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Dietary Considerations for Patients with Chronic Illnesses and Multiple Chronic Infections: A Brief Outline of Eighteen Dietary Steps to Better Health

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Oct, 2001 by Garth L. Nicolson, Dr. Richard Ngwenya

Abstract

There are a number of considerations when undergoing therapy for chronic illnesses including whether to use allopathic or conventional Western medical approaches as well as integrative nutraceutical supplements and an appropriate diet. Paramount in these considerations is a patient's diet, irrespective of the type of therapy that is being used to control chronic illness. We have found that most chronic illness patients, including those with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia Syndrome, Gulf War Illness, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hepatitis, Diabetes, Coronary Diseases, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Autoimmune Diseases, HIV/AIDS, among other chronic illnesses, usually have poor diets that contribute significantly to their illnesses. Furthermore, we have found that patients who refuse to change their dietary habits usually do not recover from their illnesses. Thus diet is extremely important, and chronic illness patients must follow some simple procedures to correct their dysfunctional gastrointestinal tracts and restore proper nutrition to their bodies.

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General Nutritional Considerations for Chronic Illness Patients

Chronic illness patients are often immuno-suppressed or have dysfunctional immune systems and are susceptible to opportunistic infections, so proper nutrition is extremely important. You should not smoke or drink alcohol or caffeinated products. Drink as much fresh fluids as you can, lots of vegetable juices and pure water are best. Try to avoid high sugar and high fat foods, such as military chow or other fast foods and acid forming, allergen-prone and system-stressing foods and especially, high sugar/fat junk foods. Increase your intake of fresh vegetables, some low-sugar fruits and grains, and decreased intake of saturated fats. Note that simple or refined sugars can suppress your immune system. To build your immune system, cruciferous vegetables, soluble fiber foods, such as prunes and bran, wheat germ, fish and whole grains are useful. Meat and fish can be consumed for protein, but be sure that it is lean and well-cooked. In some patients exclusive use of 'organic' foods has been beneficial, as these do not contain the levels of pesticides and chemicals as the usual commercial sources of foods.

The important points to remember are:

1. Do not eat sugar or high-sugar-containing foods. This is the number one problem in the diets of most chronic illness patients. Simple processed sugars can stimulate disease-causing microorganisms that require sugars for their growth. Most pathogenic or disease-causing microorganisms require simple sugars so high sugar diets actually stimulate their proliferation. For example, high sugar diets stimulate bacteria, yeast and fungal forms and even parasites, and patients eating processed sugars often show signs of thrush or yeast and bacteria on their tongue and at other places in their bodies, in their blood and in body secretions. Since most chronic illness patients have excessive levels of yeasts and other fungai, these can overwhelm the immune system and produce fatigue and other signs and symptoms. In addition to stimulating the over-growth of yeasts and other fungi, simple sugars can also directly suppress the immune system. Examples: foods that are particularly stressing to chronic illness patients are carbonated drinks, cookies, biscuits, dried fruits, and any food that contains added sugar. We recommend natural sugar substitutes, such as Stevia made from Stevia rebaudiana (for information call: 1-800-4STEVIA).

2. Do not consume caffeine. Caffeine can stimulate the growth of certain microorganisms and can change your blood properties and stimulate certain biochemical pathways that are not helpfull for chronic illness patients. In addition, excess caffeine can modify your immune system's ability to fight disease.

3. Reduce or eliminate milk products. Milk and milk products stimulate the growth of yeast and fungi. Milk also contains high amounts of sugar and fat, two dietary components that should be reduced in your diet. Sour milk or its products, such as yogurt, can be troublesome for some patients. We usually suggest that patients use supplementation with Lacto bacillus acidophillus and other friendly bacteria (from 3-6 billion live organisms twice per day) to restore gastrointestinal balance. Your gut contains approximately 2 kilograms of bacteria, and these bacteria are important in digestion and maintenance of a healthy gastrointestinal system. The use of friendly bacteria supplements is discussed in more detail below.

4. Reduce starch intake. Starches are broken down to simple sugars, and simple sugars as discussed above are not useful for chronic illness patients. Since starches are complex carbohydrates, they are broken down gradually to simple sugars, so some starch is not bad for you, but you should try to limit the amount of starches in your diet. Diets rich in pastas and breads should be avoided.

5. Increase intake of vegetables. Vegetables, especially green vegetables, are especially useful in restoring your body because they contain important vitamins, minerals and fiber. They also tend to decrease the amounts of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in your gut because these mainly use simple sugars and lipids to grow. Vegetables also help cleanse your bowel by moving pathogenic bacteria and fungi through your gut. Eating lots of vegetables also increases your bowel movements, and this can be beneficial to restoring your gut and removing toxins from your body.

Health Care Industry

Dietary Considerations for Patients with Chronic Illnesses and Multiple Chronic Infections: A Brief Outline of Eighteen Dietary Steps to Better Health

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Oct, 2001 by Garth L. Nicolson, Dr. Richard Ngwenya

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