With the wrong bacteria residing in the gut, stool content may be low.
But with the proper bacteria in the large intestine, stool bulk can
increase by as much as 45 percent.
Case History
CR was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis more than 10 years
before coming to my clinic. This chronic inflammatory condi-
tion, including significant losses of blood, frequent diarrhea
and extreme fatigue not only was a serious health problem but
it was wrecking her entire life. The medications that were keep-
ing CR alive had many side effects, and each year, on one or
two occasions, she would get so ill that hospitalization was the
only option. She resisted surgery, and as a last resort was will-
ing to try a more natural approach one more time.
After extensive evaluations, I recommended that CR strictly
adhere to a healthy lifestyle to quickly pull her out of the vis-
cous cycle she was in for most of her adult life. She made sig-
nificant dietary changes beginning with the Two-Week Test. It
was evident that CR had to eliminate all grains and starchy car-
bohydrates, eat smaller more frequent meals, and eliminate all
processed and packaged foods. She started taking a number of
supplements, including fish oil, L-glutamine, betaine
hydrochloride, a natural form of folic acid, and probiotics. She
listened to the music she loved whenever possible during the
day, and made a great effort to avoid the people and activities
in her life that caused her stress.
Within a couple of weeks, CR was noticeably improved, and
after a month her intestinal function was significantly better.
After another month she quickly weaned off all medication. By
six months she claimed there were no symptoms of colitis —
no discomfort, no bleeding and normal bowel movements. A
visit to her gastroenterologist showed significant healing of her
colon, and blood tests were dramatically improved. CR contin-
ued to see me about twice a year without return of any prob-
lems, except on occasion when she would eat improperly dur-
ing travel or holidays — but eventually she was able to resolve
these problems too.THE GUT • 273