Some Natural Therapies for Your Bowel

April 1, 2010 - April Fool's Day - The earliest association between April 1 and foolishness is found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1932). If you do a practical joke after 12 noon, then you are considered the
April Fool.

"You are in the profession as a calling, not as a business; as a calling which extracts from you at every turn self-sacrifice, devotion, love and tenderness to your fellow-men. Once you get down to a purely business level, your influence is gone and the true light of your life is dimmed. You must work in the missionary spirit, with a breadth of charity that raises you far above the petty jealousies of life" William Osler


William Osler is among the most esteemed and distinguished physicians in the history of medicine. He taught on 3 contries--Canada, United States and England. He was a forerunner in the establishment we know as Johns Hopkins. When he was England, he taught at Oxford. His body of work is beyond reproach. Throughout this blog, I will always refer to Sir William Osler as I believe in his insight of what medicine should be.



For the last two weeks, we have discussed the effects of carbohydrates and food sensitivities/allergies on your gut (your small intestines). The condition can be referred to by many names. Irritable Bowel is the broad category. Other names are colitis, Crohn's disease, diverticulitis and even Candidiasis. In addition to identifying your food sensitivities, which are usually wheat and cow's dairy, it is also important to eliminate gas-producing foods. These include certain beans, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. You do not want to eliminate all of these vegetables because they contain B12 and folic acid. These are important in maintaining an alkaline diet.

Now you will ask about coffee. This might be one of your addictions which we deal with in the third lifestyle change--after discussing the second lifestyle change, exercise. Caffeine has bowel-stimulating properties, acts like a diuretic and blocks serotonin (the happy hormone) for about 10-12 hours. If you have identified and accepted your carbohydrate/sugar addiction, then you may not want to try to rid yourself of all your addictions at once. You may get frustrated and fail.

You need to take 'baby steps' to increase the fiber in your diet. You need to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables. You could add psyllium husk fiber to your diet. Some start with one teaspoon in water once a day, and every 3 - 4 days increase this amount by another teaspoon in another glass of water. The goal is to have 4 teaspoons in 4 glasses of water.


Yesterday, we talked about some herbs. Peppermint oil, a natural substance from a plant in Europe has been shown to be helpful in relieving intestinal contractions. Buy it in enteric coated capsules or as a tincture. If you use a tincture, then you must remember that all tinctures have some degree of alcohol. I have used Herbal Vitality and HerbPharm products.



The needlepoint (or petit point) bookmark has a beautiful design. After this one, I started designing my own, which I will display in later blog days. I didn't give this to anyone. I sold it on our etsy store-Rick Frat's Big Apple Store. The web site is www.etsy.com/shop/RickFratCreativeDuo


Photo Credit: Rick Byrd


Until tomorrow