September 2012. 

Headaches and Crohn's.

 

On the surface these two have nothing to do with each other. The problem with that assumption is that I know better.

 

Many of you who have had an attack or flare up with excruciating pain and cramping know that an attack is often triggered by stress. It might be work, money or family related but I would say that three out of four flare ups are started by a stress factor.

 

To understand why this is and to see the link in some people between flare ups and headaches we only have to look as far as your own body. One of the causes of acid production in the stomach is stress. If we are stressed, especially for several days, the excess acid production can be overwhelming to an already compromised and inflamed digestive tract.

 

Headaches are much the same. Most people don't know this but there are no nerve endings that can cause pain inside the human brain. A headache, regardless if it is a migraine or a tension or other headache is caused by inflammation of the nerves that surround the head. These nerves are often irritated by tension. Tension is caused by overuse, normally by the optical system such as too much reading or computer use or by lactic acid buildup in the muscles such as what occurs when we are nervous (generating adrenaline) but not burning and flushing it out through exercise, causing lactic acid buildup.

 

Regardless of the technicalities, stress causes many dysfunctions in the body including headaches and digestive tract inflammation. In interviewing over 500 people who suffer from these digestive disorders, I know that over half of you also have recurring headaches.

 

Here are some tips to deal with headaches and stress that will work most of the time:

 

1) Read and follow my article "I know what type of person you are" from a couple months ago on this website. Just scroll down to it. This article is about dealing with stress in a way that works and you can use your whole life.

 

2) Drink lots of water. Often a headache is dehydration related. Coffee, tea, soda, sports drinks etc. do NOT count as water.

 

3) Peppermint oil or even tea will usually knock a headache down about 50% for most people with most headaches. If you use the oil, rub small amounts on the scalp anywhere it is painful and always on the forehead and temples. Peppermint oil is not to be gotten in the eyes so stay a half inch or so away from the eyes and do not use enough to let it find it's way to your eyes. It will migrate a little.

 

4) Some light exercise such as a normal paced walk with some arm motion. The goal here is to relax and burn off some lactic acid and adrenal hormones.... not to get a workout. Don't walk hard or jog as this will make things worse.

 

5) I have rid many friends of severe headaches by pinching one of two pressure points with moderate pressure, for 30 seconds by using the the thumb and index finger. The two points are: a) in the soft muscle between the sufferers thumb and index finger b) on the underside of the big toe near the base of the big toe "head" near the big toe "neck".

 

I know these descriptions may not be self evident enough to know the exact spot. This won't matter. The "right spot" is whatever spot in the described area is tender or even painful when pinched moderately. You will find that these spots are not tender when you do not have a headache. Test a few spots by pinching until you find the spot that feels sore and then pinch for 30 seconds. I know it hurts, stop being such a baby

 

Normally I use the same side of the body that the headache is on when looking for the pressure point but just as often I do both sides and both hand and foot points for every headache anyway. You will get good at this and eliminate many headaches in just a minute or two of effort.

 

Of course all headaches are not created equal so a specific headache may require more than one of these treatments and some headaches will only be reduced but these treatments. All of these suggestions work and work well for most people and most types of headaches. If you have Crohn's you suffer too much already.

 

Your friend in healing. Mike Hohlweg, author DPFF

 

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author Mike Hohlweg has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.

 

 

 

August 2012 Article. Many of you can skip this one.

Do you have ongoing... nothing makes it better..... can't even go to work...diarrhea?

I do have to mention here that diarrhea can be a symptom of other health issues such as parasites or dysentery which can be fatal. Even unrestricted diarrhea alone can cause health issues including dehydration that is potentially fatal and can also damage organs. I am not suggesting that you should take diarrhea lightly. I am saying that if you have consulted with your doctor, this protocol can be a miracle. I believe that no doctor would object to anything in this protocol and invite you to show it to your doctor.

This is one of the secret formulas I normally only give to clients who take my free coaching. Many people who suffer from digestive disorders, also, on occasion suffer from chronic diarrhea. Often neither the person suffering nor their doctor seems to be able to stop it. This protocol has helped many of my clients some of whom have come to me after suffering for over six months of acute or chronic diarrhea.

Diarrhea in digestive disorder patients is usually caused by a few things going on at the same time. They include one or more of the following:

1) High acid production (solved completely by the Crohn's Pain Free Foods eating program)

 

2) Hyper inflammation of the intestine and or colon.

 

3) Damage or complete devastation of the intestinal flora through antibiotic use aggravated by acid causing catalyst foods.

 

4) Intestinal pathogens, normally adverse bacteria in the digestive tract caused by: a bad diet, the absence of beneficial intestinal flora.... or both.

I have developed a protocol that addresses all 4 probable caused to diarrhea without diagnosing exactly what the cause is. I offer the solution this way because I know from experience that many of you are alternative health solution seekers, as I am and when possible, I prefer to heal my own health issues.

In the long run, the Pain Free Foods eating program will solve issue number one and this is most important. To solve numbers two through four, here is the miracle protocol:

Take the herbs turmeric and ginger in as fresh and organic a form as you can find. Your "consumption" can be in food, tea or capsules. Get some each day, don't worry about taking too much or too often. These herbs are taken for stomach, intestine (small) and colon support.

Find a digestive disorder tea that contains three or more of the following or get these herbs at your health food store for a couple of dollars (buy in bulk, one oz each and make your own tea): Chamomile, Marshmallow leaves, Peppermint leaf, Slippery elm, wild yam. A similar blend is available from a website: www.calmingblends.com which I am not affiliated with in any way. I did not even ask them if I could mention their site. Take this or make my cheaper "do it yourself version one to three times per day as a tea. It causes the mucus lining to reform on the intestines and colon. This eases the pain and allows the tissue lining to begin to rebuild.

Although this seems counter intuitive since a big drink of water may "send you to the toilet (loo)" drink three or four liters/quarts of water per day. Coffee, tea, soda etc. to not count as water. Dehydration always occurs with diarrhea and you must replace the liquids lost or not absorbed during diarrhea. No exceptions.

Find an electrolyte replacer. Sports drinks like Gatorade are near worthless for this. In the U.S. I know of one brand, i.e.: Pedialyte that is available at most pharmacies. Buy that or an electrolyte replacer that is available where you live. Take a sip every time you drink a glass of water. Diarrhea devastates your electrolyte levels and you need to keep them up to get better.

You need to recolonize your colon/intestine with good bacteria. This is a three step process and if you skip one of the steps, it won't work. Colonizing  "seeds" the best bacteria back into your gut. Bedding prepares the lining with the best ph and nutrient specifics the good bacteria need to thrive. Eliminating catalyst foods prevents the acid that kill off some of the best strains of beneficial bacteria.

Step 1) Bedding bacteria: Eat a bite of sauerkraut and a bite of fresh apple together twice per day, not at meal time. The sauerkraut is best fresh and home made. Since most people will just not do that, second best is the sauerkraut from a deli or friend that makes it. Third best is a jar from the store. Last is a can from the store. This prepares your colon for the bacteria and makes their home ready for them.

Step 2) Seeding: Probiotics. I do not believe in taking probiotics for life as many suggest. Probiotics are seeds and only need to be planted in the case of flora devastation. Buy one bottle of a brand that contains billions of units of several strains, preferably 6 to 10 strains. It must be refrigerated at the health food store, transported in a refrigerated truck and shipped from a refrigerated manufacturing facility (they can degrade 50% per day otherwise and you are wasting your money). You should come to the store with a cool/cold container of some type to take them home. Place in refrigerator immediately. Take one capsule per day until the bottle is gone.

Step 3) Food combining: Remove catalyst foods. Catalyst foods cause acid flow through the entire digestive tract. Modern people think this is normal. It is not. Foods should be digested by enzymes. If you "bed" the tract lining and "seed" with probiotics but let acid run wild through you daily by poor eating habits... you are just killing the good bacteria as fast as you buy and consume them. While we are on the subject, pickled and live culture foods are a slight benefit but they contain so little live culture bacteria that the effect is negligible. These foods include yogurt and Kefir, pickles, sauerkraut (good for the bedding however), kimchi and so forth. Most of us have the intestinal flora we have "earned" with our health practices and diet (antibiotics are the exception and always cause flora "kill off"). If you don't improve your diet and the above two steps you will not cause the beneficial bacteria to stay with you.

So there you have it. I could tell you it will go away by itself or tell you that probiotics or Imodium (Loperamide) would "really" help. For some they will but for chronic diarrhea, 90% of the time, you need to follow this annoying and slightly expensive protocol to get better. Remember we are not talking about a day or so of diarrhea. We are talking about life ruining, keep you home from work, long term diarrhea that you can't solve with an over the counter "quick fix". I am not here to tell you what you want to hear. I specialize in telling you what works, like it or not. 

 

 

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author Mike Hohlweg has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.

 

 

 

July 2012 Article -- Alcohol, what none of you want to hear.

 

 

Let’s face it, many of us like to drink. In fact we like it so much that one of the most common questions I hear from clients is: How can I properly mix alcohol into my new “no catalyst foods eating plan”. They don’t often ask me if they should quit or if alcohol is ok on the plan. They want to know how to keep drinking. I am not your priest and I am not a saint however I will always do my best to tell you the truth, so regardless of how this affects my business, here it is:

 

 

 

Consuming alcohol is one of the worst things you can do for yourself health wise and you already know it. The alcohol “high” aside, nothing makes a person feel worse than alcohol, especially too much alcohol. Ever heard of alcohol poisoning or hangover? Why isn't there a cucumber hangover or a red meat hangover? Because those foods are not toxic. The euphoria associated with alcohol is a mild poisoning accompanied by a hormonal and body chemical and endorphin changes that all result in pathogenic after effects. There are very few chemicals that we consume that have such a negative effect on our health. Those who don't drink know this instinctively. 

 

Those who have evolved into drinkers continually tell me that they just drink for this or that reason or they only drink in this or that situation. It usually starts out with: "I enjoy a __________ (your favorite drink here) with my _________ (your favorite drinking circumstance here)." Now you are starting to wonder if I am about to tell you to quit. I am going to show you that when it comes to alcohol you need to choose between healing slowly or quickly. Drinkers can heal while still drinking but it really slows down the process.

 

If you are a casual drinker you could easily stop. If you are an addicted drinker you should really consider stoping. Either way, alcohol is one of the more destructive health practices for the digestive disease sufferer. Due to your disorder, your colon is chronically inflamed . Think of it like your skin with second degree and in some cases, third degree burns. Now imagine pouring some alcohol on that damaged skin. The pain would be incredible, yet that is an example, very near the truth of what you are doing to your colon and intestines every time you drink.

 

Hard core drinkers will say that my example is not true or it would hurt to drink. My answer is that the inside of the colon has virtually no nerve endings. Only severe infection, ulcerations or raw inflamation create a pain response from the colon for most people. Hence pain does not immediately follow drinking.

 

I think a decent definition of addiction is repeatedly doing anything that is bad for you, your family, your life, those around you or your health. By this definition, anyone who refuses to avoid alcohol once they understand that is it bad for them could be considered addicted to some degree. Think of it like any other sensitivity. What if you liked shrimp but found out that periodic health episodes were due to a shrimp allergy that you had but didn't know about. Now you have to decide. Do you love shrimp more than health? Alcohol is like that. You can live without it.

I told you that you can drink and heal so if you are going to continue, at least follow these rules:

 

1) Less is better than more. Limit yourself to one or two (guess which of the two is better).

 

2) Never drink on an empty stomach (the opposite of the water rule). Yes, I know this diminishes the euphoric effect. Remember that you tell everyone that you "really like the taste of  ______ (wine, beer, etc.). It is not the high, it is the love of a beer with the game or a glass of wine with dinner or a cocktail with friends at the bar. While this may be true, all those things are accomplished with the magic number..... "one".

 

3) In choosing which food to eat before your drink remember that the alcohol (all alcohols) is an “S” on the catalyst chart of your program so your meal has to be an “S” or “WS” meal.

 

If you refuse the good advice to consider not drinking then minimize additional damage by following these three rules of drinking.

 

Mike Hohlweg

 

 

 

 

 

June 2012 Article -- Set Yourself Free This Summer

 

 

The good news and the bad news about families is our strong emotional and biological connections. This time of year, with Mother's Day and Father's Day falling closely around graduations, proms and weddings, we tend to think about family ties more than usual. I've heard many people I counsel on the Pain Free Diet say, "Well, I got that Type A personality from my Dad," or "My Dad was a very easy going person; don't know why I get so worked up," or even, "Everyone in my family lives a healthy lifestyle -- it doesn't make sense that I should have this digestive problem!" You may also wonder why, if you take very good care of your health in general, you should be subject to the acid and food sensitivities I talk about on this site. 

 

A sensitivity is genetic, including those sensitivities that lead to Crohn's. If you are a person who prides yourself on taking impeccable care of your body and your health, and you still have had these horrible digestive problems, you can let yourself off the hook. The only thing you've been doing "wrong" is not understanding your sensitivity to food blends. It's not manageable by other means, but it is very, very controllable with the proper food combining outlined in the Pain Free Diet. If you are someone who has made other healthy lifestyle choices, believe me that those choices will pay you back once you are eating correctly for your genetics.

 

My hope for you is that you don't waste a second blaming yourself for your digestive issues. They may be genetic, but even if they are, not everyone in your family will have them. This makes it easy to look at yourself and say, "Well, it must be something I'm doing wrong." It is not. If you and a family or friend suffers, we challenge you to get well and then others will listen to you when you tell them how you did it.

 

 

When people have health problems, it can interfere with all the joys of summer such as family get togethers, meals and travel  -- as you well know. Just as you know how it interrupts winter holidays and gatherings, you know how chronic digestive distress -- constant trips to the bathroom or having to be nervous every moment about what you eat -- can diminish the quality and the quantity of precious family time. 

 

 

 

Wishing you a summer of happy eating and celebration,

 

Mike Hohlweg

 

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author Mike Hohlweg has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.

 

May Article -- Celebrate: If You're Here, You're Already Changing

Here's some really good news! Specialists who study how people make positive changes are discovering that a lot of change happens under the surface, before the measurable effects start showing up in people's lives. A lot of social, health and fitness organizations, as well as medical establishments, now recognize a "Stages of Change Theory" that shows people think about and plan for change in several stages before they actually take an action. According to this theory, if you're even contemplating, reading about or learning about a different kind of diet, you are already in the change process. (If you're interested in learning more about this, look for articles on The Stages of Change and the book Changing For Good by Prochaska & DiClemente.)

When you try to change deeply ingrained habits,  it can feel like you run into a lot of obstacles. Some of those are external: your family's traditional meals, your work environment, your surroundings all seem to be keeping you in your old rut. Inside, you feel a lot of resistance as well. You may experience anxiety and confusion, even get mad. It's at times like those that having a solid plan and knowing exactly what to do is invaluable. Once you've accumulated 90 days in a new habit, you're -- statistically speaking -- on much safer ground, less likely to revert completely back to your old ways.

If you've started a Pain Free Foods Plan, you are already changing. Don't worry about being perfect. The change process includes some going back and forth, trying your old habits a few times before you realize, "No, I'm not wrong, this old way of eating really does make me sick." The process of change includes comparing the old path to the new and choosing the new way on its own merits, not just because you think you "should." 

Following the Pain Free Foods guidelines helps you learn about yourself and your own sensitivities and limits, and it takes the guesswork out of it for you. Also, it relieves the burden of trying to figure it all out at once. This plan is designed to support you and make the process of change as painless as possible. Anyone who's ever tried to make a lifestyle change, especially a diet change, knows how hard it can seem at times. The hardest time of all, however, might be before you actually commit to starting the process.  Once you make a commitment to try, your mind and body operate differently. Follow the plan and give yourself a pat on the back -- change is a challenge, and you are already in the process, and already succeeding.

Keep it up!

Your friend, Mike Hohlweg

 

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author Mike Hohlweg has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.