Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of gastrointestinal tract that can cause serious health problems as well as make a significant negative impact on a person's overall quality of life. Though Crohn's disease usually affects the small intestine, it can also manifest in the mouth, esophagus, and stomach.

Symptoms

Causes

Diet and Nutrition: One of the primary causes of Crohn's disease, as well as other gastrointestinal disorders, is a diet high in commercially processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and unhealthy fats, and which contains an abundance of chemical additives and preservatives while lacking adequate amounts of fiber

Food Allergies: Food allergies, while often overlooked or misdiagnosed by conventional physicians, are another common cause of Crohn's disease, as well as many other disease conditions. If you suffer from Crohn's disease, or any other gastrointestinal disorder, it is very important that you be tested for food allergies and sensitivities. Common allergy-causing foods include milk and dairy products, wheat, gluten (a component of wheat products), corn, and chocolate, but any food has the potential to cause food allergies.

Imbalanced Hydrochloric Acid Levels: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is secreted by the stomach to aid in the digestion of food. Many people suffer from a lack of HCl production, which can lead to impaired digestion and poor absorption of food nutrients, and can eventually affect the areas of the GI tract where Crohn's disease occurs. Similarly, an excess of HCl production can result in a state of over-acidity, causing heartburn, flatulence, and ulceration of the lining of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines.

Impaired Immune Function: Impaired immunity can also cause or contribute to Crohn's disease, as well as other GI disorders due to the relationship between diminished immune function and poor absorption of nutrients from food. In addition, poor immunity can also result in an increase in toxins within the gastrointestinal tract, as well as cause autoimmune reactions that actually attack the cells of the intestinal lining, leading to ulcers and inflammation. Autoimmune reactions have been shown by research to be linked to both Crohn's disease and colitis.

Infections: Infections caused by bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses all negatively affect overall gastrointestinal health. Viruses and bacteria such as Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus, Pseudomonas, Chlamydia, and Yersinia enterocolitica are especially common in cases of Crohn's disease. In addition to releasing toxins into the GI tract, these infectious microorganisms can cause autoimmune reactions, "leaky gut" syndrome, and malabsorption, as well as dysbiosis, or overgrowth of unhealthy intestinal flora such as Candida albicans, the primary cause of candiasis.

Lack of Exercise: Failure to exercise regularly can result in diminished production of digestive and pancreatic enzymes, as well as hydrochloric acid (HCl), all of which are necessary for healthy gastrointestinal function and which, if lacking, can result in a wide variety of gastrointestinal disorders.

"Leaky Gut" Syndrome: "Leaky gut" syndrome refers to a condition caused by damage to the stomach and intestinal lining, specifically the mucosa. As a result of this damage, undigested proteins, as well as various microorganisms that normally remain within the GI tract pass through the intestines to enter into the bloodstream. This, in turn, causes the immune system to overreact, producing antibodies that attack the cells of the intestines. In addition to GI disorders, "leaky gut" syndrome has also been linked to rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

"Leaky gut" syndrome can develop whenever the digestive tract is excessively stressed, yet it is rarely diagnosed. For more information, treatment protocol, and indicators that will help determine if you have "leaky gut" syndrome, please read the expanded Leaky Gut Section. You can printout the full article for easy reference.

Pharmaceutical Drugs: The following drugs can all cause and exacerbate various gastrointestinal disorders, including Crohn's disease: Accutane, Alka-Seltzer Antacid and Alka-Seltzer Pain Reliever, Anturane, Genuine Bayer Aspirin, Bayer Plus Aspirin, Bayer Regular Strength Enteric Aspirin, Bufferin Analgesic Tablets and Caplets, Ceptaz, Clinoril, Cuprimine, Ecotrin Enteric Coated Aspirin, Feldene, Ilosone, Lamprene, Leukine for IV Infusion, Lopid, Marplan, Meclomen, Novantrone, Paraplatin, Piroxicam, Prokine I.V. Infusion, Retrovir, Rynatuss, Supprelin Injection, Suprax, Ticlid, Tolectin, Toradol IM Injection, Trecator-SC, Trilisate, and Voltaren.

Stress: Chronic and poorly managed stress has a direct effect on the gastrointestinal system, and elevated stress levels have long been linked by scientific research to a wide variety of GI disorders, including Crohn's disease, because of how stress results in elevated acid production and impairs overall digestive function.

Aromatherapy: The essential oil of basil can help to relieve symptoms.

Ayurveda: Ayurvedic physicians treat Crohn's disease by teaching their patients how to better manage stress, using tools such as meditation. In addition, they screen for food allergies and parasites, create diets tailored to each patient's specific metabolic needs, and employ herbs and nutritional supplements, such as acidophilus (to protect against dysbiosis), boswellia (to reduce inflammation), cumin, garlic, ginger, and fish oils, a rich source of omega-3 oils that have been shown to act as natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Detoxification Therapy: To relieve inflammation of the GI track, consider administering an enema containing butyric acid two to five times a week. (Add one tablespoon of butyric acid to one quart of warm water.) Butyric acid helps to heal inflammation of the intestinal walls.

Diet: Healthy eating is of primary importance. Drink plenty of pure filtered water and increase your intake of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, and complex whole grains, such as such as amaranth and quinoa, as well as organic, free-range meats, poultry, and wild-caught fish.

Avoid all commercial, processed, fried, and nonorganic food, as well as alcohol, coffee, sugars, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, food dyes, milk and dairy products, wheat and wheat products, and refined carbohydrates. Do not eat saturated, trans-, hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated fats and oils. Instead choose from virgin coconut butter/oil, extra virgin olive oil, high lignin flax seed oil, and unrefined hemp seed, walnut, and sunflower oils.

Note: With digestive issues such as Crohn's, pureed vegetables could be an excellent option for you. Eating blended foods is less work for the system because the food is already partially broken down. Although it is unnecessary to chew blended food, it is still important to move each bite of food around in your mouth before swallowing to activate saliva's role in digestion.

In addition, undergo testing for potential food allergies and sensitivities and avoid those foods to which you test positive. Consider a rotation diet or elimination diet in order to further reduce the likelihood of food allergies.

Nutrition and diet are key players in the healing and elimination of imbalance and disease. For a complete, nutrition packed, whole foods eating plan, read the Natural Cures Healing Food Plan. Also, for some plagued with Crohn's Disease, a raw food diet could be extremely beneficial; for others, raw food may not be the best choice. Each person responds differently based on their individual chemistry and the depth of the condition being healed. To learn more, read about the Raw Food Diet. Numerous books are available to give you a bigger overview of how eating raw and live foods might be the perfect healing path. (See the recommended books section.) You can print out these full articles on the different diets for easy reference.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet - A dietary approach that has been found to be effective in the majority of Crohn's disease cases is called the Specific carbohydrate Diet. It was developed by Elaine Gottschall, M.Sc., in an effort to help her four year-old daughter heal her own colitis symptoms, and is based on the research of the late Sidney V. Haas, M.D., who discovered that most gastrointestinal disorders are caused by an imbalance of carbohydrates in relationship to the microorganisms that naturally occur in the gastrointestinal tract.

According to Dr. Haas, when this relationship becomes unbalanced, the microorganisms grow unchecked and release toxins, causing malabsorption of food, and especially poor digestion of carbohydrates, a staple of the Western diet. To reverse this trend, Haas, and later, Gottschall developed the strict dietary regimen that comprises the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Based on her work with hundreds of patients with severe gastrointestinal disorders, Gottschall has found that the diet can yield complete results in as little as three weeks, but only if it is completely adhered to. Its eating guidelines are as follows:

Avoid: All processed, smoked or canned meats, breaded or canned fish, seaweed, processed cheeses, seeds, potatoes, yams, parsnips, chick peas, bean sprouts, soybeans, mung beans, fava beans, as well as all cereal grains in any form, including flour. Avoid milk, and all products commercially made from milk, dried milk solids, buttermilk or acidophilus milk, commercially prepared yogurt, sour cream and ice cream. Do not consume soymilk, instant tea, coffee, coffee substitutes, beer, cornstarch, arrowroot, chocolate, carob, bouillon cubes, instant soup bases, any product made with refined sugar, agar-agar, carrageenan, pectin, ketchup, molasses, corn and maple syrup, any flour made from legumes, and baking powder.

Eat: Fresh or frozen, preferably organic meats, poultry, wild caught fish, organic eggs, organic milk and products made from organic milk such as cheeses, homemade yogurt prepared at low temperatures from organic milk, and dry curd cottage cheese. Choose from a wide variety of freshly prepared, preferably organic vegetables. Vegetables and fruits are the main stay of this food plan. Use no canned foods with the exception of salt-free canned red salmon, white albacore tuna or sardines, only on occasion. Daily juicing of fresh green vegetables is an important addition for healing and offers you deep nutritional nourishment. With this and all illness, providing yourself with the most supportive nutritional profile possible is of primary importance.

Abide by this diet for as long as your symptoms persist. Adherence can be challenging, but maintenance is essential to obtain the desired results.

Herbal Medicine: Useful herbs include agrimony, bayberry, chamomile,geranium, goldenseal, lemon balm, marshmallow root, peppermint, plaintain, wild yam, and valerian. The traditional herbal remedy Robert's Formula is also recommended, consisting of comfrey, Echinacea, geranium, goldenseal, marshmallow root, poke root, slippery elm, and wild indigo.

Homeopathy: Useful homeopathic remedies include, Aloe, Allumium sativa, Arsen. Alb., Belladonna, Cantharis, Colchicum, Merc. Sol., and Nux vomica.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the application of water, ice, steam and hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments include full body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating a wide range of conditions and can easily be used in the home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and Day Spas use Hydrotherapy as part of treatment.

There are several at-home hydrotherapy treatments. For Crohn's disease, we suggest soothing baths two to five nights a week to help to relieve symptoms of colitis, as well as alternating hot and cold water packs placed over the stomach and upper abdomen.

Juice Therapy: Useful juice remedies include aloe juice; wheatgrass juice; cabbage, papaya, and carrot juice; carrot and apple juice; and carrot, beet, and cucumber juice. You can also drink the juice of half a lemon with warm water, especially in the morning, followed by any of the juice combinations above. Avoid all citrus juices, however, as these can greatly aggravate your symptoms.

Lifestyle: If you smoke, stop, and also avoid exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke. In addition, learn how to effectively cope with and manage stress. Also try to exercise regularly.

If you are currently taking aspirin or other NSAIDs, consider replacing them with safer, more effective natural remedies.

Nutritional Supplements: Useful nutritional supplements include vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc, taken with a multivitamin/multimineral formula. Essential fatty acids, especial omega-3 oils, are also recommended.

Stress Management: Learning how to reduce and properly manage stress is essential for helping to protect against Crohn's disease. Stress reduction techniques are also very helpful for dealing with emotions such as anger, depression, and hopelessness that can exacerbate symptoms. Holistic health practitioners help their patients accomplish stress reduction through the use of various mind/body medicine techniques, such as biofeedback, hypnotherapy, and relaxation exercises.

Meditation is another form of stress management that can be highly effective. There are many ways to meditate. One of the easiest is simply to sit comfortably in a chair with your eyes closed as you focus on your breathing. Do this for five to ten minutes twice a day and gradually extend each session to 20-30 minutes. To enhance your efforts, concentrate on mentally repeating a peaceful phrase each time you inhale and exhale, allowing all other thoughts to arise and pass without becoming involved in them. At first, this may seem difficult, but with committed practice you will eventually find yourself able to do so while experiencing greater degrees of calm and peace.

Alternative Professional Care:  The following therapies can also help to prevent and relieve colitis: Ayurveda, Biofeedback Training and Neurotherapy, Bodywork (Feldenkrais Method, Reflexology, Shiatsu, Therapeutic Touch), Craniosacral Therapy, Environmental Medicine, Enzyme Therapy, Fasting, Flower Essences, Guided Imagery, Hypnotherapy, Mind/Body Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Neural Therapy, Osteopathic Medicine, Oxygen Therapy, Qigong, Tai Chi, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Yoga.

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