Hello, I was diagnosed with a form of Crohn's call terminal ileitis about 7 years ago. I didn't care for the potions the doctors offered: taking drugs with dreadful side-effects for the rest of my life, and so decided to find my own solution.
After doing lots of reading on autoimmune diseases and nutrition I settled on a mostly vegan diet with vigorous exercise. The only symptom I have now is having to use the bathroom 2-3 times a day with no diarrhea or discomfort.
Why vegan: The quality of our meats (in America) are appalling. The animals are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, genetically modified to grow bigger faster, and are raised in filthy conditions. How can we expect to be healthy consuming the flesh of diseased creatures?
I do eat organic meat in moderation. About 3 to 4 table spoons worth a day if at all. I use the meat as a flavoring agent in soup and vegetable dish.
Not being made of stone I do eat unhealthy foods like pizza, burgers, fried chicken once every two weeks to once a month as a treat. The disease come roaring back soon as I over-indulge.
Animal protein and fat causes constipation, and I find that triggers relapse. All that waste and bacteria trapped in out sensitive digestive system makes the body rebel, hence the cramping and diarrhea. Whenever I use the bathroom less that twice a day I become concern and go on a strict vegan diet to clean out the system.
Avoid germy foods: I was sick for 2 weeks eating cherry tomatoes that wasn't washed properly. Most produce use the waste of aforementioned diseased livestock as fertilizers, so I avoid eating raw veges. For fruits eaten with skin on, soak them in salt water first or scrub them with salt. Stuff like oranges and melons I scrub with soap and water.
Avoid brown rice: they recently found arsenic in U.S. grown brown rice. Turns out they feed arsenic to livestock (who knows why) and use their waste to fertilize, contaminating the soil.
Exercise:
I understand it sounds counter-intuitive when you're weak and malnourished, but I find that exercise is the only way I can stop the diarrhea without drugs.
A routine of 20 to 30 minutes a day, five days a week keeps my Crohn's in check. There's no need to join a gym, google the vast amounts of routines you can do right at home, often with no equipment at all. I exercise twice a day in 10-15 minute sessions. This helps my body recover faster than doing one long workout, and I can't use the lack of time as an excuse for not performing.
I find that doing only aerobics or only strength training doesn't help. I have to do both to keep the disease in remission. As soon a I become lazy I get sick again.
I'm not a doctor, just someone who has been living with the disease for more than 20 years and has been managing it without drugs for the past 7 years. The years before that I was misdiagnosed with an anxiety problem and didn't even know I had Crohn's. I suffered with the illness for more than a decade thinking it was all mental.
I figure to share my experience just in case someone else find it useful. Feel free to post or PM me any questions. I'd be glad to help you if I can.
After doing lots of reading on autoimmune diseases and nutrition I settled on a mostly vegan diet with vigorous exercise. The only symptom I have now is having to use the bathroom 2-3 times a day with no diarrhea or discomfort.
Why vegan: The quality of our meats (in America) are appalling. The animals are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, genetically modified to grow bigger faster, and are raised in filthy conditions. How can we expect to be healthy consuming the flesh of diseased creatures?
I do eat organic meat in moderation. About 3 to 4 table spoons worth a day if at all. I use the meat as a flavoring agent in soup and vegetable dish.
Not being made of stone I do eat unhealthy foods like pizza, burgers, fried chicken once every two weeks to once a month as a treat. The disease come roaring back soon as I over-indulge.
Animal protein and fat causes constipation, and I find that triggers relapse. All that waste and bacteria trapped in out sensitive digestive system makes the body rebel, hence the cramping and diarrhea. Whenever I use the bathroom less that twice a day I become concern and go on a strict vegan diet to clean out the system.
Avoid germy foods: I was sick for 2 weeks eating cherry tomatoes that wasn't washed properly. Most produce use the waste of aforementioned diseased livestock as fertilizers, so I avoid eating raw veges. For fruits eaten with skin on, soak them in salt water first or scrub them with salt. Stuff like oranges and melons I scrub with soap and water.
Avoid brown rice: they recently found arsenic in U.S. grown brown rice. Turns out they feed arsenic to livestock (who knows why) and use their waste to fertilize, contaminating the soil.
Exercise:
I understand it sounds counter-intuitive when you're weak and malnourished, but I find that exercise is the only way I can stop the diarrhea without drugs.
A routine of 20 to 30 minutes a day, five days a week keeps my Crohn's in check. There's no need to join a gym, google the vast amounts of routines you can do right at home, often with no equipment at all. I exercise twice a day in 10-15 minute sessions. This helps my body recover faster than doing one long workout, and I can't use the lack of time as an excuse for not performing.
I find that doing only aerobics or only strength training doesn't help. I have to do both to keep the disease in remission. As soon a I become lazy I get sick again.
I'm not a doctor, just someone who has been living with the disease for more than 20 years and has been managing it without drugs for the past 7 years. The years before that I was misdiagnosed with an anxiety problem and didn't even know I had Crohn's. I suffered with the illness for more than a decade thinking it was all mental.
I figure to share my experience just in case someone else find it useful. Feel free to post or PM me any questions. I'd be glad to help you if I can.
