natural healing and G I diseases

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A NATURAL HEALING VIEWPOINT ON COLITIS,

ULCER, AND OTHER GI

PROBLEMS

 

 

A NATURAL HEALING VIEWPOINT ON COLITIS, ULCER, AND

OTHER GI PROBLEMS

JoAnn Guest

Apr 04, 2005 14:23 PDT

===================================================================

Your digestive tract is well over twenty feet long. If

you were to

flatten out just your small intestine, its total

absorptive area would

be half the size of a basketball court.

 

This is an important bit of real estate.

 

Naturopaths tend to annoy medical specialists by

looking at

gastrointestinal (GI) problems such as colitis,

ulcers, spastic colon,

irritable bowel syndrome and even Crohn's disease as

manifestations of

the same two problems, just in different places.

 

These two fundamental causes of most GI disorders are

" systemic

toxemia " (a polluted body) and " malnutrition " . This

means one is taking

in too much of the wrong things and not enough of the

right ones.

 

Persons with GI troubles simply must stop doing things

that hurt their

guts. Smoking, alcohol,sugar, coffee, meat, food

additives, and stress

must be systematically eliminated.

 

If a person is not willing to stop doing things that

hurt, there is a

greatly reduced chance of success with things that

help. I need add

nothing about why drinking and smoking harm your

digestive system.

 

Coffee drinking and meat eating, though, are often

allowed by doctors

unwilling to stop those habits themselves. But one has

to confront even

the popular, little vices if doing so can save big

suffering. Persons

who move towards vegetarianism and away from coffee

will not be

disappointed.

 

I may not make a lot of friends with this article, but

these are the

facts, ma'am: a near-vegetarian diet has important

advantages.

 

It is high in bulk, high in vitamin C, and high in

carotene vitamin A.

A vegetarian diet is cheap and low fat. And

incidentally, there are

fewer dishes to do.

 

The lining of your entire digestive tract is made up

of epithelial

tissue. Epithelial cells are " skin " cells. Your skin

covers both the

outside and the inside of your body. You might think

of yourself as a

sleeping bag: there is an outer waterproof covering

and an inner,

softer

lining.

 

Since epithelial tissue is very dependent on vitamins

A and C for its

health and integrity, and since a diet high in fruits,

sprouts and

veggies is quite high in these vitamins, you can see

the vegetarian's

advantage.

 

The additional bulk of a veggie diet makes stools

softer and easier to

pass. Pressure is reduced inside the colon and

straining to have a

bowel

movement is eliminated.

 

Persons with very sensitive intestines can temporarily

juice their

vegetables and even put their salads through a blender

if necessary.

This tastes a lot better than it sounds, and is an

extremely gentle and

digestible way to instantly improve nutritional

status.

 

Fruits and especially vegetables are so high in

carotenes that

supplemental vitamin A is not needed if you are

juicing.

Carotene vitamin A is non-toxic.

 

Years ago, one of my naturopathic textbooks was

entitled Everybody's

Guide to Nature Cure, by Dr. Harry Benjamin. At the

time, I resisted

the

way he began practically every treatment the same way:

with a fast. His

advice has withstood the test of time. Persons with GI

troubles often

get the most relief by just shutting down the

digestive system for a

while. A few days fasting gives the body a chance to

rest and repair.

Naturopaths believe, and anatomical evidence confirms,

that given this

chance the body will take advantage of it.

 

Earlier I mentioned that your intestinal tract is

lined with epithelial

cells. These cells, called enterocytes, are replaced

by your body every

three to five days (Williams, Nutrition and Diet

Therapy, 7th ed, page

29). This suggests that a fast of similar length would

best enable the

reconstruction. If I were going to work on Chicago's

sewer system, I'd

shut it down first. And, I'd certainly keep it shut

down until the

repair was done. How could it otherwise be done

properly?

Fasting is simply a temporary and logical measure.

 

While it is possible for some people to fast on water

alone, I think

this is unnecessary. Equally good results will be

obtained (with

greater

comfort) by vegetable juice fasting.

 

One might argue that juice fasts are ideal because

they provide the

healing Vitamins A and C. The minimal carbohydrate

content of vegetable

juices promotes normal blood sugar levels, provides

electrolyte

minerals, and prevents ketosis.

 

And, vegetable juice fasting feels remarkably GOOD and

it WORKS

remarkably well. (You may want to read my article

entitled " How To

Juice

Fast " for some helpful pointers.)

 

To give you an idea of the therapeutic potential of

vegetable juices,

consider the work of Garnett Cheney, M.D. He had 100

peptic ulcer

patients drink a quart of raw cabbage juice daily.

 

The patients reported dramatically less pain, and

X-ray examination

confirmed faster healing time. There was no other

change in their diet,

and they did not have drug therapy. 81% of the

patients were

symptom-free within one week; over twothirds were

better in just four

days. Average healing time for patients given standard

hospital

treatment was over a month. (Cheney, G: " Vitamin U

Therapy of Peptic

Ulcer, " California Medicine, vol. 77, number 4,

October, 1952)

 

Dr. Cheney used cabbage juice to also treat gastric

ulcers and duodenal

ulcers. He clearly was onto something, which he called

" Vitamin U " (for

ulcer) for lack of a better name.

 

Today, the cabbage family (cruciform) vegetables

including Brussels

sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli, are finally being

recommended to

help

prevent diseases including cancer.

 

Dr. Cheney was getting therapeutic results in four

days with cabbage

juice OVER FORTY YEARS AGO! Do we really have to wait

for orthodox

medical approval of vegetables?

 

I know of people who have utilized cabbage juice along

with vegetarian

diet and fasting to heal all forms of gastrointestinal

diseases without

drugs and without surgery.

 

One person even cured her untreatable rectal bleeding

with cabbage

juice. The attending physician confirmed her excellent

but unexplained

progress, asking her what she was doing. She told the

doctor of her

diet

and about cabbage juice. His response was, " No, that

couldn't be it. "

 

Supplemental vitamin C is very valuable to help heal

lesions and

inflammation all along the GI tract. Thousands of

milligrams in divided

doses are necessary for best results. Enough " C "

should be taken to

improve the condition, but not so much as might cause

excessively loose

bowels. A non-acidic or buffered Vitamin C is ideal,

because it will

not

irritate the digestive tract. Calcium ascorbate or an

esterfied Vitamin

C both work well.

 

Some organized form of stress reduction is essential

for digestive

system health and healing. Whether it is prayer,

meditation, yoga,

music

or another approach, what matters most is if you will

actually learn

how

to relax efficiently and take the time to do it every

day!

 

That goes for juicing, too. What is the best juicer to

buy? The one you

will USE! If you don't want to begin juice fasting

just yet, you can

certainly begin by adding some cabbage juice to your

diet. Just a glass

with each meal plus one more equals a quart a day. Can

you sweeten it?

To quote Curly: " Why, soitenly! " Remember Mary

Poppins' advice about

that spoonful of sugar, and do what it takes to be

healthy.

 

 

REFERENCES AND ADDITIONAL READING:

 

Cheney, Garnett: " Antipeptic Ulcer Dietary Factor, "

American Dietetics

Association 26:9 September, 1950

 

Cheney, Garnett: " The Nature of the Antipepticulcer

Dietary Factor, "

Stanford Medical Bulletin, 8:144, 1950

 

Cheney, Garnett: " Prevention of Histamine-induced

Peptic Ulcers by

Diet, " Stanford Medical Bulletin, 6:334, 1948

 

Cheney, Garnett: " Rapid Healing of Peptic Ulcers in

Patients Receiving

Fresh Cabbage Juice, " California Medicine, 70:10, 1949

 

 

Cheney, Garnett: " Vitamin U Therapy of Peptic Ulcer, "

California

Medicine, vol. 77, Number 4, October, 1952)

 

Pauling, Linus: How To Live Longer and Feel Better,

Freeman, 1986,

pages

112-113

 

Stone, Irwin: The Healing Factor: Vitamin C Against

Disease, Grosset

and

Dunlap, 1972, Chapter 21.

 

A good librarian will help you locate any hard-to-find

article or book.

Try an Interlibrary Loan if necessary.

 

Copyright C 2004 and prior years Andrew W. Saul. From

the books DOCTOR

YOURSELF and FIRE YOUR DOCTOR, available from Andrew

Saul, Number 8 Van

Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470 (585) 638-5357.

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/colitis.html

 

Andrew Saul, PhD

--

 

 

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_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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