Could Inflammatory Bowel Disease Be the Culprit behind Your Chronic Digestive Issues?

Inflammatory bowel disease is a serious chronic condition that can be debilitating if you don’t know how to manage it.

women laying on a couch with stomach pain

Could Inflammatory Bowel Disease Be the Culprit Behind Your Chronic Digestive Issues?

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to two similar but separate diseases that cause digestive issues and inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. These two diseases are Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).

The traditional approach of medication and biological treatments falls short for so many with IBD. Functional medicine approaches are often successful in reducing flare-ups and preventing further health complications.

Read on to learn about what you can do to reduce your chances of developing IBD. If you’ve been diagnosed with IBD, or you suspect you might have it, we’ll also go over how to manage your symptoms so they don’t rule your life.

Signs you may have inflammatory bowel disease

There’s a strong genetic component with IBD, but it’s possible and even common to develop it without a family history.

Crohn’s and UC have a lot in common, but there are some crucial differences.

While Crohn’s disease often affects the lower part of your small intestine, it can also show up in the mouth, anus, large intestine, and stomach. UC primarily affects the colon, specifically the mucosal layer. With UC, there are often lesions in the rectum and intestines, which is why rectal bleeding is more common with this disease (1).

Crohn’s can develop in all layers of the bowel wall, while UC is only present in the inner bowel. Despite these differences, CD and UC share a lot of the same symptoms, such as:

Fever
Diarrhea
Urgency
Abdominal pain
Weight loss and nutrient deficiencies (resulting from damage to the small intestine and its capacity to absorb nutrients)
Loss of appetite
Fatigue

IBD can also manifest in other ways such as (2):

Severe ulcers on the legs
Inflammation of the eyes, mouth, and spinal joints
Urinary tract infections and kidney stones due to stress on the kidneys

The diagnosis process for both diseases includes a combination of bloodwork, stool analysis, and other screenings.

Now that we know what inflammatory bowel disease looks like, let’s talk about the risk factors and potential health complications.

Risk Factors and Health Complications Associated with IBD

The direct cause of IBD is still unknown, but there are a handful of factors that can increase your risk.

Lifestyle choices such as poor diet, smoking, and the use of oral contraceptives (especially long-term use) have been linked to an increased risk of both UC and CD (3). Exposure to different environmental toxins such as mold and endocrine disruptors can weaken your immune system, which may contribute to the development of IBD.

Genetics and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Around 8-12% of IBD patients have a family history of one of these diseases, but Crohn’s shows a more frequent genetic connection than UC (4).

This percentage isn’t insignificant, but it’s clear that genetics aren’t the only cause of IBD.

It is epigenetics plays the most significant role in the development of UC

Candida Infections

Candida organisms are fungal bacteria that primarily arise from your gut microbiota. They commonly colonize the gastrointestinal tract and are non-threatening in many cases (5). However, high colonization rates are associated with a greater risk of CD and UC, as well as other diseases in the digestive tract.

Candida colonization appears to worsen inflammation, and vice versa.

Leaky Gut

Leaky gut can result from poor diet, drug use, severe stress, and other lifestyle and environmental factors (6). IBD and leaky gut are linked and both affect your intestinal lining.

Candida growth also weakens the intestinal lining and is associated with leaky gut syndrome.

Potential Health Complications

For some, inflammatory bowel disease heavily impacts their quality of life. Unfortunately, UC and CD are also linked with higher hospitalization rates and an increased risk of other health complications (7).

If you have IBD, you also have a higher risk of developing:

Colon cancer
Blood clots
Liver disease
Arthritis
Osteoporosis

There’s also a potential for further issues with the intestine, such as toxic megacolon. This is a life-threatening condition that involves the widening of your intestines.

If you think you may have inflammatory bowel disease, it’s important to try to get a diagnosis so you can avoid further complications.

Functional Medicine Approaches to Preventing and Managing Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Lifestyle choices, changes in diet, and nutrition supplementation are some of the main treatment methods for inflammatory bowel disease.

Lifestyle

Several habits greatly increase your risk of developing IBD. These same habits also worsen IBD and can lead to other health issues.

Some changes you can make to lower your risk and manage existing symptoms include:

Quit cigarette smoking
Avoiding alcohol (8)
Replacing household and personal care products that contain endocrine disruptors with clean products
Limiting the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen and naproxen)
Trying natural treatment solutions like acupuncture, which can alleviate inflammation from IBD (9)

Lifestyle modifications are often recommended along with diet changes for managing IBD.

Supplements

Treatments involving a modified diet and nutritional supplements greatly benefit patients with IBD.

One study observed the effects of dietary changes and supplement intake on a 23-year-old patient with UC (10). She was able to improve her symptoms and reduce flare-ups by eating low-FODMAP foods and taking supplements to support her gut. She continued taking the following supplements after the study to manage her UC:

Vitamin B
Vitamin D
Omega-3 fatty acids

Probiotics can also help with IBD symptoms by reducing inflammation and maintaining balance in the gut (11). A healthy diet is also needed for a balanced gut, but helpful diet choices will look different for everyone.

Diet

Certain diets can decrease an individual’s risk of developing IBD. Dietary changes are also often used to treat UC and CD.

First and foremost, avoid processed foods which are loaded with chemicals and preservative, refined sugar, and seed oils. These wreak havoc on your gut and cause inflammation.

While everyone will have different foods that trigger their symptoms, avoiding high-FODMAP foods benefits the majority of Crohn’s patients (12). Some foods and drinks that are high in FODMAPS are (13):

Garlic
Large quantities of wheat
High-caffeine beverages and alcohol
Fruits such as apples, peaches, and grapes
Vegetables such as onions, asparagus, and mushrooms

These can increase your risk of developing IBD. If you have IBD, they may worsen your symptoms.

A low-FODMAP diet can be beneficial for those with IBD. My next blog will go over the low-FODMAP diet in depth. Some low-FODMAP alternatives for the above foods are:

Buckwheat, oats, and quinoa
Chives, cilantro, and garlic-infused oil
Tea, red and white wine, and certain beers
Kiwi, oranges, papaya, and pineapple
Arugula, carrots, kale, and spinach

The low-FODMAP diet is not meant to be followed forever. The purpose is to slowly reintroduce FODMAPs and identify which foods trigger your symptoms so you can reduce them (14).

Rectal ozone insufflation

While this treatment may sound intimidating, it’s painless and effective. It’s also not as invasive as you might think.

It involves introducing ozone, a naturally occurring gas with three oxygen molecules, into the rectum using a catheter and other equipment. Due to its unstable nature, O3 immediately forms oxygen (O2) and is such an excellent way to oxygenate hypoxic diseased tissue.

O3 has an antimicrobial effect on funguses, viruses, and bacteria, thus having the ability to restore and support healthy intestinal flora. O3 further makes its way into the bloodstream near the intestines and is therefore an optimal systemic delivery mechanism. More oxygen goes directly to the gut and liver, which makes it an effective treatment for diseases like CD and UC. (15)

Ozone therapy can help to treat the following conditions:

Viral infections such as Flu, Colds and Shingles
Auto-Immune Diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Ulcerative Colitis
Crohn’s Disease
Mold Infections
Bladder infections
Liver disease including Hepatitis
Herpes I and II
Fibromyalgia
Fatigue/exhaustion and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
And more

Consult a Functional Medicine Professional If You’re at Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Or You Have It Already)

There are many lifestyle and dietary changes you can make on your own to prevent and manage inflammatory bowel disease. However, it’s a good idea to consult a functional medicine professional for a personalized treatment plan.

A tailored approach to your unique case can provide the best outcomes in a timely fashion so you can save yourself years of trial and error.

Are you ready to take the next step in your health journey and reduce your IBD flare-ups so you can enjoy life without the constant pain and worry?

Request a free 15-minute consultation with me, Dr. Martina Sturm.

We’ll work together to identify your symptom triggers and come up with a treatment plan that works for you and your lifestyle.

P.S. Stick around for my next blog on the low-FODMAP diet for inflammatory bowel disease and other health conditions.

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