bone stock and bone meal powder and Jell-O

[trialanderror]

While my stools are not completely solid, my life is pretty much back to normal. Through diet, probiotics, and one tablet of Entocort a day I am basically regular. I will experiment to figure out if one, or a combination of all 3 of the treatments is the main reason for my improvement.

That said, I am always looking for continued improvement. Does anyone have experience with bone stock helping? There are a number of articles written, but much of the scientific studies seem to be from nearly 100 years ago. Any experience with supplements such as bone meal powder or foods (such as Jell-O) made from animal bone/skins/cartilage?

Thanks

[tex]

I haven't read any of the online information about bone stock, but traditionally, bone meal was a regular part of livestock rations, especially under feedlot conditions, where every essential amino acid must be included in the ration, in order to maintain health, (since no other source of feed, {such as grazing}, is available in a feedlot situation). Bones provided a cheap source of certain vital nutrients. These days, bone meal is mostly used as a source of dyes, and fertilizer, because of the concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy, (BSE), aka mad cow disease. Because of the risks involved, the use of bone byproducts in food for humans, or feed for animals, is strictly regulated, and the nutrients once sourced from bone meal, are readily available from other sources.

Jello is made from collagen. Since collagen is a vital component of virtually every organ in the body, and it's the primary component of connective tissue, (it's what holds tissue together), some people think that ingesting collagen will help to maintain overall health. Collagenous colitis is a connective tissue disease that appears to involve impaired fibrolysis. IOW, an imbalance between fibrogenesis and fibrolysis allows a buildup of excessively thick collagen bands in the lamina propria of the gut. It appears that this imbalance occurs because fibrogenesis proceeds normally, but fibrolysis is impaired, presumably because of the inflammatory agents that are present when the disease, (CC), is active.

Most people view collagen in the diet as a supplement beneficial for healing. However, in view of the mechanism by which CC is marked, I'm not convinced that supplemental collagen in the diet would necessarily be helpful. On the other hand, it shouldn't hurt, either. Here's a reference on that, if you're interested:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=627

Tex

[trialanderror]

I guess I don't know if I have MC or CC. I asked the doctor who diagnosed me, and he just pretty much said "they are basically the same thing."

[tex]

He's right. It doesn't matter which you have - they sometimes segue back and fourth, anyway. The clinical symptoms are the same, and the treatment is the same. I just used the CC version to illustrate the collagen connection. If CC is a connective tissue disease, then LC has to be a connective tissue disease, also - they simply display different markers on which a diagnosis is made, the markers are almost always present in a spectrum, not as an either/or arrangement.

Tex

[harvest_table]

Good Question,

I make a pot of soup a week with beef stock bones...among other things.

I'd rather do that than take supplements.

Glad your feeling better. Entocort worked well for me too.

Love,

Joanna