NAKED GUT - THE BOOK

NAKED GUT - INTRODUCTION

This is a true story. What happened, has been a miracle for me and now it´s time to share it. I will share my thoughts through this blog concerning my new book, The Naked Gut.

What is the greatest treasure in your life? I would most definitely put Love as the first, but the personal treasure in the body is Health. We all try to cherish it in order to enjoy the life to its fullest.

My name is Tommi Sundqvist. I am 47 years of age male from Finland. A Crohn/colitis patient, sports masseur, IT-worker and nutritional specialist.

You often don´t realise how precious overall health is until you loose it. I lost my health and almost my life to Crohn´s disease in 2004. It was a life changing moment.

This book may be an inspiration to you who´s seeking a healthier life, especially with autoimmune diseases and intestinal infections like Crohn´s disease and Ulcerative Colitis (IBD or IBS). The most important thing is to never loose hope. There are ways to make your life better. World needs rolemodels, so why wouldn´t you be the rolemodel for your own life?

FOREWORD

This book´s aim is to open your eyes regarding autoimmune disease like Crohn´s, not everything is what you think it is. It is possible to live and feel better.

Most of us have experienced diarrea at least once in our lives. You know how it takes all the energy down, it´s basicly impossible to do anything physical. One or few days is still manageable, but when the situation becomes ongoing, that´s when it sucks all the life and nutrients from your body. Then it becomes dead serious. 

 

After over three decades of vigorous stomach pain I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could make myself healthy just by rebuilding my life with simple solutions.

I have succeeded very well, but also failed few times. So far I have stood up every time with little more understanding how my gut works. Allthough I may never control my gut health 100%, I have lived with minimum symptoms and drug free life for over a decade now. Earlier I didn´t have sufficient info or the other choice given besides western medicine, so I had to dig out the alternative remedy to survive. Since the choices and changes I made, starting 2004, the quality of my life has improved drastically. I hope this book is of help to you or to anyone battling with a gut disease. After all, we should get to know our bodies better and learn to listen, what it says and teaches us. I´m still learning that every day.

WHY I CHOSE MY OWN PATH?
When you read this, you may understand why; I had no other choice than change my habits.

Allthough you may not get rid of the disease totally, to ease the symptoms is one of the biggest things when you have a disease. What has amazed me even more is that it is possible to live symptom free life with different choices! I didn´t know that 15 years ago. With more knowledge and understanding it brings more healthy choices.

In this book I go through the ways that forced me to change my routines and options that have helped me enormously. I noticed that the relieve is there, in my path it means that every bite counts. I haven´t turned my back totally to medicine, but at the moment they are not helping me in this fight as much as my everyday options.

Small choices we make every day have a greater impact in our life span and especially the quality of life than we may understand. I am determined on one thing: I will do whatever I can in my power to be healthy again. Hopefully you get some answers too.

Important Disclaimer!

In serious conditions like Crohn´s or colitis, please always seek medical advice from your doctor. It is not the intention of this book to diagnose, prescribe, or replace medical care. The choices I made may not work for you because we are all individuals. If you do anything recommended, without the supervision of a licensed medical doctor, you do so at your own risk. This information is provided with the hope that it may be helpful for those who choose to take a greater responsibility for their own health.

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)

Today we know that at least 70-80% of our immune system is located in our digestive tract. So the importance of the gut to our overall health is tremendous and should not be understated in any medical condition. The poor condition of the bowel can be a root to many (autoimmune) diseases.
It´s no secret, that autoimmune diseases (AD) are skyrocketing faster than ever. A disease that results when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues. Today, more than 80 diseases occur as AD.

Are you aware, that only in 14 years food allergies among children increased app. 50%?

(a study done between 1997-2011 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

So, what is happening in our world? Why is our body suddenly attacking our own immune system? What has changed so drastically in just few decades? 

The fact is that we are living in a world full of chemicals. There are several changes what our food has swallowed in the past few decades: preservatives, flavors, colorings, other food additives, hormones, antibiotic use in food industry, growth hormone use, genetically modified food. Today, more than 30,000 chemicals are now marketed in the European Union only. They will get us, no matter how we protect ourselves; through air, soil and water.

Food and drink alone contain around 1,000 different chemicals and not all are ok for you. The toxic chemicals are present in nearly every home, packed into couches, chairs, clothing, cleaning products, cosmetics, toys etc. They are everywhere. Some chemicals are meant to protect us, like flame retardants do. But the same time we are being exposed to high levels of these toxic chemicals, every single day. To prevent a terrible accident you need to be exposed to another terrible threat. Sometimes it´s tough to choose what is right and wrong. 

They all combine a threat to our immune system. As Michael Conrad from Hill Street Blues said: "Let´s be carefull out there". It had a bigger meaning than just bullets.

It's estimated that minimum of 10 - 15 % of population worldwide have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Yet many people remain undiagnosed and are unaware that their symptoms actually can indicate a medically recognized disorder. Most of the people who have mild symptoms of IBS may never go to see a doctor or postpone it as long as possible so the numbers can be much more than these figures. It can be a relief for some people that IBS is only a syndrome, not a disease. But it can still cause annoying belly pain and diarrea that comes back repeatedly which affects to your whole life. IBS normally doesn´t cause an inflammation, bleeding or cancer like IBD (irritabel bowel disease) does.

The cost to society is huge. Direct medical expenses and indirect costs associated with loss of productivity and work absenteeism estimates from $21 billion or more annually.

IBS occurs when muscles in your large intestine contract faster or slower than normal. This causes pain, cramping, gassiness, sudden bouts of diarrhea, and constipation. There is an immediate need to move your bowels when you wake up, during or after meals or sometimes it just makes you run quickly to the nearest toilet. It´s comforting to know that most people with IBS will never develop more severe IBD (Irritable bowel disease). Both IBS and IBD are considered chronic (ongoing) conditions. 

There is no particular test that confirms the diagnosis of IBS. Allthough Cal-protectin test is sometimes taken to help rule out other conditions such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease etc. A doctor can usually diagnose IBS from the typical symptoms mentioned above.

These may help IBS symptoms:
1. Eliminating high-gas foods (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and raw fruits for starters)
2. Eliminating gluten. Research shows that some people with IBS report improvement in diarrhea symptoms if they eliminate having gluten in their diet (especially wheat, barley and rye).
3. Eliminating Fodmaps. Some people are sensitive to types of carbohydrates such as fructose, fructans, lactose and others, called FODMAPs (fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides and polyols). FODMAPs are found in certain grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. However, often people are not bothered by every FODMAP food. You may be able to get relief from your IBS symptoms on a strict low FODMAP diet and then reintroduce foods one at time. One of the easiest ways to find right fodmaps is to use smart phone aps.

4. Eliminating dairy products.

For medications ask your doctor for todays alternatives.

IBS and Diarrea

If loose stools are the main problems with your IBS, a few changes in your diet may help.

For a period of time, 1-3 months, avoid these:
- chocolate

- alcohol

- caffeine

- carbonated drinks
- sugar

The artificial sweetener sorbitol (found in sugarless gum and mints), and fructose (the simple sugar found in honey and many fruits). These can worsen diarrhea symptoms. Your eating history can help you determine if any of these are triggers for your symptoms so writing down food diary can help you in finding better solutions.

Eating modest amounts counts very much. For instance, fiber is good for intestines, prevents diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Plus, it keeps your diarrhea from turning into constipation. But too much fiber leads to flatulence and bloating.

With the diarrhea, it's best to consume soluble - as opposed to insoluble - fiber. That way it takes longer time to leave the digestive system.*

Good sources of soluble fiber include oat bran, barley, the flesh of fruit (as opposed to the skin), and navy, pinto, and lima beans.

The International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD). https://www.aboutibs.org/site/what-is-ibs/facts/
University of Maryland - Medical Center

https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/irritable-bowel-syndrome

http://www.webmd.com/ibs/treating-diarrhea
http://www.colonhealth.net/colon_hydrotherapy/ct_funct.htm

* Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, author of the "American Dietetic Association Guide to Better Digestion."

LEAKY GUT (Intestinal Permeability)

NOTE: Leaky gut may be the trigger to all autoimmune diseases and to many general symptoms.

When your gut 'leaks', the cells lining in the intestines becomes ”leaky” due to an inflammation. A great discovery a few years ago revolutionized our ability to understand our intestines and permeability and how this impacts our health from cancer to autoimmune disease to inflammation and even food sensitivities.

In the magazine ”Scientific american” in 2009, mechanism of disease was described. Small protein called Zonulin has a remarkable effect on our health. This protein modulates the permeability of tight junctions between cells of the wall of the digestive tract. It was discovered in 2000 by Alessio Fasano and his team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

When leaky gut is present, the spaces between the cells open up too much allowing larger protein molecules to get into the bloodstream where an immunologic reaction can take place. Based on Dr. Fasano's research, the two most powerful triggers to open the zonulin door are:

1. Gluten
2. Gut bacteria in the small intestine.
Gluten-related disorders have gradually emerged as an epidemiologically relevant phenomenon with an estimated global prevalence around 5%. There are known to be several diagnoses: Celiac disease, wheat allergy and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, they represent different gluten-related disorders. Celiac disease and wheat allergy are well studied, but non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a relatively new, believed to be closely related to other gastrointestinal functional syndromes. You may want to find out if you have any of these by making a test with a qualified laboratory.

Search for Food Allergen Kits etc.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26217073

ALTERNATIVE TO GLUTEN FOODS:
1. QUINOA (KEEN-wah), is like grain, but it is actually the seed of a plant. It is related to beets, chard and spinach. A wheat-free alternative to your daily diet. Use like rice.

Some of the benefits of Quinoa:
1. High in anti-inflammatory phytonutrients --> prevention and treatment of disease.

2. Great protein source, 9 amino acids (incl. lysin ja isoleucine acids). Good for vegans.

3. Has nutrients, omega-3, and fibre. Digests slowly → low-GI (good for blood sugar)

Safety: When boiling quinoa, the compound that coats the seeds (saponins) creates a foam (bitter taste). Remove any leftover saponins putting them into a sieve and running them under cold water. Once you have rinsed it well, it can be cooked like rice.

"While no single food can supply all the essential life sustaining nutrients, quinoa comes as close as any other in the plant or animal kingdom." Philip White, in an obscure 1955 article.

4. You can eat it raw too, just rinse and let it soak overnight.

http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/quinoa-march-grain-of-the-month

Gliadin is a class of proteins present in wheat and several other cereals. Gliadin causes zonulin levels to increase with people who have celiac disease and those who don´t. A study published in the Scandiavian Journal of Gastroenterology in 2006 clearly showed that gliadin can affect zonulin even in people without the gene for celiac.

This statement blew my mind (made by Jill Carnahan, MD, Louisville, United States): ”The significance of this is that gluten affects intestinal permeability in all persons to different extents. It also means that 100% of patients with autoimmune disease or leaky gut could potentially benefit from a gluten-free diet.

Leaky gut is not only a problem for people with digestive disease…it´s a possible threat to all of us. It can hide inside of you as anxiety, depression, fatigue or weight problems. Or diseases like fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes , Sjogren’s syndrome, thyroiditis, vitiligo etc. It is a dangerous risk factor to your overall health.

http://primaldocs.com/members-blog/zonulin-leaky-gut/#!prettyPhoto

Also well known contributors to leaky gut are:
- alcohol
- aspirin and non steroidal drugs like ibuprofen
- a poor, prosessed diet
- food allergies
- chemotherapy + some drugs
- some stomach medications (H2 blockers)
- stress
- infections
- parasites
- hypochloridia (reduced stomach acid)
- candidiasis (a fungal infection - yeast over-growth)
- dysbiosis (imbalance of bacteria)

MSG, SOYPROTEIN AND GLYPHOSATE
Food additives such as MSG & soy proteins can also damage the intestinal flora. It is easy to add Glyphosate to the list as a systemic chemical, meaning once sprayed, it travels up inside of the plants that people and animals eat. Overuse of these substances can damage the seals between sells and make the gut leak harmful substances into the bloodstream. If the irritation continues the inflammation might be bad enough to cause ulcers in the bowel lining.

Zonulin and Its Regulation of Intestinal Barrier Function: The Biological Door to Inflammation, Autoimmunity, and Cancer

- Alessio Fasano, MD, pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher from Italy.

Factors that affect our mucosal immune system: (which result in intestinal
barrier dysfunction, autoimmunity and nervous system abnormalities.)

Food proteins
Antibodies
Drugs + xenobiotics
Stress
Infections
Cytokines*, Neurotransmitters**

*Cytokines are cell signalling molecules that aid cell to cell communication in immune
responses and stimulate the movement of cells towards sites of inflammation, infection and trauma.
** Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body.

NOTE: Aside from physical stress, GLUTEN has been shown to contribute to all of these mechanisms!

When permeability increases, it can lead to autoimmune disease: 
Intestinal barrier dysfunction starts --> Food allergy & intolerance --> Immune system
problems --> Autoimmunity

Sources: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/leaky-gut.shtml

http://www.jillcarnahan.com/2014/07/07/leaky-gut-syndrome-linked-many-autoimmune-diseases/
http://primaldocs.com/members-blog/zonulin-leaky-gut/#!prettyPhoto

http://www.pcosworldwide.com/2015/05/leaky-gut-syndrome.html

http://physrev.physiology.org/content/91/1/151.long
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22109896
http://scdlifestyle.com/2015/08/leaky-gut-is-more-than-a-poop-issue/
https://www.glutenfreesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Leaky-Gut-and-gluten.png



IBD - CROHN´S DISEASE AND COLITIS
IBD as inflammatory bowel disease is spread worldwide. At least five million people live with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, conditions known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The real numbers can be much higher as IBD is spreading in developing countries. Person who has been diagnosed with IBD may display IBS-like symptoms. IBD causes inflammation, cramps, bleeding, anemia or even cancer.

If you have stomach problems, these 5 diagnoses are good to check:

1. Lactose-intolerance
2. Fructose allergy

3. Dysbiosis (unbalance in intestines, especially is you have taken lots of antibiotics. Genova Diagnostics – GI effect

4. Overproduction of yeast. Herbs that kill yeast: Garlic, oregano, pau d’arc,

berberin (source: Oregon Grape Root).

5. SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth)
If you have constipation, low stomach acidity or simply too much stress. SIBO normally occurs in large intestine, but can be in small intestine too.
SIBO, is defined as an increase in the number of bacteria, and/or changes in the types of bacteria present in the small bowel. Patients who are immunodeficient, whether due to an abnormal antibody response or T-cell response, are prone to bacterial overgrowth, so it is very common to have SIBO if you have IBS or IBD. Studies suggest that even 80% of gut patients can have it.

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are different types of IBD. The symptoms of these two illnesses are quite similar, but the areas affected in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) are different. Crohn’s most commonly affects the end of the small bowel (the ileum) and the beginning of the colon, but it may affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, from the mouth to the anus. Ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon, called the large intestine.

Main symptoms include: low abdominal pains, diarrea and bloody diarrea, fever, losing weight, anemia, loose tools, sudden urges, bloating, gas. If you have any of these, contact a doctor to find out what and where the problem is.

THE NEED FOR SURGERY
Today´s statictics say that about 45 percent of people with ulcerative colitis and up to 75 percent of people with Crohn’s disease will eventually require surgery. Some people with these conditions have the option to choose surgery, while for others, surgery is an absolute necessity due to complications of their disease.

Crohn and Colitis are treated with medication and surgery allthough in a survey in Germany over 50 % of the patients reported CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) use in the present or past. Among IBS sufferers reported 40% not satisfied with the drugs and remedies they currently use to treat their IBS symptoms. So there are significant amount of people seeking solutions for their symptoms.

IBD has spread around the world. There is even a World IBD Day which is led by patient organisations representing at least 35 countries on four continents from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Eu nations (the umbrella organisation EFCCA, Israel, Japan, New Zealand to the United States of America.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Germany – a survey of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Stefanie Joos12*, Thomas Rosemann1, Joachim Szecsenyi1, Eckhart G Hahn2, Stefan N Willich3 and Benno Brinkhaus23
biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/6/19/
International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders,aboutibs.org/pdfs/IBSRealWorld.pdf
Crohn´s and colitis foundation of America,http://www.ccfa.org/resources/surgery-for-crohns-uc.html
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/alternative-medicine/art-20045267
http://worldibdday.org/

https://www.verywell.com/the-differences-between-ibd-and-ibs-1941668 (hyvä linkki!)

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IBS AND IBD?
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
- stomach, digestive and intestine problems, but without inflammation. 

IBD (irritable bowel disease)
- is more severe, a cronic disease with inflammation, irritation and bloody diarrea. It can cause bloody cuts in any part of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus. It can be even fatal if not treated well. Often reguires surgery.

IBD equals as:

• Crohn’s disease (usually in small intestine)
• ulcerative colitis (usually in large testine)
• indeterminate colitis (when difficulty distinguishing between Crohn and Colitis)

There is now evidence* that IBD may be a disease of Westernization associated with diets:

• high in refined sugars; bread and cereals
• proteins, especially dairy
• Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids acquired from highly processed seed oils.

________________________________________________________________________________

MY PERSONAL STORY FROM IBS TO IBD

For you to better understand why things went the way they did in my life, let me tell you few details from my life. What I wish you to learn from this is this: Do something before it´s too late.

Earlier, before 2004 I didn´t care or know how to take care of my disease and didn´t understand how life-threatening my illness can be. If you have a disease, please take all the steps before it gets worse. Don´t wait like I did, ignoring almost took my life.

The story covers my history and explains how I ended up being a healthier person in every aspect.

CHILDHOOD

Ever since my childhood, between the ages 5 -19 years I had almost constant and unexplained stomach cramps and pains just as described in symptoms of IBS. In 70´s and 80´s there was very little knowledge for stomach problems. I basicly just had to learn to live with it.
If only my parents had known that time what I know today. Now when I look back, it´s so easy to understand the powerfull presence of sugar, milk and flour. Quite normal breakfast for me included white bread, margarin, cheese and hot milk with lots of sugar. Prosessed food was pretty much ok that time, cause we didn´t know it´s downsides and almost no-one questioned the part of it in gut problems. As a child I loved donuts and all kinds of sweets and also ate them like any "sugar junkie" person would and too often, not just on saturdays. My grandmother used to make me a banana smoothie, which I loved (craved). It included Milk, banana and 3-4 spoonfulls of sugar. I remember asking to put more sugar, cause it simply tasted better. That´s what my brain was telling me. So is it no wonder that my stomach problems got worse by the age?

1st DIAGNOSIS OF IBD AT THE AGE OF 19
At the age of 19 I had all the choices open in my life and I lived that time in the USA. I had the time of my life, which meant also eating lots in fast food restaurants. Was it for the sudden diet change, but my stomach cramps got more severe in the States after about 4 months of staying there. I got my first bloody diarrea ever. It was a shock of course. It was diagnosed as hemorroids first. When I came back to Finland, I went to hospital and got a another diagnosis; Doctor named it as ulcerative colitis, a cronic infection in large intestine.
Few years later the diagnose was changed into Crohn´s, a cronic infection mainly in small intestine, but which can be anywhere from mouth to anus. Sounded just great! This was for sure NOT the news I wanted to hear when I was just turning into adulthood. It was hard to "digest" that diagnose. It meant that I´m sick, forever. Doctor said I need to eat these pills forever. I didn´t want to understand the definition of chronically ill an individual who I was. I didn´t sign up for this; so I thought!

What I wish, especially for young people to have mentors to cope with the mixture of life and disease and especially hope for healing. There is always hope.

I must admit, the diagnosis was same time a relief and a dissapointment. It was a battle in my mind. Doctor said I´m seriously ill and need hospital and medication for the rest of my life. It was very hard to concede that. At the age of 20, when I tried to attend to refresher training after my army service, I found out that my army-status was changed from the normal A-class into B-class. Damn! I thought, all I wanted to be was just a normal guy like my friends and be able to do the same things. I was exempted from army service in peace time. And oh yes! That time was frustrating. In my 20´s started also a long denial phase about being sick that took at least 10 years.

Denying the IBD didn´t change the facts. Actually denying what I felt inside didn´t change my sickness at all. Only when I faced it and started to resolve it, I found many ways to heal myself.

Life is an amazing teacher; it gives you different paths every single day. The hard part is to choose the”right” ones. Still all the”wrong” or more challenging ones, which we don´t seek are those which educate us the most. I was a patient with no patience. I didn´t stop to think what was the real problem until I was forced to face it. Stomach pain has been a part of me for the entire childhood and there was never an answer found until I was 19 years old. A partial answer to my pains were explained by doctor through my genes, "because my grandfather also had symptoms like I have had so it was ”normal” for you to have them also."

THE IMPORTANCE OF CALPROTECTIN VALUE
Along the years calprotectin value from faecal has been one indicator what the inflammation level in the intestine is. So we know that Crohn and Colitis patients both have an inflammation, whereas IBS does not really cause an inflammation. If you wonder which one you have, take a simple stool test in the laboratory called Cal-protectin. Faecal Calprotectin is a biomarker by screening out patients with IBS who do not require endoscopy. Faecal calprotectin values can be used to evaluate the response to treatment, to screen asymptomatic patients, and to predict inflammatory bowel disease relapses.

Calprotectin levels predict clinical relapse with a 90% sensitivity and 83% specificity. Remember when giving the sample that it needs to be in refrigerator temperature when stored. It can be stored up to 7 days.

Meaning of Cal-protectin numbers:
1. < 25 mg/kg is the healthy adults the median value.
2. > 50 mg/kg is a positive test, which needs more testing.
3. 50 - 100 mg/kg = IBS
4. > 100 mg/kg = IBD

Note, that these are only directive measures. After the test you always need to consult a doctor, who tells you more about the specific diagnose in your case.

Sometimes a severe flare-up is life-threatening and a small number of people die as a result of a serious complication such as a perforated gut, so please bear in mind that this disease is being taken seriously. (*5)

TEST YOUR ALLERGENS

If you have any kind of unpleasant reaction / allergy from food and you don´t know what it is, you should check it in laboratory, preferably by bloodtest. It may ease your life with a great deal!

Food allergies or food intolerances affect nearly everyone at some point of life. What makes it challenging to know without test is when the reaction comes after days. The offending foods are rarely self-diagnosed, so you may need a qualified laboratory and doctor/ food therapist to help you to go through the test. If you simply can´t use laboratory, try to find other ways like at-home allergy test kits.

When your immune system mistakenly identifies a specific food, referred to as an allergen, as a threat to your health. Your body overreacts by generating antibodies to stop the threat, which in turn causes reactions starting from a few hives to life threatening anaphylactic shock.

I had no idea that I´m allergic to i.e. tomato cause the symptoms may come several days later which makes it hard to link them together. So it´s important to understand that immediate allergenic symptoms and delayed symptoms are both harmfull. Delayed-onset food allergy is quite common autoimmune disorder, yet harder to diagnose, also known as IgG (immunoglobulin G) or type 3 allergy. It is an auto-immune disease that causes your immune system to overreact when you ingest certain foods.

Professor Cassim Motala listed on World food allergy page common food allergens with children (in no specified order):
1. cow's/goat´s milk
2. chicken egg

3. soy
4. peanut

5. wheat

One of the favorite foods in America has long been peanut butter on white bread with jelly. I also liked it when I was younger and made several lunches from those ingredients. I just wonder how many people are allergic unknowingly to them?

FROM ONE TO THE OTHER
If a child has other allergic diseases like allergic eczema, it is much more likely (35%) to have a food allergy. Approximately 2% of adults are affected by food allergies.

Also many nuts may give you symptoms such as cashews, almonds, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts. Allergic foods are commonly favorite foods, frequently eaten, and eaten in larger amounts. Make a notice for amounts. It may be that you are fine if you eat moderate amounts, but when you go over certain limit, you get reactions.

After having an elimination period of 3 months most of the allergies have dissapeared. So the great thing is that some food allergies are reversible if you eliminate them from your diet for i.e. 3 months. While eliminating, try simple vegetarian food, raw food, plenty of water and probiotics.

Because not everyone can go through expensive testperiod, I hope to see a simple, reliable testsystem which works to everyone. With today´s technology it is possible and there are allready kits available. If you cannot take tests, but feel that you are allergic, you should keep food diary. Make notes of everything you eat, the symptoms and how do feel after eating.  It´s worth it!

ILLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
You may feel symptoms even days later. Note that some illogical symptoms may determine to your allergy. There might be an addiction that creates feeling of great satisfaction when consuming the food. I was a huge sugarholic and it made me feel good to eat candies. So your body may create a strong addiction to the problematic substance that makes you sick.

BLOODTEST AND PRICKTEST
I was tested by bloodtest (delayed allergens, IgG and IgG4 antibodies to food), 280 different foods. I was really surprised when I got the results. Scale is from 1 (no allergic) – 6 (very allergic). It was no surprise that wheat and all gluteinproducts were on level 6. Some of these came as a surprise to me in kategory 5-6: Red and white vine, coriander (only one spice), almond, brazil nut, sunflower seeds, cashew, poppyseed, hemp, spelt. I have consumed all of them and now it makes sense why indian food may give symptoms. Coriander is used widely in indian food. After elimination diet (3 months) I have been able to bring some of them back in small amounts, which is great. Bread and gluteinproducts I have given up almost totally. After blood test I also had PRICK-test (immediate allergyreaction) done in hospital which didn´t show any of those allergies, only some pollen allergies. Bloodtest gave me more concrete answers. Which surprised me more was the doctor in the hospital saying: "Those blood tests are scam". I really don´t know how accurate they are but I got the most help from blood tests. The amount of time we use to argue, whose work is better or whose work is simply quackery mixes the patient very much and doesn´t promote patients wellness.

http://www.naturalnews.com/022556_food_allergy_allergies.html#ixzz3jA5s57DH

INFECTION LEVELS DROPPED
After elimination period of 3-4 months my allergies and especially Cal-pro numbers went down from 1700 → 400. About six more months it went down more, to 130, which is a great number for IBS patient. I don´t remember having as low number ever in my Crohn-history.
 
2. In 2016 I drank a smoothie which includes carrots. Normally I put one carrot, but this time I put four. I´m sure the excess fibre did the tricks in my gut, cause then I suffered from an acute intestinal obstruction (*) ie. food is blocked in the intestines. I could easily feel the blockage in my large intestine. If it hadn´t gone away soon, I would have been in the hospitaI getting fluids. So I massaged it with lavender oil occasionally and in about 24 hours the blockage was free again. From that moment I had calpro checking in 7 days. It was sky high, 5700! That was a depressing moment. But this time I had tools for healing. I started my Acute diet and after one week it was only 880. What a relief that it started to heal again and pretty fast! When I called to hospital, the nurse was sure the cure happened thanks to cortisone. When I told I am not using it, it was the end of discussion. Shouldn´t we be more open to other ways too?

* If it happens, food, fluids, gastric acids, and gas build up behind the site of the blockage. If enough pressure builds up, the intestine can rupture. This causes a leak of harmful stomach contents into your abdominal cavity. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial and untreated intestinal obstruction can be fatal.

It is important to know that after elimination diet you may try different food items again, of course with caution. I was very allergic to few food items like: grains, glutein, coriander, some nuts, wine, ketchup. I have brought back in moderate sizes some organic tomatoes. Overall my diet changed to better after the test.

Calprotectin test from your poop can tell you a lot about your bowels condition. Faecal calprotectin is a widely used method for the detection of bowel inflammation severity. Calprotectin is a protein and it can be found unaltered in stool for longer than 7 days if it´s been stored in fridge temperatures (41 F/5 C).

In some cases, calprotectin may be low even when inflammation is present (a false negative). This is most frequently seen with children, so endoscopy is often needed to get more precise situation of the disease.

http://www.calprotectintest.com/english/calprotectin_in_stool.html

https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/calprotectin/tab/test/
http://www.ts.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/2689436/Evira+Jopa+joka+kymmenes+elintarvike+riski+allergikolle
www.calprotectin.co.uk/about-calprotectin/

www.healthline.com/health/crohns-disease/ibs-vs-ibd#Overview1

http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(15)00504-3/fulltext
* The Specific Carbohydrate Diet for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case Series

DOCTOR´S ADVICES 6

Numerous times I asked different doctors, what I could do to myself to cure this disease. I mainly wanted hope from them and if there was anything else I could do, besides the medicines. A special diet perhaps? The answer was mainly always this: ”You can treat IBD with medicine and then surgery if it gets really bad. Food doesn´t play any role with this disease.” Those words were very frustrating cause they didn´t help me to find a solution.

Now when I look back all the doctor's appointments (1990-2003) it feels that my doctor was truly sorry, cause he didn't know any other way than medicine. Also, maybe he knew in deep down that the medicine is not the way to cure. Allthough we met many times, I never got to know him, he kept the curtain well closed which may be to protect himself too. I'm sure he has seen too many cases where patients suffer when there´s no way to cure. The current system doesn't allow doctor to get to know patients when you have only few minutes to spare with the patient.

Before the year 2000, I didn´t really search anything else, I just followed doctor´s advices, so it was quite obvious what was the next step. Surgery, of course. That actually had been told to me before, so there shouldn´t have been any surprises to me...

When something goes wrong, things change. That´s why the system protects doctors better than patients, it simply has to. Otherwise we would run out of doctors if all the errors would matter, but also in order to take some burden off of their shoulders. It is a heavy responsibility to be in charge of someone´s life.

But I was so damn naive that I didn´t think you could actually die or get seriously injured in surgery. I was thinking; have I been a fool to trust the system too much? I gave my health to doctor´s hands totally and trusted it will go smoothly like that. Hold on; Why did I do that? Is it what we´re expected to do? Trust the system and don´t make it questionable by any means? After the episodes I realized one thing very clear.

"I´m the one who is responsible for myself, not my doctor and therefore I need to take responsibility and my health ”back” to whom it belongs to."

I as a patient see it this way: I´m actually making a favor to my doctor and the society by being healthy again. But do the authorities want to see it this way? I feel healthy, but the good feeling hasn´t happened in the way the system has taught us, by medicine.

By the time of 35 years I had been taking loads of medicines, such as Asacol, Prednison, Pentasa etc. without getting better. At the same time I used to eat like so many young people do. Too much fast food, sugary sweets and sodas. Little did I know the consequenses. We know that putting low quality oil to our cars, will affect negatively the engines sooner than later. So why on earth bad quality food wouldn´t have any affect to our body?

THE IMPORTANCE OF VILLI

I now understand that bombarding my intestines for decades with wrong foods were not good for me at all, wrong choices made a malfunction, especially to my small intestinal villi and the bad circle started by making an infection. If villi´s aren´t working I loose the absorbtion of vital ingredients (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, many vitamins and minerals) which are absorbed through the small intestine, nutrient uptake would be greatly reduced without villi. The absorbtion area is not small. Did you know that the surface area of the inner lining of the small intestine is around 4,500 square meters? That's about the size of a football field! Without villi this wouldn´t be possible. If they are down it feels like the disease is eating you from inside out. That´s what I literally felt.

Without getting the answers from hospital, I had to start my own research about how to get cured from this complicated disease. I found out, that there are IBD patients, recommen-

ding a special diet called SCD (a specific carbohydrate diet) for treating Crohns. Allthough I found it a very strick and challenging diet, it was a great start in findind my food path.

SCD
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is a dietary program that claims to induce and maintain drug-free remission in patients with IBD. It was initially developed by Gastroenterologist Sidney Haas in 1951 and later popularized by biochemist Elaine
Gottschall in the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.  "The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ is based on the principle that specifically selected carbohydrates, requiring minimal digestive processes, are well absorbed and leave virtually none to be used for furthering microbial overgrowth in the intestine. Malabsorption is replaced by absorption and the healing begins.

The diet is supplemented by homemade yogurt fermented for 24 hours to free it of lactose, a disaccharide not allowed in the SCD. Recommended cultures include good bacterias such as Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Streptococcus thermophilus.

A study (The Specific Carbohydrate Diet for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case Series)

made in 2015 from Rush University shows SCD is effective at healing IBD. This was very promising note from the study:  "We now show that at least a subgroup of patients with IBD may notably improve as a result of following the SCD."  The article was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietics. More studies are needed to fully understand and accept this as a way to heal.

As I have been fixing my own diet to fit my life, it´s quite obvious that it makes no sense for me to follow the official food pyramid. If I do so, I will get sick in no time.

”Sounds crazy, but I can loose my health in a few days if I make wrong food choices. Every bite matters to me.”

http://livehealthy.chron.com/importance-villi-small-intestine-digestion-nutrients-3923.html
http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(15)00504-3/fulltextSCD was initially developed by gastroenterologist Sidney Haas in 1951. Biochemist Elaine Gottschall wrote a book Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.

THREE MAJOR WAKE UP CALLS 7 - 8

These three chapters were the final reasons for changing my life.

1. OSTEOPENIA

In 1990´s it was very common to take cortisone to treat IBD in acute flare-ups. For me it has never been a great help. Most likely the use of cortisone gave me osteopenia that was diagnosed 1995. It is a condition in which bone mineral density is lower than normal acting as a precursor to osteoporosis. Once I got that diagnose, I stopped using cortisone. The precursor was like an alarm clock to act. I wanted to learn how to promote healthy bones and made sure my diet included enough calcium, multivitamin with vitamin D and K2, magnesium and potassium. I was happy with the results and the decision I made. Osteopenia was gone in the next year´s bone density test.

2. MEDICATION THAT DOESN´T WORK

In 1990´s I had also been taking lots of Pentasa-medicine for a long time with no significance help. When I talked with one gastroenterologist who told me that the drug you´re eating doesn´t help you according to studies. What? What do you mean? Why am I eating it then? That made me curious indeed. I mean very curious. I found one review made by Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals in 2005 that said ”There was no evidence to suggest that 5-ASA preparations are superior to placebo in patients with Crohn’s disease.” (*) I´m sure nobody wants to eat medication that most likely will give you some side effects but no real effect to the case.

It is often said that illegal drugs on the streets (heroin etc.) are the biggest threat but prescription drugs are now killing far more people. In fact, seven of the top 10 drugs used by 12th-graders were prescription drugs in USA. More than 40 percent of high school seniors reported that painkillers are 'fairly' or 'very' easy to get. So is it a good thing that they are sold in supermarkets?
What our medical system needs is more transparency. Hiding vital information from patients is nobody´s interest in the long run. They who hide, will fall in to this trap sooner or later.

3. SURGERY - BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Sometimes the tough experiences, can and will actually change your life. I now understand that this hard, long and painful path of mine had a bigger meaning in my life. Crohn´s disease has been a blessing to me in the long run, allthough it would seem otherwise. I had to go through hell by constant pain, bloody diarrea, anemia, bowel obstructions, osteopenia, surgery, stoma, peritonitis, MRSA etc. The incredible amount of medicines were not the solution either. To be honest, I was so incredibly lost until the age of 35. I remember one Christmas in particular, in 2003, when everyone else in my family were eating Christmas dinner by the table and I was lying in the sofa, in agony, trying to zip small amounts of blueberry drink and then vomiting, holding my legs up because it hurted so much. Things went terribly wrong in every damn scale in 2003, I could not eat much of anything without vomiting. The medicine treatment failed, so the next in line was surgery.

(*) Pub Med: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15674913

Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals, Booth Hall Children's Hospital, Charlestown Road, Blackley, Manchester, UK, M9 7AA.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/26/prescription-drugs-number-one-cause-preventable-death-in-us.aspx

On january 5th 2004 the first surgery was made. The surgeon made a cut in my mid-belly and the diseased part (app. 47” / 120 cm) from my small intestine was removed. That week was filled with lots of pain despite of pain pump. I thought the pain goes along with the picture after the operation. Soon we started to think why my belly is like a freaking basketball? And I was not having a baby for sure. My wife Heli hurried the doctors to get bloodtest, so that we could see the status of infection. The answer was so many times: ”you are not doctors, so don´t interfere”. After a week, when we finally got those bloodtests, the CRP (277) gave a strong indication of something more serious and I was rushed to an emergency operation.

I must say I was quite fortunate, cause just a few hours before the CRP results, I was given a permission to go home. I told the doctor: I'm so sick, I can´t even get up from the bed, so how can I go home and survive on my own? He gave me permission to stay until CRP levels were checked. Oh boy! If I had gone home in that condition...I often think how small details can change everything. It felt like angels were with me all the time. The whole thing didn´t make sense, why did I survive at all allthough there were so many humane chances to fail?

OPERATION WAS A MUST TO DO

January 12th 2004 I was rushed into emergency operation from my hospital room. My belly was opened again, the ends were stitched together (anastomosis) and the cut stapled. The first operation had left a tiny hole in my small intestine, that caused peritonitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the abdomen's lining. This time a temporary stoma was put in order to calm the rest of intestines. The operation is called an ileostomy. Ileostomy can refer to a stoma (surgical opening) constructed by bringing the end of small intestine (the ileum) out onto the surface of the skin and to the surgical procedure which creates this opening. Intestinal waste passes out of the ileostomy and is collected in an artificial external pouching system which is adhered to the skin. Ileostomies are usually sited above the groin on the right hand side of the abdomen. The good thing is that you don´t need to wipe your ass every time you go to toilet. Humor is the thing that helped me a lot!

Allthough I wasn´t fond of the stoma it was a life saver that time. I had never seen a stoma nor been in this situation before, it was all new to me. That was a first time I was really frustated and said to head surgeon with a very weak voice: There has been a mistake and I want compensation! The head surgeon commented firmly: ”You laypeople shouldn´t interfere these matters. You will not get any penny from this. On the contrary, I will see you back in surgery in the next 2-3 years!”

He wanted to point my place very clearly. That was a damn nasty way to say I´m sorry things didn´t go like they were supposed to. How do people handle these things when they are alone in hospital?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
If there is one particular time, when I felt both sad and angry, this was it! But the positive thing was that I somehow managed to turn that upside down. It made me so goal oriented that I decided that I will not go back to hospital, if I can have any influence in it! Later on the doctor who operated me the first time, said to me face to face that I should have had the compensation, the was a mistake done. But this is the system and there is nothing he could do. 

To be honest, my best compensation has been the strenght I got from those head surgeon´s mean and frustrated words. I somehow feel I have to say thanks to him! That really kicked my butt! It made me to change my life. Sometimes when we see a negative thing may appear as positive results!

Also, I know there is no doctor who wants to fail in purpose and get that in their papers. The system needs to be fixed more patient friendly and by that I mean "more transparency". People have right to know if something went wrong. But people also have to take responsibility of themselves more than just relying on doctor´s words.

2004 my weight had dropped to amazing numbers. About 49 kg/108 pds, no muscles but I was alive! I felt like a skinny Pinochio with strings – only this time someone else was pulling the strings. I had to change that.

(*) Pub Med: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15674913

Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals, Booth Hall Children's Hospital, Charlestown Road, Blackley, Manchester, UK, M9 7AA.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/26/prescription-drugs-number-one-cause-preventable-death-in-us.aspx

GOODBYE MEDICINE 10

First I want to tell the good memories from medicine. Remicade has been the first medicine that has really helped me couple times, even though for a short period of time. The use had to be stopped after three times because of the side-effects. It gave me allergic symptoms in my skin and a feeling of suffocation. In rare instances, some patients suffered central nervous system disorders, including confusing immune system responses that swelled, and then decayed, blood vessels. In America Remicade side effects could even result in blood disorders lawsuits.

There is always a risk of new medicine making more harm than good. If I get allergic rash from medicine or something similar to my skin, it´s a first and mild symptom of Crohn´s that might activate soon in the intestines if I don´t stop the cause. So, even with mild symptoms it is important to stay alert and not to ignore them. In order to heal your skin, you have to heal your gut.

March 2004 was an important month, that´s when I finally decided to open my eyes with synthetic medication. I didn´t find any good reason to stay on this path anymore. I felt like I had a once in a lifetime chance and almost felt obligated to try something else now when the rest of the intestines were recovering, thanks to the stoma. I refused to eat those antibiotics, partially of a fear of clostridium difficile (CD), an antibiotic diarrea that can cause severe damage to your body´s overall resistance. I have a friend who told me that she basicly ate ”wrong” antibiotics and got CD. Today she needs a personal assistance in her daily life. It can be that serious. Patients really need to know a lot more when they go into hospitalization. I recommend to dig a little deeper than to be blind and trust that everything goes well.

From that month on I decided, that I will try and treat Crohn´s with my best ability. This time I gave more space for natural healing, not totally forgetting synthetic medicine if there is a new cure. It started by changing many things upside down. Ending the medication that doesn't help and changing my diet with being very selective with any food. Those were huge changes to be made, but this time I was firm!

No more bread (glutein), white sugar or prosessed meals. First I was really struggling of course with the phenomenal transformation. Same time I was lucky to have so much help with the diet I found. SCD-food was a big help in the beginning. More about that later.

http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/remicade#sthash.aoO2FJcQ.dpuf
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/
http://scdlifestyle.com/about-the-scd-diet/

MONEY AND SOCIAL SECURITY 12

Money should be the last thing to worry about when you are sick, but unfortunately it still plays a major role in our society. We calculate too many things only in money - that´s one of the reasons why our society is lost today. In Finland we have a good social security system that pays most of our medical expenses. But we also pay high taxes here to make it running. That´s one of the reasons why we (used to) say that it´s like winning in a lottery to live in Finland. With todays rising expenses it feels like you need to win in a lottery to be able to live in todays society.

The social system is challenged every year by tightening economic situation in Finland too and it is not the same as it used to be, but still pretty good. I wonder how long we can keep up the system, especially now when we face lots of financial challenges worldwide. We need to intensify all expenses in medical field, so that we all have access to equally treat ourselves. Unfortunately today you need to ask yourself, can you afford to be sick? To be honest, I think our society can´t afford that.

BEING HEALTHY SAVES MONEY – IT SAVES A FORTUNE
I calculated roughly how much money my IBD takes. I calculated the medicine I could have used in 10 years. It is valued approximately 195.000 €. Not to mention how much I have "saved" from doctors appointments, hospital treatments, surgeries etc. between 2005 - 2015. I have saved well over 200.000 euros from our society for not being sick. That´s something to be proud of!

I was offered many different expensive medicines for my Crohn´s. One example is Humira injection pen (8 ml), which is priced for 1178,45 €. It may have severe side-effects, so I decided not to use it unless the situation is life-threatening. Some people have even died from infections caused by Humira, so I´m happy for not using it.

That makes me wonder, why do we have a system that makes medicine so expensive?
Here are two examples of other medicine treatment costs:
1. A simple cholesterol medicine in America is priced for 14,600 USD a year.

2. One single pill for patitis C virus costs 1,000 USD. For a 12-week course of Sovaldi costs $84,000. Even with Medicaid coverage, patients are set back about $600 a pill. The fact is that it´s extremely expensive to be sick. That´s why it is so profitable business too and makes us blind to believe in one solution only - synthetic medicine. 

These will be added as source-info:
Sources or background info (in the end of the book):Medicine prices 2015 (prices in Finland, before government compensation)

Asacol 400 (34,46 €/100 tablets)

6 tablets daily = 2,06 €

63,86 € / month / 31 days

766, 32 / year

7663,20 € / 10 years

Pentasa 500 (42,26 €/100 tablets)

4 tablets daily = 1,69 €

52,39 € / month / 31 days

628,68 € / year

6286,80 € / 10 years

Remicade 400 ml

app. 3000 € / fusion

Taken every other month, 6 x a year

18.000 € / year

180.000 € / 10 years

Prednisone 40 mg

The use varies very much. Some people have to use it all the time, some only occasionally.

36,91 € / 100

On averige three regimen 110 € / a year
1100 € / 10 years

http://laakehaku.apteekkariliitto.fi

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/10/health/expensive-medications-value/

DECISION OF NOT HAVING CHILDREN

The Crohn’s has guided me quite strongly. Allthough Crohn´s or colitis is not stopping from having children I have to admit, I was very much against having my own children in my 20`s or 30´s because of the status of disease. When I was young and very sick, it was too much for me to think about having children. I had many questions in my life:
- How a sick person can take care of children?
- Do I want to take the risk of my children having the same disease?
- If I don´t have children, what´s the purpose in my life?
That time I didn´t know if I can survive from this sickness at all. That´s how bad it was.

If I had known that I can affect Crohn´s symptoms myself so much, most likely I would have chosen otherwise. Anyone who has children knows that these kind of decisions are not made easily. It has been the most difficult choice of my life so far. The truth is that there are lots of children in the world I can help.

But everything has its meaning, allthough they aren´t always what you think it will be. The best thing is to see the beauty what life offers! :) If someone had asked me earlier, I would have never guessed of the outcome life has for me. Today I have two beautiful daughters from Heli´s side, we are also a proud foster family for children in need and we are also sponsoring a child through World Vision in Africa. Bella, our Siberian Husky-dog who we rescued from animal chelter is also living in our home.

So even if I don´t have children of my own, there are plenty of children and animals in need of tender, love and care. God touches in many ways.

”If I can help and heal even one child, that has made enough purpose in my life”

FOOD WE EAT - EITHER DESTROYS OR HEALS 13

It amazes me how the food we eat today either harms or heals, depending on the choices what we make. I suggest you treat your gut well, with love and listen to your symptoms. Your body is telling you if something is wrong, so all symptoms are important to listen. The body is telling us something through these symptoms!

My lifeline in the hardest years between 2004 – 2006 was The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™, SCD-diet.

Especially usefull was the home made 24H-probiotic yogurt, which I ate for two years from 2004-2006. When I started yogurting and bombarding my intestines with good bacteria, I was little worried what if I simply can´t get this white mousse down my throat any moreIt never happened, actually it felt good to eat something that was good for my sick and delicate intestines (whatever was left). Suddenly after two years my body just told me, ”enough of this yogurt” and I stopped it.

My mother, grandmother and my aunt helped us to prepare and store the food. So I´m grateful for all the women in our family who helped me in my return from the sickbed.

SCD - The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™
This diets basic principal is to starve the harmful bacteria in the gut. SCD diet consists of a group of foods which are grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free, and unprocessed. The main foods are allowed what humans used to eat before agriculture began. It is also biologically correct cause it is species appropriate. The diet was all organic and real food.

While removing many foods that are toxic and digestively harmful, the diet remains natural, extremely nourishing and representative of what our ancestors ate. Complex carbohydrates that are not easily digested feed harmful bacteria in our intestines causing them to overgrow producing by products and inflaming the intestine wall.

Think about especially this: There were no starches, grains, pasta, breads, complex sugars or prosessed factory-made food. In the last hundred years the increase in many different sweeteners, chemical additives and pesticides in the diet has lead us to a never seen before situation. We are getting new health problems all the time. We are seeing more obesity than ever but also absorption problems that lead to skinny malnutrion conditions. We have not adapted to eat these chemicals and we will never be for sure. So we have to go back to our roots and find out what we ate 10.000 – 15.000 years ago, to eat the diet our human race evolved with. 

The most natural choice is to eat organic food to prevent gut diseases, but of course it has a lot more too in it. So what does eating healthy means? That´s a little bit more complicated in todays world because we have so many choices to choose from.

There are a few sentences that has been a lifeline to me:

- Treat physical and mental side well.
- Nourish yourself with organic and clean food and water.
- Live in harmony and in love towards nature.
- Love yourself, that enables to give love to others too.

Allthough they sound like a cliche, they are important companions in life.

Choosing comes very important. These things are good to bear in mind: Who is responsible for your health? It is you, and only you, who is making the final decisions of what to eat. More important to understand is that it is you who will carry all the consequences if something goes wrong. That is why it is so important to make healthy choices for you and your loved ones. Children depend on us and can´t make choices, so we have a responsibility to give them good tools for life.

To be honest, I have brainwashed myself on the opposite when it comes to sugar comsumption. I no longer have huge sugar cravings. Have to admit, if you ask this from Heli, she will say something else. She actually makes home made fudge and I make home made chocolate sometimes. So at least I have swifted sugar and use alternative sweets like honey and organic raw cane sugar with moderate amounts. The great thing when you eat raw and pure sweets is that the amounts are way smaller compared to the factory made chocolates. When I know the consequenses, the guilt comes to the picture telling me to stop. It´s a great thing too that organic snacks are getting more popular in stores today, so some bars are ok to eat. Moderate amounts are also working better than stuffing myself full.

ORGANIC

Is diet a significant source of pesticide exposure in young children? Recent organic diet intervention studies suggests that it is. These studies have focused on children living in suburban communities. 

Allthough the test was pretty short, they got amazing results with reductions of 49% in pesticide exposure when children ate organic food! They collected urine samples over 16 consecutive days from children who consumed conventionally grown food for 4 days, organic food for 7 days, and then conventionally grown food for 5 days.

Easy conclusion is that we should go back to the old times when pesticides were not used. Still we have a growing population that needs more and more food. What can be seen is the shift towards vegetarian choices.

GREEN MUD - SMOOTHIE

Lena, a lady friend of mine wanted her husband Peter to change his food behavior at work. The food is often eaten from lunch places along the road, cause Peter drives a taxi. He has been starting to worry about the weight and knee pain he has when he gets out of the car. His favorite food is chunks of mashed potatoes and meatballs (prosessed).

So Lena gave him a healthy green smoothie (water, lemon, apple, spirulina and wheatgrass) to zip on the road and he agreed to it. Sounds good right?

The result was that it was so purifying to his intestines that the feeling he had was like he was carrying a bomb is his stomach. He could´t hold it inside, instead he shitted in his pants while driving. Imagine when you have a customer in taxi while shit happens!

So please take small steps when you change something. Today Peter is allready used to the ”green shit-smoothie” as he calls it and has lost a lot of weight and gained lots of health instead. Smashed potatoes has been switched to vegetables and amount of salad has been increased. Meatballs are only a fraction in the plate if at all. Change has been good in his case.

Sources: Environ Health Perspect; DOI:10.1289/ehp.1408660
Effect of Organic Diet Intervention on Pesticide Exposures in Young Children Living in Low-Income Urban and Agricultural Communities.

Asa Bradman,^1* Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá,^1,2* Rosemary Castorina,¹ Raul Aguilar Schall,¹ Jose Camacho,¹ Nina T. Holland,¹ Dana Boyd Barr,³ and Brenda Eskenazi^{1 -}  http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1408660/http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

FLEXITARIAN 14

The shift from eating less meat or none is happening right now. It is done from both consumers own health perspective and from ethical reasons too. People who eat meat and have a chance, prefer wild and organic meat.

According to the Vegetarian Society, 2000 people are giving up meat and ‘going veggie’ in England alone every week. Vegan is going mainstream, it is only a matter of time when it comes more popular than meat consumption. Today people are more open minded and more concerned of what their food consists of. Eating works like psychology. If you want to try vegan food, try with the taste you are familiar with. Use same spices with vegetarian food and take small steps. You can not force anyone to become a vegetarian by your own will.

http://www.newwestrecord.ca/news/vegan-tastes-going-mainstream-1.1922253

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/uk-now/read-uk/vegetarian-uk

HELP YOUR IMMUNESYSTEM
What you can do to protect your immunesystem is eating organic food and lots of antioxidant rich i.e vitamin rich food, that protect you from harmfull free radical damage. The best sources of antioxidants are fruits and vegetables.

WHAT HAPPENS IN AUTOIMMUNE ATTACT?

The blood cells in the body's immune system help protect against harmful substances.When your autoimmune system is getting mixed signals, it doesn´t recognise the difference between healthy tissue and an antigen. An antigen is any substance that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against it → the body starts to attack its own tissues when trying to get rid of them.

An antigen may be material from the environment, such as chemicals, bacteria, viruses or pollen. An antigen may also form inside the body. An autoimmune disorder may result also in abnormal growth of an organ or changes in organ function

Autoimmune diseases are growing fast and are a major health problem around the world. The numbers may surprise you but for instance in America autoimmune disease affects up to 50 million Americans, according to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA). In comparison, heart disease affects 22 million and cancer up to 9 million.

ANOTHER (BUSINESS) POINT OF VIEW OF THE GROWING NUMBERS

The fact is that there is a huge business in this field too. As our western lifestyle spreads all around the world, so does autoimmune diseases. The increasing prevalence of autoimmune diseases can be seen in the global autoimmune disease diagnostics markets too. North America dominates the global autoimmune disease diagnostics market, followed by Europe. China and India are expected to be the fastest growing markets in the next five years. South American countries such as Brazil and Mexico are the regions that have significant potential for growth due to developing medical infrastructure, high disposable income and rising prevalence of autoimmune diseases.

Some of the major companies operating in autoimmune disease diagnostic market are Abbott Laboratories Ltd, Active Biotech, AstraZeneca plc, Amgen, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, 4SC AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and Johnson & Johnson Ltd.

What I believe and hope to see very soon is that we could get more diagnostic ways to help patients to live easier life with their diseases. There is no doubt that we couldn´t do that.

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000816.htm
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/webfieldtrips/toxics/our_chemical_world/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/11/8-flame-retardant-facts.aspx

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002224.htm

http://masteringmealtime.com/more-family-time.html
https://www.foodallergy.org/facts-and-stats

TRAVELLING WITH IBD 16

Going to an airplane or using any kind of transportation is not self-explanatory to a person who is dealing with gastrointestinal problems or having an uncontrollable Diarrhea.

This topic has been a big concern to me because it has always been important for me to see the world. Travelling opens up new perspectives and helps to understand and deal with different situations in our daily lives. In addition to seeing new places it creates friendships that last a lifetime. I simply love travelling!

In the early 1990's it was shocking when my doctor advised me not to travel anymore, because my Colitis was being very active at the time. Travelling is indeed very challenging when that happens. Some people find the card, ”IBD - All access pass” very useful to carry in your wallet when travelling - it guarantees easier access to restrooms.

 

http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/dr-kim-foster-wicked-health/archive/734/201509

I have listed few amazing places we have visited and the important things I have learned, which I want to share with you, in order to have even better vacations next time.

FLORIDA

Today it is crystal clear to me that I will loose my health in a matter of days if I eat the foods that raise my infection. One clear example was 2008, when our family had a wonderful trip in Florida, USA, for 3 weeks.

Lots of sunshine, great friends, good food and exploring new things like crocodiles, manatees, dolphins, canoe trips, walks at the beach, diving, amusement parks etc.

Great fun indeed!

Here is a great natural healing tip we discovered in Florida, while canoeing at the manatee river and getting sunburnt (despite of the commercial sun lotion we used): we bought an Aloe Vera plant, sliced its leaf and applied its translucent gel, the liquid natural gel the plant produces, generously to all sunburnt area. The next morning it was all gone, sunburns had healed! Miraculous stuff indeed!

How do you avoid (seeing & visiting) fast food-chains in US? Mission impossible. Almost in every corner there is a deli, pizza place or a chain-restaurant. During our visit, we were mainly eating healthy homemade food cooked byour friends, so I knew most of the times what I was eating. Occasionally during the day time we stopped at fast food restaurants when children were hungry. Oh boy was that a mistake.. Yes, for me it was! It may sound weird, but I was fascinated back then, about trying how my intestines could take fast food again. I tried once in each traditional chains like McDonald´s (Bic Mac), Burger King (double whopper), Taco Bell (Burritos) and a donut by Dunkin Donuts. The scent of a fresh donut is amazing, I must admit, but the donut itself is so very treacherous for my intestines.

After one week I started getting symptoms like itching etc. After two weeks my intestine started to bleed. In Finland I was forced to go to hospital because the bleeding did not stop. My intestine was examined, it was in a very bad shape and thoroughly infected and ulcerated. I had to undergo Remicade treatment, a powerful and very expensive drug. It helped me at the time, the bleeding stopped, but using Remicade had to be stopped because of the strong side-effects (skin disorders and choking feeling).

I was back to the path. searching the alternative solutions. I instinctively knew I have no choice but to try my best in preventing the sickness, as simple as that. The healthy path continued with even more motivation after the trip.

Florida is a great place to visit, with so many wonderful places and people. But, having said that, I really need to avoid processed fast food. The chemicals and additives can trigger an intestinal inflammation. A fairly new study (2015) links common food additives as emulsifiers to Crohn's disease and Colitis. Emulsifiers’ job is to make the end products taste smoother and creamier instead of the real deal; unappetizing amalgam of water and oily globules. These chemicals are used in margarine, mayonnaise, creamy sauces, candy, ice cream, packaged processed foods and baked goods. This Georgia State University study made by microbiologist Benoit Chassaing involved two widely used emulsifiers:

1. polysorbate 80

2. Carboxymethylcellulose

Chassaing said the effects seen in mice "may be observed in humans as well."

Although I cannot identify the exact cause for the inflammation, it is clear that I need to stay away from useless chemicals, as should you. Emulsifiers are added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life. When we truly start to learn more about these chemicals, I am sure their use will dramatically decrease. We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of the harm and damage they can do to us. Since 1960’s there has been a huge increase in gut related chronic inflammatory diseases as well as common metabolic diseases.

This is why I am very happy for news like this:

”Andrew Gewirtz, a professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received (2015) a four-year, $1.35 million federal grant to study how emulsifiers effect bacteria in the intestinal tract and cause chronic inflammatory diseases in the gut.

http://news.gsu.edu/2015/10/05/georgia-state-researcher-gets-1-35-million-to-study-effects-of-common-food-additive-on-body/

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-emulsifiers-idUSKBN0LT26S20150225

GREAT IN FLORIDA: Nature, animals, people, sunshine, fruit, organic food stores

BE AWARE: Fast food

EGYPT – THE MIRACLE OF THE VARIOUS BACTERIAS

If you have a chance, go see the Pyramids at least once in a lifetime. It is easier to believe higher culture was taking place there, those gigantic together perfectly fitting pieces of stones cannot have been moved by manpower.

For me Egypt has been a mystery in many ways, but also in regards to my gut health. In the River Nile, in the area of Cairo, Bilharzia is common in the water, infection caused by a parasitic worm living in fresh water in subtropical and tropical regions. If so you may need Praziquantel, a prescription medication, needing to take it up to 6-8 weeks after the trip.

We love snorkeling and freediving very much and the best place so far for us has been the Red Sea, near Sharm El Sheikh.

We have visited Egypt 8 times, from 3 star to 5 star hotels. Guess how many times I had diarrhea? Answer: 8 times. I have tried some cognac in the morning (not so good!) but it just does not work for me as IBD patient. What I highly recommend instead is to add to your bottled water some spices to remove bacteria like E.coli!

Good ones are: garlic, clove, cinnamon, oregano or sage. I sometimes even add a hint of baking soda (½ teaspoon) to 1 liter of water to make the Ph-level little higher, making it a body cleanser. When going to a vacation your own stress mechanism of your body may allow stress related flu or cold to occur. Baking soda is capable of fighting cold and flu symptoms in your body.

DRINK WATER TO AVOID FLU

The Journal of Environmental Health Research in 2004 reviewed passenger health histories after a five-hour flight between San Francisco and Denver and found airplane passengers were 113 times more likely to have caught cold during the flight than during a normal daily life. The best tip to avoid is to stay well hydrated. Drink plenty of water! When the air is very dry, it hurts the natural defense system of mucus membranes in our nose and throat → germs will travel to the nasopharynx, where nasal passages meet the mouth at the back of the throat - which is the "hot spot" for cold viruses.

If you want to be more careful, disinfect any surfaces you touch. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, rhinoviruses - the primary culprits behind the common cold can live up to three hours on any surface. You never know what has been put in the seat pocket in front of you before you.

https://www.caring.com/articles/flu-free-flying

For a couple of times I have been hospitalized in Egypt, getting fluids for rehydration in Sharm El Sheikh. I am sure you are wondering why on earth you keep on going back to Egypt? Simple answer is that we have not found a better place for freediving and snorkeling in a reasonable flight time (5 hrs). I am actually amazed over the fact that coral reefs at Red Sea even beat ”the paradise on earth”, the fabulous Similan Islands in Thailand, which is considered one of the best diving sites in the world, at least before the tsunami destroyed the corals. Lots of the corals were destroyed and dead. El Nino, and climate warming in general, warming the oceans, have drastic effects as well, to coral reefs globally. Gosh, when you look under the sea, you realize how fast our nature is being destroyed.

GREAT IN EGYPT: History, architecture, ocean life, people
BE AWARE:

WATER: The water, especially fish from Nile may contain bilharzia, so everything, cooked or washed in fresh water might upset your stomach. Tap water in general contains a very different bacteria level we are used to. Do not brush your teeth with tap water either.

FOOD: Eat only cooked food to minimize bacteria. Salads, ice-cream and milk products get contaminated easily in the heat.

HYGIENE: Varies greatly from our point of view, so keep hand sanitizer with you at all times.

PERU - MAGNIFICENT COUNTRY IN SOUTH AMERICA

Every place is unique, but Peru is something purely magical, with the ancient history and architecture of Incas and pre-incas as well as its astonishing nature. I recommend Peru with all of my heart. Please bear in mind that high altitudes may give you hard times, so give at least 3-4 days to get used to the heights, drink lots of water and avoid any alcohol or tobacco products. Cusco, the old capital of the Incas, is located on 11.500 feet (3.500 m) above sea level. It is the beginning of the gateway to the sacred valley of the Incas, to see the amazing Machu Picchu, ancient city of the Inca royalty, miraculously built on top of the mountain.

The flight to Lima is something that needs real planning. It took over 30 hours with stopovers (Helsinki-Stockholm, Sweden-Frankfurt, Germany-New York, USA-Texas, USA-Lima, Peru). On the way towards New York I drank about 500 ml of water every hour and no alcohol, naturally. I chose vegetarian meals for easier digestion. I did about 1000 squats (seriously!) in the airplane, in front of the water machine. It worked like magic, I had no problems whatsoever with my stomach, swollen ankles or headache, symptoms I normally have with long flights. That was a simple yet effective recipe!

When I had a chance to choose travelling from Lima to Cusco, (Cusco is a place you need to go to in order to see Machu Picchu) by bus or airplane, that was an easy choice. 21 hours versus 1,5 hours. The bus takes you through Andies mountains, which would give you a great scenery in day time, but sitting and sleeping in the bus for 21 hours was not an option for me. Not at all tempting, especially after the long flight hours to get to Peru.

In Peru it was great to see that people still use other than flour to bake. Quinoa was used in many places, especially in Cusco. Quinoa was used in daily foods and desserts.

Chocolate Chip Cookies were baked with a mixture of quinoa flour and brown rice flour. They were sweetened with coconut sugar, and an extra bonus was that they used coconut oil too. They were not using any eggs, just so you know that you can bake cookies without using any eggs is possible. What a better way to eat sweets than this? So, no worries even if you can no longer use flour or refined sugar. There are other great alternatives too, totally nutritious and healthy, simple recipes and they are actually easier to make!

One particular warning many locals in Lima kept saying was ”do not eat chicken”. They are fed with lots of antibiotics and fattened in three weeks for restaurants”. Later on I found this article: “Ministerial Resolution prohibiting the importation and sale of hormones for fattening poultry. - 13.IX.1960 - El Peruano, No. 5822, 16.IX.1960, p.1. Prohibits the importation into, and the sale in, Peru, of oestrogenic hormones for this purpose.” So, at least the problem has been noted. Whether it is valid and being controlled or not is another story.

Meanwhile, world is awakening. A big Fast-Food Chain, Subway is Going Antibiotic-Free—and not just for chicken. These news already state and acknowledge the use of antibiotics and hormones, which is a big problem in animal farms.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/10/20/subway-antibiotic-free

When you are travelling in rainforest areas like Amazon, be aware that there are many small animals that can make your trip a real adventure. One of the group participants went to see the river Urubamba shore in the valley close to Machu Picchu just for few minutes and got bitten 200 times by mosquitoes, which got infected and caused her feet to swell severely → antibiotics and mountain salt baths worked this time. Please remember to cover yourself while in the jungle area!

What upsets your stomach too is getting mugged? If it is only materia you loose it can always be replaced, but health is another matter. However, having your things stolen is upsetting. In Peru many people warned us about pickpocketing. It is amazing how easily it can happen. One of the group members, let us call her Rita, was having a breakfast in a nice hotel, downtown Lima, in an area that is said to be the best and safest one there is. Rita was sitting in the chair and waiting for others and put her bag on the floor next to her seat. Next thing what we heard was that her bag was stolen in front of her eyes. We saw from the surveillance camera that a stranger from outside came in to the hotel with a huge back back. He just walked by the reception, heading straight down the stairs to the breakfast room. It looked as if he was looking for a table nervously, walked through the room and saw the bag on the floor. He kicked the bag off the floor for few feet and crabbed it from the air, and while walking up the stairs he put it in his back bag. The episode took about 40 seconds. Boom! That happened faster than getting sick from bad food. Rita lost her valuables, some of her clothes, camera and all of her money, which naturally ruined her day. What I mean to say is that keep your eyes open and on your valuables at all times, even in so called safe places.

What I saw in Peru when combining hiking and healthy food was a real eye opener. When you hike, use only the real, healthy ingredients that your digestion easily absorbs and handles. Avoid all processed food and alcohol. Drink water. Hiking itself is hard enough for your body in those heights, so do not make it any harder by fueling yourself with weak food.

So why not do this everyday - hiking or not!

In general; do not eat empty calories like white bread, fast foods, sodas, energy drinks, sugary candies and other processed foods. For a snack choose real ingredients you know for their names, like honey, sesame seeds, cashews, almonds, avocados, apples etc. This way your body does not have to do anything extra to transform the food you eat into a nutrient rich fuel to your precious cells. You will gain extra advantage by eating organic food.

GREAT IN PERU: History, people, ancient knowledge, landscape

BE AWARE IN PERU:

WATER: Drink bottled water and make sure the cap and seal are still on when you buy them.

FOOD: Favor local made food. Watch out for chicken raised by hormones and antibiotics. Eat only cooked food to minimize bacteria. Salads, ice-cream and milk products get contaminated easily, so watch out for them.

HYGIENE: Use hand sanitizer, especially after handling money. Use soap and water too.

CLOTHES: Cover yourself with protective clothes to avoid mosquito etc. bites.

PICKPOCKETING: Keep your valuables in a safe place and do not carry all the money in one place.

EASY TRAVEL FOOD

I found this at Vani Hari’s page (Food Babe) and think it is a great choice.

Gluten free tortilla

Toppings:

Mustard (choose sugar ree)

avocado

lettuce

Red pepper

Pickles

Carrot (shredded)

Cover the tortilla in a greaseproof paper and put it in a minigrip bag. Convenient!

HANDY AND EASY TRAVEL DRINK

I always keep these with me when I am travelling:

Water

Pinch of quality salt

1-2 spoonfuls of raw cane sugar

1 spoonful of organic apple cider vinegar

This will not make your stomach feel drowsy like drinking alcohol does. In airplanes you can take the ingredients with you and add them to a bottle of water which you need to buy in the airplane. Rehydration is the key in preventing any (digestion) problems.

DIARRHEA

It does not take long for your body to lose fluids and electrolytes. I have been in a situation where there was no doctor available and I would have needed additional fluids. I was drinking as much as I could, which was not enough. So I had to figure out what else I could do to get hydrated?

I went to a warm bath and I added some sea salt and about 200 grams of organic, raw cane sugar (vitamins and minerals still in). It was the exact same drink that I had been drinking to get hydrated, but this time I let it absorb through my skin too. Thus I was treating my dehydration both internally and externally. It solved the problem!

INDIA ADVENTURES
What I mostly learned from India has been that people are warm hearted, but also that food really becomes medicine. I remember one particular time when I mistakenly thought there is a piece of wood on my plate. I found out that it is a piece of Cassia bark, a chinese cinnamon (tree). Its known to be effective in improving cardiovascular, digestive and immune system disorders.

I have never had a diarrea from food in India, which I guess is amazing cause so many people talk about it. But by my own mistake I "tested" my immune system about how easily I can get a diarrhea from contamined water. The answer was: very easily. What I did in India was something unthinkable. As many times in India, I had a great massage at the beach in Goa. A perfect way to relax under the shade, listening to the waves, half asleep.. After the treatment I was very thirsty, and grabbed the first water bottle I saw thinking it was mine, taking a sip out of it. The masseuse yelled “No, do not drink it, it is tank water, which I used to flush your feet!” I spit out the water from my mouth without swallowing it, it was in my mouth for few seconds only. I even put hand sanitizer in my mouth twice and gargled with it, to minimize the damage… but it was too late. Thank God I didn´t swallow it. Had I done it, I probably would not be writing this. Mouth is a sensitive, fast absorbing area. Which was proven here, literally. After few hours my stomach got really sick, with immense pain, and I not only got diarrhea but vomited fiercely. It took few hours, cleansing my gut thoroughly! It was a gentle warning, cause it stopped pretty fast, thank god.

Otherwise we have enjoyed India’s excellent vegetarian diet and did not get sick once during our holidays. We have been to India twice, enjoying the amazingly beautiful country, lush nature, fabulous animal kingdom, friendly people, amazing friends and their delicious food without any problems - and totally avoiding drinking any suspicious water ;)

GREAT IN INDIA: Delicious, healthy vegetarian diet, sunriped fruits, sunsets, friendly people, beautiful nature, warm ocean water, sunshine, animals, plant kingdom
BE AWARE: strong sun, hygienes, extra caution with fresh water. Keep hand sanitizer handy at all times!

GREECE

Once we were in Greece our daughter was playing at the beach, in direct sunlight, forgetting to drink enough water and cover her head. She got sick and started to vomit, of dehydration and sunstroke. A doctor vacationing next to us rushed for help: he crabbed ice from the nearby tavern, placed it within a towel, and pushed it gently to our daughter’s neck. He said it will quickly lower the body temperature and restore her strength. He also brought us a large glass of mineral water, stating she needs more minerals in her body after vomiting, plain water will not do it when you are staying in a hot temperature. This is good to keep in mind when vacationing in hot countries.

HANDY TRAVEL TIPS

1. SAFE SNACKS - Take your own, safe snacks with you

2. WATER - Drink enough water, especially in long flights and in tropical countries. Use bottled water unless you are sure tap water is safe. The Quality of aircraft water may not always be the best, so it may be better to buy your water in bottles.

3. HYGIENE - Take care of good hand hygiene. When going to bathroom start by washing your hands with soap and rinse it. It may be safe to continue with hand sanitizer, depending on the cleanness of the tap water. You need to clean your hands every time you handle money. Keep hand sanitizer available.

4. DAY RHYTHM – Try to keep the rhythm as normal as possible. Take naps and use melatonin to help you alleviate jet lag. Melatonin is a strong antioxidant, even more powerful than vitamin E. Our internal circadian biological clocks regulate the timing of periods of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day. The strongest sleep drive of the adults generally occurs between 2 - 4 AM and in the afternoon between 1 - 3 PM, depending on whether you are a so called “morning person” or “evening person.”

5. EAT COOKED FOOD – When possible have your meals cooked to avoid harmful bacterias

6. USE PROBIOTICS – increasing the number of useful bacteria within the large intestine.

7. FIBER - Dietary fiber — found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes — is probably best known for its ability to prevent or relieve constipation. Food containing fiber can provide other health benefits as well, such as helping to maintain a healthy weight and lowering your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

8. URGENT NEED FOR TOILET - Show the staff your IBD card and nicely remind the staff that IBD is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this will usually speed things up :)

SCIENCE IS HELPING US TO LIVE HEALTHIER – 17

Very soon if not today allready technology can find answers how to avoid getting sicknesses and who knows, also live longer? Google-backed Calico is going to search for genetic trends in lives lived the longest. Collaboration with AncestryDNA can provide access to a unique combination of resources that will enable Calico to develop potentially groundbreaking therapeutic solutions. The extensive research period will identify common patterns in longevity and human heredity through pedigree data. So just wait and you might see a new technology to giving us an application or pill designed personally to you which makes you healthy. What is going to be very groundbreaking is when we find ways how to prevent diseases beforehand.

CRISPR/Cas9 and targeted Genome editing is another example. It is showing us a new Era in molecular biology. It is a method where you can modify genoma. It is being studied for cancer treatment and blood-disease, but its usefulness for genome focus-specific recruitment can be endless.

We have the technology of screening body and even walk-In labs to find out different deficiencies in vitamin and nutrition which are essential to know, but they are in limited use. People who have money have access to these, but the majority can´t afford to test themselves. That´s where governments should step in and make it possible.

Science is at its best a great tool in order to help us to be healthier, but we still need to take responsibility of living healthy every day by making good natural choices.

http://www.calicolabs.com/news/2015/07/21/
https://www.neb.com

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM – IN A NUTSHELL - 18
Digestion is crucial for the body, so in order to understand very basic, I have put the route food has to go in your system. Digestion breaks the food gradually into smaller components which can be used in the body´s complex system. It allows us to get new cells in order to make life possible.






1. Mouth
This is where you have to do the work (chewing) - the rest is automatic. Imagine if it was the way :) The digestion starts in the mouth. Chewing breaks the food into pieces that are more easily digested, saliva mixes with food to start the process of breaking it down into a form your body can absorb and use it as efficiently as possible. Binge eating is a bad start for the digestion, so chew it well.






2. Throat (pharynx)
The throat is the next destination for food you've eaten.






3. Esophagus
The esophagus is a muscular tube extending from throat to the stomach. It performs a wave of sequenced contractions. Those moves are called peristalsis. It moves the food from the throat to the stomach. When you swallow, it automaticly opens the upper esophageal sphincter which prevents the air from going to stomach. It´s the muscle that keeps the food going forward. There is also the lower esophageal sphincter that is the last gateway before stomach. This genious lower ”gate” prevents the acids of stomach returning to esophagus.






4. Stomach
Stomach holds, mixes and grinds the food with strong muscular walls. The stomach secretes important enzymes and acid, so that the process of breaking down the food continues. After stomach the foods consistency is liquid or paste.






5a. Small Intestine
It´s made up of three segments. A) The duodenum, which breaks down the food. B & C) Jejunum and ileum are mainly in charge of absorption of nutrients. The length of a small intestine can be 6 m / 20 ft, which is equivalent of an average length of green anaconda, one of the longest snakes in the world. The process of breaking down food continues by using enzymes released by the pancreas and bile.

5b. Pancreas, liver and gallbladder
Pancreas secretes enzymes that break down protein, fat, and carbohydrates from the food we eat. The main functions of liver are to make/secrete bile and to purify the blood coming from the small intestine containing the nutrients that were just absorbed. The gallbladder stores bile. Bile helps with digestion and eliminates waste products from the blood. They all have an important role and none should be underestimated.






6. Large intestine, colon
The colon is app 5-feet / 1,55 cm long muscular tube. The main functions of the colon are absorption of water and minerals, and of course your poop is getting ready in colon to go in the nature again. The colon´s microflora/bacteria helps digestion, promotes vital nutrient production, maintains pH (acid-base) balance prevents proliferation of harmful bacteria. Gut microbiota is the cornerstone of our health. These healthy organisms can weigh up to 2 kg including tens of trillions of microorganisms, more than 1000 different species of bacteria with more than 3 million genes (150 times more than human genes). One third of our gut microbiota is common to most people, while two thirds are specific to each one of us like a fingerprint.

Colon connects the cecum (the first part of the large intestine to the rectum (the last part of the large intestine). It is made up of the cecum, the ascending (right) colon, the transverse (across) colon, the descending (left) colon, and the sigmoid colon (for its "S" shape), which connects to the rectum.

Women have longer colon. A study done by The Department of Endoscopy, St. Mark's Hospital, London, England found out that total colonic length was greater in women (median 5 feet/155 cm) compared to men (median, 4,75 feet/ 145 cm). That may explain why colonoscopy is more difficult to women than men. (*8)

Stool, or waste left over from the digestive process, is passed through the colon by means of peristalsis (contractions), first in a liquid state and ultimately in solid form as the water is removed from the stool. A stool is stored in the sigmoid colon until a "mass movement" empties it into the rectum once or twice a day. It normally takes about 36 hours for stool to get through the colon. The stool itself is mostly food debris and bacteria. These bacteria perform several useful functions, such as synthesizing various vitamins, processing waste products and food particles, and protecting against harmful bacteria.

Rectum
When the descending colon becomes full of stool, or feces, it empties its contents into the rectum to begin the process of elimination.






GI TRANSIT TIMES
Rough estimates of GI transit times, please note that there is a great deal of variability among individuals.

Emptying of the stomach (4 to 5 hours)
50% emptying of the small intestine (2.5 to 3 hours)
Transit through the colon (30 to 40 hours)

A person with a healthy colon will have 2 to 3 bowel movements per day, shortly after each meal taken. Elimination should be complete and easy. The stool should be light brown in color, long and large diameter. There should be no offensive odor and it should break apart with toilet flushing.

This describes the normal function of a healthy colon...But how many of us can say it really happens. Shit happens, but not the way it is meant to :)

STUDY: Human gut microbiota in obesity and after gastric bypass.
http://www.pnas.org/content/106/7/2365.long
Control of Digestive System Function
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/basics/transit.html

NATURE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE – 19

Everyone knows that bees love honey and have done so millions of years. But what if we found something else which is cheaper than honey? So let´s save some money and give that to the bees. They don´t know the difference, do they?
Synthetic HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) has been used in America as a substitute to honey in bee farming, because it is cheaper to use than real honey. Researchers claim that feeding the bees with high-fructose corn syrup instead of honey compromises their immune systems, making them more vulnerable to the toxins that are meant to kill other bugs. P-coumaric (enzyme that makes bees immune system stronger) makes its way into honey inadvertently via sticking to the legs of bees as they visit flowers. So allthough researchers aren't suggesting that high-fructose corn syrup is itself toxic to bees it prevents the bees from getting vital enzyme. When you add HFCS and glyfosate as a pesticide is it no wonder bees are not doing well?

There is always a risk when we try to change, break or copy nature´s own code. There is a reason why mother nature has created everything in symbiosis.

EXAMPLE DIET 20

Note that every gut is unique like a fingerprint, what is good to another may cause the other symptoms like diarrea.

After I have changed my lifestyle, the daily diet of course looks totally different compared from the past. But I feel positively so obsessed with the changes that I really miss these new routines if I have to stay away from them just for few days. I am a good eater and very thankful of healthy food, but when it comes to cooking, I leave the kitchen willingly to my beloved wife.

BEFORE BREAKFAST

After a good night sleep pamper your body with a GOOD MORNING – DRINK that nourishes the cells after 8 hour long rest. Now when I´m used to it, my body simply craves for this nourishment!

0,5 l / 0,15 US gallons of lukewarm water, to be enjoyed gradually during the morning. Add some ”spices” to boost the drink: I like to add some boost to the water and these are just examples. Natural world is full of great choices to make!

1. APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Two (2) tbsp of apple cider vinegar (organic and unfiltered!!). Apple cider vinegar contains important enzymes and friendly bacteria for a better intestine and overall health. Highly recommended! A healthy way to start the day :)

If I take coffee (seldom): I drink 2 glasses of water with every cup of organic coffee.

2.  ORGANIC RAW CANE SUGAR + SALT

One spoonful of raw cane sugar with himalayan salt (or similar) 1 tbsp. Use salt that still has minerals in it. Table salt doesn´t have. With this combination you get important vitamins and minerals as well.

3.  some lemon and honey. Good for liver too. Cleanses blood and boosts pH-levels.

4. Lukewarm water, turmeric with some grounded black pepper (piperine in pepper is needed to multiply the power of turmeric). Add some ginger and honey = more resistance and stronger immune system. Excellent way to get rid of flu too!

5. Coconut milk (sugarfree, metal free can) with 1 spoonful of chia seeds (let them soak at least 20 minutes or leave them in the fridge for the night. Great Omega source!

Stores have many varieties kombucha, aloe vera, camu, noni, blueberry, pomegranate, vegetable juices, kvass (raw and unpasteurized), fermented teas etc. Only lack of imagination could stop you from making great choices! Keep it simple and organic!

BREAKFAST

1. Fermented yoghurt + berries and honey

2. Raw eggs (organic) + a hint of raw cane sugar, protein powder + cream (organic, no carrageenan!). You can add some raw cocoa and you get tons of energy!

Softly cooked eggs go as well with hard cheese, pepper and seasalt.

3. Quinoa porridge, salt and raw cane sugar with some good cheese (the harder the better i.e parmesan)

4. Buckwheat, millet porridge. For gaining weight, rice porridge with cream. Occasionally gluten free oatmeal.

5. Vegetable soups with carrots, broccoli, cucumber, sweet potatoes, white beans, beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils and kidney beans.

Do not use a microwave to quickly “zap” vegetables because it destroys nutrients.

6. Smoothie (my favorite) with endless choices! Start with water.

Add some avocado, lots of berries to your liking, and a hint of honey. Alter it with nuts and seeds. Please leave some bites to chew on. Let your saliva do its magic, by adding essential enzymes to your digestion.

7. Fresh porridge is so easy! Rice-, almond- or coconut milk (good quality drinks, no carrageenan etc.) with chia seeds with some quinoa and organic blueberries/strawberries. Let them soak in the fridge for an hour or overnight.

LUNCH / DINNER 

Especially for work, use thermos jug. You can put vegetable soup to the jug and enjoy a meal many times during the day. If you really want to have a healthier lunch at work, it can be done with a little imagination and your healt will flourish.

1. Cooked or steamed vegetables, with some rice and fish (raw or baked). Vegetarian meal is in general far better than meat. Use beans and lentils, use different vegetables - the more the merrier - colors represent life (antioxidants).

2. Vegetable soup - use any vegetables you like, lentils work beautifully too, cook them in water, season with sea salt and pepper, and any other spices you like, add the herbs you like, and enjoy. You can add coconut cream to make it tastier and richer. If you don’t like the taste of coconut, use a bit of organic cream or creme fraiche. If you like, puree the soup, it will have a lovely velvety texture and taste to it.

3. Omelet - use organic eggs, mix them with any healthy and tasty ingredient, for example: organic onions, tomatoes, peppers, beans, and a bit of cheese to your liking, add some sea salt and pepper, and fry lightly in olive oil or real butter using a moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Add some fresh parsley to the top and enjoy. Fresh basil also works well - or any herb you like. Tastes delicious even cold :)

Another tasty option: mix fresh nettles (pick them in a clean spot, during a dry season, using small leaves only) with eggs, season as above, and fry. Works also with fresh spinach. Tastes delicious and is rich with vitamins and iron.

Greek omelet: organic eggs, tomatoes, onions, feta cheese, a bit of sea salt and fresh grounded black pepper, add some fresh oregano when ready. Really delicious!

4. Salmon - poached, cooked or baked in the oven, do not overcook. Be sure to use wild and fresh fish. Season with lemon, sea salt, pepper, fresh dill and chives. Serve with cooked or steamed vegetables, and whole grain rice if you like. Healthy and delicious, salmon is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids.

5. Salads - build a salad to your liking. Use your imagination, and choose anything you like and know to be healthy. Start with different kinds of salad leaves - the more colorful they are, the more nutrition there is. Use fresh spinach leaves, rucola and kale - which is excellent in its nutritious values - and enrich with any vegetables you like: fresh, chopped, cooked, pickels - the way you like it, cheese, organic meat or fish if you like, fruits, nuts, seeds, olive oil, quality vinegar, sea salt and pepper.

Greek Salad: Put fresh tomatoes, cucumber bits, sliced yellow onions, green peppers and black olives to the plate, mix.. Add a thick slice of feta cheese on top. Sprinkle extra virgin olive oil and quality vinegar and a bit of oregano on the top - enjoy!

Italian Salad: Put layers of soft buffalo mozzarella cheese and organic tomatoes on the plate. Sprinkle extra virgin olive oil on top of it, and plenty of freshly grounded black pepper - simple and delicious!

French Salad: Put salad on the bottom of the plate, add sliced readily cooked potatoes, yellow onions, tomatoes, black olives, green beans, anchovies and sliced hard boiled eggs, mix. Add dressing to your liking, olive oil and quality vinegar always works. Filling and delicious!

Mexican Salad: Add different salads as a bottom layer. Fry some organic mince meat  with yellow onion and beans, or alternatively organic chicken files with yellow onion, as well as yellow, green and red peppers. Season with chili, black pepper and sea salt and any (organic) herbs and mexican spices you like to get that delicious smoky flavor. (Avoid commercial sauces, they are usually filled with preservatives, artificial flavors, colorings and other icky stuff you do not want to eat) Put the meat mix on top of the salad bed, and add some organic corn on top, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and black pepper. Delicious!

Exotic salad: Add variety of shredded salad leaves as a bottom layer. Add a few organic cherry tomatoes and sliced red onion rings. Finally add plenty of sliced fresh  organic strawberries and slices of soft goat cheese to the top. Fry some pine pine nuts (do not burn, fry without fat, just slightly so they will be light golden brown) and sprinkle on top of the salad. Add quality balsamic vinegar as dressing. Top delicious - enjoy!

6. Asparagus - pick green fresh and firm bunch of asparagus. Cook them in water with a dash of sea salt and coconut sugar. Cook about 6 - 8 minutes, depending on the thickness - do not overcook - leave them “al dente”. Put them on a plate, side by side, about 4 - 5 per person. Take 1 hard boiled egg per person, sprinkle on top of the asparagus. If you like to spoil yourself, add a little bit of melted organic butter on it. Sprinkle real parmesan cheese on top of the asparagus and eggs. Finally add freshly grounded black pepper on the “pile”. Ready to eat, Pure enjoyment! (tähän kuva)

Delicatess: kale and vegetable chips - recipe!!

KNOW WHAT YOU EAT - 21

Key points:
- Eat organic and nutritious food!
- Avoid chemicals, additives, sugar and sc. White food. 
- choose natural instead of artificial ones



What if you were just careless and ate whatever you liked? Some people would say: what´s the big deal... The truth is that today you need to challenge yourself when you are eating if you really want to feel good and healthy and want the best building blocks in your body to boost your health and immunity.

You need to challenge yourself. Challenge your grocery stores, challenge restaurants you eat at. Choose wisely, choose right. There are restaurants that serve homemade food without additives. When you challenge them and support the ones offering healthy choices, you are changing the world onto better and healthier way of life. What do you prefer in your plate?

a. chemicals, additives and pesticides

b. food low in nutrition due to heavy processing

c. or real and organic food with vital nutrients?

It goes without saying; Eat clean, nutritious and real food!

WHY ORGANIC OR WILD FOOD?This sounds crazy. Why do we have to seek something that was normal not less than 70 years ago? Why are we in this situation in the first place? The production of pesticides started in India in 1952 and has grown steadily all over the world. Benefits are better productivity, at least in the short run it looks like that. When we look in the long run, the picture changes. So what is the price for pesticides? It was not long after their invention until the harm sides were exposed. The first report is from 1958 in India, Kerala of poisoning due to pesticides, where over 100 people died after consuming wheat flour contaminated with parathion. 

What about today? Are we in any safer situation today where pesticide amounts have grown enormously? EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ reports that USDA tests found a total 146 different pesticides on thousands of fruit and vegetable samples examined in 2014. The pesticides persisted on fruits and vegetables tested by USDA - even when they were washed and, in some cases, peeled. So we are not any safer today, not to mention the impact on environment. How they can contaminate soil, water, turf, vegetation and fauna. The harmful effects lead to another. When vitally important honeybees get cronically toxic from pesticides, they can´t pollinate our plants and we don´t have much of food left. Pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants. 

Here is an example of non-organic product. GRAPES may have over 50 different pesticide residues. Found by the USDA Pesticide Data Program. Human Health Effects are:

8 — Known or Probable Carcinogens

17 — Suspected Hormone Disruptors

10 — Neurotoxins

4 — Developmental or Reproductive Toxins

So next time you buy groceries, think about putting some extra cents to organically grown fruits and vegetables. Mother Earth says thank you - and so does your body :)

It´s not the same what to buy, eat or drink!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2984095/
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php
http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/index.jsp

WHITE FOOD VS RICH FOOD

”White food” generally refers to food that is white in color and has been processed and refined. White food examples: flour, white rice, pasta, white bread, crackers, cereals, white table sugar, table salt and high-fructose corn syrup for instance. The nutritional value is very low. From a healthy perspective there is no reason to eat these products. They weaken your immunesystem. Remember that your body is a natural being, keep it that way as much as possible.

Please bear in mind that it is important to know the difference between food varieties, rice for example. Let’s take a closer look on rice. Brown rice such as Jasmine or Basmati still contains germ and bran layers, meaning they provide a range of important nutrients including B vitamins, bone-building phosphorus and magnesium. Also wild and sprouted rice are great choices.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-5-healthiest-typs-of-rice.html

RICE consists of three components:

1. the endosperm – middle layer, carbohydrates and proteins

2. the bran – fiber rich, B-vitamins and trace minerals

3. the germ – vitamins and minerals

Whole grain has all three (3) of them.

Processed white rice has only one (1), the endosperm.

There is a difference between white (processed) and rich food! Choose whole grain, if possible. If you only have white rice, spice it up with antioxidant rich spices and herbs to make it more nutritious.

Most white carbs start with flour that has been grounded and refined by stripping off the outer layer, where the nutritious fiber is located. Vitamins and minerals, usually synthetic, are frequently added back to enrich the refined product. That is not natural food.

Especially, if you have a gut problem, processed and refined foods are poison to your intestines by causing and sustaining an inflammation. When your body craves for food and you eat processed grains and simple sugars, the hunger strikes back very soon. The only one who is satisfied is the food industry, because your appetite and gravings just keep coming back.

CUT THE FOOD PRODUCT IN PIECES

When I go to the grocery store and start shopping I always read the product labels. If the first three names include these; the product stays on the shelf:

1. over 10% of sugar

2. high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or artificial sweeteners

3. wheat

AVOID WHITE SUGAR – USE NATURAL SWEETENERS

This deserves its own article. I cannot think of anything good about white sugar, except that it makes things sweet – the circle is ready and we crave for more. Too much of it can make your body malnourished and it worsens your infections. It is in fact hard to find positive things regarding white sugar, in a healthy perspective! White sugar can be more addictive than drugs, so it can be very tough to get rid of it too.

Processed white sugar is stripped off of vitamins and minerals. You find it everywhere - like candies, foods, drinks, even health foods may contain it. The sad thing is that it is very hard to avoid sugar, because it is everywhere. If it is taken off, then there are artificial sweeteners replacing the sugar and they have other side effects. So it is better to choose a product, a natural one, where no sugar and artificial sweeteners are not being used. There are good health products, the really good and natural ones, that contain natural sugars only, like raw cane sugar, true stevia or honey. Or choose real organic fruits and berries, that contain their own natural fructose, nothing extra added.

Make a test when you go to a restaurant. Ask for sugar free portion. It may be hard or even impossible. Sauces especially often contain sugar. White sugar can be found even where we think is cannot be, like salads. I went to a chinese restaurant and noticed that they added something white to their rice bowls. It was plain white sugar and they told me they add it to many other portions too!

I personally use honey and organic raw cane sugar, which is not processed.

Two good sugar plant alternatives are: Stevia and Lo Han Guo (also spelled Luo Han Kuo). Stevia plant is a very sweet herb and you can grow it home also. It's safe to use in its natural form and can easily sweeten most dishes and drinks.

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-high-fructose-corn-syrup-tied-worldwide.html#jCp

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/07/sugar-substitutes.aspx

Sweeteners as corn syrup or glucose syrup contain lots of fructose. Fructose is good only in its natural form, as in organic fruits and berries. When added to a product it is harmful. The liver is the only organ that can metabolize fructose in significant amounts. Too much sugar → liver gets overloaded → the fructose in the fat makes fatty liver. High fructose consumption is also linked to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Both are harmful when consumed too much.

Honey is also high in fructose, averaging around 53 percent, but it is completely natural in its raw form, and has very many health benefits when used in moderation. Honey can be considered as a natural antibiotic. Use organic honey.

Sugar is a sweet thing, but the consumption has gone through the roof. Today you can find (hidden) sugar in almost every food item in the store. Added sugar is especially problematic because you might not notice nor be aware of that you are eating sugar, which is in your food/has been added to your food already. Sugar should come from natural sources, such as fruits. There is a lot of discussions going on about avoiding sugars, regarding fruit too. Yet the body can deal a lot better with natural sugars coming from natural food than with basically worthless (nutritionally) white, processed sugar. We simply do not need white sugar and/or artificial sweeteners in our food. It can enhance the foods taste (yet raw cane sugar or honey will make it taste much better!) but white sugar and artificial sweeteners are harmful to us, and will only addict us to use more of the sugary products, thus it is beneficial to the manufacturer only. Health has nothing to do with this.

The daily limit for sugar consumption is: Women: 6 teaspoons and Men: 9 teaspoons a day which is equal to 24 and 36 grams. If you have IBS, I recommend that you get rid of the sugar totally for a period of time to see the effect. Especially if you get more energy, that alone should switch you off from excess sugar.

Sugar can be as addictive as drugs. Our brains react to sweet food and we can easily become very addicted, which makes us eat the whole chocolate bar at the same time. When you eat raw chocolate with natural sweetener i.e. honey, your sweet tooth will be satisfied with much smaller portion. At the same time it is much healthier for you. It´s a win-win situation.

Do not replace real sugar with artificial sweeteners. If it comes a habit for once a week, it easily comes a daily habit too. You will be hooked easily. And as it has been said, some artificial sugars are believed to be carcinogenic and linked to tumors. (Aspartame and Acesulfame-K)

HOW TO AVOID OVERLOAD OF SUGAR?

1. Try to avoid going to the shop when you are tired and/or hungry. If you do, eat a banana, nuts or something equivalent just before you go in, that alone may lower your sweet tooth trap and also your shop bill.

2. Do not buy sweets (meaning sugary drinks too) to your home. Instead buy healthy snacks like nuts, homemade candy or fruits and keep them visible. (remember to stay in reasonable limits)

3. Keep water always available, add a slice of lemon or lime. When your sweet tooth aches, drink a big glass of water. That will reduce the need of sweet a little bit.

4. Keep a diary and see nutritionist to see where sugar might be lurking in your diet.

CONFUSING LABELS

Check the ingredient list and think twice when it says “diet” or “sugar free”

You need to be aware and educate yourself, because the additive terms may change. These artificial babies have different names to confuse you.

Here is an example: if MSG (monosodium glutamate) is produced as a result of protein hydrolysis or a byproduct of protein processing, the FDA does not require MSG to appear on the label. A product labeled “No MSG” may still have MSG or free glutamic acid as a result of protein processing, as long as pure MSG was not added. No wonder it can be confusing!

ADDITIVES

Why are they in our foods? Simply, they make the products look better, taste better (not healthier), make shelf life longer and improve texture and lots of other thing that benefit mainly the food industry. So they are not there for health factors. Our mouth is being bombarded with different additives to make the food taste sweeter, saltier and even healthier than they are. Those abilities make the product sell more, so it is obvious they are being used. The more we consume them, the higher the sickness rates go. Studies say the incidence of autoimmune diseases are increasing along with the expansion of industrial food processing and food additive consumption. Common additives in many processed foods like ice cream, margarine, packaged bread may promote:

- IBS, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

- obesity

- type-2 diabetes

- heart disease

- stroke

One particular reason bothers me; If the original food ingredient is already poor in quality and taste, it can be “fixed” with additives. Where´s the real beef then?

ADDITIVES
Sodium Sulfite (E221)

I know many people who get symptoms when drinking non-organic wine. You already know that grapes include lots of residues, but also sodium sulfite may be the cause. It is used as a preservative in wine-making and other processed foods. So if you are sensitive to sulfites, you may suffer:

- asthmatic symptoms

- headaches

- breathing problems

- rashes

Sulfites can cause death by closing down the airway altogether, leading to cardiac arrest.

According to the FDA, approximately one in 100 people is sensitive to sulfites in food.

Found in: Wine and dried fruit

Sodium Nitrate/Sodium Nitrite

Used as preservative, coloring and flavoring in bacon, ham, hot dogs, beef, smoked fish and many processed meats. Turns meat bright red and makes meat appear more fresh than they actually are. The cycle what is causes is destructive:

- carcinogenic, once it enters the digestive system → forms a variety of nitrosamine compounds → enters the bloodstream and wreak havoc with a number of internal organs: the liver and pancreas in particular.

Found in: hotdogs, bacon, ham, luncheon meat, cured meats, corned beef, smoked fish or any other type of processed meat

BHA and BHT (E320) preservatives

If this is hard to pronounce, think about how hard it is to digest!

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) This common preservative keeps foods from changing color, changing flavor or becoming rancid.

- Effects the neurological system of the brain

- alters behavior

- are oxidants which form cancer-causing reactive compounds in your body.

Found in: Potato chips, gum, cereal, frozen sausages, enriched rice, lard, shortening, candy, jello and vegetable oils.

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-risks-sulfur-dioxide-dried-fruits-3921.html

Sulfur Dioxide (E220) preservative

This preservative is a vitamin destroyer. Children should avoid this. It is not good for adults either. About one in nine asthmatics gets symptoms and they are worsened by drinking 'soft drinks' containing sulphur dioxide.

- bronchial problems (asthma, hypotension (low blood pressure)

- flushing tingling sensations

- anaphylactic shock.

- destroys vitamins B1 and E.

Not recommended for consumption by children. The International Labour Organization says to avoid E220 if you suffer from conjunctivitis, bronchitis, emphysema, bronchial asthma, or cardiovascular disease.

Found in: alcoholic beverages, beer, soft drinks, dried fruits and vegetables, juices, cordials, wine, vinegar, and potato products. So be aware, your favorite cordial health drink may give you aggressive symptoms!

Potassium Bromate

An additive used to increase volume in some white flour, breads, and rolls, potassium bromate is known to cause cancer in animals. Even small amounts in bread can create problems for humans.

Found in: breads

http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/top-10-food-additives-to-avoid

SWEETENERS

Aspartame (E951, Nutrasweet and Equal)

- believed to be carcinogenic

- more reports of adverse reactions than all other foods and food additives combined

Acesulfame-K, has been linked to kidney tumors.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) most used artificial sweetener and a real calorie bomb.

- obesity problems

- fatty liver, the most common disease in America today, affecting 90 million Americans.

- diabesity (pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes)

- heart attacks

- strokes

- cancer

- dementia

- increases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels

- tissue damage among other harmful effects.

You find artificial sweeteners in many daily snacks like: sugar free and diet sodas, jello, desserts, sugar free gum, drink mixes, baking goods, table top sweeteners, cereal, breathmints, pudding, kool-aid, ice tea, chewable and tasty vitamins and toothpaste. Processed foods, breads, candy, flavored yogurts, salad dressings, canned vegetables, cereals etc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/high-fructose-corn-syrup_b_4256220.html

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG / E621)MSG (flavor enhancer)

Many restaurants use this (Chinese Restaurant Syndrome), so I would very much welcome NO MSG-signs in restaurants. When you go to any restaurant, ask if they use it and tell them not to - or change the restaurant. That is how we will be able to change it.

- depression
- disorientation
- eye damage
- fatigue
- headaches
- obesity

TRANS FAT (enhance and extend the shelf life)
Found in deep-fried fast foods and certain processed foods, especially when made with
margarine or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. When you hear the term “hydrogenation”, it means trans fat. It is understood in Denmark: it is forbidden to sell oil and fat there if they contain trans fatty acids exceeding 2%.

- increases LDL cholesterol levels
- decreasing HDL (“good”) cholesterol
- heart attacks, heart disease
- stroke
- increases inflammation
- diabetes and other health problems.

Found in: margarine, chips and crackers, baked goods, fast foods

ARTIFICIAL FOOD COLORINGS – FOOD DYES
Studies show that artificial colorings which are found in soda, fruit juices and salad dressings, may contribute to behavioral problems in children and lead to a significant reduction in IQ. Animal studies have linked other food colorings to cancer. Watch out for these ones:

Blue #1 and Blue #2 (E133)
Banned in Norway, Finland and France. May cause chromosomal damage
Found in: candy, cereal, soft drinks, sports drinks and pet foods

Red dye # 3 (also Red #40 – a more current dye) (E124)

Although it is banned in 1990 this dye continues to be on the market until supplies run out, so again money comes before health.

- thyroid cancer
- chromosomal damage in laboratory animals
- may interfere with brain-nerve transmission

Found in: fruit cocktail, maraschino cherries, cherry pie mix, ice cream, candy, bakery products.



Yellow #6 (E110) and Yellow Tartrazine (E102)
Banned in Norway and Sweden. Increases the number of kidney and adrenal gland tumors
in laboratory animals, may cause chromosomal damage.
Found in: American cheese, macaroni and cheese, candy and carbonated beverages, lemonade.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

Regardless of artificial sweeteners’ low caloric content, they enhance your appetite which leads to even greater weight gain than consuming sugar. IBS may be caused or exacerbated by the regular consumption of the popular artificial sweetener Splenda (sucralose), as it inactivates digestive enzymes and alters gut barrier function.

HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) you find it in most products today. So remember to read the labels. Sugar should come from healthy foods naturally, such as fruit. The fructose in fruit comes from fiber and nutrients which makes the natural combo. In HFCS the fructose is absorbing too fast which makes blood sugar to rise too quickly → diabetes risk.

Diet also plays a major role in IBS. Some doctors believe that food allergies cause some cases of IBS, although studies have been mixed. Fatty foods, artificial sweeteners (sucralose or Splenda and saccharine or Sweet'N Low), chemical additives (dyes and preservatives), red meat, dairy products (such as milk, cheese, and sour cream), chocolate, alcohol, and carbonated beverages (sodas) may trigger or aggravate episodes in some people. Gluten contained in wheat and barley can also be a problem for some people with IBS.

MEAT OR VEGETARIAN?

Main thing here too is: organic and pure ingredients matter very much!

According to WHO processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Processed meat = meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to make the flavour better or improve preservation. Processed meats often contain pork, beef. Other red meats, poultry, offal (internal organs), or meat by-products such as blood.

Sorry to say that it includes the favorites of so many people: Hot dogs, ham, sausages, corned beef, and biltong (dry meat) or beef jerky, canned meat and meat-based preparations and sauces. Tobacco smoking belongs to same carcinogenic Group 1. Although they are not equally dangerous, it is still good to bear in mind when choosing the size to your plate. According to the estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, about 34 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat.

A SAFE AMOUNT OF MEAT? 50 g?

based by the studies, the cancer risk generally increased along with the amount of meat consumed. It was estimated from 10 studies that every 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 18%.

It is not fair to say all processed foods are bad. Food industry goes forward all the time and they have to listen to people, otherwise their business suffers. If you have to eat processed food every once in awhile, at least look for products with no additives, sugar or sweeteners added. If it has high-fructose corn syrup, don´t buy it.

One more important advice: microwave. Please do not use it. It makes the foods nutritional value even lower. If you are eating processed food and heat it up in microwave, it is as good as dead.

In a study of half a million men and women, research in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates an association between processed meat and cardiovascular disease and cancer. They estimated that 3% premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20g processed meat per day. That´s not many ham slices per day. A sausage a day is too much if you want to stay healthy.

Know the importance of a CLEAN AIR

Air pollutants may play a role in Bowel Disease. In many western countries you see people wearing face masks and there is a good reason for that! Evidence suggests inhaling fine particles may alter normal gut bacteria which:

- disrupt the immune system

- trigger inflammation in the gut

Autoimmun Rev. 2015 Jun;14(6):479-89. doi: 10.1016/j.autrev.2015.01.009. Epub 2015 Feb 9: Changes in intestinal tight junction permeability associated with industrial food additives explain the rising incidence of autoimmune disease. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Lerner A1, Matthias T2. Author information: 1Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, Carmel Medical Center, B, Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion-Israel institute of Technology, Michal St, No. 7, Haifa 34362, Israel. 2Aesku.Kipp Institute, Mikroforum Ring 2, Wendelsheim 55234, Germany.

Remember that you can learn from others, but be sagacious enough to make your own unique road to your own healing.

STOOL TRANSPLANT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE 22

Sometimes simple procedures may save your life. Stool transplant may change the bacteria in your intestine for better. A 14-year-old boy with Clostridium difficile and severe Crohn’s ileitis poorly controlled on prednisone and azathioprine was treated with fecal microbiota transplantation, with a total of 60 home infusions. He experienced marked clinical improvement, and, incidentally, his severe facial acne also healed within 7 days. Ileoscopy showed pronounced improvement in the inflammation, and Clostridium difficile infection cure was confirmed upon stool testing.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742951/figure/Fig2/
https://upvoted.com/2015/10/22/a-fecal-transplant-saved-my-life/
http://fecaltransplant.org/fecal-transplant-guide-book/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742951/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1774255/

WHY DO I NEED COLOSTRUM AS AN ADULT? 23
Research has shown that once we pass puberty, our bodies gradually produce less of the immune and growth factors that help our bodies fight off disease and heal damaged body tissue. With the loss of these vital components, we age and die. Colostrum is the only source of these life giving components ...the actual immune factors and all of our body's growth factors (hormones) in perfect combination as nature intended (synthesized and isolated hormones throw the other hormones out of balance and have been shown to have significant side effects). Research has shown that colostrum has the demonstrated ability to kill bacteria and viral invaders, stimulate tissue repair (particularly the bowel lining), stimulate fat utilization for fuel and optimize cellular reproduction (anti-aging). No other substance on the planet can provide all of these marvelous benefits.



http://www.icnr.org/faqs.html

VITAMIN D IS ESSENTIAL 24

90 µg/day helped the symptoms of IBS.
Vitamin D seems to be an effective and safe option to improve symptoms of IBS.
A total of 90 IBS patients participated in this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Participants were randomly selected to receive either 50 000 IU vitamin D₃ or a placebo fortnightly for a period of 6 months.

Effect of vitamin D on gastrointestinal symptoms and health-related quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome patients: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nmo.12851/abstract

Vitamin D is on e of the simplest ways to boost your immunity.  It is actually a hormone and is very vital to all the cells and our wellbeing. You obviously get it from the sun, so people who live in sunny countries, don´t need it, right?

Interestingly 96% of young people in Saudi Arabia are vitamin D deficient. Defined by levels less than 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L), which is dangerously low level. They have sun, but they don´t have vitamin D in their body. We need to get vitamin D from other sources like pills. Check your level and make sure it´s at least 100 nmol/L. I have an autoimmunity disease, so I keep it between 120-160 all the time. Study or evidence?

OVERDOSE?

Despite the fact that it´s a topic being warned, to Vitamin D counsil´s knowledge, vitamin D toxicity in adults has never been reported from vitamin D supplements, unless an industrial manufacturing error occurred. So far it is safe to take less than 1000 µg a day based on Reinhold Vieth, (Ph.D., F.C.A.C.B) book of Vitamin D, Second Edition (Editors D. Feldman, F. Glorieux). It says in the book: ”I would welcome any of discussion of evidence implicating harm with vitamin D3 (not D2) in adults at doses below 1000 mcg/d. There is simply nothing published about this, except in infants.”

AlBuhairan, F. et al. Time for an Adolescent Health Surveillance System in Saudi Arabia: Findings From “Jeeluna.” Journal of Adolescent Health, 2015.

http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/VitDVieth/Vieth%20CHAPTER%2061.pdf
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/blog/newsletter-vitamin-d-on-the-web/

I learned on the way that certain genetic variations increase the risk of having a lower level of vitamin D. It´s interesting to know that two genes influence (CYP2R1 and GC) on our vitamin-D level. That might be a tiny reason why some people have lower and some higher amounts of vitamin D in their serum.

DEFICIENCY
Deficiency brings many health problems, especially with autoimmunity diseases, whereas proper and high immunity level is vital. If the level is low (<50 nmol/ L) It should be fixed with extra dosage of D, preferably 100 µg/day. By adding vitamin D, I can actually improve my genes condition.

Technical University of Denmark (DTU). "Can vitamin D levels be determined by genes?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 December 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/.htm>.

FATS AND OILS 25

Key points:

- Fat is good for you, but in moderate amounts.

- Focus on fat from real food, not from processed food!

- Avoid low-fat products.

Lubrication is important. Without proper oils your cars engine will not work. It is essential to our body too. What oil do you put in your car´s engine. You prefer the best there is to keep the engine in good condition and prolong the engine life, right? It´s the same principle with our bodies too. We need the best oils and fats to our well-being.

GOOD FATS:

1. BUTTER. It has vitamins A, E and K2, especially if it comes from grass-fed cows.
2. COCONUT OIL. It's saturated fat. Saturated fat is actually one of the main components of brain cells, so you need to consume it too. Also, your body will burn it as fuel. It won't store it in your body.
3. NUT OILS (unheated, no added salt or any flavors. Oils like almonds, peanuts, macadamian, hazels, pecans, cashews, walnuts. Just check if you´re allergic to any of these)

4. AVOCADO OIL. It improves digestion and the chlorofyll detoxifies your body among other valuable facts.
http://www.naturallivingideas.com/avocado-oil-benefits/

5. WHOLE MILK. I don´t prefer milk, but if you drink it, the more organic, the better. If you have lactose-intolerance, try non pasteurized milk (raw milk). Both pasteuration and homogenisation of milk change the original product, allthough it´s more hygienic, it lacks the original nutrients. By adding little synthetic vitamin D doesn´t cover it. If the hygienic premises of the cows are good, it is fairly safe to drink raw milk. Raw milk has lots of immunodefence protecting bacteria, enzymes, aminoacids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Note that we adults can live without milk too!

5. OLIVE OIL has been used for centuries in Greece, where the healthy mediterranean food comes from. One of the healthiest ingridients in the food is olive oil. Greeks are consuming nearly it about 18kg/year, so its an essential part of the diet. Always choose cold-pressed, organic, extra virgin oils. This way it retains the nutrients. We have often visited Greece where we see lots of cigarette smokers, many times the whole family smokes. I often think, how can they live such a healthy life? I wonder what is the role of olive oil i that?

http://kolympari-sa.gr/en/oliveoilconsumption/

Olive oil is best used as cold (salads etc.) however, do not use it for cooking. Due to its chemical structure and a large amount of unsaturated fats, cooking makes extra-virgin olive oil very susceptible to oxidative damage, so it's perishable!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/30/rudi-moerck-on-cooking-oils.aspx

There was a study done about replacing olive oil to rapeseed. So should you replace olive oil with rapeseed. Simple answer is No. Rapeseed is prone to oxidation during frying. Olive oil is better for cardiovascular protection and cancers ('limited-suggestive'). Rapeseed oil cannot currently be recommended as a suitable substitute for extra-virgin olive oil as part of a Mediterranean-style diet.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25322908
Br J Nutr. 2014 Dec 14;112(11):1882-95. doi: 10.1017/S0007114514002888. Epub 2014 Oct 17.  Can rapeseed oil replace olive oil as part of a Mediterranean-style diet?

Hoffman R1, Gerber M2. 1. School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, HatfieldAL10 9AB,UK. 2. Cancer Institute,34298Montpellier,Cedex 5,France.

FAT FOBIA

Fat is really interesting topic. In western world there has been a trend for decades that fat is unhealthy and it makes you fat. Now science has proven otherwise. Fat is good for you. Moderate amounts matter in this case too.
You still need to focus on fat from real food, not from processed food!
One thing is clear: avoiding fat and using non-fat product is not the key to a healthy diet.

START OF LOW-FAT TIME

If you want to trace back where Americans fear of fat began, it was the U.S. Senate, July 1976. That's when Senator George McGovern called a hearing to raise attention to the links between diet and disease. It was not uncommon for men to drop dead of heart attacks. Eight U.S. Senators died in office of heart disease during the 1960s and 1970s. Those deaths were alarming to other colleagues. They started to fear and think alternatives, what we can do to avoid this happening? The ”simple” cure was to change the diet. Simply, let´s replace fatty milk, cheese and greasy meat with carbohydrates! Let´s change them to pasta, potatoes and rice. That way we could live longer and also be thinner.

People read the message as: Eat more carbs! The low-fat period started and made people more sick and more fat…

It doesn´t happen every day when a scientist changes his mind saying ”I was wrong, you were right”. Danish Professor, Arne Astrup MD, DMSc. (University of Copenhagen) is one of the global leaders in nutrition and obesity research. He believed earlier that fat was bad and carbohydrates (even high-GI carbs) were good. What changed his mind in 2013 was the large DIOGENES study. It was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt writes on his page dietdoctor.com that Dr. Astrup admitted being wrong in ASBP obesity conference in San Diego and said it to Gary Taubes (Science writer), who has been writing many books of diets, for example ”Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It” 2010. So even modern science has admitted that The low-fat diet is history.

Its good to eat eggs again, they are not to blame on cholesterol. A large egg contains 2 grams of SATURATED FAT (10 percent of the Daily Value) but no TRANS FATS. There´s the important difference. If chicken are treated well, it is also humane way to get food.

BREAST MILK – SATURATED FAT

What is the first liquid we get, when we are born? Mother´s breast milk. Normally it has over 50% of saturated fat. Nature isn´t wrong in this either, so why should we avoid so much saturated fats? We shouldn´t as long as its the right kind of fat. Without adequate fat, the protein in human milk cannot be used in full. Also a number of indigenous tribes around the world are living proof that a high-saturated fat diet equates to low mortality from heart disease. Like Rendille tribe in Kenya. They eat camel milk, meat and blood. Percentage of saturated Fat is 63 percent. Or Inuits, the Eskimos in the Arctic. They eat whale meat and blubber (directly under the skin of all marine mammals). Percentage of saturated Fat is 75 percent. Since the fat-free world started in 1970´s, obesity and heart disease have increased and caused huge problems in western societies.

Sometimes you can find fats in the nature where you least expect it like PINE NUTS. Native Americans and Russians used pine nut soup as a replacement for mothers milk. They are also high in healthy fats, dietary fiber, zinc, organic sulfur (MSM), iron and a great source of prostaglandins- a vital group of hormone-like substances derived from essential fatty acids that regulate body functions electrically.

SATURATED FAT HAS POSITIVE EFFECTS

1. Liver Health: Saturated fat encourages the liver cells to quit their fat cells, which helps the liver to function more effectively . (Dietary saturated fatty acids: a novel treatment for alcoholic liver disease. Nanji AA, Sadrzadeh SM, et al. Gastroenterology. 1995 Aug;109(2):547-54.)

2. Immunity: Saturated fatty acids, especially the kinds found in butter and coconut, help white blood cells to recognize and destroy invading viruses and bacteria.

3. Hormones: Saturated fat increases free testosterone levels → which helps to repair tissue → preserves muscle and same time improves sexual functionatility.

ATTENTION!
This doesn’t mean every source of saturated fat is healthy. Simply put: If you eat loads of prosessed meat and prosessed food, you will get sick.

A study (Harvard School of Public Health) found out that after analyzing the diets of 1.2 million people, there was no association between eating red meat and heart disease — only if they ate processed meat. The quality counts!

STORE FAT RIGHT

A good fat can also become a bad fat. It must be kept away from heat, light and oxygen. Oils that are high in polyunsaturated fats (such as flaxseed oil) must be refrigerated and kept in an dark container. If oils, seeds or nuts smell bad → avoid them.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/30/rudi-moerck-on-cooking-oils.aspx

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/03/28/295332576/why-we-got-fatter-during-the-fat-free-food-boom

Diets with High or Low Protein Content and for the Diet, Obesity, and Genes (Diogenes) Project

http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1007137

http://www.dietdoctor.com/i-was-wrong-you-were-right

http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/fat-and-cholesterol-in-human-milk/

Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Micha R, Wallace SK, et al. Circulation. 2010 Jun 1;121(21):2271-83.

OMEGA 3

Omega-3 is important for many ways, one especially. It decreases inflammation.

Omega 3 in fish: Cold-water fatty fish have the highest content like
Salmon, Herring, Mackerel, Anchovies, Oysters, Sardines, tuna, trout etc.

Vegetarian choices for Omega-3: Algae (such as seaweed), Walnuts, Flaxseed, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Spinach, Parsley.

TOFU
The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends tofu as an option for patients with IBS because of its high fiber and protein content.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/454265-soy-products-ibs/

UNHEALTHY FATS (saturated fat):
1. Pizza
2. French fries
3. Processed meat products (such as ham, sausage, hot dogs, salami, and other cold cuts).
4. Fried food.
5. Industrially made oils (many times) are heated → they become toxic
The ideal ratio of omega-3/omega-6 is 1:1, typical western diet is close to 1:20 → infections, diseases. Fish is the best source of omega-3 oils. It´s advisable to check your Omega-ratio in laboratory. All people benefit Omega oils. Pregnant women should have extra omega.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130306220950.htm

Try to eliminate trans fats from your diet. Check food labels for trans fats or any kind of “partially hydrogenated” oil. Avoiding commercially-baked goods, margarines, and limiting fast food goes a long way to cutting out this dangerous fat from your diet.

The risk of mortality increases by 18 percent for every 50 grams of processed meat per day. Study done by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine.

This is the result of a study conducted with around 450,000 participants by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich in collaboration with research colleagues from all over Europe.

ACUTE - RELAPSING - BLEEDING 27

Due to the nature of IBD, it is hard to predict and it sometimes simply gets worse. For me it happens mainly when I deviate from healthy diet or have a very stressful ongoing situation. My symptoms will get severe if I don´t act fast. Cortisone is the fix from doctor, but it is not helping me, so I have to try other fixes. These fixes have helped me every time, so far. 

ACUTE SITUATION – BLEEDING AND INFECTION

1. Total control of every bite I put in my mouth. Eliminating all prosessed foods, chemicals, additives, sugars, artificial sweeteners etc.

2. Only soluble fiber. (soluble fiber transforms into gel-like form, insoluble
doesn´t. Fiber is plant based.) Chia seeds soaked in water for 1 h helps. Slow release of the seeds' nutrients allows the digestive tract to slowly absorb and utilize the energy.

3. Vegetables only in juice form.

3. Easy digestible foods. Salmon, chicken, brown rice, bifidus-yoghurt, kefir or goat milk, sauerkraut, bananas, eggs, avocado, some gluten free oatmeal etc.

(dairy products can cause problems, so yoghurt can be tricky)

4. Good oils such extra virgin olive oil three times a day 1-2 spoonfulls.

5. Fermented foods

6. Apple cider vinegar (organic) 1 spoonful with plenty of water.

7. Ozone water. I add olive oil and turmeric to the mix.

Breakfast:
- 2 big glasses of water with 1 spoonful of apple cider vinegar.
- 1 spoonful of Chia seeds soaked in water for minimum of 30 min.

- Quinoa porridge boiled in water.

Snack-time: Juiced fruits drinks (no fruits)
+ baking soda 0,5 teaspoon + 2 cups of water (to stop infection+bleeding)

Alternatively olive oil

Lunch: Protein: fish, chicken, turkey, steamed vegetables in small amounts. Food that digests easily.

Snack-time: Juiced fruits drinks (no fruits)
+ baking soda 0,5 teaspoon + 2 cups of water (to stop infection+bleeding)

Dinner: Fish, chicken, turkey, brown rice, walnuts etc.

Evening snack: Eggs (raw) with honey or boiled, but yolk in liquid (vitamins stay intact). Sometimes even eggs may react strongly to intestines. You may take protein also from protein powder products. Prefer organic, unflavored. Non-GMO products.

Useful dietary supplements 

1. Probiotics - "good" bacteria. Combining probiotics and *prebiotics = a symbiotic.

2. Enzymes - Reducing inflammation, getting nutrients into your cells etc.

3. Vitamin C (min. 1000 mg). Healing the wounds, immunesystem

4. MSM taken with vitamin C helps heal tissues

5. Liquid multivitamin – absorbs better.

6. Liquid iron. May prevent anemia if bleeding. From natural health store.

7. Vitamin B12 (1000 μg) – energy, red cells

8. Omega-3 (over 1000 mg) - infection

9. Vitamin D 150 - 200 μg / day

10. Glutamine 10 mg. Infection lowers production. Is as anti-stress amino acid and is good for healing the infection.

10. Melatonin, before bedtime. Sleep, stress, immune system. Powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger. Melatonin is beneficial in several experimental and clinical studies including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Melatonin also plays significant roles in:
- regulating intestinal motility
- GI secretion, and the release of peptides involved in energy balance.

Pineal glands main product is hormone melatonin. Melatonin is present in the gastrointestinal tract in amounts 400 times higher than in the gland.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22204435

http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/robert-rosenberg-sleep-answers/is-there-a-link-between-sleep-and-inflammatory-bowel-disease/

* Prebiotics are nondigestible carbohydrates that act as food for probiotics.

BACK COVER:

What do we dream about? A happy and healthy life? Health is one of the most valued and talked subjects in the world after love. We are living longer, but we are sicker than ever.

Wouldn´t it be great to control your own health? We have been taught that when there is a disease, there is a medicin. But what do you do when drugs can´t help you and nothing else is offered to heal you?

By writing this book I hope you and your loved ones take in to consider the healthy path in life and avoid the mistakes I have done.

This is a true story about a patient who has suffered from severe digestion problems and autoimmune diseases (IBS, IBD, Colitis and Crohn´s) through his childhood and young adulthood and how he has thrived after changing his life. When he woke up after the emergency operation, weighing only 108 pds/49 kg, was the moment that shook him seriously. A new life started – this time without medicine. The path changed his life forever, which he proudly speaks about today.

OR this:

This is a true story about a patient who has suffered from severe autoimmune diseases and digestion problems (IBS, IBD, Colitis and Crohn´s) through his childhood and young adulthood and how he has thrived after changing his life. The first operation failed in hospital that caused life threatening peritonitis, potentially fatal inflammation of the abdomen's lining woke him up and he started a slow, but encouraging recovery. A new life from a fresh start – this time without medicine. The path changed his life forever, which he speaks about today.

Researchers have identified 80-100 different autoimmune diseases and suspect at least 40 additional diseases of having an autoimmune basis. These diseases are chronic and can be life-threatening.

Jill Carnahan, MD says that ”Leaky gut syndrome is almost always associated with autoimmune disease. Reversing symptoms of autoimmune disease depends on healing the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Any other treatment is just symptom suppression.”

No matter how old you are, it's never too late to change your life for the better. Start today!