Support Your Local Microbiome/IBS, Crohn’s Disease and Vitamin D/Healing With Whole Foods

Support Your Local Microbiome

Usually when one buys a probiotic supplement, they are consuming a mixture essentially put together by a committee (scientists, researchers, marketers). They will pick one, two, or a few of the more than 20 strains in common usage, pick a number of bacteria for each, maybe crank it up for marketing purposes, and assume that this one size fits us all. And this approach works fine, for some people. But, we all have a very specific mix of different flora in our digestive system, and some people find that probiotic products actually disturb their digestive well being, leading to symptoms of gas, bloating, constipation, and/or loose stools. Often that is due to too much bacteria at once, and often due to a mix that doesn’t fit your personal gut profile. A product like NutriStart Lactospore Microflora simply encourages the thriving of all the good bacteria that is already resident in your digestive system, and discourages the bad bacteria present from thriving. This becomes a process of encouraging the flourishing of your particular microbiome, supporting it in reestablishing and maintaining an ideal mix of microflora, unique to you. For more information view my blog on the product: Link Get a $4.00 off coupon here.

IBS, Crohn’s Disease and Vitamin D

In the first study of its kind, researchers examined 51 patients with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and found 82% of them were deficient in vitamin D (published in BMJ Open Gastroenterology). Researchers found a significant association between a patient’s vitamin D levels and the severity of their IBS symptoms, particularly the extent to which IBS affects their quality of life. “It was clear from our findings that many people with IBS should have their vitamin D levels tested, and the data suggests that they may benefit from supplementation with vitamin D.” (BMJ Open Gastro 2015). In related pilot study, researchers randomly assigned 34 patients with Crohn’s disease in remission, to take either a high dose (10,000 IU) or a low dose (1,000 IU) of vitamin D3, every day for one year. After the year was over, only 8 patients in the low-dose group, and 12 in the high-dose group, had properly completed the study. But, of these, 37.5% of those in the low-dose group had a relapse into active Crohn’s disease, whereas in the high-dose group none had a reoccurrence of symptoms. (Narula N, et al. Abstract P-064. Presented at Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Dec. 10-12, 2015; Orlando, Fla.) It is no real surprise to me that vitamin D can be so helpful in ailments such as Crohn’s disease and IBS, since it is now well known that this vitamin is essential to maintaining mucosal membranes, including those lining the intestines. For more information on how vitamin D, along with other essential nutrients, can rebuild and maintain all mucosal membranes in the body see my blog titled “How 3 Nutrients Can Heal Most Ailments.”

Healing With Whole Foods

If you were to only have one health-related book I believe that the best choice would be “Healing with Whole Foods” by Paul Pitchford. This tome describes how to eat your way to a healthy life based on a synthesis of both the Eastern and the Western natural healing traditions. While the focus is on foods, with specific diets for specific needs and particular ailments, there is also an emphasis on the healing “superfoods”, and herbal remedies. While I am obviously a proponent of taking nutritional supplements, they do not have much of a chance of healing anyone if the underlying diet is unhealthy. And, what might be a healthy diet for one type of person may not be so for another type. Because the book focuses on both Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine principles, the dietary approach becomes tailored to the ailment, and not a general diet for everyone to follow, the way Western dietary systems usually are. In the West, a believer in raw foods will believe that everyone should eat that way, while those who believe in a Paleo diet in turn believe that everyone should eat that way, and so on. The Eastern approach is very different in that each individual has certain pre-existing characteristics, and certain health concerns, that should determine how and what they should eat, and that dietary approach may need to change as their body and health changes. No one makes this approach more accessible and easy to use than Pitchford.

Viewing

In this information packed documentary, physicians and leading researchers discuss medicinal cannabis and its demonstrated effects on human health. This free, 47 minute documentary offers a comprehensive synopsis of the real science surrounding this controversial plant. Below the video, on this site, is a link to a database that has 187 diseases and ailment shown to be improved by treatment with one form of cannabis or another. While you will need to sign up to access the actual studies, you can get an overview of all the ailments that have been studied, without joining. (Source)