[blackbat]

Hello, about 10 years ago i was diagnosed with chrones disease which is a disease of the intestine and up until recent controlled it into remission. About a month ago the chrones came out of remision and the steroids they used put me from pre/borderline diabetic to into emergancy room with a blood sugar of 350! My doctors have put me on insulin to help control the blood sugar but the steroids elevate to an average of 210-250 anyways. I havent had any luck getting my sugar levels under 200. I've been analyzing my diet and that isn't good for blood sugar either since a chrones diet and a diabetic diet are almost completely opposites. Anything raw vegetable is completely a no no or chrones disease i cant digest it, and cooked vegetable well lets say al'dente isnt an option for me either. I cook everything from scratch at home including things like bread and even pasta because i cant digest preservatives well at all but the carbs i's used from a chrones diet aren't good for my blood sugar either. I have a hard time with lunch in particular since i cant just have a salad like my diabetic parents. I was wondering if anyone else has these two condition together and how do you balance what you physically cant eat due tot he chrones and what you shouldn't eat due to sugar content like the carbs?

[AliB]

Hi Blackbat.

I don't have Crohn's (well, I don't think so!), but I do have stomach problems.

I have been doing some research on stomach problems and diet and it seems apparent that it is often actually the carbs that trigger these problems in the first place.

I sometimes also have a problem digesting certain foods but it is also sometimes a matter of persevering. When the gut is out of balance and bad bacteria proliferates it will often throw a wobbly when it isn't getting what it wants - the high sugar and carb foods! Avoiding them can help to rebalance the digestion and get rid of the nasties like Helicobacter and Candida Albicans.

You are in a cleft stick at the moment with illnesses that demand opposite diets, but although low-carb may seem to be difficult in view of the Crohn's, in actual fact it can be the high-carb foods that trigger and exacerbate both of them.

(edited link)

[notme]

Low-carb diet may remedy bowel illnesses
By GILES BROWN - The Press | Tuesday, 30 October 2007



A low-carbohydrate diet developed by a Christchurch researcher is set to help bowel disease sufferers across New Zealand.


Dr Richard Gearry, senior lecturer at Otago University's Christchurch School of Medicine, has found a low-carbohydrate diet can quickly ease the suffering of people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In a study of 100 patients at Box Hill Hospital in Victoria, Australia, Gearry found the diet was effective in more than half of those with IBD – an umbrella term for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

"Doctors have known for a long time that patients know what affects their condition and causes symptoms," he said.

"Dietitians and doctors and scientists looked at this more closely and identified a number of foods that can cause abdominal pain and diarrhoea."

The diet involves cutting back on wheat, onions, milk, icecream, apples, honey and stone fruits. Legumes were also found to cause pain.

"Often they are sugars and carbohydrates that are not absorbed when they pass through the bowel and when they get into the colon they can ferment and produce gas and pain," Gearry said.

The diet could also help those with irritable bowel syndrome.

Gearry said patients were usually put on the diet for six to eight weeks.

"Most patients found that the diet was easy to implement and that the taste was acceptable, which is very important if people are to follow this diet."

Gearry has presented his findings to the Australian Gastroenterology Week conference in Perth and will address the New Zealand Gastro Society 2007 Conference in Christchurch next month.

"I hope we can bring some of these ideas back home," said Gearry, "and help sufferers here as well".

Claire Worsfold, 37, who has suffered from Crohn's disease since she was 22, said she was "very excited about the news".

Worsfold, president of the Canterbury Crohn's and Colitis Support Group, said: "I know that each of us tries removing different things from our diet – it is all individual. Milk and icecream would make me quite ill. We know that different foods are triggers for our disease."

Worsfold said Crohn's affected every aspect of her life. "If you are having a bad day you could liken it to having a stomach bug all day, but probably more severe," she said.

Consultant dietitian Clarice Hebbelthwaite said dietary treatment relied on a "holistic approach".

"I would not just look at the digestive health, but other aspects," she said.

Exercise and stress could also be important factors, she said.

[blackbat]

well my diet i wouldn't consider high carb, I watch it because i know that high carbs effect chrones as well, but with the limitation on vegetable some option to cut a few more just seem to leave me stumbled and i think that it would help with the blood sugar if i could find a way to cut like the the peace of bread i have at lunch with my half of sandwich. lunch is my biggest thing that i have a hard time finding alternatives. I'm just trying to cut a few more out. my mom suggestion was "well why don't you change carrot sticks for your cheese and cracker snack" well that not really an option. Its the small cuts i'm looking at since i'm not a high carb eater to begin with but with the steroid making my sugar go nuts I'm trying to find any possible way i can to help control it a bit better.

[AliB]

I know at the moment just how difficult it must be. My stomach has been so bad for several months. I have always had a weak stomach but the doctor put me on Byetta in July and ever since then my stomach and digestion has been dreadful. He took me off it in October but I am still suffering. I have been taking Vitabase since then which has helped bring my blood sugar levels down, but I can't seem to do anything to get the stomach better.

Byetta has now been linked with some cases of Pancreatitis so I suppose it might be a good idea for me to get it checked out. I am getting really fed up of trying to eat a good diet then having my stomach rebel. Whether the problem I am having would be classed as Crohn's, I really don't know.

I had such a bad painful stomach I didn't get much sleep last night and it is driving me mad. I am frightened to eat at the moment. I managed some scrambled egg followed by porridge yesterday morning but after lunch I felt so bad I actually tried to make myself vomit!

I did the Alkalizing diet last year for 5 weeks. I lost 15lbs, got my blood sugar down to normal, cut my insulin by half, got rid of the candida and my IBS cleared up, but I had to stop it because my stomach got so sore I couldn't carry on. The blasted thing is determined to thwart any effort I make to get myself better!!!!