With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I think of the things we are thankful for...Our daughter Sarah recently saw Dr. Poley for her yearly visit with him. Since the fall of 2003, she has had normal lab work due to following a sucrose restricted diet and taking the probiotic Culturelle. Her lab work was strongly normal again this year! When I think about the folks out there who are struggling with this disease, I want desperately to let them know there is possible healing right around the corner.
I recently read the Sept 21 CCFA newsletter and learned that a Dr. Mazmanian, who is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology, is receiving a grant to do research. According to the newsletter, he will be "looking into the relationship between intestinal bacteria and the human gastrointestinal tract."
We have learned first hand from the knowledge and direction of Dr. J. Rainer Poley that by following a restricted sucrose diet and taking the probiotic Culturelle, the bacteria overgrowth is changed. This treatment has yielded positive results for our daughter and others.
We personally feel thankful that we did not have to wait for further research to be done for Sarah to reach remission. While writing the book, Reaching for Answers to Crohn's Disease, I learned that some preliminary research about the effects of sugars and probiotics on intestinal tract in those who suffer with Crohn's disease has been done.
We were glad to hear that funding is going for research towards looking at beneficial microbes in the intestinal tract. Hopefully the results of Dr. Mazmanian's research will reveal more clues to the complex activity of intestinal bacteria. In the meantime, simply changing diet, eating yogurt and taking probiotics has worked for our daughter.... and we are very grateful and hope that it will help others.
May God bless you!
If you are interested in cutting back on sucrose for your Thanksgiving meal, you might want to try this recipe for pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin Pie
1/2 cup rice syrup (can be found at Natural foods stores)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
1 can of Pumpkin
1 1/2 cups of whole milk ( can use lactose free milk if lactose intolerant)
1 9 inch deep-dish pie shell
Beat eggs in a large bowl and add rice syrup. Mix well. Add pumpkin, salt and spices and stir together well. Stir in milk gradually. Pour into pie shell.
Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes and then reduce temp to 350 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes or until done.
