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AFAIK, as a patient with Crohn’s, there is no evidence that any specific diet causes or cures Crohn’s disease. If you know of dietary restrictions which reduce

AFAIK, as a patient with Crohn’s, there is no evidence that any specific diet causes or cures Crohn’s disease. If you know of dietary restrictions which reduce risk of Crohn’s in the same manner as type 2 diabetes, please share it, as I know many people (both patients and physicians) that would be happy to help make lifestyle changes to cure their disease.

opportune 9y ago
I agree, I was merely entertaining the parent's claim that Crohn's could be solved in that way. I'm sure he thinks Crohn's can be simply solved by going gluten/dairy free or by fasting.
- aviv 9y ago
  Did you even see my reply? I don't "think" or speculate. I've seen it. 2 of them still take me out to lunch when I'm in town because I've changed their life with a simple suggestion which they took upon themselves to research further. It's all about a person's state of mind. If you want to be a slave to the systemic misinformation that's out there - sure, go ahead. If you want to explore alternative options that take away a physician's job security, all the power to you.
aviv 9y ago
It's AFAYK because that's what you are being told currently. Who do you expect to show you the evidence that a 2-week water fast will cure your Crohn's? The company that makes Remicade which brings them up to $200K a year per patient? A university that gets funded by the government that is lobbied heavily by the pharma companies? Come on. Think about it. I already shared it - now it's up to you to pick it up from here and do your own research if you are interested. I've seen many who have stopped and reversed diseases including Crohn's using water fasting followed by a diet of mostly fruits and veggies.
- fcarraldo 9y ago
  I’ve fasted for more than two weeks while suffering from a blockage large enough to prevent eating solid food. I still have Crohn’s. It’s possible and certainly important to manage inflammatory symptoms with diet, but unfortunately curing the disease through diet is just impossible. I’m glad it’s worked out for your friends. I just hope you aren’t preventing those with serious disease who need proper medical treatment from following through.
  - aviv 9y ago
    I don't, funny thing is I see it exactly the opposite, the traditional medical treatment and attitude towards alternative options is preventing those with serious disease from following through. 2 weeks is the minimum I've seen. Some need up to 30 and in rare, advanced cases even 40 days of fasting.
    - DoreenMichele 9y ago
      You come across very badly. Just based on how you engage, I was ready to shoot you down and I have pursued dietary and lifestyle changes for many years to manage my incurable condition. I also have recently concluded that fasting is beneficial for my condition, which flies in the face of everything I ever understood to be true. A few thoughts: 1) Try to not overgeneralise. Even if you really know of people who were cured, that doesn't mean it is guaranteed to work every time for every case. 2) Try to develop a hypothesis as to why and how it works rather than merely asserting that it does. 3) Drop the conspiracy theory language and stance. It only hurts your case here. I hope you really do know something useful. It might even benefit me if you do. But your presentation really needs work if you are going to get anywhere. Best.
      - aviv 9y ago
        Thanks for your feedback. As I said elsewhere in this thread, my presentation does appear a bit harsh when done in a comment section such as this one vs. how I am in real life. I don't know if it makes sense to change it. It may seem counter intuitive, however it's been my experience that the harsh tone and somewhat trolling-like language IS what sparks some people to PM me and make initial contact, or at least open a new tab and start googling. I used to not be like this online, and I definitely see better response from my current style. (better in the sense that I think it results in more people taking it upon themselves to research this further). Yes, it has its drawbacks and my responses are usually at the bottom of any health-related thread on HN, but even this thread already got a few people to find my email (it's not hard) and send a quick note. The downvotes here and general negativity towards fasting does not paint the real picture. There are many silent voices out there who will not engage here fearing backlash from other users or even employers or potential customers. I'm always happy to and offer to jump on the phone with anyone who wants to talk and hear from a live anecdote or just be pointed in the right direction research-wise.
- nradov 9y ago
  If you want anyone to believe you then I would expect to see evidence from a large scale, double-blind clinical study published in a respectable medical journal. Find some researchers yourself and help put it together. Since there's no expense for medicine or food it ought to be fairly cheap to run. Despite your ridiculous conspiracy theory, hospitals and universities frequently conduct studies that aren't funded by pharma companies. Just pick up some medical journals and start reading to see how totally off base you are.
  - aviv 9y ago
    Look into research and patient treatment results by the likes of Dr Herbert Shelton. There is quite a bit of literature to support caloric restriction and in particular water fasting as ideal treatment option for many diseases once you filter out MSM sources that tell you it's a lie (and in the same page push you ads by Pfizer.. yep, clearly unbiased!) It's not about who funds the research - there is literally no benefit to confirming that water fasting cures diseases. Nobody in the medical industrial complex would benefit from this. Not even food companies! (because you won't be eating for up to 30 days and then change your consumption habits drastically against mass produced factory food).
    - nradov 9y ago
      Are you referring to this one? Shelton, Herbert M. Fasting Can Save Your Life: How Christians Can Change World Events Through the Simple, Yet Powerful Tools of Prayer and Fasting. Natural Hygiene Press, 1964. Please.
      - aviv 9y ago
        Please what? Do you have proof that you know of someone who water fasted for extended period of time and was not cured or was harmed? Because I DO have the opposite proof. So your empty statements and insinuations is just trolling.
      - aviv 9y ago
        Seriously - why would someone like you be so opposed to water fasting? Think about it for one minute - patients go through extreme treatments like chemo, radiation, Remicade, whatever - anything to get better, right? Why is exposing your body to crazy treatments so accepted, but this isn't? Nobody is telling you to expose yourself to chemicals, eat crazy things, drink concoctions.. really. What's your issue with water fasting? Such a pure process. So why not give this a shot? Type 2 diabetes people in fact see results in a matter of few days. What do they have to lose? I'm sure you're intelligent enough to realize water fasting for extended but still short enough of timeframe is not starvation, right? If you could make an effort for 5 days for the chance of never having to suffer from Type 2 diabetes - why the heck not give the patient the information? This is sick, truly sick, and people like you are keeping it so.
TheCoelacanth 9y ago
There is some evidence that the low FODMAP diet that has proven very effective for managing IBS can also be effective for managing IBD such as Crohn's. Personally, it has been much more effective for me than any of the half dozen medications I have tried. Of course, this is not actually a cure for Crohn's, just a treatment.

opportune 9y ago

I agree, I was merely entertaining the parent's claim that Crohn's could be solved in that way. I'm sure he thinks Crohn's can be simply solved by going gluten/dairy free or by fasting.

aviv 9y ago
Did you even see my reply? I don't "think" or speculate. I've seen it. 2 of them still take me out to lunch when I'm in town because I've changed their life with a simple suggestion which they took upon themselves to research further. It's all about a person's state of mind. If you want to be a slave to the systemic misinformation that's out there - sure, go ahead. If you want to explore alternative options that take away a physician's job security, all the power to you.

aviv 9y ago

It's AFAYK because that's what you are being told currently. Who do you expect to show you the evidence that a 2-week water fast will cure your Crohn's? The company that makes Remicade which brings them up to $200K a year per patient? A university that gets funded by the government that is lobbied heavily by the pharma companies? Come on. Think about it. I already shared it - now it's up to you to pick it up from here and do your own research if you are interested. I've seen many who have stopped and reversed diseases including Crohn's using water fasting followed by a diet of mostly fruits and veggies.

fcarraldo 9y ago
I’ve fasted for more than two weeks while suffering from a blockage large enough to prevent eating solid food. I still have Crohn’s. It’s possible and certainly important to manage inflammatory symptoms with diet, but unfortunately curing the disease through diet is just impossible. I’m glad it’s worked out for your friends. I just hope you aren’t preventing those with serious disease who need proper medical treatment from following through.
- aviv 9y ago
  I don't, funny thing is I see it exactly the opposite, the traditional medical treatment and attitude towards alternative options is preventing those with serious disease from following through. 2 weeks is the minimum I've seen. Some need up to 30 and in rare, advanced cases even 40 days of fasting.
  - DoreenMichele 9y ago
    You come across very badly. Just based on how you engage, I was ready to shoot you down and I have pursued dietary and lifestyle changes for many years to manage my incurable condition. I also have recently concluded that fasting is beneficial for my condition, which flies in the face of everything I ever understood to be true. A few thoughts: 1) Try to not overgeneralise. Even if you really know of people who were cured, that doesn't mean it is guaranteed to work every time for every case. 2) Try to develop a hypothesis as to why and how it works rather than merely asserting that it does. 3) Drop the conspiracy theory language and stance. It only hurts your case here. I hope you really do know something useful. It might even benefit me if you do. But your presentation really needs work if you are going to get anywhere. Best.
    - aviv 9y ago
      Thanks for your feedback. As I said elsewhere in this thread, my presentation does appear a bit harsh when done in a comment section such as this one vs. how I am in real life. I don't know if it makes sense to change it. It may seem counter intuitive, however it's been my experience that the harsh tone and somewhat trolling-like language IS what sparks some people to PM me and make initial contact, or at least open a new tab and start googling. I used to not be like this online, and I definitely see better response from my current style. (better in the sense that I think it results in more people taking it upon themselves to research this further). Yes, it has its drawbacks and my responses are usually at the bottom of any health-related thread on HN, but even this thread already got a few people to find my email (it's not hard) and send a quick note. The downvotes here and general negativity towards fasting does not paint the real picture. There are many silent voices out there who will not engage here fearing backlash from other users or even employers or potential customers. I'm always happy to and offer to jump on the phone with anyone who wants to talk and hear from a live anecdote or just be pointed in the right direction research-wise.
nradov 9y ago
If you want anyone to believe you then I would expect to see evidence from a large scale, double-blind clinical study published in a respectable medical journal. Find some researchers yourself and help put it together. Since there's no expense for medicine or food it ought to be fairly cheap to run. Despite your ridiculous conspiracy theory, hospitals and universities frequently conduct studies that aren't funded by pharma companies. Just pick up some medical journals and start reading to see how totally off base you are.
- aviv 9y ago
  Look into research and patient treatment results by the likes of Dr Herbert Shelton. There is quite a bit of literature to support caloric restriction and in particular water fasting as ideal treatment option for many diseases once you filter out MSM sources that tell you it's a lie (and in the same page push you ads by Pfizer.. yep, clearly unbiased!) It's not about who funds the research - there is literally no benefit to confirming that water fasting cures diseases. Nobody in the medical industrial complex would benefit from this. Not even food companies! (because you won't be eating for up to 30 days and then change your consumption habits drastically against mass produced factory food).
  - nradov 9y ago
    Are you referring to this one? Shelton, Herbert M. Fasting Can Save Your Life: How Christians Can Change World Events Through the Simple, Yet Powerful Tools of Prayer and Fasting. Natural Hygiene Press, 1964. Please.
    - aviv 9y ago
      Please what? Do you have proof that you know of someone who water fasted for extended period of time and was not cured or was harmed? Because I DO have the opposite proof. So your empty statements and insinuations is just trolling.
    - aviv 9y ago
      Seriously - why would someone like you be so opposed to water fasting? Think about it for one minute - patients go through extreme treatments like chemo, radiation, Remicade, whatever - anything to get better, right? Why is exposing your body to crazy treatments so accepted, but this isn't? Nobody is telling you to expose yourself to chemicals, eat crazy things, drink concoctions.. really. What's your issue with water fasting? Such a pure process. So why not give this a shot? Type 2 diabetes people in fact see results in a matter of few days. What do they have to lose? I'm sure you're intelligent enough to realize water fasting for extended but still short enough of timeframe is not starvation, right? If you could make an effort for 5 days for the chance of never having to suffer from Type 2 diabetes - why the heck not give the patient the information? This is sick, truly sick, and people like you are keeping it so.

TheCoelacanth 9y ago

There is some evidence that the low FODMAP diet that has proven very effective for managing IBS can also be effective for managing IBD such as Crohn's. Personally, it has been much more effective for me than any of the half dozen medications I have tried. Of course, this is not actually a cure for Crohn's, just a treatment.