subject: Thinking About Managing Your Crohn's Disease with Humira? Read This First and Start The Specific Carbohydrate Diet Instead! [print this page] Crohn's disease can and has been naturally managed by many people using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
Commitment to the SCD diet is not all always easy because you will need to modify your lifestyle but strict adherence to the diet is number one key. If you try and follow the diet less than 100% you will never reap the full benefits of the diet.
Because this commitment is so important and is many times the greatest challenge most people have to overcome I wanted to put a quick list together that puts this commitment in perspective for you. I choose Humira as I feel it is an even bigger commitment yet most Crohn's suffers routinely choose it over the specific carbohydrate diet. Obviously you should consult your doctor before choosing a new way to control your disease but think of these as food for thought to discuss with the doc.
1. Humira masks the problems of your disease by only helping your current symptoms. The SCD diet on the other addresses your disease at its root source and then slowly heals your symptoms for the long term. Let's look at an analogy of the Humira to your body:
If I told you I had a horrible problem in which my toilet was overflowing and now every time I go to the bathroom my feet get soaked. As a friend would you give me some rubber boots so I wouldn't get wet? Or would you tell me to go turn off the water and then fix the broken part of the toilet? My hope is you're a nice enough friend to suggest option 2 but you get the idea.
Humira is to your body what those rubber boots were to my feet. Humira basically turns off your immune system by interfering with the production of TNF-alpha. TNF-alpha is a protein that your body produces as an inflammatory response to the damage in your digestive system. Unfortunately just because the inflammation response goes away doesn't mean the inflammation does and you are left wearing huge boots in a pool of crap.
The SCD diet is different, it is designed to address the underlying inflammation causes. In the process it will help all the inflammation symptoms but it was designed to deliver healing not just relief of pain.
2. Humira has a list of side effects that read like a death warrant including: nausea, back pain, sinus infections, high cholesterol, upper respiratory tract infections, sinus infections, high blood pressure, blood in your urine, and don't worry I saved the best for last: infections like tuberculosis, sepsis (bacteria in your blood), fungal oh and lastly don't forget about the increased risk of cancer
The SCD Diet has side effects like: mental clarity, improved digestion, reduced inflammation, reduced risk of cardiovascular problems, increased energy and increased nutrient absorption
Both are a means to spending less time on the toilet and doing more of the things you love, but how long will it last? Your choice.
3. Humira isn't cheap, estimates show that Humira can cost well over $10,000 a year for patients with no drug coverage. That is close to a $1000 a month! There is no way unless your feeding a family of 10 the best grass fed organic meats, fruits and vegetables that you could get close to that number.
Think about Crohn's and Colitis sufferers spend about $2 billion annually on this medication where as the SCD diet is going to save you money while allowing you to invest your money in foods that your body needs.
4. Humira has been approved for human use and on the market for close to 10 years. The SCD diet is very close to the paleo/primal diets, these diets are based on the fact that we should only eat what our ancestors ate. So that means the SCD diet has about 200,000 years of science behind it.
Hmm, I chooseumm the one that didn't have to get approved for me, ya know the one with 199,990 years of my ancestors eating it should be enough
5. Humira is a short term crutch solution to a problem that when used typically leaves you feeling broke, moody, worried and full of anxiety. The SCD diet is empowering way to take control of your own destiny, learn to cook, learn about your body, and finally decide to look after your own health.
To sum it all up the bottom line is this: using modern day unproven pharmaceutical drugs to suppress your immune system to hide the symptoms of your disease just so you can shovel any food you want into your body is risky, expensive and not addressing your root problem. Take control of your health today by doing your own research and starting the specific carbohydrate diet to heal your problems rather than hide them.
If you do decide to make use of the information I've shared above and are interested in learning more about the SCD diet please see below.
Thinking About Managing Your Crohn's Disease with Humira? Read This First and Start The Specific Carbohydrate Diet Instead!
