Colitis "Diet"

No need to get freaked out over food. Forget all the theories. It’s not about sugar, wheat, dairy, nightshade, macrobiotic-vegetarian-food combining-whatever. You cannot heal any inflammatory bowel condition with any kind of diet. In fact, you cannot even create one. As for inflammatory bowel conditions food is vastly overrated.

The only dietary goal you should have is to not irritate your colon anymore than it already is while you are getting it healed with the proper holistic treatment. To do this there are only three food rules.

1. Eat low fiber foods that won’t scrape up against the already inflamed intestinal tissue.

2. If any other food bothers you when you eat it stop for now. You will get back to eating whatever you want later.

3. Do yourself a favor, forget everything else!

Don’t Ignore the 5 Primary Symptoms of Colitis

The symptoms of Colitis are no fun. They include severe stomach pain and diarrhea to name a few. Colitis is a serious problem that causes the lining of the large intestine to be inflamed and swollen.

The primary cause of colitis is our exposure to synthetic manmade antibiotics which our environment is saturated with whether through prescription oral or topical antibiotics or from our tainted food and water supply and also antibacterial home cleaning products. Antibiotics destroy the mucosal lining of the intestines. Without this lining the health of our colon declines dramatically, since the lining protects the tissue in our gastrointestinal tract.

Once damaged our body’s digestive enzymes start eating and irritating the bowel lining. This is exactly what inflammatory bowel conditions like IBS and Crohn’s are and how we get them.

These are the five most common symptoms of Colitis.

1. Diarrhea: This can range from mild and occasional to frequent with unpredictable urgency. Diarrhea is often triggered by eating and then having to run to the bathroom. Some people have a condition known as IBS-C, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome with constipation. This latter condition is found most commonly in people genetically pre-disposed to constipation. Constipation is caused by the body failing to properly hydrate the stool. This is never caused by something that you are doing wrong. It is who you are and you can perfectly manage it-but you cannot not cure it the way you can with diarrhea.

2. Intestinal and stomach pain: While sometimes this may indicate a stomach bug or food poisoning if it persists it may be from colitis.

3. Bloody stools: That’s a dead giveaway that you have ulcerative colitis.

4. Mucus in stool: This is a dead giveaway that you are headed for Crohn’s Disease.

5. While not a physical symptom, this last one may be the most paralyzing side effect of colitis and any IBD.

6. Paranoia: This is seen in someone who is too afraid to leave home to attend social events, go the mall, go out to eat, or go to a movie. They have lived with this problem for so long that they have become shut-ins. Paranoia is most commonly found in those suffering from more than just IBS. Many have had accidents and even when cured find it difficult to leave the safety of their home for more than a short period of time.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to tolerate this pain, physical and psychological, any longer. Taking drugs isn’t the answer, you have already tried that. Look for alternatives. Do some research. Ask questions. In the meantime, don’t ignore these five primary symptoms of colitis.

Why Do I Have Mucus In My Stool?

People who see mucus in their stool are always scared and confused. They can understand diarrhea but mucus? It might sound surprising to know that this is happening for a good reason. It is trying to protect you.

This occurs in more advanced cases of inflammatory bowel conditions such as Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s. In these conditions, there is considerable damage to the intestinal wall as it is being assaulted by your digestive acids. As the damage gets deeper and close to making contact with nerve and blood tissue it attempts to protect you by releasing mucus into the bowel to stick to the wall to protect it from the acids. Because this is only a stop-gap measure the mucus eventually slides out along with the stool.

Do not ignore this, as it's a sign that you are losing control of the inflammation that is destroying your colon and are headed towards surgery.