Ask Larry:
Question: I NEED a nutrition doctor for my daughter. She is now in UK and she is at the hospital since 1 week for Colitis ulcer. She will come back to Chicago in 2 weeks where we live and she needs to find a very good doctor in nutrition and herbal remedies. Would you please tell me where we can go in Chicago. Thank you so much.
Larry’s Response: I’m not able to offer a suggestion for a “nutrition doctor” in the United States. It seems that nutrition is one of the topics they don’t cover in medical school. Because people are so individual, it is important for each of us to find the foods that are best for us – individually. I understand how that might seem like I’m avoiding your question, but I assure you it isn’t. While finding a doctor is outside my area, I can offer some suggestions for treating colitis – and other associated GI conditions.
There are three important elements to good gut health;
- Proper diet, exercise, and water
- The use of quality probiotics – every day
- The use of a low dose drug that has been demonstrated very effective in alleviating symptoms from immune disorders, of which Ulcerative Colitis is one.
When it comes to diet, I strongly recommend avoiding all processed food, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and using only organic whole foods, instead. Corn is particularly upsetting to most people and needs to be eliminated. Simple exercise is vital. Walking is good, but not jogging. Modest weights, but not heavy lifting. Elliptical trainers are better than treadmills. I see people have the best results who get approximately 45 minutes of modest exercise 3 to 4 times a week. Water is important, but it should be as clean as possible. Municipal water supplies are clean, but not generally safe. There are too many drug residues in that water supply.
Probiotics are mandatory for everyone, especially if they’ve taken any antibiotics. While using an antibiotic I usually recommend 20 to 40 billion units 2 to 3 times per day, then following up with 20 billion daily for life. The probiotics should be taken on an empty stomach with clean water (no chlorine). People with pronounced GI conditions should consider taking 200 billion or more units twice daily while they have an attack (usually 3 days is enough), cutting back to 200 billion units once daily for another 10 days or so, then settling on 20 billion units once or twice daily. Amounts should be increased if symptoms occur. This is a lifelong process of relief and control.
Many people worldwide have been using tiny doses of a drug called naltrexone. It is referred to as LDN (low dose naltrexone). A single 3mg to 4.5mg dose daily at bedtime seems to help many people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, psoriasis, and colitis, just to name a few.
Items 1 and 2 in my list above can be handled by the person herself. The LDN will require a prescription. There is a lot of information on our website (https://www.thecompounder.com/ldn) about LDN. Please read it, print it, and use it to help your doctor prescribe LDN.
Most people want to believe that there are doctors “out there” who really care about us and who have cures they will use. That’s isn’t realistic on many levels. For one, doctors are overworked and they cannot possibly care strongly for all of their patients. They may seem like they care, but they just can’t.
Also, the individuality thing pops up often. What worked for other people might not work for me. Minimally, there is a 20% variation between people.
Finally, wellness and health are different from what passes as healthcare today. We actually have a sickness care system in the United States (most of the industrial world does as well). That means a doctor can’t help until we have a problem, a diagnosis.
Instead of guiding people in ways to be healthy, most health providers find it is in their best interest to keep us focused on our illnesses and dependent on them. The current methods involve annual exams and multiple tests on people who generally feel fine. The tests discover conditions that either exist in inconsequential form or that might not actually exist, YET. There is a propensity recently to identify “pre” diseases… pre-diabetes, pre-cancer, and so on.
I pray this information is helpful, even though I have been unable to recommend doctors to you.