Fit, Fabulous, Over 50…and Sharing Secrets!!

 

Q+A on healing Crohn’s disease naturally

I’m very proud to share Lauren’s wisdom here! Lauren is healing her Crohn’s disease naturally and doesn’t have to take over half the medication she used to be on due to her healing vegan diet and supplements. I found Lauren’s story over at the Crazy Sexy Life blog. (go ahead and read a little background on her, I’ll wait)

You mention you stressed and worried a lot. About being diagnosed with crohns or in general about other aspects of your life?

The worrying started before crohn’s. I originally thought it was what brought on crohn’s disease. I still feel it probably played a big part in the disease showing up. I’ve always been a worrier, worrying about things that didn’t even matter, like what I was going to do tomorrow instead of living in the present moment and really being there. Crohn’s opened my eyes to this and has made me a more relaxed person. I don’t stress of things I can’t 

change, nor do I worry about the future. I live in the now and that’s the best I can do.

What essential practices keep you from worrying too much and how does that affect your health?

My essential practices are definitely yoga and meditation and like I mentioned, staying present. I find that quieting my mind even for 5 minutes a day makes a world of difference. Everything that matters before I do that seems to not matter anymore. I also read a page from an affirmation book and try to apply it to my day or pull an Angel Card from some oracle cards I have. I always seem to open to a page or pick a card that can relate to the situation I am in.

What are your primary supplements you can’t go without?

For Crohn’s I find supplements are important. We have absorption issues so a little extra goes a long way. I take a few things, right now I am pregnant so I take a raw vegan prenatal, I also always take vegan vitamin D, iron, B12, calcium, DHA oil, probiotics. I am always adding goodies like hemp seeds, maca powder, spirulina, chia seeds and goji berries to my smoothies.. When I am not pregnant I also take aloe vera juice (a shot every day as soon as I wake up) and digestive enzymes.

What is your exercise regime?

When I am not pregnant I exercise a lot! I really enjoy it as a hobby! I have treadmill so in the morning I will walk about 2 miles 6 days a week and also do either an aerobic type of video, weight lift or yoga. I also make sure I get some form of exercise after dinner, either walking with my dog, riding my bike, going on a hike. Usually something outside, as long as the weather permits. Right now, since I am pregnant, I walk 2 miles 5 days a week and I also do prenatal yoga once or twice a week.

What advice do you have to those diagnosed with Crohns disease, who are afraid NOT to take all the western medicine approaches?

My advice to anyone with Crohn’s is to go with your gut, no pun intended! I knew that at times my doctor (my old doctor) would try to have me on as much as possible without just trying out one thing at a time. I usually paid attention to how I felt on the lowest dose, or least amount of medication and then would add or take away if needed. Of course, I told my doctor I was doing this and wouldn’t suggest anyone doing it on their own. My doctor now is very understanding and knows I want to me on the least amount of medication possible. Our goal is to one day be off of all medication, where my old doctor had once told me that I would be on medication for life. My crohn’s isn’t healed enough to be completely off of everything, but I hope to get there in the future.

Where do you think you would be at if you didn’t go vegan and took all the medications they wanted you to take?

If I didn’t go vegan and took all the medications the doctors wanted me to take, I would probably not be pregnant! I would be very sick, not knowing that food had any part of healing. I was lucky to always be a health food and natural health advocate so I was aware of a lot of things that I don’t think many with crohn’s know. Diet plays a huge part, and cutting out meat and dairy is essential, in my opinion. Meat is extremely hard to digest and dairy.. well, who doesn’t have problems with dairy? IBD or not, most Americans can not digest dairy. So if you are eating it and have something like Crohn’s you are not going to heal your gut, and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now.

I’m assuming high acidic drinks like coffee and alcohol are off limits for you, how do you substitute them?

I haven’t had coffee since a few months after being diagnosed. I was still drinking it for a short period and I did once try to have it again and it was only 2 days before I got sick. Alcohol was different, I was still drinking here and there up until about 2 years ago (I’ve had crohn’s for 5 years). I got really sick and ended up in the hospital after a few weekends of drinking a little red wine and that was the end of it for me. Now I drink a lot of herbal tea. I also love Teeccino! It is an herbal coffee made from herbs, grains, fruits and nuts. Definitely a great substitute. For alcohol I like to drink Kombucha which is a fermented drink that has lots of probiotics (helpful for the gut). For some reason it reminds me of alcohol, almost like a wine cooler. I pour it in a wine glass when we have friends over and it gives you an amazing feeling from all the benefits it provides. GTS brand is my favorite!