I guess the one intervention I'm really working on right now is further reducing sugar in my diet. Not all sugar; just foods with sugar added to them, by definition processed foods, and in any amount. It's a "just say no" thing. Of all the strategies I've looked at or attempted, including various supplements and natural medications, yoga, meditation, exercise, and stress reduction techniques, reducing sugar has given me the most positive and immediate feedback.
And after several months of slow, steady progress with this goal, a couple of interesting things have taken shape. I've noticed a slow change in my palette, a shift in my set point so that my once-cherished sweetened foods, like dark chocolate, sweetened breakfast cereals, or "health" bars, have come to taste too syrupy, too sweet. Even eating more than two small pieces of dark chocolate now gives me that "Errrgh, I shouldn't have had that second piece of pie" feeling. All of a sudden, it seems, sweetened foods make me feel, put simply, bad. I'll feel a little nauseous and fatigued, and actually, a little depressed. And not depressed like I'm guilty or remorseful; it's a physical depression, something coming from my guts.
The great thing about this palette shift is that it hasn't taken much planning or work; there's just a slow momentum moving me away from sweetened foods. What I am especially excited about is that this shift is naturally taking me away from processed foods and towards fresh foods. If nature grew it, rather than a factory creating it, it doesn't have added sugar...more or less.
And now I'm finding some fresh, real foods to be plenty sweet now. A carrot, for example, or a roasted sweet potato, which tastes as sweet as candy. Or, unsweetened plain or roasted coconut chips, or pickled beets. Those kinds of things.
I feel good about this "new diet" because it's utterly simple. Complicated diets aren't fun, and this one is. There are no rules, except to avoid sweetened foods. And I'm not 100% there, but I am moving towards that goal.
It hasn't been without setbacks. In Fairbanks last weekend I was at an art opening at the university, and I ate a lot of locally-sourced, home-prepared traditional foods; muktuk (whale skin and blubber); herring roe, salmon, bog blueberries and salmonberries. I tried to fill up on them, but I got intensely hungry a few hours later. I wanted something sugary....and I scarfed about ten gluten-free, totally sugary, ginger cookies. Interestingly, I felt fine afterwards. Maybe my gut was so happy with all the traditional food, it permitted my mistake. Or, maybe it was the ginger.
The human gut's bacterial flora has been getting a lot of press recently, both in lay and medical literature. In one lay book, an author (who has Crohn's) shared how she looks at this issue, which can be fairly complicated. She said that when she desires sweetened, sugary foods, she reminds herself that it's not her body that wants these foods; it's the "bad" bacteria asking for it. Don't feed them, and they go away, and you get healthier. Feed yourself healthy, real foods, and the good bacteria, and more good health, come your way.
I liked it; I'm thinking this way now.
And I'm feeling better. Less gut symptoms, more energy, more strength, better sleep, less night sweats, less anxiety, more socialization, better work performance, and a more focused mind.
All from food. The simplest of medicines, produced by nature. It's beautiful, isn't it?
And I'm happy to be learning all of this first-hand. Going through this myself, I can then teach it to my patients. I know it can help others, too, Crohn's or no Crohn's.
