vegan diet

[ldubois7]

All the vegans out there.... interesting study.....

http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/the-best-res ... with-diet/

[Leah]

Interesting. it doesn't mention grains, so all this tells me is that vegetables are good for you, but not that meat is bad.

[wmonique2]

I am puzzled by this article. Most of us CANNOT have vegetables because of the high fiber content which irritates the colon even more...How can we get better is FIBER irritates us even further? Because if vegetables were the solution, I would have healed long ago. I hate this diet of protein and mostly grains that I am on. I limit fruits too because of fiber...

Can someone explains to me the logic behind this study and the theory? I need to be enlightened here...

Monique

[JeanIrene]

I was pretty close to a vegan when I got MC. I ate fiber of all kinds all the time, veggies, fruits, legumes, grains. Needless to say, it would be impossible for me to be an advocate now! I still think all the fiber played a part in hurting my intestines.

Jean

[Nettierud]

I was vegan for six months before getting MC and stayed on a vegan diet for the first 4 months after diagnosis until finally reintroducing a couple servings of fish or chicken a week. I have eaten vegetables throughout the whole time but during the months of WD I ate them cooked or in a soup. I have eaten blueberries and bananas throughout the entire time without a problem and am now starting the reintroduction of other fruits and raw salads and a few beans.
My reasoning for continuing to eat fiber throughout my illness is that I remember when I first went vegan and the gas and rumbling was so bad for a month until I built up a tolerance to the higher levels of fiber from my new unprocessed diet. I felt after getting the MC that I should treat fiber like an allergy and keep introducing small amounts of it so that I wouldn't lose my tolerance of being able to digest it. I don't know the science behind it- enzymes or good bacteria or sheer stupidity- but sometimes you have to listen to your own body and try what you think will work for you right? I'll be happy to be a guinea pig and let you know if this works or not.

Nettie

[tex]

From page 153 of my book:

Perhaps the increasing incidence of digestive system issues is behind the current trend away from a vegetarian diet. According to a recent Psychology Today article, a CBS survey done in 2005 showed that there are three times as many ex-vegetarians, as there are people adhering to the lifestyle.11

Here is reference 11:

11. Herzog, H. (2011, June). Why Do Most Vegetarians Go Back To Eating Meat? Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ani ... ating-meat

Tex

[wmonique2]

Tex,

That was an interesting article you posted. I was completely vegan for a few years in my twenties and went back to eating protein when I realize that I was having some muscle atrophy from the lack of protein. And I was tired of trying to figure out WHAT to eat.

My question is about the link that was posted here and which I read: How could Crohn's be healed with this high consumption of fiber? I would have about 2 days of fiber before I would be cramping like crazy.

Thank youi,

Monique

[tex]

Monique,

Here's a link to the article on which that presentation was based:

Lifestyle-related disease in Crohn’s disease: Relapse prevention by a semi-vegetarian diet

Assessment of dietary pattern in outpatients: Dietary pattern was classified into two groups: SVD and omnivorous diet. When the following two conditions were fulfilled, it was regarded as SVD in this study. One is that a patient follows the principle of SVD: daily intake of rice, vegetables, and fruits, and occasional intake of fish, meat, and other animal-based foods. The other one is that a patient refrains from foods reported as risk factors for IBD in or outside Japan as stated above[20-30]. A diet that did not fulfill these two conditions was regarded as an omnivorous diet.

The red emphasis is mine. Notice that the study was done in Japan. What type of grain is eaten in Japan? Rice. Notice that no other grains are included in the SVD diet — specifically there was absolutely no wheat, rye, or barley. Surprise, surprise! So it's no wonder that they had such great results. They simply followed a GF diet, but they conveniently forgot to mention that fact.

What does the study prove? It proves that if most Crohn's patients avoid gluten, then they can tolerate fiber. Which makes a lot of sense if you think about it, because without the gluten, the inflammation should fade away so that fiber will no longer be a problem. Remember that they started the treatment by forcing remission by means of suppressing the immune system with the use of Remicade (infliximab), which bought them enough time to allow some healing so that by the time that the infixamab wore off, most patients could tolerate the fiber. IMO, the patients maintained remission in spite of the fiber, not because of it. I'm pretty sure that they would have been better off without the fiber.

And the study also proves that a gluten-free diet can be used to very effectively maintain remission with Crohn's disease. Of course, they forget to mention that, as researchers virtually always seem to do.

You're most welcome, as always,
Tex