Dairy Truth

By: C R Ellsworth

How long has it been since you had a day without ‘Brain Fog’, or maybe just needing a nap?

I’m aggravated.
For 15 years, actually more I think, I’ve been trying to find a Doctor who will tell me what’s wrong with me. I’ve been pushed, probed, injected, put through giant magnets, thrown into ‘K’ space, (I even picked up a little lingo here & there).
I’ve given specimens, samples and unrequested opinions until I’m sore in places nobody should be sore in. (If an english major doesn’t like the way I ended the last sentence they can kiss my end. I’ve had enough).
This wouldn’t be all that bad if it were a normal situation; challenge being, through the process of elimination I’ve figured it out, (Diagnosed myself), which anyone will tell you is like representing yourself in Court.

There were over time, hundreds of nutritional supplements tried, many of which seemed to effect a change.

The changes were usually temporary and ultimately disappointing.

Through prolonged research over years it became more obvious that this challenge may well be related to other symptoms. Most related symptoms were minor: innocuous skin irritations, various digestive disruptions, food allergies, minor aches and pains, brain fog, chronic fatigue, dandruff even. Many symptoms were accepted as part of ‘getting older’. But I’m not old yet!

For a period of time food allergies became quite challenging. They eventually led to 2 years of allergen treatments using hypodermic needles. I had actually become allergic to everyday foods. Allergies to corn, wheat, rice, and dairy products mean there are few meals that you can eat without disturbing effects.

The research eventually brought me to develop sites and article repositories to bring this collected information together for access from one place. Many other sites describing seemingly unrelated symptoms can be accessed through these resources.

Our self-education continues.

I eventually began a regimen using some of the solutions explained on these sites, some in a daily regimen and some as needed. You can benefit from my long trial and error education avoiding the ‘dead ends’ and ‘false starts’.

The first step, although seemingly unrelated is an intestinal purge. Followed by a comprehensive attack on the underlying pathology and then the regimen shows you how to maintain your newly restored health with its new possibilities.
Some of these supplement and nutritional programs require a membership, but don’t require a purchase.

Check with your Physician and if acceptable to them, the regimen will have you feeling better than you thought you could feel again in a few months.

You will be able to maintain this new found level of health easily once attained.

P. S. It’s time to take your life, energy and social life back. Are You Ready?

P. S. S. This is the First Step to your new outlook. Don’t deny yourself the good health that you remember.

By Paul MacIver

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract. The disease is also called granulomatous enteritis, colitis, regional enteritis, regional ileitis, ileitis, or terminal ileitis and it causes ulcerations of the small and large intestine. The disease can affect the digestive system anywhere from the mouth to the anus, but distinctively affects the terminal ileum as well as demarcated areas of large bowel. The disease is named after the American physician, Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884–1983), who described the disease in 1932.

Crohn’s Disease Symptoms

Crohn’s disease symptoms may include:

• Chronic diarrhea & disrupted digestion: It becomes difficult for the patients in the acute phase of the disease to eat and/or digest food.
• Painful and debilitating inflammation
• Fistulas of the colon
• Hemorrhoids
• Lipid absorption problems
• Anemia: Persistent rectal bleeding may lead to anemia.
• Bruising of the shins.
• Fever, pain and psychological damage in many cases
• Crohn’s disease in children may cause delayed development and stunted growth.

Crohn’s Disease Treatment

Crohn’s disease treatment may include medication, surgery, dietary advice and Helminthic therapy (current research).

- Medication Treatment

Acute treatment: steroids are used in the initial stages. Long-term steroid therapy is discouraged because of their side effects. Corticosteroids like prednisone are traditionally used medications. The side effects of steroids may include insulin resistance and frank diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), glaucoma, osteoporosis, severe psychological issues etc.

Chronic treatment (Steroid-sparing): The treatment may include Salicylates - 5-ASA derivates - 5-aminosalicylic acid compounds such as sulfasalazine (Azulfidine®, Salazopyrin®), mesalamine (Pentasa®, Asacol®), olsalazine, and balsalazide. Immunomodulating drugs such as azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate are given mainly in moderate-to-severe cases. Infliximab (brand name Remicade®) is given in patients with therapy-resistant or fistulating Crohn’s. Adalimumab (brand name Humira®) has been used in patients who show allergic reaction to infliximab. The drugs like thalidomide are under study trials.

- Surgery

In the case of widespread intractable Crohn’s colitis, the colon and rectum (protocolectomy) are removed by the surgery ileostomy. Surgery is generally avoided, as this does not cure the disease. Crohns disease can recur at the site of the anastomosis or ileostomy.

- Dietary Advice

Crohn’s patients should avoid the following foods and liquids:

• Dairy foods
• High fiber foods should be avoided during flare-ups.
• Hot spicy foods
• Alcohol & caffeine
• Foods containing saturated fats, found in meat and dairy products. However some fats such as in fish oil may actually be helpful.
• Products containing corn or gluten, those made from wheat, oats, barley, or triticale
• Foods, such as soy, eggs, peanuts, tomatoes
• Gas-producing foods such as cabbage family vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts), dried peas and lentils, onions and chives, peppers and carbonated drinks
• Foods that may irritate the intestine (particularly the cabbage family vegetables)
• Simple sugars
• Dried fruits or high-sugar fruits, such as grapes, watermelon, or pineapple
• Sorbitol (an artificial sweetener)

Beneficial Foods:

• Fluids to keep the body hydrated and prevent constipation
• Fruits may be protective
• A high protein diet with lean meats

Advice:

• Eat small frequent meals
• Prebiotics such as psyllium may help in the healing process.
• Probiotics may also be helpful in aiding recovery of the intestines.

- Helminthic Therapy

Recent studies have come up with a promising Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis treatment. Helminthic therapy is a new treatment that has shown impressive results in clinical trials. It argues that the absence of intestinal worms (due primarily to higher hygiene standards) from the human intestinal tract may cause the immune system that is not evolutionary adapted to this condition, to over-react causing inflammation and other negative effects, and that reintroducing helminths through ingesting eggs of a certain species (which is not dangerous to humans) can help down regulate and normalize immune responses.

Helminthic therapy like the fecal bacterio therapy induces a characteristic TH2 white cell response in the diseased areas which seems to be the key in achieving and maintaining remission, and may prove to be of key significance in further research.

Paul MacIver writes about health conditions including Crohn’s Disease and IBS. For more info on Crohn’s disease visit http://www.about-crohns.info/ or to read about irritable bowel syndrome go to http://www.overcome-ibs.info/ You may freely reprint this article as long as nothing is changed, bio is included and all links are intact.

By Paul MacIver
Cholesterol is a fatty lipid, steroid and an alcohol found in the body tissues and blood plasma of vertebrates. It is the essential part of the outer membranes of human body cells, and it circulates in the blood.

Cholesterol in the human body comes from two major sources. About three-quarters of the body’s total cholesterol is produced within the body, while only one-quarter comes from cholesterol in food.

Higher concentrations of cholesterol are present in body tissues which have more densely packed membranes – i.e. the liver, spinal cord, brain, atheroma, adrenal glands and reproductive organs.

The liver is the most important site of cholesterol biosynthesis. It is secreted from the liver in the form of an acidic secretion known as ‘bile’.

Diets rich in animal fats, meat, poultry, fish, oils, egg yolks and dairy products are a major source of dietary cholesterol. Organ meats, such as liver and kidney, are extremely rich in cholesterol content, but foods of plant origin contain no cholesterol.

High cholesterol levels in the bloodstream can influence the pathogenesis of certain conditions. Recent studies have revealed that the abundance of protein complexes called lipoproteins, are responsible for the cholesterol build-up in the blood vessels.

Cholesterol gets attached to these lipoproteins. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL) carries cholesterol out of the bloodstream for excretion, while the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carries it back into the system for use by various body cells.

LDL cholesterol is called bad cholesterol, because elevated levels of it are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. LDL deposits cholesterol on the artery walls which leads to the formation of a hard, thick substance called cholesterol plaque. Over time, cholesterol plaque causes thickening of the artery walls and narrowing of the arteries, a process called atherosclerosis.

The levels of both HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol may also determine risk for heart disease; however current medical opinion is that the ratio of HDL cholesterol to LDL cholesterol is much more important than the level of cholesterol.

Methods to control your cholesterol levels:

Lower your consumption of foods containing saturated fats - fried fast foods, butter, cream, cheese, and fat on meat - to help reduce cholesterol. Add more plant foods to your diet – vegetable oils, nuts, legumes, breads, cereal grains, fruits and vegetables. A low cholesterol diet, combined with regular exercise is the best way to lower cholesterol levels.

Medications can also help lower cholesterol levels. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, ‘Statins’, such as lovastatin (Mevacor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) are the most effective and widely used medications to lower LDL cholesterol. Other medications include nicotinic acid (niacin), fibrates such as gemfibrozil (Lopid), resins such as cholestyramine (Questran), and ezetimibe, Zetia. These medications should be taken after consulting the experts.

Paul MacIver writes articles on cholesterol and various health related topics. For further information on cholesterol visit http://www.reduce-high-cholesterol.info/ or http://www.howto-lower-cholesterol.info/ to read about lowering your cholesterol naturally.