In part one of this series, I illustrated just how common that injuries and death are from colonoscopies, which is far greater than the doctors and the media have led you to believe. Yet, those in the medical industry and media often like to claim that colonoscopies have saved thousands of lives, so the benefits outweigh the risks. Is this anymore accurate than their claim that injuries are rare?
The two most common uses of this procedure is for cancer screening and diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. I will cover each separately starting with:
The Efficiency Of Colonoscopies for Cancer Screening
How effective is this procedure for early detection of cancer and is polyp removal (polypectomies) successful at arresting cancer?
- According to the American Cancer Society, up until 2009 “…there are no prospective randomized controlled trials of screening colonoscopy for the reduction in incidence of or mortality from colorectal cancer.”
- The Minnesota Colon Cancer Study, which ran for 18 years and included 46,000 patients between the ages of 50 to 80, demonstrated only a 0.6% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer. This is a statistically insignificant amount. (If you’ve heard greater risk reductions than 0.6%, you are not being lied to, but are receiving the relative risk as opposed to the absolute risk. This is a notorious “slight of hand” used by researchers and pharmaceutical companies to make their findings appear more relevant. An absolute difference is a subtraction; a relative difference is a ratio. The difference of a 0.2% to 0.1% drop would translate to a 50% reduction in relative terms, but in reality is quite insignificant. For more on relative vs. absolute statistics read here. Once you understand that difference, you will realize just how ineffective many drugs and treatments actually are compared to what you have been led to believe.)
- Despite tens of millions of colonoscopies performed between the years 2000 and 2007, the annual incidence of colorectal cancer in the United States INCREASED by about 30,000 more cases.
Any other product, outside of the medical industry, would be abandoned and forgotten with such a dismal rate of proven success. Yet, to hear Katie and others in the media tout this procedure as the greatest life-saver since the polio vaccine, makes my blood boil – especially being a victim in its profitable wake.
Certainly the removal of polyps have saved many from developing colorectal cancer? Look at all of the millions of polyps that have been sliced out of colons since the advent of colonoscopies. The claim is quite impressive, but how has it actually played out on the world’s stage?
From an article in the New York Times, dated 2006; “The patients in all the studies had at least one adenoma detected on colonoscopy but did not have cancer. They developed cancer in the next few years, however, at the same rate as would be expected in the general population without screening.”
Another research study published in 2006 concluded that the screened patients in all of the studies developed colorectal cancer “at the same rate as would be expected in the general population without screening” in the next few years, even though all found polyps had been removed.
If polypectomies were as effective as advertised, and given the fact that about half of americans past age fifty get screened, we would have expected to see the incidence and mortality of colon cancer dive to a 45-50% reduction in mortality. Instead, we have seen a 22% increase. This increase could well be associated with the removal of the polyps themselves. Removing a polyp releases cancer cells into the bloodstream, spreading the cancer at an accelerated rate to other organs.
The result of the Telemark Polyp Study 1 highly supports that theory. Although there was a 2% reduction in colorectal cancers in the screening group that had polyps removed, they had a 157% higher mortality from other causes than the control group. The “all cause” death rate was significantly higher in the group that was screened. So, you may die prematurely, but at least you will die knowing that you have no polyps in your colon while being embalmed. If being a polyp free corpse is all that’s important to you then, by all means, get the colonoscopy.
Most people will live their entire life with colon polyps and never develop colorectal cancer. An estimated 95% of all polyps are benign. They will never become cancers, so removing them and claiming victory over cancer is as fraudulent as cutting every mole off of everyone and boasting that you saved them from melanoma. Removing a benign polyp creates and open wound within the dirtiest organ of the human body. You might as well slice open your finger and stick it into a septic tank or gas station toilet.
The large polyps most commonly removed via colonoscopy are rarely a cancer threat. By far, the largest portion of colon cancers start from flat lesions, which are usually never found or removed with colonoscopies, even though they are considered five times as cancerous as large polyps [source].
The National Cancer Institute’s report suggests it is closer to ten times higher: “In a study in which endoscopists used high-resolution white-light endoscopes, flat or nonpolypoid lesions were found to account for only 11% of all superficial colon lesions, but they were about 9.8 times as likely to contain cancer (in situ neoplasia or invasive cancer) compared with polypoid lesions.”
If colonoscopies are so ineffective at discovering cancer in early stages, why would this procedure be recommended as a proven prophylactic and diagnostic tool for cancer? It can only be driven by the extreme income potential, not only to the doctors, but to the manufacturers of this device that costs in excess of $28,000.00. This should be reason enough to hear a public outrage, but add in the fact that people are being killed or left disabled (as I am) and the outcry should be deafening and I believe it would be, if the american people were given the truth.
The erroneous claims of the success of polypectomies is as much of an illusion as a psychic surgery. Doctors use this parlor trick to remove polyps commonly found in middle-aged to elderly patients and happily grabbed another $2,000.00 dollars and move to the next sucker patient. It all looks so impressive when they can show the patient high-resolution images of the polyps they discovered and removed from inside of them and claim that they saved them from cancer. When in reality, that polyp was little more threat to your life than that mole on their butt.
Even though I believe that Katie Couric has convinced herself that she is saving thousands of lives, her national endorsement of this service has most likely been responsible for the death of more people than she could possibly have saved. Katie responded in a knee-jerk reaction to her husband’s untimely passing with the promotion of this money-making scandal of the medical supply companies. I feel that Katie owes it to her viewers to broadcast stories like mine, showing the potentially deadly and life crushing effects of this service she endorses to healthy people and the rare transplant I received, which would, in fact, have been the only thing that could have saved her husband. I will not hold my breath waiting for her call.
There is a rare group of individuals who suffer from a congenital defect known as Gardener’s Syndrome. These people know who they are, because the cancer runs in their family. For them, screening at the age of 50 would be far too late, because they often develop colon cancer in their 30s. The benefits of colonoscopies does outweigh the risks in their case. But, if you are over 45 and have not developed colorectal cancer yet, you are not one of these people and the risks associated with a colonoscopy far outweigh any potential gain.
Katie’s husband was only 42 when he succumb to colon cancer, leading me to believe he may have suffered from this rare gene mutation (average age of colon cancer is 71, so his case is rare). A simple polyp removal would not have saved his life. Only a full multi-visceral transplant could have. I know this because the woman assigned as my mentor had Gardener’s Syndrome and required a six organ transplant at the age of 33 to rescue her. Katie’s endorsement of colonoscopies is misplaced and she should instead be endorsing intestinal and multi-visceral transplants. But how would that profit GE and her investments in their products? Starting colon screening at the age of 50 would have been little consolation to her late husband, given the fact that he died at the age of 42. Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that Katie is only endorsing what is profitable to her, not what would have truly saved her husband’s life. She is not on a crusade to save lives, but to boost her career.
The Use Of Colonoscopies For Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Besides its use for cancer screening, colonoscopies are also used by Gatroenterologist’s to diagnose Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease and other Inflammatory Bowels Diseases (IBD). This is a deadly combination. The risks of perforation are much greater in these patients. To use a device, which exerts so much pneumatic pressure within a human organ on patients who have weakened areas (ulcers and fistulas) and inflammation is irresponsible to say the least. This procedure should be completely forbidden for use on patients with severe IBD, yet doctors are using it as the tool of choice.
A sigmoidoscopy would be far less invasive and just as effective at diagnosing IBD diseases (by cellular biopsies). Sigmoidoscopy does not require the use of general anesthetics and has less than half the incidence of perforation [source].
A case study reported by the Journal Of the National Cancer Institute stated:
Overall, we found a perforation incidence of nearly two per 1000 colonoscopies, slightly more than twice the perforation incidence from sigmoidoscopy.
But, a sigmoidoscopy charges out at a fraction of the cost of a colonoscopy and takes about the same amount of time to perform. So doctors naturally opt for the colonoscopy. I was never offered the option of, nor given the information about the safety differences between the two or I would most likely still have my native small bowels. I have no idea how many Crohn’s or UC patients have been killed or damaged by these machines as I was, but I would reason to believe that the number is staggering – and of course, unreported.
I would like to give you an idea of the air pressure that can be exerted by this device. After my transplant, the technician operating the ileoscope was a Fellow, who was inexperienced at it. I began to complain of the tremendous pressure, but he ignored my discomfort and continued to pump away. Suddenly, everything in my stomach ejected from my mouth. I didn’t have nausea, nor did I wretch. The air pressure was so great that it literally pushed upward through over 20 feet of bowels and blew open 2 one-way sphincters. I was terrified of these machines after this and would only allow Attending Surgeons to perform any future ileoscopes.
Perforations are difficult to diagnose and often go undetected for several days. Every hour counts after a perforation, because the leakage of colonic bacteria begin to spread infection and necrosis throughout the visceral organs. It can be difficult to diagnose and locate all perforations which has led to the levels of damage and death I have seen in several patients because of delay in treatment. It is the x-ray and/or CT screening for the presence of “free air” in the abdomen that is the golden standard used to diagnose perforations. ”Free air” will not always be present nor easy to detect. The level of confidence that doctors instilled in this diagnostic technique is what led them to dismiss the possibility of perforation and thereby ignore my failing vitals over the next four days.
Conclusion
Because of the savior status that this deadly procedure has received in recent years and the fact that celebrities like Katie Couric have made it a media darling, it is impossible to get anyone in the media to report anything that may suggest that there is a danger with this procedure. Even though it has never been proven to be effective at diagnosing cancer, nor have we seen any decline in colorectal cancer since its implementation, these whores in the media continue to insist that it has saved thousands of lives. Where are the studies to support their claims?
The words “cancer” and “terrorist” scare Americans more than any others in the English language. What are your chances of developing colorectal cancer? Even a person in a high-risk group is 12 times more likely to die from heart disease; 10 times from any other cancer, 6 times from a medical error, 3 times from stroke, and twice as likely to die from an accident. Yet, Americans are so motivated by the word “cancer”, that they are willing to submit themselves to this ambulatory surgical procedure, even when they feel perfectly healthy. Would you submit yourself to any other invasive surgical exploration as simply a screening technique for a disease you most likely don’t have?
Of the seven intestinal and multivisceral transplant recipients I met, only two had lost their organs to a disease. Nurses told me that better than 80% of the organ recipients were the result of bariatric surgeries, liposuction and colonoscopies (in that order). I met two women who lost their organs to faulty gastric by-pass surgeries and two were the result of colonoscopies. Disease is not your worst enemy, medical procedures are. And every one of these are elective procedures undertaken by otherwise healthy people who were assured of their safety. Healthy people whose lives have now been destroyed and shortened by medical practitioners hawking unnecessary procedures for monetary gain.
I will continue to fight the battle of awareness until a much safer and more effective diagnostic tool for cancer, Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis is invented. Because everyone seems happy with the status quo, nothing will be done to improve this diagnostic technique or better yet, come up with a far less invasive one, unless the dangers and the ineffectiveness of its use as a cancer screening device are made common knowledge.
Modern medicine needs to start looking in new, less invasive, directions – not to simply dump more money into promoting their existing products that do not work effectively – and even worse, are making people sicker or outright killing them. If half as much money went into research as is spent on the advertising and celebrity endorsement for the promotion of this outdated, crude and invasive torture device, we would have cured the damned disease by now. Curing a disease is never as profitable as treating one.
They have been quite efficient at sweeping my story under the carpet and my tiny place in cyberspace will never get this information the attention that it needs to save lives. I will continue to do whatever I can. If I can save just one person from having to live through the nightmares that I have, it will be worth the effort. But people, you to need to wake up and demand more truth about these modern “snake oil” practices.
If you wish to learn more about the dangers of this procedure, please read part 1; “The Dangers Of Colonoscopies” and the “Wolverine Story“.
There is also a lot of good information and videos at Konstantin Monastyrsky’s website; here
I still have many more articles in this series upcoming, so please check back or subscribe to receive email notifications of when new articles are posted.
I am not a doctor nor attempting to give medical advice. I believe that every american has the right to the truth concerning the real, absolute risks and benefits in modern medicine – something you will not get from the mainstream media. Always remember that their broadcasts or publications are paid for by the manufacturers of these medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The entities in the media will not bite the hand that feeds. I am selling no products and am a victim of this profitable industry and will always give an unbiased opinion of my research and experiences, so you can have better information with which to make decision concerning your health. Stay healthy, please.
Powerful and well written!
1) Contact Andreas Moritz for natural healing
2) Contact the Kevin Trudeau radio network ASAP!!
3) Steve Jobs is the latest victim to fall at the hand of the diabolical allopath and palliative care… Please see only a doctor of naturopathy!
Thank you for this information. I am scared about colonoscopies now, but it’s good to have truthful information. I’m glad I have this information.
Thanks you Rachel. Unless you have some really bad health issues, like rectal bleeding or have a long history of colorectal cancer in your family, I really don’t believe that their is any advantage to get a colonoscopy. Doctors and insurance companies apply a lot of pressure to have everyone, no matter how healthy they are, to submit themselves to this procedure as a precaution, but it is more motivated by profits. It is my mission to let people know the real dangers of this procedure and that you have a much higher chance of ending up like me than you do of ever developing colorectal cancer. I really don’t see how cancer could be any worse than what I have lived through.
This procedure has not yet proven itself as an effective device for early detection of cancer and colorectal cancer has not declined since its implementation, but has actually risen. But, the procedure has certainly proven itself as effective tool for injury and death to healthy people.
I have been pressured into having a colonoscopy, even though I am a “health nut” who eats well, exercises and gets plenty of sleep and sunshine. Dr. Mercola does not personally get ANY cancer screenings, and I go to thinking, maybe there were risks I wasn’t aware of. So, I came upon your blog, and not a moment too late. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy in a few days, but my gut feeling was that I should wait. Now, I will be waiting forever. THANK YOU for this informative and well written article. If your goal was to save “just one person”, I assure you, you just did.
Laura, Thank you for your comment. If there was one thing in my life I’d give anything to change, it would be the day I allowed them to perform that colonoscopy. No one should have to live through the hell I did and there is no way that a colonoscopy could protect you from anything remotely worse than the damage that it caused to me. By all means, I shouldn’t even be alive. Not one doctor thought I would survive. But it was one long hard and painful road.
I am glad that you have decided that it is not worth the risk. Statistically speaking, there is a much higher chance that you will be injured, disabled or outright killed by that procedure, than any chance that you will develop colorectal cancer before you are eighty years old. I was only 48 when they nearly took my life. Thanks again for your thoughts.
BTW, if you ever decide to get the procedure, just read the paper that they make you sign – it lists all the horrible risks associated with this procedure. including death. Everyone has to sign this paper, but the doctor will always assure you that those risks are very rare. They’re lying. According to my research, they are quite common. One in every thousand people are perforated by a colonoscopy. When you figure that thousands of colonoscopies are performed per day, your odds are quite high – four times higher than the odds of you getting cancer – even if you are in a high risk group for colon cancer. And perforations are just one way of being injured or killed. You could die instantly from a deep vein thrombosis, which are caused by the mechanical bowel prep or infected by the scope itself, because it is impossible to sterilize them (HIV, Hep-C and many more). Take that paper serious before signing. My advice is to drop the paper and haul ass out of there.
Dude. You cleared things up with time to spare. I appreciate your blog. I have always had my personal reservations about colonoscopy dangers. One person I know went into the doctor’s office to get a hernia repaired and died during surgery. Was it her age? Was it malpractice? I don’t really have the answer. But I read your blog and it has made me determined to set this colonoscopy thing out and I will make it to my 90th birthday and when I get there I will be thanking you for a long life without fear.
You are truly a blessing.
Thanks, Anthony. Until someone actually publishes just one clinical study proving that a colonoscopy can actually prevent cancer, maybe we could consider it. To this date, none have been done, except the Telemark Polyp 1 Study, which didn’t show any benefit to the colonoscopy group over the control group and had a 150% increase in morality for all cause deaths in the colonoscopy group. Not a very good endorsement for the procedure.
Everything we get from doctors is strictly based on their gut feeling – no controlled studies. Either studies were done and kept secret, beacuse they were not favorable in proving the effectiveness of colonoscopies or none have been attempted. But the potential damage from the procedure is well documented. Seems there is really nothing to gain and much to lose from this very profitable procedure of the medical industry.
Scary. I’m 47 and I’m afraid that they revoke my drivers license if I don’t get scoped at fifty! All joking aside, I have had IBS since an idiot surgeon messed up a gallbladder surgery on me back in 2008. I know they would see raw areas and I don’t want them “fixing” anything and making me sicker.
As it is, I deal with my issues, which affect me every moment of very day, on my own. I treat my problems of never being able to digest animal fats without “dumping syndrome” by avoiding these fats and by drinking a banana smoothie made with Metamucil coarse unsweetened fiber every morning.
Thanks for pointing this out. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette recently has been running stories about 215 patients who were scoped with dirty scopes at UPMC because the staff did not know that there was a small channel that was new, which needed to be cleaned.
Even though the staff found “sterilized” scopes which were hanging on the OR walls, dripping fecal matter onto the floor, they continued to use the scopes on patients!
Torture. Too bad the lawsuits will not help the victims, who have been exposed to a myriad of diseases. Money does not fix a life destroyed by “medicine.”
Jan, Thanks for writing. Your difficulty digesting animal fats makes sense, in light of the gall bladder damage you sustained at the hands of the doctors. An adequate amount of bile is necessary to emulsify heavy fats into solution, because the contents of your digestive system are water based and oil and water won’t mix without an emulsifier. Without bile, you will be unable to digest heavier fats, like found in animal products.
Though my gall bladder was perfectly healthy, the transplant surgeons removed it – they explained that it was necessary to perform an intestinal transplant, but I have no problem digesting meat. Bile is manufactured by the liver and simply stored in the gall bladder. People without gall bladders typically can digest animal fat if they eat their meals at the same time each day. Because there is no reserve for the bile, they must eat at the time the liver is secreting it. I eat at all different times and have had no issues, but I’m kind of a medical freak that makes no sense to the doctors.
The doctors might have damaged your bile ducts from the liver. Something is wrong, because the bile is not making it into your duodenum (the chamber right below the stomach). The soluble fiber (inulin) from the bananas is gentle on the intestinal walls, but I am not a fan of psyllium fiber (an insoluble fiber from wheat), which is what Metamucil is made from. This could be the reason why you feel you may have some raw areas in the bowels. Psyllium is quite harsh on the intestinal mucosa.
Metamucil is made from the by-product from animal feed. Livestock animals refuse to eat the husk of the wheat, probably because they know it causes bloating and gas, because it is indigestible – even to ruminant animals! So the feed and cereal manufacturers sell the leftover husks to manufacturers who make Metamucil and other fiber supplements. Basically, something that all livestock animals refuse to eat (and get sick when they do) is packaged and sold to humans as a supplement that can help their digestion – when in fact, indigestible fiber causes constipation, bloating and diarrhea – it does not solve the problem. It takes on water, swells and stretches the intestinal walls.
There are some good videos with information on studies concerning the effectiveness of fiber at this link here. Check them out – good stuff!
Since my transplant, my transplanted bowels are extremely sensitive and I absolutely cannot handle psyllium. I reasonably suspect that it was wheat fiber that damaged my colon in the first place. I still have over 20 inches of native intestines, which is still susceptible to UC, but I have had no problems since I dropped wheat entirely from my diet.
Thank you for telling your story. I am 60, and under a lot of pressure from my GP to have a colonoscopy. I have resisted for years because my gut feeling (pardon the pun) is that this is a barbaric invasive procedure. Also I do not have any respect for the capitalist medical system in the US. My 85 year old parents live in New Zealand and were horrified when I told them that every American is asked to undergo this. I have always felt this is a risky procedure for small return, and I will now wait until I am 65 before I even think about this again.
Hopefully a better diagnostic method will be found soon.
Your gut feeling (pun intended) is a spot on. I can understand why your parents are horrified. Colonoscopies are the only invasive procedure that I know of that is recommended to healthy people. I mean, people with absolutely no symptoms of gastric distress and no family history of colorectal cancer are still pressured to undergo an ambulatory surgical procedure. It’s quite insane.
I guess it’s no more insane than the fact that 22 people have died in Texas as a result of West Nile Virus, so the government is spraying toxic chemicals on the entire population, whether they like it or not. Let’s put everyone else at risk, because a small percentage of people have died. Very few people die of colorectal cancer, but the doctors recommend that we put everyone at risk with a surgical procedure just to find that small percent that may have a tumor. I’d like to think that people would wake up and see what’s happening here, but I fear that they do not have it in them.
Hey Man. Love your blog, good for you keep fighting the good fight. Hey I have a quick question for you since you seem extremely knowledgable on all matters gut to bum. So basically I’m 27 year old male, eat healthy, no gluten, no processed foods or very little, plenty of fruits and veggies. I was diagnosed with IBS about 2 years ago… I was in a really stressful situation in life with a bad diet and not nearly enough sleep, along with over training. So I cleaned up to get my bowel movements back to a normal schedule and consistency. The problem now has been blood in my stool, for almost a year now. I am almost 100% sure it is from hemorrhoids… and I have starting using this Ma Yin Long hemorrhoids treatment along with much extra fiber in the diet to bulken and soften stool about 3 weeks ago, and the blood went away, FINALLY. I was like OK GREAT PROBLEM SOLVED. But Now I have gotten sick (just a flu), got really dehydrated and my stool hardened up again and the bleeding and pain passing stool has returned (it is a very sharp pain right at my rectum, hard to get the stool past that point). I am back on the Ma Yin Long and Fiber and plenty of water, but I kind of want to have this “locked down” so to speak. Blood in stool is a scary thing as I’m sure you of all people understand and I want to make sure it is nothing more serious than a Hemorrhoid and to stop coming back. So I have 2 questions: 1) Can you completely heal an internal hemmorrhoid/anal fissure and never have it come back? Does it take a really long time? OR should one just expact to have to deal with this issue repeatedly over time? and 2) Do you think I should get extra check-ups done on my health like a Sigmoidoscopy? I was thinking of getting a colonscopy but now do not want to (thank you, thank you, thank you!!) but I am a young gun and feel that blood in stool for over a year is far too long.
Hi Lee, and thanks for the comment. I really cannot give medical advice, but what is happening to you is similar to what happened to me.
If the problem is hemorrhoids or fissures, then it’s not very serious and they can go away, once the source of irritation is removed. I had developed some hemorrhoids after losing my intestines, because the colon was disconnected and cause diversion colitis. They have went away, but any bouts of diarrhea will bring them back, so they sort of go in remission, but never completely go away.
If you have sharp pains from the bowel whenever there is movement through them, it could be inflammation inside the colon, which can bleed and ultimately cause ulcers. Ulcerative colitis and other IBDs are a form of autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system is attacking your body tissues. This can be cause by allergies to certain foods. In my case, I found that it was caused by wheat.
If you have UC or another IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) then you have a lot of inflammation within and it can become serious if not cleared up. You may want to try eliminating certain foods, especially ones that are known for causing autoimmune diseases in many people – those would be certain grains, like wheat, barley and oats or dairy, especially highly processed dairy.
Doctors used to recommend fiber for IBD patients, but recent research, and the patients themselves, have proven that fiber is far worse on these patients and create far too much gas and bloating – which results in pain. Insoluble fiber is the harshest, yet it is the fiber most people turn too, especially psyllium fiber from wheat. You may want to try more soluble fiber instead. This can be found in most fruits and vegetables (avoid fiber from grains). I eat bananas (contain inulin, a soluble fiber) and it works well for me.
If you find that you have to be scoped, I’d opt for the sygmoidoscopy. The doctor will push for a colonoscopy (because they take the same amount of time to perform, but the colonoscopy charges out at ten times the cost), but if you are bleeding and have inflammation inside, you would be at a far higher risk for a perforation than the average person. A colonoscopy is far more invasive that the sygmoidoscopy. A sigmoidoscopy should be just as effective at diagnosing UC or Crohn’s Disease.
Otherwise, it sounds like you eat well, so I can’t imagine what else could be causing this. It seems like your problem may well be the hemorrhoid, because the pain would be up in the abdomen if it were an ulcerated colon. So, try dropping all that insoluble fiber (insoluble fiber takes on water and swells to many times its original size, which could make it hard to pass and cause fissures.
Try using more soluble fiber from fruits and you may also want to try some fermented vegetables, like sauerkraut, but make sure it is actually fermented with live cultures. I ferment my own, but there is a major brand that can usually be found in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores called “Bubbies”. This should help things move along, without all that fiber. You ought to check out a book entitled “Fiber Menace”, written by Konstantine Monastyrsky or visit his site here.
Thanks again. I hope things get better for you.
Wow, excellent response my man thank you. I will investigate further… I did have one quick follow up question though- you mention there the abdominal pain… I do have some issues that come up time to time with that and wanted to see what you think. I have this often at night, and after eating. I would not call it pain, and I am only aware of it when I lie down and relax and not do anything, because anything too active and I miss the subtle sensations. But basically what happens is I can feel my pulse in my stomach,on the left side of my abdomen about an inch or two below the biggest rib bone the sticks out on my left side. sometimes it can be a strong sensation, a pulsing throbbing coming from that area (and sometimes it migrates a bit and moves around) other times it is very subtle. It seems to happen very randomly. Does this affect the advise you gave me earlier or cause concern in your mind? Any thoughts as to what this could be? PS I have been hydrating well and avoiding excess fiber and painful bowel movements and blood have been gone, thank you thank you thank you! Peace and love man. Lee
It’s really hard to explain a pain or sensation to someone else – I know, because I had to try to explain pains to doctors and nurses a thousand times. I used to hate when the nurses would ask; “on a scale of 1 to 10, where is your pain – 10 being your worst pain ever?”, because different people have a different scale based on the worst pain they’ve ever had.
Beings I once lived three days with more than twenty feet of necrotic bowels, I would tell the nurses that my ten is far beyond anything they could imagine and that my four or five was probably more than they would tolerate. Anyway, it’s hard for me to understand what this feeling is that you are describing, because I never had anything like it. It sounds more like possibly a muscle or circulatory issue, because organs rarely feel anything and when they finally do, it is really intense.
Cancer can be difficult, because it rarely creates any pain at all, which is why it can go undetected for a long time. Have you had any x-rays or other imaging done to see what it may be? Have you tried to do some research on the web for these symptoms? I can sometimes feel my pulse in other areas in the body, but not all the time and not to a degree that has ever concerned me. Sounds like it could be due to some inflammation, which can often pulse with your heart beat. If it really concerns you, you may want to consult a doctor about it, but you sound like a young man in pretty good health and conscious about your health, so I doubt it is anything too serious – but only you can be the judge. If your instincts feel that something serious could be going on, I’d get it checked out – at least an x-ray. Stay healthy man.
Ahh one more quick question: so I know sauerkraut has beneficial bacteria in it for your gut… but does cooking sauerkraut destroy that bacteria? Is it necessary to eat your kraut cold or room temperature? If so, do you have any recipe tricks to make it more palatable? Or do you cook it? thanks man!
I have always assumed that the same rules apply for sauerkraut as when making yogurt, so whenever I heat my sauerkraut, I only warm it to between 100 to 110 degrees F. As a matter of fact, the bacterium become more active and begin to reproduce faster as they warm up, but they are destroyed and denatured beyond 110 degrees.
Many people also use it as a condiment with other foods – that makes it easier to eat it – sort of like using it instead of mustard or salad dressing. I’ve done that. My wife often puts it in her salads. Of course, the sauerkraut we make at home is not as salty as commercial sauerkraut, because we use half the amount of salt and make up the difference with whey from raw milk.
This introduces a lot more culture to the mix and it come out more tart and less salty. I should probably publish my sauerkraut recipe for people here, because it is really awesome. We add about 3 carrots per head of cabbage. The higher carbohydrate content of the carrots gives the bacteria more sugar to convert to lactic acid – my wife and I like it pretty sour.
You can heat it, just keep it under 110 degrees F.
I am blown away by your knowledge and quickness to give advise and support. Many thanks and blessings your way. I feel more at ease now and believe that I’m OK… everything has been getting much better the past 2 months thank god, but it has been a long arduous past 3 years of going through these battles and figuring things out. Here is to everyone hanging in there and finding the healthier you in the future!
Powerful wolverine! I’m back seeking your wonderful expertise and kindness to share.
First of all I have incorporated more fermented food into my diet including kombucha and Bubbies brand sauerkraut – great recommendation btw that stuff is delicious. and for people here reading a good way to try eating it is just scramble some eggs and throw bubbies on top- surprisingly tasty little (gut friendly) meal!
But anyways, I am feeling really good right now, but the last thing I am working on is speeding up my intestinal transit time. My stool builds up too much sometimes, becomes hardened, and this is problematic to pass. My general strategy has been more insoluble fiber and more water… is this a good plan do you think? Do you have any secret tips to increase bowel transit time or to make hard stools softer? I probably pass stool roughly once every 1.25 days or so I would say, which is in your “normal” range I know, but I think i need more to keep the stool from becoming hard… your thoughts?
Thanks, lee. If that works for you, then I say stay with it. I find that too much insoluble fiber from grains, and when especially mixed with high volumes of water, can cause the fiber to swell up by taking on more and more water, creating a very hard stool. I prefer to get soluble fibers from fruits and vegetables.
Because the insoluble fiber increases in size when wet, it can slow down transplant time and there have even been links with diverticulitis. Continue eating the fermented food,mother contain both soluble fiber and beneficial bacteria, which will aid in digestion. A good colonic flora will help pass things along, by reducing the inflammation at the colonic walls.
So,e people swear by high doses of insoluble fiber and claim it works, and I do not doubt that – at least in the short run. But over time, the larger and larger stools will stretch out the colon, making them depended on more and more fiber to get the job done. The larger stools will also lead to hemorrhoids or anal fissures.
I find the gentler fibers from fruits and vegetable (soluble) to a much better way to achieve transit time – along with the fermented foods. The water can certainly help, many people are constipated because of a lack of water. A dehydrated person will have constipation. Hope this helps.
Oh actually sorry that was a typo I meant to say I’m taking more soluble fiber! I’m actually taking a soluble fiber supplement as well – acacia senegal… any strong feelings on that particular form of fiber?
No, soluble fiber is the preferred and most natural fiber that our ancestors would have consumed. I really can’t see where Paleolithic men would have found psyllium fiber (insoluble) in any kind of quantity. The soluble fiber should help to soften stools, rather than the hard, impassible stools cause by grain fibers (basically wood pulp).
Keep up the good work and stay healthy. Remember, of our paleo ancestors didn’t have access to it, we probably didn’t adapt a mechanism to handle it.
More power to you wolverine. I look forward to future blogs and want to be on your e-mail list.
Thanks again. God bless.
Thanks, Anthony.