Monday 10 September 2007

Chrons Disease problems caused by Additives?

Chrons Disease problems caused by Additives
Some researchers in Melbourne have found that infant milk formula containing added fruit sugars could be causing gut disorders like Chrons disease, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis in children.

Some of the new milk formula's for children, including Nutricia and Aptamil contain prebiotics such as fructose which are supposed to improve the digestion could be doing more harm that good, especially for children who already have a tendency towards diseases like Chrons disease.

Prof Peter Gibson who is a Gastroenterology expert is concerned about the trend towards adding rebiotics to infant formula. "Excessive intake of sugars that escape digestion and absorption in the small intestine contribute to susceptibility and symptom generation inChrons disease, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis," he said.

The excessive intake of these sugars is common in the Western diet (This could be one of the reasons why Chrons disease is so uncommon in places like Africa?)

What is more is that the people with Chrons disease or IBS who take these foods out of their diet seem to get allot better.
His team has measured the prebiotic contents of food in the Australian diet in order to generate a nutritional database.

The study found more than half of the 52 patients with Chrons disease who took out prebiotics from their food improved their symptoms. So it seems that prebiotics which provide good bacteria to maintain good digestive health but are likely to make Chrons disease and IBS symptoms worse.

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