Diet and IBD
Is there a connection between diet and IBD?
Yes, there is a big connection. In fact, that is the most important connection. IBD is a disease that is caused mostly by a stressful diet. The cure is also related to diet.
Most doctors don’t know about the diet connection. The problem is that students in medical schools receive too little instruction in nutrition and don’t learn about healing by nutritional means.
Nature’s cure for IBD is designed to give the body every nutrient it needs for healing.
Malabsorption is very common when inflammation affects the colon because inflammation usually gets in the way of nutrient absorption.
The inflammation can cause diarrhea, resulting in the loss of the body’s electrolytes and mineral salts, which are needed to maintain correct fluid
balance, nervous system functions and general health.
Malabsorption can affect people in many different ways, depending on the nutrient in which they are deficient.
In children with IBD, it can affect growth and development because they usually don’t eat enough, and the nutrients in their food aren’t being absorbed. In adults, because they’re fully grown, it will show up as laziness, or an inability to maintain weight.
Sometimes women with IBD don’t maintain enough body fat and stop menstruation — a problem that can also arise from a lack of protein.
Long-term consequences of malabsorption can include vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but nature’s cure is the optimum way to avoid any problems and to assure that you receive the highest quality nutrients.
Deficiencies accrue from the doctors’ approach to handling IBD. The deficiencies from a malabsorption problem start slowly, but in time become worse. Usually, deficiencies manifest as vague symptoms we all experience once in a while. Irritability and depression come first, but the other most common symptoms are cracking of the lips at the corners of the mouth, dull hair, weak or brittle fingernails, chills or feeling cold easily, a lack of energy and recurring headaches. We all feel these symptoms from time to time, but if you have IBD and any of these symptoms persist for days, see your doctor for a diagnosis, and then seek a nutritional counselor.