Is Detergent in your toothpaste?

I had just finished preparing a really nice meal of baked chicken, delicious sweet potatoes, and green beans, with a fresh green salad.  My husband and I sat down to eat. Then I took the first bite......"Oh no, another spot!" This nice dinner was no longer going to be enjoyable for me as I dealt with the pain of yet another mouth ulcer. They seemed to be appearing much too often and lingered way too long.

Mouth ulcers can be caused by numerous culprits. They can also be a symptom of Crohn’s disease or Celiac disease. Another possible cause of those irritating sores is a detergent that is added to many brands of toothpaste. It’s called Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and is used in toothpaste as a foaming agent.  It's also used in shampoos and some skin care products. Many people may be sensitive to this ingredient.  SLS can actually cause damage and irritation to the membranes in your mouth. This in turn may trigger the formation of ulcers. 

In a study done by Herlofson and Barkvoll about this topic, (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7825393) the results revealed that there was a significant decrease in the number of ulcers when brushing with SLS-free toothpaste rather than one that contained SLS.

Several months ago I switched toothpastes to determine if SLS was the culprit of mouth ulcers that I seem to frequently develop. Previously, I could not figure out the cause. Since switching to a SLS-free toothpaste, I have not had anymore problems with mouth ulcers developing.

If you have frequent formation of mouth ulcers, it’s possible that you have a sensitivity to SLS, and it may be worth switching to a SLS-free toothpaste.

Some brands of SLS-free toothpastes are listed on this website: http://slsfree.net/sls-free-toothpaste/

Enjoy your summer!

Martha

Fascinating Facts to Chew on for Awhile

Remember that saying, “Be sure to chew your food 32 times” ?

Have you ever tried to do that?  We recently tried doing that in our house. The after dinner walk that my husband and I usually take has now become a walk in the moonlight.  At first it seemed to take way too much time to do this extra chewing, but here are some fascinating facts about our GI tracts, begging us to extend our time at the table.  With busy schedules that so many people have today, this can be a challenging task, but the benefits for increasing good health might be worth the efforts!

So here’s some fascinating morsels of info....

--Each time you chew, as you move your jaw, the parotid salivary gland (which is in front of the ear in the upper jaw) secretes enzymes to start breaking down food, but it also secretes a hormone called parotin.  

--The parotin stimulates the thymus gland to produce T-cells.

--And the T-cells are the wonderful cells that boost our immune system. So just by chewing those bites of food extra times, we strengthen our immune system!! Plus we send food down the hatch that is so much easier for our stomachs to digest since our teeth have well prepared it for the journey.

There is an amazing story about a man named Antonio Stanchich who was a prisoner in a concentration camp during WW II.  Many people died of starvation but he and 2 others out of a group of 32 men remained alive.  It is believed that they survived because they chewed their food so well!

You may find that eating raw vegetables offers the opportunity to chew many times!

Happy chewing!

Blessings,

Martha

Newly updated book is now available!

We're springing into summer with Exciting News!

An updated version of  Reaching for Answers to Crohn's Disease is now in print.
The new version includes some testimonies of others who have also had success with Dr. Poley's treatment plan of diet and probiotics.

Additional information about our experiences through the years is also included.
I hope the updated version will be encouraging and helpful to you.


Reaching for Answers to Crohn's Disease can be ordered from Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites and also from WestBow Publisher.

Many blessings,
Martha

Benefits of Lactobacillus GG probiotic (Culturelle)

It’s been exciting in recent years to note that more research is being done to determine the many benefits of probiotics.  We are thankful that Dr. Poley was in tune to research about them in 2003 when Sarah was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

With more and more probiotics becoming available, it can become rather confusing in knowing which one is the most beneficial.  Lactobacillus GG has been the most widely researched probiotic and is the one Dr. Poley highly recommends.

In a study done by Gupta et al, at University of Chicago in 2000, significant changes were evident in patients with Crohn’s Disease who took LGG twice a day.  Symptoms of pain, diarrhea and lab work all improved within 1 week! In another preliminary study done in 2002 by Guandalini at University of Chicago, some children diagnosed with Crohn’s disease showed significant improvement by taking Lactobacillus GG.

In 2006 a study was done by Zocco et al at Catholic University on187 patients with ulcerative colitis, and it was noted that LGG seems to be effective for maintaining remission in patients with ulcerative colitis.

        

In our family, we have noted additional health benefits of increased immunity with LGG (Culturelle).  Along with the benefit of Crohn’s disease remission, Sarah had great improvement with her allergies (seasonal and dust) after taking Culturelle. She rarely gets sick with colds and when she does, the duration is typically brief.

 My husband decided to take Culturelle hoping for improvement of his allergies as well.  Previously he had taken allergy shots, used a steroid inhaler every day for about 15 years, and took Allegra as needed.  He began taking Culturelle twice a day in 2007 and stopped taking allergy shots along with the other allergy medicines at that time.  A couple of months later when the fall seasonal allergens arrived, he realized he didn’t even need to take any allergy medicine.   And when the spring allergens arrived, he only needed several allergy pills through that season.  He continues to do well by taking Culturelle everyday and rarely needs allergy medicines.

A friend of ours had repeated episodes of bronchitis in the winter months for a few years.  He started taking Culturelle twice a day and had significant reduction in respiratory infections. 

So if you are following Dr. Poley’s plan of diet and Culturelle for Crohn’s or Ulcerative colitis, be encouraged that along with the benefits LGG carries for IBD, you may have other health benefits as well.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I have included a recipe for Cranberry relish. Since cranberries are so tart, the recipes for this usually contain a lot of sugar.  But we have found that using some honey and a small amount of orange juice seems to make it sweet enough. Enjoy!

May you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And may you be blessed with good health!

Martha

Cranberry Relish

2 cups fresh cranberries

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup water

1/3 cup honey

1 small apple, chopped

½ cup pecans, chopped

Mix cranberries and orange juice and water in a blender.  Pour into saucepan and add honey.  Bring to a simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir often.  Allow to cool and then add pecans and chopped apple. Refrigerate.

Dealing with a Colonoscopy Prep

Recently the topic has come up regarding the best prep to use in preparing for a colonoscopy.  If you are following a restricted sucrose diet, and at some point have to have a colonoscopy, I hope these suggestions will be helpful in continuing to adhere to the diet.

Two years ago, Dr. Poley suggested that Sarah have a colonoscopy to make sure there weren’t any hidden problems.  We were thrilled the results were normal!

The following is the prep and also the diet that Dr. Poley recommended prior to that procedure:

Two days before the colonoscopy, drink 1 ½ ounces of castor oil. (Sarah mixed it with white rice, which made it more tolerable.)  She was also instructed to eat a low-residue diet (also called a low-fiber diet). The purpose of the low residue diet is to reduce the volume of stools.

Low residue diet:

-- Well cooked meats.

--Well cooked vegetables (ex. beets, green beans, carrots, squash and eggplant). Avoid broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

--Well cooked white potatoes (no skin)

--Fruit without skin, applesauce, watermelon, and cantaloupe.

--Milk, but limit to 2 cups/day.

--Plain cereals such as cheerios or cornflakes are okay.

--Saltine crackers are okay.

--Avoid whole grains, popcorn, potato chips, highly spiced foods and nuts and peanut butter.

On the day before the colonoscopy, Dr. Poley ordered a clear liquid diet and gave instructions to drink a bottle of citrate of magnesium that afternoon.

So many of the choices that are typically suggested for a clear-liquid diet contain a lot of sugar (sucrose) and could possibly cause problems, such as sodas, sweet popsicles, jello, Gatorade, etc.

The choices that worked well for Sarah in following a clear liquid diet with very little sucrose are chicken broth, beef broth, naturally flavored teas with no sugar added,“Knox blocks”(made with apple juice and Knox gelatin) and water. You can also make popsicles with diluted apple juice.

  Recipe for Knox Blox 

(using less juice than the recipe on the box of gelatin)

 4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin

1 cup cold apple juice

1 cup apple juice and 2 cups of water heated to boiling.

Sprinkle gelatin over cold juice in large bowl; let stand 1 minute.  Add hot juice and water until gelatin completely dissolves, which is about 5 minutes.

Pour into 13x 9 inch pan.

Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.  Cut into squares.  To make it more fun for kids, use cookie cutters to cut different shapes.

Many Blessings,

Martha

Low Sugar Lunches

For those of you who may be packing school lunches for your children or for yourself in the weeks ahead, I have listed below some ideas of food choices in following a restricted sucrose diet.

Suggestions for sandwiches:

-Sandwich made with bread slices that have 1 gram or less of sugar per slice.

-Deli meat that has no sugar added to flavor it.

-Peanut butter sandwich (jellies are not allowed since they have too much sugar in them, but is okay to use a

     thin layer of honey with peanut butter, if desired)

-Tuna or egg salad with mayonnaise.

-Cheese sandwich....can use sharp cheddar cheese if lactose intolerant.

If you are trying to follow a gluten-free diet, corn or rice tortillas work well for cheese and meats. Taco shells are another option.  Sarah sometimes has a peanut butter sandwich made with 2 thin corn cakes or can use rice cakes.

There are selections of gluten-free breads available as well that don’t have much sugar.  Most of them are quite expensive unless you make your own.

Add a piece of fruit to the lunch: 

We find that an apple or pear is a good choice as they seem to be more filling than some of the other fruits. If there is limited time for eating lunch, container of applesauce works well.

Of course, plain yogurt and adding your own fruit to it is another great choice!

Add a vegetable such as carrot sticks or celery.  Cold peas and slices of cucumber or dill pickles are good choices too.

You can add a container of hummus for dipping raw veggies in, if desired.  I’ll add a recipe for that below that is mild.

For additional food or snacks, the following is a list of some processed foods that are convenient to pack which have very little sugar added to them.

Goldfish crackers—0 grams of sugar per serving

Cheez-it crackers—0 gm.

Saltine crackers—0 gm.

Special-K cracker chips—0 gm.

Triscuit crackers—0 gm.

Townhouse crackers—1 gm. (in 5 crackers)

Club Crackers—1 gm. (in 17 crackers)

Snyders Pretzels - less than 1 gm.

Corn torilla chips - less than1gm

Doritos - less than 1 gm.

Some products that I noted at Whole Food Store if you are looking for organic:

“365” Golden round crackers—1 gram in 6 crackers

“Back to Nature” classic Rounds—1 gm. in 5 crackers

“Harvest” whole wheat crackers—0 gm.; Crispy cheddar crackers—0 gm.

“Blue Diamond Nut Thins” (all types are gluten free and have 0 grams of sugar added)

These are some breads that have only 1 gram of sugar per slice:

Whole foods brands—Italian bread—1gram/slice

                                    Spelt - less than 1 gm

                                    Oatmeal bread - less than 1 gm

“Nature’s Own bread”—Whole wheat - less than 1 gm

                                    -Butter bread- less than 1 gm

Pepperidge Farm—small loaf—1 gram per slice

For a beverage, water is the best choice; unsweetened tea is okay, milk is fine too, but no juices are allowed, since they contain too much sucrose.

I hope this list is of help.

Blessings to you all!

Martha

Recipe for Hummus

1 can of garbanzo beans (drained and set aside liquid)

¼ cup liquid from can of garbanzo beans or water

¼ cup Tahini

1 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp salt

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

National Geographic Article about Sugar

There is a fascinating article about sugar in the August issue of the National Geographic magazine.  It tells of the history of sugar and that the amount many consume is toxic.  Richard Johnson, a nephrologist at the University of Colorado has noted..." It seems like every time I study an illness and trace a path to the first cause, I find my way back to sugar."
It's hard to believe that the average American consumes more than 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day!

Here's the link to this very informative article.  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/sugar/cohen-text

Hope you have a great last week of summer! Be sure to check back later in the week for some ideas of healthy snacks to pack in school lunches.
Blessings,
Martha