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The following information has been made possible through the work of Paul Pitchford in his book, Healing with Whole Foods.

Inflammation of colon & Small intestine generated by :

- emotional repression related energy stagnation of the liver (stress, anger, unresolved issues)

- dietary history of too much meat & therefore excess arichidonic acid (AA) in the body

Typical symptoms include :

- abdominal pain & cramping

- diarrhea

- rectal bleeding in severe cases

- often weight loss & weakness due to malabsorption of food

Signs

a. Heat Signs : yellow tongue coating, red body, feverishness, bad breath, excessive appetite, constipation over long period of time

b. No heat signs

a. due to weakness of Spleen-pancreas, digestive fire or qi energy

b. excess of dampness

Dietary recommendation

a. If Heat signs adhere to 'Stomach Fire' diet

Stomach Fire diet in general

- Avoid or strictly limit : fried foods, heated or poor quality (rancid) cooking oils, red meats, coffee, hot spices (cinnamon, chili, black pepper, mustard), alcohol, excessive salt, vinegar, citrus fruit, plums, chewing tobacco

- Recommended foods : soothing, mucilaginous foods & preparations : waters, soups, congees of oats, milk, yoghurt, all of goat origin; spinach, cucumber, cabbage, potato, lettuce; chlorophyll rich products such as cereal grass, micro-algae, liquid chlorophyll; herbal teas of licorice root, slippery elm, marshmallow root, red raspberry lead, flax seed, or chamomile

Stomach Fire diet for colitis : In this case exclude cooling remedies -

lettuce, banana, soy products, spinach, cucumber, cereal grasses, micro-algae, marshmallow, yoghurt

b. If No heat signs : adhere to spleen-pancreas tonifying diet as well as to Deficient Stomach fire diet

Spleen-pancreas-tonifying diet :

Restrict the following

- food that have cooling properties will such as excessive raw vegetables, fruit (esp citrus), sprouts, and cereal grasses,

- tomato, spinach, chard, tofu, millet, amaranth, seaweeds, wild blue-green micro-algae, and salt.

- too many very sweet foods, liquids, and dairy products (only butter is recommended in this category)

- vinegar

- avoid large and rich meals

Foods to be emphasized are :

Most complex carbohydrates and certain animal products. Well coo

ked rice is one of the best spleen-pancreas tonics (congee); oats, spelt, sweet rice, pounded rice (mochi) are also excellent

Other beneficial foods

1. Carbohydrate-rich vegetables : winter squash, carrot, parsnip, turnip, gabanzo beans,

black beans, peas, sweet potato, yam, pumpkins.

2. Pungent vegetables & spices : onion, leek, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, garlic,

nutmeg

3. Small amounts of sweeteners & cooked fruit : rice syrup, barly malt, molasses, cherry,

and date.

4. If deficiency is severe (lots of coldness, weight loss, fatigue) theb small amounts of

animal products prepared in soup or congee may be helpful : makerel, tuna, halibut, anchovy, beef, beef liver or kidney, chicken, turkey, lamb. Butter is the only recommended dairy product.

Deficient digestive fire

Excessively weakened Spleen-pancreas qi energy can degenerate to what is called 'deficiency of digestive fire'.

When the digestive fire (enzymes) is deficient additional symptoms are : signs of cold digestion : watery stools (not just loose), possibly undigested food. Aversion to cold water, cold hands, feet; clear urine, pallow, also pale tongue, swollen, wet, teeth indentation on sides.

To balance this - follow deficient Spleen-pancreas qi recommendations above but with exception of sweet rice, which is contraindicated in digestive fire deficiency. In addition emphasize warming foods. Using ginger in powdered/dried form is better than fresh ginger for improving digestive fire.

Especially effective for colitis/enteritis

a. Flax seed : warm water flax seed extraction :place 1 part flax seed to 1 part warm, purified water for 8 hrs (overnight), then strain.

b. several fresh figs daily (or substitute for dried figs soaked in water)

c. on teaspoon of a strong decoction of black or green tea x 4 per day (p.209)

d. congee

General advice

- Best to emphasize a balanced diet that is between 70-80% vegetarian

- Limit refined foods : white wheat, pasta, fast foods, white sugar

- Limit dairy in general. If possible to emphasize goat's milk products

- Make the dietary changes slowly, realistically, and above all joyfully. In your effort to change, aspire to be more like a broad, flowing river; not a gushing water fall...

- Eat little and often if possible (4-6+ times per day), this reduces the amount of work and strain on the weakened digestive system and improves absorption of nutrients.

- Very important to chew the food well - the saliva activates the food, starts the digestive process, and increases the surface area of the food thus reducing the amount of work that an already depleted digestive system has to do.

Duration of dietary changes

- In general the change is for life

- For all initial healing phase give your self between 3-6 months of strictly adhering to the above recommendations

- As you get better and in consultation with your physician you can relax the rules a bit

List of foods that are beneficial for Colitis/Enteritis

Grains and legumes

millet, rice, sweet rice, oats, fresh corn, whole wheat and its bran, tofu and soy products, mung bean, garbanzo bean

Chlorophyll Foods - that are not too cooling

spirulina, chlorella

Vegetables and fruits - in season for the UK

string bean, carrot, radish, Jerusalem artichoke, turnip, asparagus, yam, spinach

avocado, pear, plum, lemon, grapefruit, lime, blueberry, huckleberry

Herbs - can be used to make great tasting infusions, teas

dandelion root and leaf, cedar berries, yarrow flowers, blueberry/huckleberry leaf

Natural sweeteners

licorice tea or powder (care if using steroids or diagnosed with high blood pressure)

stevia powder or extract, agarve

good quality honey, molasses, malt, fruit juices

Animal products - in very small quantities and fresh, organic

organic cow's milk, yoghurt

pancreas of lamb, pork, beef, or fowl

lamb kidney

chicken or goose, beef

Healing the emotions

This is very important and can not be prescriptive. I recommend that you find and connect with an authentic spiritual path that will heal your mind and open your compassion both for yourself and others...

The beginning of this inner journey begins with asking two basic questions that are essential to enable us to live a full and meaningful life that is stress free and full of joy :

What is the nature and cause of our happiness?

What is the nature and cause of our problems?

Once you understand the answer to these two questions intellectually, you then need to start living them through your experience.

Gradually transforming your experiences from that of problematic to that of total happiness.

Resources

For books, click here :

To start with I recommend The Detox Solution & 77 Ways To Improve your well being

Where to obtain whole foods

- Whole foods Market, Fresh & Wild in London

- Many online companies

- Local independent wholefood stores

- Waitrose in the UK