Do you suffer from:
1. Burping, indigestion, pain or reflux?
2. Bloating or Gas?
3. Constipation or IBS?
Why do you think you experience these symptoms? They do not just happen. They come from the very foods you eat.
There are foods that are meant to be consumed by humans and then there are foods that are fit for cows to eat. Unlike a cow, we cannot digest or utilize plant foods. As a result when we eat plant foods (with the exception of ripe fruits and underground vegetables), we often have digestive symptoms.
Skipping meals or the long fast when you sleep can also disturb your digestion. When you do not eat for long periods of time your blood sugar will drop and adrenalin rises, shunting much of the circulation to your heart and lungs for fight or flight activity. Your digestion stops when you are in a flight or fight situation.
When your digestive tract does not get good blood circulation the activity in your gut slows down. If this happens enough times, the consequences can be quite serious. Your gut can become quite inflamed and swollen (poochy lowers abs) and it cannot move the foods through your digestive tract correctly. Foods begin to putrefy and bacteria will multiply as gas forms. Rotten foods, and little movement can injure the lining of your digestive tract. Bacterial endotoxin, a poison formed from bacteria, can get into circulation. This can make you very sick.
If you have inflammation, pain, swelling, fatigue, insomnia or almost any unpleasant symptom, chances are you have a gut problem/bowel problem. All health begins in the digestive tract. This is where your nourishment comes from.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF A DIGESTIVE SYSTEM YOU HAVE?
Do you digest food like a bird, cow or lion? Most people do not know. This is probably one of the most fundamental questions in human physiology, because the way you digest your foods determines what food you should be eating for excellent health and vitality.
Below you will find an explanation of the different kinds of digestion of mammals on earth:
Carnivores: eat protein in the form of animal prey. Will eat eggs and milk, never vegetables. Use enzymes for digestion. Ex: lions, jaguars, house cats.
Omnivores: eat animals, fruit, nuts, grains and vegetables, in that order of preference/nutrition. Use both enzymes and symbiotic bacteria for digestion. Stomach and intestines present. Can survive best on animal products and fruits. Cannot fully digest but often eat nuts, seeds, grains and vegetables. Ex: birds, raccoons, pigs, bears, dogs and human beings.
Herbivores: eat grasses and above ground vegetable matter that contains cellulose, never protein matter. Use symbiotic bacteria for digestion. Rumen, reticulum, omasum, and in some caecum present. Ex: cows, goats, horses, sheep, giraffes, bison, phytoplankton. These animals can convert cellulose in plants to protein and polyunsaturated fats in plants to saturated fats.
HUMAN DIGESTION
Humans are like a bird or a dog or any omnivore. We secrete digestive enzymes from your pancreas to break down food, bile from your liver to emulsify fats. Your intestines contain bacteria digesting organisms that do a very minor part of the digestion. This bacteria also makes some of your B and K vitamins.
This means we can eat everything on the planet BUT we cannot digest everything. This inability to digest cellulose and polyunsaturated fats causes indigestion and in some cases sickness.
The best food for humans are: dairy, meat (not from the conventional grocery store) , gelatin, cage free organic eggs, organic butter (raw if you are able), coconut oil, ripe fruit and underground vegetables. The best source of good fiber is from carrots and bamboo shoots (preparation is required). Both of these foods have the ability to absorb bacteria, toxins and estrogen from the digestive tract. They do not irritate the gut.
Foods like grains (wheat, rye and rice) nuts, seeds and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAS) will cause lipid peroxidation and free radical formation which lowers cellular energy production. Phytates in these foods will lower mineral absorption. These foods also contain protein digesting inhibitors which slow down the digestion of protein, causing purification.
CONSTIPATION
We all believed that these high fiber foods were good for us and kept us “regular”. Salads, grains, wheat bran, oatmeal and flax seeds were touted as the cure. The question is do you want a roto rooter or a nice easy bowel movement? Forcing bulky foods like raw vegetables, whole grains, wheat bran and flax seeds is like pushing waste through your digestive tract. This is like forcing garbage down a pipe without breaking it up first. This is tough going! The lining of your gut is not made of metal or copper but made of human tissue. These foods have always made me poochy, constipated and really uncomfortable.
The key to propelling food and waste through your gut is muscular tonicity and lots of digestive enzymes to break down food.
HOW DIGESTION WORKS
Peristalsis is an in and out movement of your digestive tract from your esophagus in your throat to your rectum and anus. You propel the food forward with and in and out movement.
Digestive Enzymes are made in the stomach and pancreas. These enzymes break down food to their smallest denominator.
Bile is made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder is critical for breaking down fats and also for cleaning the digestive tract.
All these activities keep food moving and breaking apart to be absorbed into the blood.
WHAT GOES WRONG WITH DIGESTION?
-Plant foods that are indigestible contain cellulose and PUFAS. These materials are damaging to the gut walls and soon the damaged cells start to swell up and slow down the muscular movement of your gut. High adrenalin from low blood sugar also causes poor circulation of nutrients and oxygen to the gut.
-Peristaltic movement stimulates the release of digestive enzymes like amylase for carbohydrates, lipase for fats and protease for protein. Poor movement lowers the levels of enzyme release.
FIXING THE PROBLEM!
-Eat foods that heal not harm your gut. Gelatin (I use Great Lakes), dairy, ripe fruits are on the top of my list. Gelatin lowers PUFAS, dairy is easy to digest (like for a baby) and contains all the nutrients needed for healing and ripe fruits add sugar for energy.
-Eat smaller meals and more often. Try to eat the same time each day.
-Add cooked and ground bamboo shoots or raw carrots,m for good fiber, with some protein and fat to help absorb the toxins that have been created.
-Add well aged Cascara Sagrada (an herb made from bark of a special tree), which can lower inflammation and stimulate the digestive tract to start moving normally. I like Sonnes 9A.
I want to hear your thoughts/comments on this topic if you suffer from the digestive challenges like bloating, belching and gas.
Be Healthy for a Lifetime!
Regards,
Linda DeFever, CPT
About Linda DeFever