Question:

My dad was diagnosed with Crohn's disease around 20 years ago and has suffered with the illness since, enduring 13 major surgeries and countless bouts of illness. I too have had digestive problems most of my life, beginning with rectal prolapses as a toddler and progressing though to now eating a restricted diet (no gluten) to avoid being continually ill. I also seem to have a low resistance to general illness such as colds and suffer from a lot of mouth ulcers. My great aunt on my mum's side has also had bowel cancer.

I guess I am just concerned with looking after my digestive health as much as possible due to my risk factors. I am a 22-year-old woman of healthy weight (a bit below average for my height), eat a mostly healthy diet and am reasonably active (I am fit). Every time I seek advice from a GP I am essentially laughed at! One told me that as I'm not overweight I shouldn't be concerned.

I'm not being paranoid or a hypochondriac. I just want to know if I'm doing everything I can to keep me healthy in the long run.

Response:

I recommend you have a full naturopathic consultation so I can accurately prescribe nutritional supplements and herbs and give specific dietary advice. It's fantastic that you want to have optimum health, and it's especially important when you have a family history of digestive problems such as Crohn's disease.

Without knowing your full case and diet, here are some important ways to improve your digestive and overall health.

Probiotics: Taken as a supplement or found in yoghurt, probiotics help improve the balance of good bowel flora. These beneficial bacteria are an important part of your immune system, needed for good digestion and producing certain vitamins such as B12 and K.

Fibre: Dietary fibre is found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, wholegrains (gluten-free include brown rice, quiona, amaranth, millet and buckwheat), psyllium husks and slippery elm. It is very important for bowel health, keeping you regular and preventing constipation, helps reduce the risk of bowel cancer and helps lower cholesterol.

Bitter foods: Foods such as lemon, apple cider vinegar, and bitter lettuce (rocket, endives), stimulate stomach acid production when eaten. Stomach acids are needed to break down foods and improve the absorption of nutrients, which will directly improve your digestion and health.

Avoid gluten and experiment with different gluten-free grains. There are a lot of great gluten-free grains available such as quiona, a highly nutritious grain high in protein, which can be used similar to rice. Millet, amaranth, buckwheat and brown rice are also excellent grains that you can add to dishes, or buy puffed or flaked to add to muesli or eaten as breakfast cereal. Make your own healthy fruit muffins and banana bread with gluten-free flours made from these grains.

Boost your immunity and prevent mouth ulcers by including garlic in the diet regularly, eat zinc rich foods such as fish, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and boost your vitamin C intake.

For more information visit Lisa's website, Art of healing.