6 ms·

The title seems a tad misleading. The author describes some relatively major lifestyle changes (huge changes in diet, sleeping habits, large increase in aerobic

by jperras 14y ago

The title seems a tad misleading. The author describes some relatively major lifestyle changes (huge changes in diet, sleeping habits, large increase in aerobic/anaerobic physical activity), of which the elimination of caffeine is but a small part. I used to have some very bad problems with acidity as well, to the point where my doctor thought I might have had acute ulcerative colitis, but what fixed it for me was sleeping more, eating better, and exercising more frequently. I still drink 1-3 cups of coffee a day (every few months I go for a week without coffee, just to make sure I can still function without it), and have had no flare-ups or problems since I changed the rest of my lifestyle habits.

benjaminwootton 14y ago
If you don't mind, could you explain what your problems with acidity were? I've had a few issues over the last year or so and I'm only just making the link back to an acidic diet (diet coke, spicy food and chocolate being the main ones!)
- jperras 14y ago
  When I was in university it got to the point where drinking tap water was difficult; forget orange juice, coffee and pasta sauce. In addition to the physical pain of consuming anything that was remotely acidic, the frequent (6-8/day) bowel movements of sometimes very bloody stool is what finally made me go visit my doctor. Those days I was pulling all-nighters every week or so, sleeping 4-5 hours on nights where I actually went to bed, ate complete crap (typical university student), and hadn't done any sort of exercise other than walking to-and-from class for a solid 12 months. Yes, I was drinking 3-6 cups of coffee and/or energy drinks a day, but it was when I fixed all of the other stuff (mainly sleeping & eating better) that I started to not feel like death every day.
- jobu 14y ago
  I started having issues with ulcers and acid reflux in college, and for over a decade I took Prilosec (omeprazole) to control it. Last year I started drinking wheatgrass and other veggie shakes (and trying to eat a little healthier in general), and I've been able to stop taking the Prilosec with no major acid issues. It started when my brother forced me to listen to one of his self-help CD's from Tony Robbins about the acid/alkaline diet (http://www.alkalinephdiet.com/anthony-robbins-alkaline-diet/ http://www.alkalinephdiet.com/anthony-robbins-alkaline-diet/). Mostly I view that stuff with a huge amount of skepticism, but my stomach will vouch for this one. As long as I have a veggie shake or a couple salads each day I'm able to safely drink coffee and alcohol, and occasionally eat pizza and other spicy food.
nohat 14y ago
Exactly. The focus of the whole story is on caffeine, but dropping caffeine is quite minor in comparison to eating better, sleeping better, and exercising more. I think it's general consensus that caffeine withdrawal takes no more than a week.
- cma 14y ago
  But there is a substantial link between dropping caffeine and sleeping better. And there is a link between sleeping better and getting more effective exercise. And it is hard to get effective exercise and still manage to live on something like Mountain Dew (which might prompt an improved diet).
  - nohat 14y ago
    True - if caffeine was interfering with his sleep then it was a problem. I didn't see any indication that he had attempted to fix his sleep schedule before he dropped caffeine, though it's certainly possible that he did. Sleep exercise and diet are connected to each other, and maybe kicking caffeine happened to give him enough motivation or momentum to improve all three of them, but it's only loosely related. Setting up dropping caffeine as the cause of his improvement is strange - it just happened to come first.
    - doctornemo 14y ago
      You're correct about not trying to fix the sleep schedule before kicking caffeine. I was just too damned busy, for far too long. Cf my above comment about caffeine's continuous nature, too.
jessriedel 14y ago
FYI, the dominant theory is that ulcerative colitis is an autoimmune disease, and the inflammation in the colon has nothing to do with what is eaten. Instead, it's due to the immune system deciding to attack the intestinal tissue. It might be provoked indirectly by things like stress, but coffee or other food are not thought to trigger flare-ups. (That said, some people find they can reduce their discomfort by modifying their diet once a flare-up begins. But there is no evidence that diet either provokes flare-ups or induces remission.)
- jperras 14y ago
  Good to know. My doctor suspected that I might have ulcerative colitis, but luckily it was not the case. I was highly symptomatic due to my incredibly poor lifestyle habits that I described elsewhere in this thread, so suspecting that I might suffer from UC/Crohn's disease wasn't completely out of left-field.
  - doctornemo 14y ago
    jessriedel is correct. That's true of most cases. Alas, not mine. Interesting view, jperras. For me the caffeine changed loomed largest, partly because it was a nearly continuous part of my day. Eating meals was a handful of hours; ditto adding exercise. But I usually had coffee/soda to hand.
- IamBren 14y ago
  While that may be the dominant theory it doesn't appear to be true. I follow a doctor out of NJ who uses dietary intervention to successfully treat a lot of diseases most doctors will say are "incurable", including ulcerative colitis, IBS, lupus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes (the adult onset type). He has an entire newsletter devoted to the following: Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Aggresive dietary modifications hold key to relief and recovery. Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Recovery requires adherence to high–nutrient, fiber–rich diet. Nutritional and Dietary Protocols for IBD – These nutritional basics have helped hundreds of patients. A Crohn's Success Story – IBD patient makes recovery even after two surgeries. Specific Carbohydrate Diet – Lack of scientific support and low success rate on this diet. Eat For Health Recipes – The highest scoring recipes from Dr. Fuhrman's newest book. https://www.drfuhrman.com/members/NewsletterDownload.aspx?issue=36 https://www.drfuhrman.com/members/NewsletterDownload.aspx?is... He shows (with references to back every claim, as with all of his writing) that these diseases DEFINITELY have a LOT to do with what is eaten. The newsletter is $7. I wish it were free for as important as I feel this issue is. I would hope that before you continue to make such definite, and possibly dangerous claims, that you would fork over the money to at least make sure you're not helping to send people down the path of needless pain and suffering.
samratjp 14y ago
He wrote a first part here - http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/04/a-year-without-caffeine/ http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/04/a-year-without-caffeine... (this was on HN earlier and sets the context for the caffeine free lifestyle).
curiousDog 14y ago
Could you expand on your diet changes? (For eg: General breakfast, lunch and dinner?) I have the same symptoms and have a colonoscopy scheduled to check for ulcerative colitis. I'm in my mid 20s and lead the typical unhealthy lifestyle (eat out everyday, lot's of spicy food). Only recently have I started having these problems (severe heartburn, stool 6-8 times/day etc) Sigh..guess I'm getting old already..

by jperras 14y ago

benjaminwootton 14y ago

If you don't mind, could you explain what your problems with acidity were? I've had a few issues over the last year or so and I'm only just making the link back to an acidic diet (diet coke, spicy food and chocolate being the main ones!)

jperras 14y ago
When I was in university it got to the point where drinking tap water was difficult; forget orange juice, coffee and pasta sauce. In addition to the physical pain of consuming anything that was remotely acidic, the frequent (6-8/day) bowel movements of sometimes very bloody stool is what finally made me go visit my doctor. Those days I was pulling all-nighters every week or so, sleeping 4-5 hours on nights where I actually went to bed, ate complete crap (typical university student), and hadn't done any sort of exercise other than walking to-and-from class for a solid 12 months. Yes, I was drinking 3-6 cups of coffee and/or energy drinks a day, but it was when I fixed all of the other stuff (mainly sleeping & eating better) that I started to not feel like death every day.
jobu 14y ago
I started having issues with ulcers and acid reflux in college, and for over a decade I took Prilosec (omeprazole) to control it. Last year I started drinking wheatgrass and other veggie shakes (and trying to eat a little healthier in general), and I've been able to stop taking the Prilosec with no major acid issues. It started when my brother forced me to listen to one of his self-help CD's from Tony Robbins about the acid/alkaline diet (http://www.alkalinephdiet.com/anthony-robbins-alkaline-diet/ http://www.alkalinephdiet.com/anthony-robbins-alkaline-diet/). Mostly I view that stuff with a huge amount of skepticism, but my stomach will vouch for this one. As long as I have a veggie shake or a couple salads each day I'm able to safely drink coffee and alcohol, and occasionally eat pizza and other spicy food.

nohat 14y ago

Exactly. The focus of the whole story is on caffeine, but dropping caffeine is quite minor in comparison to eating better, sleeping better, and exercising more. I think it's general consensus that caffeine withdrawal takes no more than a week.

cma 14y ago
But there is a substantial link between dropping caffeine and sleeping better. And there is a link between sleeping better and getting more effective exercise. And it is hard to get effective exercise and still manage to live on something like Mountain Dew (which might prompt an improved diet).
- nohat 14y ago
  True - if caffeine was interfering with his sleep then it was a problem. I didn't see any indication that he had attempted to fix his sleep schedule before he dropped caffeine, though it's certainly possible that he did. Sleep exercise and diet are connected to each other, and maybe kicking caffeine happened to give him enough motivation or momentum to improve all three of them, but it's only loosely related. Setting up dropping caffeine as the cause of his improvement is strange - it just happened to come first.
  - doctornemo 14y ago
    You're correct about not trying to fix the sleep schedule before kicking caffeine. I was just too damned busy, for far too long. Cf my above comment about caffeine's continuous nature, too.

jessriedel 14y ago

FYI, the dominant theory is that ulcerative colitis is an autoimmune disease, and the inflammation in the colon has nothing to do with what is eaten. Instead, it's due to the immune system deciding to attack the intestinal tissue. It might be provoked indirectly by things like stress, but coffee or other food are not thought to trigger flare-ups. (That said, some people find they can reduce their discomfort by modifying their diet once a flare-up begins. But there is no evidence that diet either provokes flare-ups or induces remission.)

jperras 14y ago
Good to know. My doctor suspected that I might have ulcerative colitis, but luckily it was not the case. I was highly symptomatic due to my incredibly poor lifestyle habits that I described elsewhere in this thread, so suspecting that I might suffer from UC/Crohn's disease wasn't completely out of left-field.
- doctornemo 14y ago
  jessriedel is correct. That's true of most cases. Alas, not mine. Interesting view, jperras. For me the caffeine changed loomed largest, partly because it was a nearly continuous part of my day. Eating meals was a handful of hours; ditto adding exercise. But I usually had coffee/soda to hand.
IamBren 14y ago
While that may be the dominant theory it doesn't appear to be true. I follow a doctor out of NJ who uses dietary intervention to successfully treat a lot of diseases most doctors will say are "incurable", including ulcerative colitis, IBS, lupus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes (the adult onset type). He has an entire newsletter devoted to the following: Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Aggresive dietary modifications hold key to relief and recovery. Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Recovery requires adherence to high–nutrient, fiber–rich diet. Nutritional and Dietary Protocols for IBD – These nutritional basics have helped hundreds of patients. A Crohn's Success Story – IBD patient makes recovery even after two surgeries. Specific Carbohydrate Diet – Lack of scientific support and low success rate on this diet. Eat For Health Recipes – The highest scoring recipes from Dr. Fuhrman's newest book. https://www.drfuhrman.com/members/NewsletterDownload.aspx?issue=36 https://www.drfuhrman.com/members/NewsletterDownload.aspx?is... He shows (with references to back every claim, as with all of his writing) that these diseases DEFINITELY have a LOT to do with what is eaten. The newsletter is $7. I wish it were free for as important as I feel this issue is. I would hope that before you continue to make such definite, and possibly dangerous claims, that you would fork over the money to at least make sure you're not helping to send people down the path of needless pain and suffering.

samratjp 14y ago

He wrote a first part here - http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/04/a-year-without-caffeine/ http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/04/a-year-without-caffeine... (this was on HN earlier and sets the context for the caffeine free lifestyle).

curiousDog 14y ago

Could you expand on your diet changes? (For eg: General breakfast, lunch and dinner?) I have the same symptoms and have a colonoscopy scheduled to check for ulcerative colitis. I'm in my mid 20s and lead the typical unhealthy lifestyle (eat out everyday, lot's of spicy food). Only recently have I started having these problems (severe heartburn, stool 6-8 times/day etc) Sigh..guess I'm getting old already..