candies-photo-by-christian-haugenCrohn’s disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects more than a million Americans. It is an inflammatory bowel disease in which the body attacks the intestines. There is currently no known cure for Crohn’s disease; current research focuses on controlling symptoms. There is no definitive medical or surgical therapy. The best we have is a plant-based diet, which has afforded the best relapse prevention to date.

Researchers got the idea to try a plant-based diet because diets rich in animal protein and animal fat have been found to cause a decrease in beneficial bacteria in the intestine. So, researchers designed a semi-vegetarian diet to counter that, and 100 percent of subjects stayed in remission the first year and 92 percent the second year. These results are far better than those obtained by current drugs, including new “biological agents” that can cost $40,000 a year, and can cause progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a disabling and deadly brain disease. And a healthier diet appears to work better.

But what about preventing Crohn’s disease in the first place? A systematic review of the scientific literature on dietary intake and the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease found that a high intake of fats and meat was associated with an increased risk of Crohn’s disease as well as ulcerative colitis, whereas high fiber and fruit intakes were associated with decreased risk of Crohn’s.

These results were supported more recently by the Harvard Nurse’s Health Study. Data revealed that long-term intake of dietary fiber, particularly from fruit, was associated with lower risk of Crohn’s disease. Women who fell into the highest long-term fiber consumption group had a 40 percent reduced risk, leading the accompanying editorial to conclude, “advocating for a high-fiber diet may ultimately reduce the incidence of Crohn’s disease.”

Read more here:: http://lowcarbmag.com/food-additives-that-may-make-our-gut-leaky/

Filed under: Low Carb

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