Diverticulitis
Three friends have recently had serious bouts of diverticulitis. That's when small pouches (diverticula) form and push out through weak spots in the wall of your colon. These become inflamed and infected due to feces, bacteria, pathogens and partially digested food getting caught in them. EXTREMELY painful. The internet gives you the treatment options which include medication, lifestyle changes, and surgery.
How about we talk prevention and non-medical treatment options, a couple of things you aren't likely to hear from your ConMed doctor.
1. What causes those sacs to form? Undigested food particles.
2. What causes undigested food particles? Lack of sufficient Hcl in your gut, poor gut health, not chewing enough. (Nobody chews enough, we Americans eat like we got a tip on a famine.)
3. What causes a weak spot in your colon? Not enough protein and collagen in your diet to keep the walls of your colon strong. Not just your colon either: your entire digestive tract which is lips to anus. Plus, once you’ve had diverticulitis, your walls are especially weakened right there at the pockets. The goal is to heal your gut completely meaning healing and smoothing out those pockets!
Yes, I'm making this 3rd grade simple but you are getting the basics.
Recommendations for Prevention & Healing
HOMEOPATHY
We’ve been using homeopathy for almost a decade now. When I’m home, it’s always the first thing I turn to. A couple of years ago, I had a terrible bout with a mysterious gut ailment that laid me out, I was very sick. Homeopathy fixed it. I had a chronic cough for 8 years, tried everything… homeopathy fixed it in 3 days. I’ve done several basic classes and rely on my homeopathic remedies and friends!
The Banerji family in India are the bomb when it comes to homeopathy cures. Here’s their protocol for diverticulitis:
Staphysagria 200C, one dose every third day
Lycopodium Clavatum 200C + Plumbum Metallicum 200C, 2 doses daily
For bleeding, Ferrum Posphoricum 3X, one dose (4 tablets) every 15 minutes (link is for 6C but that should work until we can find 3X)
If you’ve never done homeopathy before, don’t hesitate to contact me (hit reply or leave a comment) and I can walk you thru it! Happy to do so.
CASTOR OIL PACKS
Details here. Castor oil is a mysterious and effective healing agent. A castor oil pack will help heal almost anywhere on your body!
AVOID FOODS
Grains, nuts, seeds. This includes corn chips, pasta and bread. (Trust me, I'm crying too.) Grains, nuts, seeds do NOT digest in our system, even when properly prepared (soaked, dried, fermented). They are MORE digestible when properly prepared but do not turn to mush before elimination as food ought to do. You've glanced at your poop the day after eating corn on the cob, right? It's those bits that get caught in the colon and create sacs that collect bacteria.
INCLUDE FOODS
Beef bone broth. The #1 best cure for all digestion ills. If you do nothing else, make bone broth and drink a cup a day.
With plenty of real salt. Not table salt, no no no. You want Redmonds Real Salt or Celtic or Pink. The real stuff. (What??? Your doctor told you not to eat salt? RUN!!!! That doctor is an idiot. You're welcome.)
Raw milk. NOT PASTEURIZED. Raw milk is full of beneficial bacteria and calcium, both needed for a healthy gut. Drink 8 ounces a day, it can even be in your coffee.
Coconut Oil, 2 T a day. Start S-L-O-W. If you are a coffee drinker, start with a dash of coconut oil or MCT in your coffee, 1/2 tsp MAX the first few days. You've heard of disaster pants? Take your time working up to 2 tsps. You can also spread it out amongst your cups of coffee so you don't get too much in one cup. Oh, use a frother to emulsify the oil in the coffee! We have this one and love it -- a charge lasts a long time!
SUPPLEMENT
Glycine in a (clean) protein shake. This is the glycine we use. For more details, check out my article on glycine, great stuff. Glycine is also a wonderful sleep aid and mood enhancer.
Collagen in the shake. Don’t need both glycine and collagen — collagen has glycine in it — but both won’t hurt you! We are using glycine for the time being until we feel our guts are in great shape.
Protein shake made with raw milk. This is what we use. It’s clean, vegan (for cleanliness), non-GMO, gluten-soy free, cruelty free, made by a B Corp! The flavors are delicious, I’ve been using this brand since 2017. Either the FeelFit protein shake or the Meal Replacement, both are wonderful.
What have you done for diverticulitis? I’d love to know about other safe and effective strategies for relieving this nightmare!
xo Sally
PS. ARE YOU TAKING A PPI? Stop taking it! Hcl is GOOD and you cannot digest food without it! Read this before stopping the PPI.
Thank you Sally for your frank talk and wisdom on this issue.
Collagen is a LIFE SAVER!
I, also, know several people who are recently struggling with diverticilitis. So tough!
Where do fermented veggies fit into the recommendations? Eat? Or stay away from?
Homeopathy can work wonders for diverticulitis.