Low-Residue

All-righty, then . . . 

Only consuming liquids is much more difficult than I expected!

I did it for one and a half days (Friday and Saturday).  The whole time I felt headachy, hungry, grumpy, overly emotional, and angry.  That's one of the reasons I haven't posted in a while . . . I just was too growly and unreasonable.

I have been feeling pretty sorry for myself, I'm embarrassed to say.

I also felt confused and frustrated, because there isn't a lot of clear advice out there from people who have tried natural remedies for Crohn's Disease with success.
Many pieces of advice conflict.
I began to wonder if the annoyance was even worth the effort.

So last night I ate some toast with peanut butter and some barbeque potato chips.  And I didn't feel very well.  And today I am not feeling super, either.  I don't feel terrible, and I can function and everything, but I notice the symptoms that I notice when my digestive system is acting up.  I am starting to connect the dots about what "increased inflammation" is like for me personally (it differs for every person).
Don't worry; I won't go into details about that, but I am tracking them.

So I am devising a new, multi-point strategy!

 1.  I will drink 1-2 meals per day rather than eating solid food to allow my digestive system to rest.

2.  At least one of my meals each day will be a protein shake with added anti-inflammatory and gut-healing ingredients.

More details on this as I figure it out.

3.  The remainder of my meals will consist of low-residue, low-fiber foods.

Here and here are some good links describing this diet.

More details on this, too, as I figure it out.

4.  I will use supplements that have been shown in studies to be anti-inflammatory or helpful with IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or Crohn's Disease.

So far there are proven results for the following 

(though, of course, new studies often show conflicting results):

* Boswellia serrata extract h15 - an herb

From this study:

"CONCLUSIONS: The study confirms that therapy with H15 is not inferior to mesalazine. This can be interpreted as evidence for the efficacy of H15 according to the state of art in the treatment of active Crohn's disease with Boswellia serrata extract, since the efficacy of mesalazine for this indication has been approved by the health authorities. Considering both safety and efficacy of Boswellia serrata extract H15 it appears to be superior over mesalazine in terms of a benefit-risk-evaluation."

My translation: H15 is BETTER than the commonly-prescribed anti-inflammatory drug mesalazine because H15 works as least as well as the drug and has no side-effects."

* Cucurmin (found in turmeric!)

From this study:

"We conclude that curcumin, a naturally occurring food substance with no known human toxicity, holds promise as a novel therapy in IBD."

* Aloe Vera

From this study:

"CONCLUSION: Oral aloe vera taken for 4 weeks produced a clinical response more often than placebo; it also reduced the histological disease activity and appeared to be safe."

My translation: Aloe Vera helps improve symptoms and it is safe!

* Cannabis!

From this study:

"This is the first report of cannabis use in Crohn's disease in humans. The results indicate that cannabis may have a positive effect on disease activity, as reflected by reduction in disease activity index and in the need for other drugs and surgery."

HA!

* Conjugated Linoleic Acid 

From this study:

"Researchers found that Crohn's patients who took supplementary CLA showed noticeable improvement. 'In our recent open label study of CLA as a supplement in study subjects with mild to moderate CD there was a marked improvement in disease activity and quality of life in 50% of the subjects. CLA was well tolerated by all of the study subjects.'"

This is an interesting site for scientific studies of natural treatments for all sorts of medical conditions.

5.  I will not push myself to do anything extreme.

Already, I have demonstrated to myself that the liquids-only thing will probably not be the best course of action for me personally, unless my condition gets a lot worse.

6.  I will not lose hope that I can make wise decisions with the help of God and my counselors (Greg, Dad, Mom, Cindy - thank you!)