May Article -- Celebrate: If You're Here, You're Already Changing

April 2012 article

 I know what type of person you are!

March 2012 Article:  Dinner at the Chinese Buffet

Today I took my dad and myself to dinner at a Chinese buffet near our home. 

Some people read this website and fear that they will go hungry, or feel like they are on a typical weight loss diet. Worse yet, they are afraid they will not know what to eat, or not be able to enjoy eating again. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once you get used to the program, you will see that you can eat almost anything you want, just not all at the same time.

To see how this story might be important to you, understand that I used to have the same digestive disease you do (I believe that diverticulitis, colitis, Crohn's, IBS, IBD etc. are all part of the same family and all have the same causes). 

I have been on the Pain-Free Foods program long enough that I consider myself fully healed. I also think that since I had this disease before, I know I have the propensity to have it again. For this reason, I do both:  eat on the plan when I choose to, and eat what I want much of the time. Today, for whatever reason -- perhaps I had subconsciously decided to write the March article when I got home -- I chose to be "on the plan" today.

I ate two plates of great food including seafood vegetables, pork BBQ ribs, a pile of shrimp, sweet and sour soup and even a little sushi. I had a great time and a fantastic meal.

Those of you who know the plan well will spot a couple of minor indiscretions above. But this was following the plan for this meal for me since I am a healed "veteran.”

I am here to tell you that you do not suffer once you understand the very few rules of the plan. Yes, the plan is over 20 chapters long, so you do get a lot of information. Remember back to when you first read the website and saw the 5-Minute Quick Start guide mentioned? That is the core of the plan. The rest consists of ideas and tricks you can use to help you heal more quickly, and get you to better health after getting over diverticulitis than you had before, even before you knew you had it. 

Is it easy? For me it is. For a new person, sometimes it is not, because you have a learning curve, just like when you learned to email, or anything else. I would say that it is common for the average new person to hate me for a week after reading the plan. In the second week, they start to like the plan because of the pain relief and symptom relief they are finally enjoying. The third week, most people are off and running and forget who I am. I am happy with that, by the way.

It’s interesting that I have noticed a difference between men and women on the plan. Women heal faster, for whatever the same reasons are that women will ask for driving directions and get help. In general, men don't get coaching with me as they get started healing and women do.

This eating plan works. Follow it diligently for the first two or three weeks, and you will feel it working and feel yourself healing. Email or call me anytime to help you do well... especially you guys.

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author, Mike Hohlweg, has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.

This December article is coming out early for a very good reason... to help you have a great Holiday Season, including the meals!

December Newsletter

Milk Without The Cow

Well, the Holiday Season is upon us, and nobody fears Thanksgiving and Christmas meals like us colitis sufferers. If you just stick to the plan, you will not only survive; you’ll have a great holiday season. Today’s newsletter is coming out a little early so you can get one more tip which might help you enjoy yourself.

If you already have the program, "Diet for Colitis," then you know my opinion on milk. Basically, it is an old story: God creates nature, nature creates perfect food, and man takes perfect food, destroys it and serves it to all of us. Ok, enough humor...sort of...

Instead of going on and on about modern milk with its growth hormones, milk inducing chemicals, antibiotics, fecal matter and anti-parasitics, let's talk solutions this time.

Who doesn't like a little milk on their cereal or oatmeal? Who doesn't want a little milk in their coffee or tea? Who doesn't want a bit of ice cream now and them? We all do, right?

The Diet for Colitis program certainly has its inconveniences, so let's not deny ourselves some simple pleasures. Milk substitutes are everywhere now, with as many as 8 choices per large supermarket. Today's newsletter is not only going to advise you to use them as a source of normalcy in the program, but also to give you my opinion on the best choices for health and enjoyment.

Regular milk is a dairy product, which according to the program is a protein food, even though it contains carbs as well. With milk substitutes there are great varieties of ingredients. This allows you to use the "eating chart" in the plan to choose the "milk" best for you.

Before I give you my top two choices for "milk-like" products, I am going to tell you what to look for in these products:

1) Since all of them have substantial carb content, you need to consider choosing a low protein offering to always follow Rule One of the program.

2) Some choices are potentially bad for you for another reason. Soy products are high in phytoestrogens which influence human hormonal levels. These influences may be responsible for a variety of negative health results such as cancer, thyroid disorders, altered menstrual cycles and a number of other issues. Infants should never be given soy-based milk or other products. One study (www.westonaprice.org) claims that an infant fed only soy-based formula is being given the equivalent of the female hormone estrogen to the tune of 5 birth control pills per day. This is not acceptable. There is a lot more to be said on this subject, but let's leave it at this for now: Don't use soy milk.

Ok now -- the drum rolls please.....

The top two choices for milk substitutes for colitis patients are: 

1) Rice milk. One brand I have seen and used is Rice Dream. The product does have a gram of protein which is tolerable for most people. This is especially true if they have been on the plan for two to four weeks. Rice dream is a bit watery and looks a little more like 2% milk than whole milk. The taste is sweet and light.

2) Almond milk. The brand I have used is called Almond Breeze. As with the rice milk, it has carbs and one gram of protein. The almond milk Almond Breeze is very different from the Rice Dream. Almond Breeze is a heavy-bodied milk substitute with the approximate consistency of half-and-half or a light cream. It is thicker than whole milk. It is slightly sweet, and a little more tan in color than milk.

My opinion is, both products represent the "cream of the crop" in milk substitutes and are a far better choice than cow’s milk, especially for the colitis sufferer. When using these, consider them a carb food. Enjoy!

A final note: Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner are the worst two meals of the year for colitis sufferers. Follow the one rule from Chapter 22 and enjoy the meal almost like everyone else does, guilt free, worry free and most of all: pain free. Happy Holidays.

Mike Hohlweg, author CPFF

Your friends at CPFF

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi-week, multi-month or even a year or more's process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author Mike Hohlweg has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.

Here is the November 2011 article:

This month's article is on fiber. No, no, everyone sit down and stop applauding.  It may not be quite as exciting as you think.

In the world of digestive disorders, fiber is probably the most controversial subject. You'll find a lot of true and a lot of false information about this subject.

Let's start with what everyone agrees on. In a healthy person, fiber is good. Most people get too little fiber in their diet. 

The real problem with lack of fiber is low volume in the intestines. It might help to think of your intestines, and especially your colon,  as being like a tube of toothpaste. When you get down to the last toothpaste in the tube, it is a lot more work to push it out of the tube.  This is the danger that too little fiber and eating that is too low-residue has on your system.  Eating a diet low in fiber is much harder on your intestines than eating a higher fiber diet to "move things along."

I do have to tell you, however -- once you already have diverticulitis or colitis, adding a lot more fiber suddenly is not necessarily a good idea. Consider for a moment that you could ahave a much-damaged colon.  If you have pain, diverticula, fistulas, sores, wounds, and tears to begin with, then you’re already on a road with a sign at the end, reading “Watch out.”  Here’s why.  Your colon, like a damaged tube of toothpaste, is weak, injured and may even have small tears in it. Suddenly adding a large volume of anything can actually cause complications and lots of pain. When the "tube" is weak, you don't want to add to the physical pressure it is under.

Only you and your doctor can assess whether or not you have open wounds and tears.  Most people with colitis or diverticulitis are not at this level of crisis. If you know your colon is sound, gradually adding fiber is healthy and very tolerable for nearly everyone. When you increase your bulk by adding fiber to your diet, you move material through your colon much as you squeeze toothpaste through a tube of toothpaste.  You make it easier for your colon to move the material through successfully. This process of movement is called peristalsis. Think of peristalsis as the motion of your hand squeezing the toothpaste tube.  Having lots of toothpaste makes it easy to dispense, while smaller amounts of toothpaste makes it difficult to move out of the tube, and the tube gets traumatized in the process of forcing the small amounts through it. This analogy is not far from the truth. 

If you don't eat at least 25% to 50% of your diet from the produce section of the grocery store or from your garden, you probably have a low-fiber diet. The less fresh produce you eat, the more you should add fiber back to your diet. In the meantime, supplement your fiber with something from the grocery store or health food store. I don't like naming brands, but concentrate on healthier fiber choices. They all help. The one thing I recommend against is choosing a fiber source which is loaded with sugar, or worse yet artificial sweetener. I know it is annoying to listen to me sometimes telling you why "nearly everything is bad," but my first passion is telling you the truth. I am not going to tell you what you want to hear instead of telling you the truth. 

If you won't listen to this advice, here is a simple list to give you "best, better, good, and bad" choices. 

Best:  When your colon health is decent (no wounds or tears), gradually increase your fiber intake with fresh produce until you have at least one substantial movement per day, and preferably two to four times per day (although they may not all be substantial).

Better:  Same as above regarding colon health, but gradually increase your fiber intake by taking a supplement such as a psyllium seed, psyllium husk or psyllium powder. Flax seed (crushed or powdered) is also a great fiber choice and includes some omega oils and  nutrients  as well. When choosing your fiber, avoid too much sugar and avoid all artificial sweeteners. In my opinion, they are toxic.

Good:  Same as above regarding colon health, but take any type of fiber you can tolerate well, sugared, artificial sugar, pills, tablets, etc.  Do something to improve your volume and it will still benefit you.

Bad:  Keep doing what you are doing now and pretend you are going to get better. It is true that the program alone will cure diverticulitis and colitis, but the volume of stool moving through you is always going to be a factor in your internal health. 

One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing you have always done, but expect or hope for a different result.

Fiber is good for us for other reasons as well. The shape and non-softening nature of fiber makes it an internal "scrub-brush" as it moves through us. It is the most effective internal cleanser we can use. If you look at a person as a machine, such as a car for example, you know that the internal dirt and buildup needs to be addressed periodically.  In a car, this is handled with the 3,000-mile oil change.  In people, especially in the UK, Australia, Canada and the U.S., we usually no longer fast (go without food periodically).  We are rich enough and food is accessible enough we have come to think of missing a meal or two as some type of plague which has us "starving."

Because we no longer get enough fiber, and we almost never fast for a 24-hour period (a natural cleanse), we are never getting cleaned out.  As a group, our plumbing is filthy inside. Please consider adding some fiber to your diet. When you take in fiber you also need to drink a full glass of water per each dose, above and beyond what it takes to mix the fiber.  This is because you want to make the material moving through your "tubes" the consistency of toothpaste, and not the consistency of a brick. Add fiber, add water, and get healthier.

Please do what it takes to get over this horrible disease. 

Your friends at CPFF

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individualpatient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author, Mike Hohlweg, has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.

This is the new article for October 2011:

What causes a colitis episode?  This answer is especially important because we already know that many people eat exactly the same way we do and DON'T get colitis. It gets even tougher when you learn that colitis has no DNA link. That means that colitis does not seem to run in families. Yes, there are families that have two family members with it, but colitis is still considered not genetic.

To see why you have colitis, you need to understand that all people have a "vulnerable spot." Very possibly, your vulnerable spot is your digestive tract. Another person's is a tendency to headaches. Another might be prone to allergies. Put enough pressure on a person and s/he will "crack" at the weak point or vulnerable spot. The most common "pressure" we go through is stress, be it related to work, finance, love or family.

The person whose weak spot is headaches may end up with a migraine, the person who has the propensity for allergies will get a runny nose and the colitis sufferer... well, you get the picture. 

All three problems are due to stress, but the end result is different for each person. These end results are not diseases, they are really conditions. Actually they are stress-caused conditions. You might be thinking: "If the condition is caused by stress, why are we recommending a diet to fix it?" The logic is this: the relief for a headache is Excedrin or Motrin. The person with the headache did not have a lack of Excedrin or Motrin, yet Excedrin or Motrin might "cure" him. Not everyone has the means to turn off stress. We may have to work with people we don't like. We may have fears, insecurities and doubts about our love life, finances or health that cause stress. Most of can't just "turn off the stress switch."

The point is that stress causes health issues, but eliminating stress may not be practical for most of us. Colitis works the same way. Most people cannot cure colitis by flipping a switch or dreaming that it will just go away. Because of that, we help you eliminate colitis with diet.  

If you could just eliminate stress from your life, you would almost certainly cure many of your health concerns. Those of us who live in   industrialized countries know that stress is inevitable and that discomfort, aging and sometimes poor health are linked to stress. This knowledge not only does not help the problem, it might be one more thing to worry about. We don't know what to do about it. 

Many "diseases" have impractical cures (such as living on a desert island), but they also have less obvious cures, like colitis does... such as diet. The most common method of trying to cure ourselves is taking prescriptions (including over the counter medications). Prescriptions do not cure, they suppress symptoms. Often in suppressing one symptom, they cause other symptoms. Medications are  valuable when used temporarily and sparingly. They can also be damaging... but that is for next month's article.

Be fairly strict on the program and please read the newsletters. They help you work the miracle.  

Thanks for reading,

Mike Hohlweg, author CPFF  

CPFF is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. If you are seeing a doctor or taking medications, continue to do so and consult with your physician before starting any new eating or nutrition program or changing your medication regimen. Even if the program works for you as it has for so many, your digestive tract may be inflamed or injured to the point where complete healing may be a multi week, month or even a year or more process. We do believe in this program and stand behind our guarantee 100%, but we are never going to be aware of all the conditions or complications that may exist in an individual patient. CPFF is not supervised by doctors or nurses. The author, Mike Hohlweg, has no medical or nutritional training whatsoever.