Leyla on Nutrition News You Can Use

It's hard not to notice there's been a revolution happening in nutrition in recent years. Intelligent Nutrition has and is continuing to evolve as evidenced by the reams of scientific research underscoring its critical role in health and disease. This is a very exciting time as we discover the greatly underestimated intimate connection between how we fuel ourselves, the subsequent changes in our biochemistry and ultimately our biological processes which translates to health, or disease.

With this new and not so new knowledge, the impact on the public's health will be enormous as we slowly, but surely, change the way mainstream medicine is practiced. Folks, I'm not only talking about prevention (as important as that is), but real nutrition therapy for medical conditions, and optimization of individual biochemistries and metabolism. This defines Intelligent Nutrition.

Toward this end, I now have this blog, and will continue to give periodic lectures here at the Center as well as private and public sector venues on important topics in nutrition. Please let me know what topics interest you or what questions or information you may have. You can email me at leyla@drhoffman.net.

Inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are on the rise in United States as well as in other developed nations.  What we know is that two of the most profound influences on gut integrity are poor diet, and the increased use of antibiotics. 

Antibiotics do a very good job of wiping out bad bacteria, but also wipe out the beneficial bacteria critical to the health and functioning of the GI tract.  A poor diet full of antinutrients such as sugars, empty calories, trans fats, and food toxins such as pesticides, herbicides, artificial ingredients, additives and allergens contribute to the disease process. 

The “Pillars of GI Health” is a holistic, or functional medicine approach to treating CD and UC.  It helps clinicians find the unique root causes of disease in the individual patient.  These pillars include: 

1.  Digestion/absorption

2.  Elimination

3.  Microflora balance

4.  Gut integrity

A comprehensive treatment for GI dysfunction involves four basic steps: 

1.  Remove:  Remove toxins, allergens and harmful organisms with an elimination diet and detoxification protocol. 

2.  Replace:  Replacement of digestive enzymes and other factors until the patient’s GI complaints can be normalized.

3.  Reinoculate:  Reinoculate the gut with beneficial probiotics and prebiotics to reestablish microflora balance. 

4.  Repair:  For full healing of the intestinal mucosa, repairing gut integrity is essential.  This includes reducing inflammation, providing nutrients for GI cell growth, and strengthening liver and immune function.

Healing the GI tract is possible with the right approach. 

Source:  The Standard: A Review of Natural & Nutraceutical Therapies for Clinical Practice.  2009( 9); No. 1.