Blackstrap Molasses: A Nutrient-Dense Superfood & Its Health Benefits

Well, I was introduced to ulcerative colitis at the top of may. I am 40, and noticed after having things with milk, milk products would make me jump up and go to the bathroom after about 10-15 minutes. At first it wasn't so bad, as I realize people my age may develop lactose intolerance, and I was very stressed on other issues, so I figured I would cool it a while on the milk. I am a coffee fanatic (another issue)... Someone messes with my coffee, watch out! Towards the middle of may, I was still having some issues, so decided to give the ER a shot, and came out with a dx of gastroenteritis which as you may well know is very vague and general. I walked out with a rx for flagyl, and amoxicillan, and told to drink plenty of liquids, and get lots of rest. Well this did not cut it. I went back about a week later, and was dx with food poisoning, no tests were run. I walked out with a schedule 4 containing atropine, and told to take it once a day. I did this about a week, and still had the runs, and was having the classic abdominal cramping. I then went a week later to another hospital via ambulance so I would get right in, and was admitted that night at about 3 am. I smoke, but funny, I didn't really feel the urge the entire time I was there from June 5, 2009 to June 18, 2009, and I had detoxed my coffee addiction with motrin ib, and time it so that I would sleep through the caffeine headaches. Later I found out Ibuprofin is not good, nor is aspirin. The hospital had me on a clear liquid diet for a few days until my colonoscopy, when the next day I could start eating "normal foods" again. They had me taking flagyl, and told me I had to take Levaquin, which I am not fond of, and has been proven to weaken muscles. I will not go into what I went through with the nurses there or for that matter the not so loving doctor. After I was released, they had 6 prescriptions. Levaquin, flagyl, metoprolol, pentasa, prednnisone, and protonix. There were more that I disregarded, and never filled. The pentasa, I had to disregard, as this was nonformulary as per their pharmacy, and they wanted about 200 to fill it. I am currently using the last portion of the prednisone until it's gone, and don't use any of the other ones. I started activia, and it definitely will make you regular(definitely avoid the peach one if you had any milk sensitivities, as you will feel the burning runs). I did extensive searches on line since I have been out of the hospital with many options to chose from including urine therapy which I have only seen one testament to and nothing else. Frankly drinking my pee just does not appeal to me. The fecal transplant option (well who knows, and makes me a little squeamish). I decided that I am going to try this black strap molasses treatment (1 tbsp) a day in the morning on an empty stomach (even though there is only one testament I can find for it on line at all, there is potassium and magnesium abound in it, and magnesium prevents headaches, and cancer). I combined this also with bromelain 500 mg 3 per day (1 hour before eating). I just started this today, and am hoping for the best. I am a little concerned also about the burn at first, but who knows? I did not get the Gramma Moses at the local publix, as this is not true black strap. I went to whole foods, and spent about 7 for the 24 oz bottle. I went to GNC and got the bromelain, which is about 10. It may be cheaper if you get the powder meat tenderizer version, or try another store. I will be running out of the prednisone soon, and am hoping the bromelain will kick in in time to help heal the lining if that indeed is what it is. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate ulceritis, the only thing that contradicts this is the irritation they picked up at the first hospital in the ileum. There were no other hot spots that they could see.

I have achieved a degree of remission so far with the black strap molasses, and bromelain. I am taking the 500mg of brmoelain an hour before ANYTHING goes on my stomach. It is also important to follow a low residue diet during this period. I found out yesterday that chopped lettuce is okay (romaine has the best magnesium), specifically baby lettuce is going to be easier on your system. If you are worried about vitamin c, parsley, and potatoes (not instant or boxed) are good for you. If you have had some lactose intolerance during all of this it is sometimes okay to have parmesan, or mozarella cheeses (not a pizza). I love my tomato sauces, so sometimes I go to subway and get a meatball sub, but my case is mild to moderate, and I would not recommend this too much. If you also like tomatoes, skin and seed them and you should be fine. Cooked cherries, and grapes are okay, but if you eat them raw, you may get the runs (the skins are not your friend). My results so far are from personal experience, and again I take 1 500 mg of bromelain in the morning followed an hour later by the black strap molasses, and breakfast (I have been using activia, and 365 degree organic oatmeal, or cream of wheat, but avoid at all costs normal oatmeal until you can introduce fiber again). I have 500 mg of bromelain 1 hour before lunch, and 1 hour before dinner. 2 hours after dinner I have a multivitamin, just in case some facets of my diet are not adequate. After your strength starts returning, I highly recommend physical activity even if it is walking around the block, house cleaning... etc. I have to keep reminding myself no chocolate, no burger king or wendy's, and no coffee for a while after my remission (haha).

Finally! Today I am experiencing a semi normal stool again, and I say semi normal, because there was a stringy mucous thing that had a little blood in it, but everything else is solid. I am still using the Bromelain, and molasses therapy, but have started to season food with cinnamon, sage, oregano, tumeric, nutmeg, (all of these that I mentioned are therapeutic to the GI system), salt is okay, and so is basil. For some reason I can use garlic cloves, but not the powder, and I cannot use black pepper (except 1 or 2 grinds). I also have not consumed a lot of red meat, and I found that activia breaks stool down, (yes it will make you regular if you are constipated) but you will find it makes you very watery. Fish, eggs, chicken, and lamb are very good meats if you don't want to go vegan yet. I also have noticed my eyesight seems to be getting a little better (who knew?).

Kstannard, I got a bout of UC several weeks back and working to heal my lining. I sea buckthorn oil in the morning, 500 mg L-glutamine before every meal, ashwagandha and cod liver oil after lunch, and turmeric with my molassas-banana treat.

I do love the way the molassas makes me feel. I always have it with banana as i find this fruit to be very soothing (dont' eat any other fruit).

I'm still getting mucous and small amt of blood in stool..not always even getting a stool..lot's of gas. And i do castor oil packs..esp on nights where i messed up on the food part.

I've never heard of Bromelain though.. So it repairs your gut lining? That's why i take the L-Glutamine. where did you learn about bromelain..i didn't see much on it on EC in regards to repairing gut lining. Does it work better with molassas? I wonder which one is hleping you more, the molassas, or the bromelain.

I'm wondering if i should try it. I'm going to try urine enema..i've read it is often even more effective than drinking.

Well Vandu,

Actually bananas are very therapeutic, and may be used as a part of remedy. Fish oil although good for you in other aspects does not always do the job. I found out about bromelain by another problem that I had that has gone away in conjunction with gotu kola. I also had a side effect of bromelain at the time clean up a case of diverticulitis whereby all of the pockets cleared themselves up, and things were normal after a month I was able to eat corn and nuts again. Bromelain actually has almost the same effect as prednisone, but will actually promote healing quicker and without the same side effects. It will heal hot spots in your colon, clean up mucous associated with the problem, and things usually take about a month to get back on track again. Always have 1 500mg tablet before a meal ie. breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do not take the molasses before the bromelain. I have another couple of good helpers as well. Start integrating cinnamon (about 2 grams (.25 tsp)) into your diet, I just simply put the molasses and cinnamon in my oatmeal or cream of wheat, and it has very helpful properties that assist bromelain in working quicker. Another thing that I have been implementing is lots of oregano in my diet along with the tumeric, and chicken fried rice (no soy sauce). I did the other day have a subway sub (chicken teriyaki) where the teriyaki sauce in the sub although did not give me runs, it made it look like a strawberry exploded somewhere. So there are still irritants, but I am looking to avoid them. The oregano is a very powerful cleaner and anti oxidant that will rid you of any unknown parasites in case you may have them. Flagyl is supposed to do this, but does not work as well even though it is typically prescribed as an antibiotic. Always get a multivitamin as your system is recovering because even though you may be healing, you may still get dehydrated and may not realize it. Another thing I have been able to tolerate lately is ___ vegetable juice (I have been drinking the low sodium), if it irritates you too much try watering down. It has 820 mg potassium in it, and 120 percent vitamin c which is very difficult to get on a low residue diet. Your case is a little more severe, so I would maybe try 4 oz of it to start and make sure it does not irritate you badly. It does have citric acid in it, and I found problems with citric acid before when I tried Italian ice, but there was quite a bit more citric acid in that than the vegetable juice. So far my mucous has been clearing up, and there is a lot less blood in my morning deal. I have also found as of recent that I can have coffee every 3 or 4 days or so, to which I am delighted. I also keep my dairy intake to less than 3/4 cup every day, and when I want cheese, I use provolone, parmesan, mozzarella, and very aged cheddar. If I want milk in my coffee, I use a tbsp of 1 percent milk, and it works. I have stayed away from desserts even though I have a real sweet tooth for chocolate, and I will snack on half a square of semisweet baking chocolate if I really feel I need it with little or no consequence.

Another fact of note, if you have UC you should not be taking aspirin, ibuprofin or other NSAIDS or if you have anemia. If you start the bromelain treatment, do not use coumaden ( warfarin), or other blood thinners, as bromelain does thin your blood to an extent, and your blood pressure will improve as well with use, and has been noted to inhibit cholesterol from forming as well. I am not a doctor, but simply going along with my personal experience, and that of others.

I eat green (unripe) bananas 2 to 3 times a day for the resistant starch that it has. Have friends that also eat it. One has diabetes one, in May of 2008 had a big ulcer on his foot his Doctor said he had to have it amputated if he didn't he would die in 6 months . He still has some little ulcers. He also takes hydrogen peroxide in water to soak his feet and then he takes that water puts it on his legs and arms to oxygenate them. Also uses baking soda in water and soaks his feet to clean them. He is still a live. I believe that most diseases come from the stomach .(autoimmune diseases). Promotes ((good)) bacteria, and suppresses ((bad)) bacteria and their toxic products. resistant starch seems to improve insulin sensitivity

Well, at least they didn't have to amputate his colon, or he'd be wearing what ulcerative colitis sufferers affectionately refer to as a j-pouch. Your buddy could use some neosporin, and some oil of oregano, and by the sounds of things after all said and done, maybe stitches?

Today I am back to normal, and will be taking 500mg of Bromelain a day, and continuing molasses, add cinnamon, oregano, and tumeric to the dishes that I prepare for consumption. I will also try to keep going on the low sodium __vegetable juice (as it has a ton of potassium in it). In approximately 2 weeks I will up the fiber content of my diet, and gradually add more milk products. I found that kosher salt actually can be detrimental to your digestive system, and if you are under a lot of stress, this may worsen the situation, (maybe why Jewish people are more prone to the affliction?) if you need a larger granule of salt, and less sodium the better way to go is sea salt. Cabbage juice is also another very good healer, but has to be separate from the cabbage itself (man does that stuff taste like crap), I have not incorporated this into my regimen but suppose if it were worse that I might. During all of this it is a good idea not to react to stress or pretend for at least 3 hours or more a day that it does not exist. Once you heal, cool it for a while so that you do not talk your body back into it again.

I have also managed to bring back 16 oz of black coffee with sugar a day back into the picture without (knock on wood) problems.

Today I am still in remission, have taken my bromelain down to 500mg per day (break it in half, 250mg before breakfast, and 250mg before supper). Still doing the black strap molasses, cooking things with oregano, cinnamon, and tumeric. I have been passing normal functions so far, and will hopefully only have to keep a few things in my diet just to reinforce intestinal health. I am still erring on the side of caution, and going with the low residue diet for the entire month, and then after that... I will gradually get my old foods back in there.

I have found the only thing that really irritates the ulcerative colitis now is MSG when I went out for dinner at Chili's. It was in the mashed potatoes, the grill seasoning on the chicken, and in the garlic butter vegetable butter sauce. It is actually okay to go out and have a couple bourbon and cokes now, just not overdoing things too much. I can also have wine again as long as there are not an incredible amount of sulphites in it. The bromelain is acting much like prednisone would, but without the harmful side effects such as bone density deterioration. It also takes care of the mild arthritis in my elbow that only acts up once in a great while. I can finally do a full set of push ups without the joints cracking, and it is good. I still take the tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses in the morning, and of course the bromelain, and make sure cinnamon gets in my food somehow.

Some of you on here may have benefited from this, but my condition was in August re-diagnosed as crohn's disease due to the ileitis, and I found that the bile from my gangrenous gall bladder had something to do with the irritation. Bromelain is a great substance to get rid of inflammation, but it also may have masked my symptoms. When I was told in January that they could do laproscopic surgery to the gall bladder to remove it and have no more attacks, I should have listened. The last hospital visit on August 18 when I was admitted revealed that I needed immediate removal of my gall bladder, and thus I had a 50% chance of having the surgery laproscopically. During the operation, they had to go hot, and remove it in 4 sections. After this I had staples and J-pouches attached. I just got them removed yesterday. I have been using cinnamon,black strap molasses to get rid of the bile run off which can be quite embarrassing, and it works. I also resumed with the bromelain, because it does eat the proteins from the bad tissue left behind. I am in hopes of a complete recovery, and it looks like I will eventually be able to eat what I want in the future with no further attacks. I was told by the surgeon himself that I was lucky to be alive. The whole reason in the first place I went in to the hospital was from a low grade fever that lasted more than 4 days after a flare up from eating watermelon. Had I waited more than 2 more days I would have been septic, and saving me would have been a gamble.

If you have pains between your shoulder blades, pains up your right arm, yellowed eyes or skin, and you do not have to necessarily have the upper right quadrant pains from the gall bladder as is the hallmark symptom. Get yourself some immediate medical attention.

Also if the hospital I had been admitted to in June had done a CT scan after I vomited a quart and a half of bile, they would have seen the gall bladder was abscessed. I am an advocate of getting at least an (what medical professionals say) annual work up done every 2 years or as soon as you are able to. Chances are, there are affordability issues. You cannot have or enjoy wealth without health.

I have always done oil pulling 1st thing in the AM and everything that I have read, suggests that the best and strongest oil pull will be first thing, before you drink anything and/or even brush your teeth. If you can't do it at that time, at least do it when convenient (it's better than not at all).

Hi Kelvin, I bought some yesterday at Link Pharmacy at Kafubu Mall in Ndola. I will post my experiences with it!