Living with Crohn's & Colitis: A Comprehensive Naturopathic Guide for Complete Digestive Wellness

by Jessica K. Black, Dede Cummings

Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States alone are afflicted with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a category of illnesses that includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and that number is steadily growing. Although there is not yet a cure for Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis, patients can help reduce their symptoms and improve their overall wellbeing by following a comprehensive wellness plan such as those outlined in Living with Crohn’s & Colitis.
 
Living with Crohn’s & Colitis offers patient-focused, expert guidance on everything from the latest medical treatments, how to cope with a diagnosis, and tips for balancing diet with a busy lifestyle so you can form a personalized wellness plan.
 
Living with Crohn’s & Colitis also includes:
· Easy to understand information on the role of inflammation and the immune system on gut health
· Traditional and alternative treatment options for a broad, full-body approach to wellness
· A 3-month wellness plan adjustable to each individual’s health needs
· Over 25 delicious recipes designed for those with IBD
 
Learning to live with the myriad aspects of Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis treatment, including dietary restrictions and medications, can seem overwhelming. Written by a naturopathic doctor and a Crohn’s patient, Living with Crohn’s & Colitis is a thoughtful, balanced resource to help you on your journey to wellness.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction

285 pages, Paperback

Published June 29, 2010

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just had a bad flare up of my Crohn's, and a long and scary stay at the hospital, I'm now on a mission to read up more on current healing and overall wellness for people in my situation. This book was the only one amongst a sea of books that I had any interest in reading as a jumping off point. The combination of medical and personal account in this book is incredibly helpful. Hearing accounts of those who have "been there, done that, got better!" really is a spirit lifter for someone coming out of a bad flare and wanting to get on the right path.

The clinical information in this book is spot on and seems highly up to date. The biggest part of which is the proliferation of the idea that diet does matter to this disease. I was utterly dumbfounded during my hospital stay when I was given a menu of items I was allowed to eat (after being off food nearly a week) and it included so much junk. Though I didn't thoroughly question my multiple doctors on their stance of diet in relation to Crohn's, I got the impression most of them are operating under the "it doesn't really matter what you eat" mentality. This blind spot in medicine, and not just related to Crohn's, is a huge failing of our current system, and getting doctors to work with you on natural healing can be a challenge. Thankfully, books like this one are out there to help people start to see the interconnectedness of things like food, stress, supplements, along with pharmaceutical drugs and "modern" medicine. I have to give this book 5 stars for being detailed but understandable, informative, up to date accurate, and personally relate-able. The tips and tricks through the book are easy to understand and begin to incorporate in a healing plan for yourself. I recommend keeping paper and pen nearby to write down the names of various healing methods to try (like acupuncture and massage), as a reminder to look up that sort of thing in your area, and write down the names of supplements, foods and meals to try, etc.

My only complaint about this book is that Dede's story and a lot of the helpful information is incredibly scattered throughout the book. We get chunks of things here and there between the related medical information. It was fine when reading through the first time, but I think the book would benefit from a few sections at the end that sort of combine the snippets scattered throughout into a more cohesive "summary" type section at the end for easier access when you want to use this as a reference instead. This is truly minor though, and since I can easily search the book on my Kindle it isn't a huge deal to go back to re-read.

This book is a most excellent jumping off point for anyone wanting to get more information about Crohn's and Colitis and a path to begin healing the whole body, not just covering up symptoms.

Started: June 5, 2011
Finished: June 7, 2011

[Elisha Singer]

As someone whose husband was recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease and not pleased with the lack of information provided by the doctor, I decided to try to learn as much as possible about the illness. In recent years, I have embraced the idea of alternative or complementary medicine, and was curious what a natruopathic doctor would say about the disease.

The book is very concise and easy-to-read. It acknowledges reality by explaining Crohn's is incurable, and it talks about the negatives. However, this was not a boring read and it was not a depressing read. Also for those who might think alternative medicine is too "hokey," the book does discuss traditional medical treatments and when those are the only viable option.

I feel this book is a solid entry point for anyone who either has been diagnosed with the illness, or is a family member of someone who has been diagnosed.

[Lisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look into the many holistic ways one can try to heal and live with Chron's and/or Colitis. THere were a lot of good resources in here and it was a good mix of doctor and patient stories.

[Dr Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

[Reid Pletsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better books I’ve read on alternative therapies for Crohn’s Disease. The authors do a decent job of respecting allopathic medicine and traditional treatment plans. The author is very obviously biased towards a holistic only approach and makes some annoying comments about the risks of allopathic treatments, but comes from a place of understanding that we aren’t all lucky enough to find remission through supplements and meditation. This book offers a lot of good suggestions for how to improve your wellbeing, and thereby improve your disease state. There is a lot of science in this book to back up their claims which is a pleasant deviation from other IBD books written from the holistic perspective.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naturopathic Guide

This was an interesting overview of many naturopathic remedies, not as a replacement for traditional medicine but as a complement. It was hard to know which ones would be effective for which situations, though, because the author seems to just try all of them. In addition, it's difficult to gauge efficacy when many of these are untested.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3 1/2 stars. This book is full of good information--it's a shame that it's so poorly organized. Props for mentioning all the best resources that took me 5+ years post-Crohn's diagnosis to find: CCFA (including fundraising and camps), John Kabat Zinn's mindfulness work, and books like Breaking the Vicious Cycle, The Second Brain, etc. The science in the book is refreshingly up-to-date, though I wonder if the book would have been more balanced if a younger patient's story had also been included throughout the text. Most patients are diagnosed with IBD in their teens and twenties; though there is a section on kids in the book, it didn't adequately represent the huge young population with IBD. My biggest issue with the book, though, is not the content, but the order in which the content is presented. The chapter divisions make no sense to me, and, because of the disorganization, concepts are repeated an unnecessary number of times. (Or concepts are promised "see chapter x" and then not totally delivered. The promised section on hormones, for example, contained nothing about birth control and/or hormone regulation in women.) Overall, though, if you're willing to get past the hodge-podge of information, this book has a lot to offer in terms of resources and inspiration.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Newly diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and a scary 10 day stay in the hospital. I had ordered this book before the flare had happened not really understanding what I was dealing with or how serious my situation would become. The book arrived while I was in the hospital (My very supportive boyfriend read it and brought it to me to read when he finished) .
I really appreciated the personal insights given by Dede . It's very well written and easy to understand. I feel like I have a much better understanding about what is going on in my body. As well as a great resource that i will be able to keep going back to with great tips on how to heal yourself . I really appreciate the focus on balance in the whole body and the combination of eastern/western medicine. I'm very glad I chose this book in my quest to learn more about what is going on with my body. If you have Crohn's or Colitis or know someone that does I suggest you read it !

[Janet Elsbach]

Comprehensive and not too alarming naturopathic approach.