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Rectal Bleeding
One of our favorite breads is
the Three-Seed Sourdough Artisan Bread. We make French-bread style
loaves and top them with poppy, flax and sesame seeds. However, if these
seeds are not chewed thoroughly, they can cause rectal bleeding. We
have had reports from a number of people who have linked the chewing
of nuts and seeds with rectal bleeding. In a few cases it can be
severe as in the case of our friend Joseph.
Watch out for Peanuts!
 Sometimes
one food can cause enough irritation to make you think you are
bleeding to death. For some people, that food is peanuts. One day
Joseph noticed he was bleeding from the rectum. It was not just a
little spotting on the toilet paper. He figured he lost close to a
pint of blood after having a bowel movement.
He immediately panicked. "It must be
cancer," he thought. He made an appointment to see a doctor right
away. His heart was checked, blood tests were given. The worst part
was when they inserted an instrument up into his colon. They went up
several feet to probe for the cause of the bleeding. After two hours
of testing, they found no cancer. What was causing the bleeding? They
had no idea.
Joe went home with some pills and was told
to come back if the bleeding continued. Two days later, the bleeding
returned. Then a week later, another outpouring of blood. Every week
or two it would happen again. Sometimes there was lots of blood, other
times there was just some spotting.
Joe visited doctor after doctor. His anxiety
intensified because no one could cure his bleeding problem.
Joe didn't feel physically weak, but still
passing so much blood was scary and there was no end in sight. The
doctors did the best they could, even taking x-rays, but they could
not find the cause.
After moving to a new area, Joe located a
clinic where he was seen by a kindly foreign doctor. After listening
to Joe's history he said, "I can understand your position and your
problem. You went through hell." Then the doctor looked straight into
Joe's eyes and asked, "Do you like peanuts?"
The question seemed ridiculous, but Joe
answered. "Yes, sir, I do. I eat peanuts every chance I get. I eat
them everywhere I go, at happy hours, dinners, and at clubs with the
staff members. We all get together every Friday night. There are
always peanuts on the table and I will eat them till they are all
gone. Having a good appetite, I eat everything. I don't bother much in
chewing up the food, I just swallow."
Joe had told the doctor what he needed to
know to cure him. "Quit eating those peanuts. If after you stop, you
continue to pass blood, come back and see me. If you stop passing
blood, you don't have to come back."
Joe was shocked. "Doc, is that all there is
to it?"
The doctor was getting up to leave, "Take my
advice and do as I tell you. Stop eating those blasted
peanuts!"
Joe was unnerved by this simple solution.
How could not eating peanuts end his problem? But it did. A week went
by. No bleeding. Then a month. No bleeding. As long as he skipped the
peanuts, there was no bleeding.
After a few months without peanuts and
without bleeding, Joe had the urge to eat a few peanuts. He took a
handful of peanuts and ate them. The next day when he went to the
bathroom, he passed blood. It was only a little bit, but it was there.
He did a few more tests, and he always bled after eating peanuts.
"This is for the birds. There will be no more peanuts for me," he
said.
Joe was curious to know why the peanuts were
causing the bleeding. He discovered that he had been eating peanuts
too fast. As the peanut pieces were going through, they were cutting
the intestines.
Joe tried taking a few peanuts and chewing
them until they were mushy. That made a big difference. He started
chewing all his food more thoroughly, making it mushy, almost liquid.
Joe is a much healthier and happier man now. No cancer worries and no
more irritated colon. |
