Hacker News Reader

Comment by herbivore | Hacker News Reader

I would really like to know how many of the commenters who have or know someone who has Crohn's have cut dairy out of their diet.

My brother and a friend of mine both have Crohn's and have been doing much better ever since I suggested they stop consuming any dairy products. In fact, one of them has gone Vegan and hasn't had a flare up since.

When I meet other people with Crohn's I am always amazed to hear how their doctors instruct them to not bother making significant dietary changes. Based on my research and experience with those who have various bowel-related diseases, and despite what many doctors say, I have little doubt dairy and to some extent animal protein in general is the cause of Crohn's and other bowel complications.

View on HN

herbivore, I don't consume any liquid dairy (as a part of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet). And it certainly helps. I could possibly imagine that my health could improve even more if I avoided all dairy, but there are so many things out of my diet as is. The main things I have eliminated from my diet are grains and refined sugars. I eat none of those. These two restrictions eliminate about 80% of most grocery stores, on their own. But this diet really helps. It's similar to the Paleo Diet, if you've heard of that.

I know a U.C. sufferer who is doing much better after making ... no dietary changes at all. Please don't take this the wrong way, but intermittent chronic diseases (such as auto-immune disorders like Crohn's and U.C.) might as well be designed to take advantage of the broadly recognized weaknesses of the human mind:

    - the perception of pattern where none exists
    - a preference for causal narratives involving benevolent and malevolent agents
    - a preference for simple certainty over complex uncertainty
    - broadly, a sense that you are in control

I am not saying anything about the two of you as individuals or as patients, or about the content of your posts here. But the standard of evidence and reasoning that I have encountered elsewhere trying to get a grasp on U.C. is ... not high. There are many "qualified" people (lifelong UC sufferer with an MS in nursing, etc.) who stopped eating gluten when they were 14, saw their symptoms shortly thereafter, and now push checklists asserting that every fellow patient should stop eating gluten.

    Step 1: observe one data point
    Step 2: publish conclusion based on data point as definitive fact

Ambiguity and uncertainty are unpleasant and, when the stakes are high, scary. But false certainty in the face of high stakes appeals to me not at all.

I have been diagnosed with an auto-immune issue that has a single obvious symptom and a bunch of long term, harder to track ones.

Several months ago, I was on a very low carb diet to lose some weight (which worked!) and my obvious symptom went away after 10 days on this diet. Wow! Now it's time to experiment to see what's up.

Here's what I've found - if I eat something 'bad', in 2 days time, my symptom comes back. In 3 days it peaks, and it tails off over the next 4 days. This makes it really tricky to isolate the specific food that is causing my primary symptom.

So far, I've found the outer edges of my problem foods, but I need to find the inner edges - is it sugar, or potatoes, or rice, or wheat, or beans, or beer, or all of the above? This part is harder to test specifically, as there are other things going on in my life at the same time, and I like eating out, which can sabotage any in-progress test.

Overall though, this is a much better place to be than taking the $2000 per month biologic injections that I've been prescribed for the rest of my life - and it helps that the ultra-low carb solution provides better symptom relief too!

That's awesome -- and not an example of the thinking I find problematic.

Well, I can tell you that eating beans (pretty much required for a vegan?) and cabbage hurts like hell. In fact anything that is a little too gassy. Eating a lot less tomatoes helps too. Milk is annoying, but not cheese, and especially not yogurt. I think yogurt actually helps you. I have no problem with meat, except when it's too bloody.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com