You are what you eat may seem like a worn cliche these days. However, when it comes to ulcerative colitis, what goes in one end of the pipe affects how the other end functions. To my amazement, many western medicine doctors continue to ignore the obvious connection between what we eat and how food affects our digestive system.
I have a patient, we’ll call her Leigh, who is both a friend and a client. She lives and works on a ranch. She is my “will work for food” client. I giver her acupuncture and she give me burgers, pork chops, elk sausage, potatoes and sometimes a beer. I refuse the cigarettes.
A few months ago, my wife Elizabeth mentioned that Leigh has looked sallow and a little skinny. Neither of us were surprised when Leigh called for an appointment.
Upon her arrival to my office the next week, we exchanged pleasantries: haying, calving, herbal medicine and then I asked her what was up. She told me she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I proceeded with my inquiry. Her main symptom was diarrhea, daily, for the last six months. She also felt fatigued.
I asked her what sort of medication doctors had given her. She said she had been on steroids which didn’t help at all, and was currently on another medication which hadn’t helped either. I then asked what sort of dietary advice her doctors had given her.
The answer was “none”. I was shocked. I had expected her doctors would delve somewhat into what she ate and at least give some dietary advice.
Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees! They stuck a camera up her “you know what” to get a closer look at her colon. Inflammation was declared the cause of her persistent diarrhea. No mention of food.
Now, Leigh is a meat and potatoes gal. She grew up on a farm in Nebraska before settling in Colorado. She eats lots of veggies that she grows, but that upside is overpowered by some of her bad habits. She has a running joke that if it weren’t for coffee, beer and cigarettes, she’d never have to come to town.
I explained to Leigh that she would need to change her diet some if she wanted the diarrhea to stop.
No beer–really? Less meat–really? No coffee–you’ve got to be kidding. No dairy– you’re killing me.
“This is what I come to you for Dave,” she whined.
“Yes.”
I told her it would be hard but worth it. After consulting with the nutritionist I work with, we added three simple supplements to her new dietary regime: probiotics, digestive enzymes and an herbal gastro-intestinal support.
In a matter of days, Leigh was feeling better. Her stools were less watery. Within a week, she had some firm stools. Within two weeks, she had normal stools and her energy was returning.
Now, several months later, she continues to feel well. While her diet isn’t as clean as it was initially, she is still conscious of the dietary principles we first set out. She continues taking the same three supplements.
Leigh is not my only patient recently who has shown similar improvement to a digestive disorder with dietary modification as the primary treatment focus. I feel too many digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are treated without any consideration to diet.
My hope is the established medical community will start seeing the forest for the trees and add dietary considerations into their treatment protocol.
Turns out mom was right. We are what we eat.