Naturopathic Treatments
For Digestive Disorders

Are you waking up every morning exhausted?

Having trouble getting to sleep?

Feeling anxious, depressed, or irritable?

Believe it or not, these can all be symptoms of a digestive disorder.

However, there are naturopathic treatments available for digestive disorders which may help.

What Is A Digestive Disorder?

A digestive disorder is a disorder that affects any part of your gastrointestinal tract. This includes:

• Mouth
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Small intestine
• Large intestine
• Anus

Here are some of the more common digestive disorders.

Naturopathic Treatments For Crohn’s Disease

Crohn’s disease is an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation along the digestive tract, particularly in the intestines. It’s most commonly found at the end of the small intestine and the anus, but it can be found in the large intestine as well.

The exact cause of Crohn’s disease is unknown, but it’s been linked with heredity and the presence of a pathogen that triggers the attack (though Crohn’s is not a microbial disease).

Crohn’s disease flare-ups can be extremely painful, and may include:

• Diarrhea
• Pain around the anus
• Severe abdominal pain
• Blood in stool
• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Sores in the mouth

If left untreated, Crohn’s disease can lead to life-threatening complications. And while there’s no cure for Crohn’s disease, naturopathic treatments can help you manage your symptoms and live an otherwise normal life.

Naturopathic Treatments For Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis has similarities to Crohn’s disease, which is why they’re often paired together. Like Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that primarily affects your intestinal tract.

However, colitis primarily affects your large intestine and anus. It causes inflammation along the digestive tract, leading to the formation of ulcers. It can be extremely painful, and its complications can be fatal.

Symptoms of ulcerative colitis generally appear gradually, rather than suddenly, and may include:

• Diarrhea
• Blood or pus in stool
• Bowel urgency, as well as inability to defecate (often at the same time)
• Anal pain or bleeding
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Stunted growth in children
• Abdominal pain

These symptoms often vary widely from case to case and depending on the type.

At the Mindful Healing Clinic, Dr. Maria understands the pain and complications that can arise from ulcerative colitis. She offers naturopathic solutions for ulcerative colitis designed to treat the underlying cause and manage your symptoms.

Naturopathic Treatments For Celiac Disease

If you have celiac disease, your immune system reacts when you eat gluten.

This response happens in your small intestine and, over time, damages its lining. This can lead to malabsorption of nutrients and potentially fatal complications.

Its symptoms include:

• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Mouth ulcers
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Nausea and vomiting
• Gas and bloating
• Abdominal pain
• Iron deficiency (anemia)
• Cognitive impairment
• Pain or numbness in joints or extremities
• Heartburn
• Hypospleenism (reduced spleen function)

It isn’t known exactly what causes celiac disease, but it can be triggered after a traumatic situation like surgery, severe viral infection, pregnancy, or severe and prolonged stress.

Celiac is most common among white people, but all populations are at risk – about 1% of Canadians have celiac.

The only way to avoid celiac disease flare-ups is to avoid gluten altogether. This can be tricky, as gluten can show up in places you’d never expect, from the glue on postage stamps to the capsules for your vitamin supplements. But once you’ve cut gluten out of your life, there’s still the matter of addressing the damage that has already been done.

For that, contact Dr. Maria at the Mindful Healing Clinic.

Naturopathic Treatments For Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is a disorder that affects the bowels, in particular the large intestine.

It’s fairly common – worldwide statistics suggest that 10-15% of the global population are faced with it.

If you’re experiencing one of the symptoms listed below, especially after eating certain foods, you may be dealing with IBS:

• Cramping
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea or Constipation, sometimes alternating
• Gas
• Bloating
• Mucous or blood in stool
• Weight loss
• Anemia
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sore throat

These symptoms can make life difficult. However, there are naturopathic solutions which may help.

Naturopathic Treatments For Other Digestive Disorders

While the above include some of the most common digestive disorders, there are a number of others for which naturopathic medicine can offer solutions. These include:

• GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease, or heartburn)
• Gallstones
• Hemorrhoids
• Diverticulitis
• SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)
• Cirrhosis

A Naturopathic Approach To Digestive Problems

While digestive disorders can be bad enough on its own, one of the most significant issues that can come with them is malnutrition. When your digestive tract is compromised, its ability to absorb nutrients is also compromised.

This can have wide-ranging impacts across your body, and it makes these disorders especially important to address.

In particular, it can lead to a compromised immune system and impaired cognitive function. Naturopathic medicine focuses on supporting your body’s innate ability to heal itself, often via nutrition and supplementation. But if your body can’t absorb the nutrients you give it through your digestive tract, we have to look at it from a different angle.

As a result, a treatment protocol for a digestive disorder may involve intravenous injection of nutrients you may be lacking. The goal is to restore your body’s primary functions, which can help ease your symptoms. At the same time, it can restore your digestive system’s ability to absorb the nutrients you need to repair the damage.

As you may have noticed, as well, many of the disorders listed above have similar symptoms, which can make diagnosing a digestive disorder difficult.

If you have a digestive disorder, there are naturopathic solutions available for you. Contact the Mindful Healing Clinic today to book an appointment with Dr. Maria and find out how naturopathy can help.