all the way up his digestive tract to his mouth. They would first want to get the inflammation under control, not jump to surgery.

My GI always considers diet as part of controlling my symptoms, but he's also well aware that diet alone does not help me. His belief is that most people with IBD also have IBS. He does a lot of research through his patients, in the hope of finding a cure.

Reading the original article in the magazine he mentioned, there are some comments at the bottom and he replies to one stating that if she is interested in more information about his natural remedy program etc, to email him. It's lovely that he's offering his support, but he can also give one the impression that he's trying to make a few dollars out of this. I've also just had a look at his Facebook page, which is open to the world and it's quite clear that he is in to some very weird new age spiritual stuff, that goes back further than his apparent healing. He also states in one conversation that his healing mostly came from his spiritual beliefs and positive thinking.

From everything he's written, the main thing I take away from it is that I will never find a cure, be healed or be completely in remission because I don't believe in God and am not a spiritual person. I am happy. But that's not enough.

killcolitis said...
I just feel pitting the "diet"/"alternative therapy" people against the "IBD researchers" is a false dichotomy.

Except "pitting" diet against science wasn't what I was doing. Livingwell said there were no Crohn's researchers: I posted the names of a few to show him there were.

Please read my posts more carefully in future, people, to discern a) what I am actually saying and b) why I might be saying it. Thank you.

NCOT, I don't have any sources, sorry to say, but those were the very first words that came out of my naturopathic doctor. There is plenty of research out there to point in the direction of how excess sugar can lead to disease.

virtualterror said...
From everything he's written, the main thing I take away from it is that I will never find a cure, be healed or be completely in remission because I don't believe in God and am not a spiritual person. I am happy. But that's not enough.

He very well may be making money, and may have had a previous past with mind-body spirtual healing, but I don't think that makes his story any less deserving. And knowing a little bit about the mind-body connection myself, the more you continue to tell yourself that "I will never be healed... I will never find a cure" is denying your body's gift to heal by using negative words. The more you convey a specific outlook for yourself, the more likely it is to be true.

pb4 said...


It's unfortunate that this seems to be the norm here...someone posts about what helps them, others that may or may not have tried the same things get frustrated with those that have found relief in some way(s) and pounce on them because they are still suffering...not supportive at all.

Typical NCOT, you can dish it out but you can't take it...sad!

Granted, you're not even aware of the issues with refined sugar (it is in fact considered an inflammatory) so no sense in trying to get you to understand any other points that are clearly over your head...like I said, if the CCFC researchers can't confirm one way or the other regarding diet/food, neither can you or anyone else.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I personally have NEVER had a GI tell me to take a pill and eat whatever I want.

I saw my Primary Care Physician on Thursday. We spent a good amount of time discussing foods that may aggrivate or trigger my symptoms and how to make sure I avoid them.

Diet modification is PART of the solution, but not the entire solution.

That is just common sense.

It seems that literally every word I say in this thread is destined to be deliberately misrepresented and distorted to make it seem as though I was saying things I was not. I may not have much of a life, but I still have better things to do with my extremely limited energy than waste it on replying to such people.

Before I leave, I'll just note that I still haven't been given any evidence that sugar is inflammatory or bad for you. I have asked for this evidence before and, just like last time, nothing turned up. Nada. Zero. Zilch. And it never will. Because evidence is the last thing that anybody cares for: it's all ideology, when you boil it down.

lol @ people arguing.

I love these threads. People foaming at the mouth. It sounds like back in the days where they were arguing if the earth is flat or round.