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Crohn's Disease

A particularly useful combination of supplements for SUPPORTING the main remedies recommended are....

Click above to view the full information on each or click here for an overview of the two in combination.

Crohn's disease is an auto-immune disorder and therefore the treatment protocol outline in the article Factors Involved In Auto-Immune Disorders And Effective, Natural Treatment Protocols.should be followed as you feel is appropriate for your individual needs. When this information is combined with the article on treating Chron’s disease, you may decide to integrate Plant Sterols and Sterolins as an anti-dote to inflammation and correcting the immune system at some point in your regime.

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease, which can affect the whole of the alimentary tract from the mouth to anus. The inflammation extends through all layers of the gut wall in patches between normal tissue. Complications outside of the intestine can occur.

There are periods of remission, when patients are symptom-free, and relapses, when symptoms flare up. The cause of Crohn’s Disease is still unknown, but there is a hereditary tendency. Some cases are triggered by gastroenteritis and stress can cause flare ups.

It is believed that an immune reaction to bacteria in the bowel is an important factor in Crohn’s disease. Diet is a critical factor and dietary treatment often enables patients to heal their body naturally without the distressing side effects of prescription drugs. Many find relief when avoiding wheat, yeast and milk. (More on diet below).

Symptoms

Diarrhoea - sometimes with blood
Abdominal pain and tenderness
Weight loss
Fever
Tiredness
Sores and abscesses around the anus, which have a discharge.
Other possible symptoms (not involving the intestine) - ulcers on the tongue or inside the cheek, painful, inflamed eyes, painful, stiff or swollen joints, sore, red lumps on the skin

The Most Effective Natural Supplements for Crohn's Disease

Aslan and Triadafilopoulos (1992) looked at fish oil supplementation in active ulcerative colitis, (it is likely that Crohn’s will repond in a similar way). Compared with the placebo therapy (olive oil), fish oil resulted in clinical improvement of mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. Among the studied patients, 72 per cent of patients reduced or eliminated their need for anti-inflammatory medications. There have been a number of clinical trials assessing the benefits of dietary supplementation with fish oils in other types of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in humans.

We therefore recommend cod liver oil at one dessertspoon daily, this also provides vitamin D essential for calcium integration (Boron also needed for this). Once the calcium status of the body is improved the immune system will tend to be better regulated.

Hemp oil is the most balanced oil in terms of omega 3,6, and 9 balance and has anti-inflammatory properties. We therefore recommend the use of it at one dessert spoon daily (start at one teaspoon daily and gradually increase).

Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease

These terrible gut disorders can be treated with our Digestive Disorders Tincture, and in the words of the herbalist who developed this formula, the tincture‘can annihilate the terrible symptoms of these awful diseases to 100% relief remission for life’.

However he makes the proviso that candida overgrowth that is very common with these conditions, and to a lesser extent food intolerances, must also be eliminated for the herbal formula to do its work. Candida fungal stage overgrowth is often caused by killing the good bacteria in the bowel with anti-biotics and steroids.

The advice given above under the heading of irritable bowel syndrome is generally useful over the long term for bowel health in cases of Colitis and Crohn’s Disease.

Primebiotic can be introduced once the symptoms have started to improve (also helps to keep candida at bay)
Barley Grass Juice powder can be experimented with after a month or two. This is for deeper bowel restoration and to supply valuable nutrients overall that are in such short supply for the sufferer of Crohn’s Disease especially, but for the population in general due to depleted minerals in soil and lack of a perfect diet.

Chlorella, although generally a bowel tonic, should be taken with caution by those with a history of IBD, since it may stimulate the immune system.

The Problem of Candida Overgrowth

Candida is a harmless yeast that we all have in our bowel. However when the immune system becomes low for any reason, often due to anti-biotic, steroids or other drugs, the yeast changes into a fungus, and the tentacles of the fungus penetrate the bowel wall and cause fungal spores to be distributed in the blood, causing a proliferation of the fungus generally. This creates poor energy and various other health complaints. It also causes the immune system to be in a hyper alert state, although it is not able to eliminate the problem. The hyper alert immune system then can attack weak parts of the body, casing further problems. In this situation the candida fungus must be overcome first before we can expect improvement in any health issue.

Medical herbalist Gerald Green comments on Candida

"During more than twenty years of experience with auto-immune patients, I discovered, that the key factor in all these serious diseases is an overgrowth of Candida. Candida, a friendly yeast, normally lives in the large bowel, and feeds the good bugs that help our bodies, to stay healthy. If these good bacteria get killed however, for instance through the use of anti-biotics, Candida has nothing to keep it under control. Once out of control, Candida becomes a parasitic fungus, and causes lots of problems, like 'Leaky Gut Syndrome'. This, in a chain of events, causes dietary allergens that trigger the symptoms of the relative auto-immune disease on ingestion, as well as many other allergies. In order to grow, Candida makes it's victim crave certain foods that feed it, like sugar, yeast and pasteurised cows milk products. Given time, Candida can pass into the bloodstream, and go right through the body. Once this happens, it can cause all sorts of other problems like depression, listlessness, extreme fatigue during the day, and a 'hung over' feeling in the morning”.

The Two Most Important Remedies For Overcoming Candida

Ironically, Zell Oxygen is a live cell yeast, that contains specific enzymes to enable the immune system to start working properly again to such an extent that it begins to fight the Candida and keeps it from returning. It also competes for the sites in the colon that the Candida fungus occupies, and provides the correct nutrient background to enable the proliferation of good bacteria, also a guardian against the Candida fungus. Zell Oxygen isvery well tolerated even by those that are allergic to other forms of yeast; because the yeast cells are much smaller than normal nutritional yeasts and still live. On the anti-Candida diet you will be advised to avoid other forms of yeast such as yeast in bread, marmite etc.

We strongly recommend this product, as it will get the immune system working properly again. A low immune system is the basic reason (often combined with loss of beneficial bowel micro-organisms, usually due to anti-biotic or steroid use) for the change of the useful and natural Candida Albicans yeast into the fungal stage; the roots of the fungus then penetrate throughout the bowel wall seeding the blood and so the devastating infection spreads. Start at about 4 dessertspoons daily for the first few weeks, then reduce to 2 dessertspoons daily after improvements have set in, but if you experiment, and feel better on 4 dessertspoons daily then it is expedient to continue at that dose for a longer period of time.

The use of Zell Oxygen helps to eliminate Candida and keep it away. Candida can be naturally eliminated with the anti-Candida diet and Wormwood capsules, but can return later if the diet is relaxed and the wormwood is discontinued. Wormwood use can be continued on a permanent basis after Candida has been cleared at a dose of one or two capsules daily. Continuing with Zell-Oxygen at a minimum of one dessertspoon daily, and also the healthiest diet possible, gives the body the best chance of preventing a return of the fungal stage of Candida and the devastating consequences of that.

Wormwood Capsulesare very toxic to the fungal stage of Candida, usually by day two of wormwood use, it is begging to die. This so called ‘die-off’ produces a detoxification reaction that can cause headaches, dizziness and other symptoms, usually only for a couple of days, but in some cases may produce flu like symptoms for up to 2 weeks. In these situations it is vital that antibiotics are not taken, otherwise you will reverse the natural healing. You can raise the dose of Zell-Oxygen to 4 dessert spoons twice daily, to enable the immune system to effectively deal with the situation (even if, coincidentally there was actually an acute bacterial or viral infection). Colloidal Silver and Olive Leaf Capsules are known broad spectrum anti bacterial and anti-viral, without killing off good bacteria or compromising the immune system, and can be taken if you are concerned you have contracted flu or any other acute infection, and should always be taken with Zell-Oxygenfor best results. This advice concerning colloidal silver and olive leaf capsules is only necessary in rare situations and to reassure those who have an acute infection, but is not often required.

The Wormwood Capsules should be taken for about a month to make sure all the candida fungus is eliminated, thereafter, maintain the Zell use for maintaining good health at cell and bowel level. For the remedies to be most effective, an anti-candida diet is recommended. There are rumours that wormwood may be toxic, but it has been used as a traditional herbal remedy for millennium as a digestive tonic, and as an anti-parasitic. According to Gerald Green who has thoroughly investigated wormwood with many patients, there are no toxic effects provided alcohol is avoided (we are not talking about the occasional half pint of beer!)

The Anti Candida Diet (should be adhered to for a few months)

Keep fresh fruit to a minimum such as one apple or pear a day plus one kiwi (Kiwi’s are highly beneficial and contain far more vitamin C that oranges)
No over-ripe fruit, dried fruit, bananas, melon, or grapes - the natural sugar levels in these is too high. (After a few months all fruits may be eaten in moderation, such as 2 kiwis and an apple a day, or the equivalent in other fruit. Un-pasteurised cow’s milk may be used, but this is very difficult to obtain and is not advisable in cases of hormone related breast cancer)
No carton or bottled fruit juices
No sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners (Stevia is a safe alternative)
No food additives, i.e. no processed food.
No cow’s milk or cow’s milk products including cheese and butter
Rice, Goats or sheep’s milk (dilute sheep’s milk 50:50 with water) and their products may be used
Avoid all alcohol, margarine, heated oils / fats, hydrogenated fats as these compromise the immune system. If you want the occasional fried food use olive or coconut oil, use a very low heat and keep a lid on the pan. Include something e.g. onions in the pan to provide plenty of water vapour to keep the temperature of the oil as low as possible. Burnt food, especially oils are immunosuppressive and toxic
No wheat or wheat products including bread, cakes, biscuits, flour and so on (except for non-yeasted spelt wheat bread, non-yeasted dark rye bread, and rice cakes. ‘Essene bread’ (the whole grains have been sprouted) available from some health shops)
Only occasional tea and no coffee. Peppermint tea is a good alternative.
Keep carbohydrates low for the first 3 months (similar to an Aitkin’s diet) this includes all root vegetables such as carrots, swede, turnip, potato, sweet potato, example one small serving of potato or carrot daily.
No microwave cooked food (except occasionally if eating out) as this weakens the immune system.
No tap water without filtering, as Chlorine in tap water can turn healthy nutrients into cancer encouraging chemicals

Protein and The Anti Candida Diet

The anti-candida diet allows for plenty of protein, but large amounts of meat can congest the system. We therefore recommend mainly fish, steamed, (not in a pressure cooker) or very low temperature fried as described previously, or cooked in the oven in a dish with a lid, to avoid browning.

Raw eggs (organic or at least from a known source of healthy free range chickens) are an excellent health tonic. They are exceptionally easy to digest They are best taken by breaking them into a cup and swallowing whole, but if you have a mental problem with this, they are almost tasteless and easy to swallow, blend with a little goats or sheep’s milk. Raw eggs provide a wonderful boost to the immune system and a completely balanced nutritional package. Please see our article "The Health Benefits of Raw Eggs”

Cooked protein, although fine from the point of view of an anti-Candida diet, in the long term depletes the enzyme reserves of the body. Depleted enzyme reserve and a failure to produce enough protein digestive enzymes, usually as we age, have been identified as one of the contributory causes of cancer. It is expedient to take a digestive enzyme when cooked food is eaten and to take a stronger protein digestive enzyme when eating cooked protein and between meals to help break down undigested protein that clogs our tissues.

Supporting the Anti Candida Diet

We also recommend the use of Primebiotic, a high quality broad spectrum pro-biotic and superfood. 22 pre-digested foods with 13 beneficial bacteria strains.

A third remedy we recommend in a natural Candida treatment is Barley Grass Juice Powder a whole food that keeps us healthy contains many anti-oxidants and protective factors. One to two dessertspoons a day of this mixed into water or sheep’s or goat’s milk (do not heat above blood heat as it contains live enzymes) will provide a broad range of low carbohydrate nutrients to provide valuable nutritional support.

Food Allergies and Intolerances

These tend to reduce with the use of Digestive Enzymes, also a good bowel bacteria such as Primebiotic has been found to diminish food allergies after a period of use..

Identifying food intolerances

With the serious inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis food intolerances need to be identified, this can also be helpful for those suffering from IBS. Any health disorder can be aggravated by food intolerances.

Firstly eliminate a single food that is eaten regularly (at least once a week). Do not have any of the selected item for a week, then have a fair portion of that food on the 7th or 8th day. If you have a bad reaction to that food, then you are intolerant. Repeat with the next food and so on, until you have eventually found all the foods you are intolerant to, and eliminated them from your diet. After a few months you can experimentally re-introduce one food at a time to see if you still have a bad reaction, if not then you may use this food again (but not to excess).

Removal of Blocks to Health, Healing and Wellness

We have defined the major blocks to health improvement which should be considered the number one priority for resolution before one goes on to a more specific healing regimen such as that detailed in the programme above. By removing these blocks one will feel stronger and more prepared for a specific programme and will achieve far greater success with it. Please read this essential article here

The Autoimmune Protocol

Not all of the remedies listed here will neccessarily be needed. We strive to bring you the most effective remedies to resolve your health problems in the simplest supplemental regime possible. We aim to treat the actual root causes of health problems holistically rather than supply remedies that will give temporary or partial relief from only the symptoms. This has been our mission since the founding of Regenerative Nutrition in 1994. As we uncover more fundamental truths about the causes, and therefore the relief, of diseases and health problems we update and revise our product range and recommendations.

Above, we detail targeted remedy recommendations for Crohn's Disease, but we further suggest that you view the autoimune protocol article and supplement pages by clicking here

To achieve overall good health and long term resolution of this health problem the remedies selected here should be combined with the autoimmune protocol remedies for the best results.

It may well be that there is some overlap and that many of the remedies in the autoimmune protocol are listed here also.

If you need any assistance in selecting the most suitable remedies, or have any questions, please Contact Us

Supplements for Crohn's Disease

The supplements recommended for the treatment of Crohn's Disease are listed below. Not all will necessarily be discussed in the article, as some may have been added after the article was posted. If a listed supplement is not mentioned within the article, or you wish to know more about any of the listed supplements, you can find out more information by clicking on that supplement below. You can also now add to your basket directly from this page.