Chapter Five: Digestive Health & Food Sensitivities

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Benjamin Hall
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Chapter Five: Digestive Health & Food Sensitivities Our health starts with our digestion. We can improve our overall health by taking care of our digestive health and eating the foods that support us.

1 Chapter Five: Digestive Health & Food Sensitivities Our health starts with our digestion. We can improve our overall health by taking care of our digestive health and eating the foods that support us. Digestive Health Our digestion begins with our mouth. Our teeth break food down into smaller chunks and saliva actually begins breaking down nutrients. Cells in our stomach secrete pepsin and hydrochloric acid to break down protein and carbohydrates. Our stomach uses a churning motion to mix the food particles together with the pepsin and hydrochloric acid. Drinking water during meals can dilute the digestive juices, hindering digestion. It s better to drink water between meals rather than during meals for optimal digestion. Our intestine contains strains of healthy bacteria which help our body to further break down and absorb nutrients. Antibiotics and medications can be responsible for destroying the natural healthy bacteria in our intestinal system. This balance of healthy bacteria can be helped or enhanced by different strains of probiotics available in health food stores. Most Americans are dehydrated, not drinking enough water during the day. Water helps move material through our intestines, regulates blood pressure, blood temperature, and is essential for carrying waste materials out of the body. If you are well hydrated, your body will be better able to produce the digestive enzymes and secretions needed for digestion. Digestive enzymes are excreted into the small intestine, further helping to break down and digest nutrients. Small fingerlike projections in the 68

2 intestines (called microvilli) increase the surface area, and enable absorption of digested nutrients. Most of our nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine. Flour products can actually gum up and flatten the intestinal microvilli, decreasing absorption, and over time even cause damage. The damage of these microvilli can result in Celiac disease, and inability to tolerate products containing gluten. Our large intestine absorbs most of the water content, and carries waste material to be excreted out of the body. If you are dehydrated, your body may be less able to move waste products through the body to be eliminated. This can cause a decrease in bowel movements, and in the extreme, auto-intoxication. Auto-intoxication is where the body doesn t move waste materials out of the body fast enough and they are absorbed into the body. As a general rule, you should have at least one bowel movement per day. Eating plenty of fiber, fruits and vegetables helps your bowels move the bulk through your system, and keeps your intestinal tract healthy and functioning well. Things that can compromise the healthy bacteria of our digestive system: Medications Antibiotics Alcohol Chlorinated water The use of antibiotics and medications may be compromising our digestive health system by destroying the healthy bacteria found in our stomach and intestinal tract. This healthy bacteria helps us digest our nutrients. Leaky Gut Syndrome also has allergy and food sensitivity connections. In Leaky Gut Syndrome, it is thought that certain food sensitivities irritate the stomach lining, causing the stomach to react as it would with an allergen. The irritation causes a release of histamine, which causes the cells to swell, allowing antibodies to get to the site of irritation. Our body uses histamine 69

3 as a response to injury, swelling the cells and tissues to allow the larger particles of white blood cells to get to the site of injury. As the cells of the stomach lining swell, food particles may escape the gut and leak into the body s tissues and blood. Because these food particles are in the system without being properly broken down, the body recognizes them as foreign invaders, and then creates antibodies to clean up the particles. Parasites can also cause leaky gut syndrome because parasites bore through intestinal walls creating holes in the digestive system. It is thought these holes left by parasites enable undigested food particles to leak out into the surrounding tissues and blood. The body then recognizes these particles as foreign bodies, and then fabricates antibodies to attack these undigested food particles. This connection with parasites, leaky gut syndrome, and undigested food particles, and antibodies is thought to play a role in auto-immune disorders. There are several varieties of parasite cleanses available in health food stores. To promote the healing and repair of internal intestinal damage, you might try this herbal combination: Mix of 1 part Licorice root powder and 3 parts Slippery Elm: thought to promote the internal repair of the digestive system. Here are some affordable supplements you can use to promote better internal digestive health. Digestive Aids & Supplements: Probiotics occur naturally in our intestinal system and are important for us in breaking down our food and keeping a healthy bacterial balance. Our healthy intestinal bacteria can be compromised from antibiotics, alcohol, and medications. Probiotics can help restore the healthy bacteria to the intestinal system. Look for a variety of different strains of pro-biotics. It s estimated that the intestinal system has upwards of 400+ different kinds of healthy bacteria needed to break down foods and use nutrients, so the wider array of pro-biotics, the the better. 70

4 Probiotics can be found in cultured foods, kimshi, sauerkraut, and aged cheeses. Active cultures of probiotics can also be found in health food stores. Digestive Enzymes: Although our bodies manufacture some digestive enzymes, if more than 25% of your diet is made up of cooked foods, it s a good idea to supplement with digestive enzymes. Supplementing with digestive enzymes helps your body utilize the nutrients in the foods you are eating. Aloe Vera Juice: Aloe is thought to have healing properties in soothing and healing the mucous membranes of the digestive system. 1 Tbs. Apple Cider vinegar in ½ cup water + 1 tsp cayenne pepper or cayenne pepper capsule. This combination is a recommended daily tonic of Dr. Christopher s School of Natural Healing, purported to have health benefits on circulation, quality of the blood, and more. Digestive Health Helps: Chew your food well before swallowing. Drink plenty of water during the day. Drinking water between meals is better than during your meal. Have one or more bowel movements during the day. If you are experiencing bloating, swelling, signs of gluten sensitivity, or have a chronic illness, you may benefit from doing a gluten-free two week trial. The stress response (as mentioned in chapter 3) may interfere with digestion. Avoid eating when stressed and practice mindfulness eating, or incorporate some relaxation before eating such as deep breathing or stretching. 71

5 Food Allergies and Sensitivities The national Centers for Disease Control estimates that some 12 million Americans have food allergies of varying degrees of severity: 6% of children under age 3, and 3.5-4% of the overall population. Food allergies appear to be on the rise in all industrialized countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes them as important health issues. Interestingly, environmental allergies (e.g., hay fever) along with asthma and other diseases caused by a defect in the immune system, also have been increasing. Researchers worldwide are trying to discover the reason for the growing incidence of these diseases. There are the top eight foods that account for 90% of all food-allergy reactions. These are: Wheat Soy Milk Eggs Peanuts Tree nuts (walnuts, cashews, etc.) Fish Shellfish Food allergies can account for a wide variety of symptoms including: Symptoms of anaphylaxis may include: obstructive swelling of the lips, tongue, and/or throat; trouble swallowing; shortness of breath or wheezing; turning blue; drop in blood pressure; loss of consciousness; chest pain; and/or a weak pulse. People sometimes use the terms anaphylaxis and anaphylactic shock interchangeably. This is incorrect: Anaphylactic shock means that a patient s blood pressure has dropped to a dangerously low level an extremely serious condition. However, any one of the symptoms listed in this paragraph is a sign of a dangerous reaction that requires urgent medical attention 72

6 Mild symptoms may include one or more of the following: hives (reddish, swollen, itchy areas on the skin); eczema (a persistent dry, itchy rash); an itchy mouth; nausea or vomiting; diarrhea; abdominal pain; and nasal congestion or a runny nose. People can experience a food sensitivity without having allergic reaction, and so this type of mild reaction can be under the radar for quite some time. Dr. Shari also identifies that food sensitivities can irritate the digestive system, causing a more severe reaction, and even turn into a food allergy over time. In The Gluten Connection, by Dr. Shari Leiberman, she identifies a strong link between chronic illnesses and food sensitivities and food allergies. She found in correlation studies that cases of celiac s and other food allergies were higher for those who also had chronic illnesses, and especially auto-immune illnesses such as diabetes, MS, lupus, and others. Food Sensitivities can interfere with weight loss because the body may be swelling, bloating, and retaining extra water. With the mild food sensitivity symptoms, a person may not notice the symptoms and may be exposing himself to the food on a daily basis. When this is the case, the food sensitivity may go unnoticed for years. Gluten Sensitivities Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, oats, and barley. Our wheat has been genetically engineered in the last 100 years to increase the gluten content. The gluten is responsible for making bread soft in the middle and crusty on the outside. As a result, the wheat we use now has a much higher gluten content than the wheat of our grandparents generation, or our ancestors by even an estimated 100%. 73

7 Hunter/gatherer cultures had a lot fewer grains in the diet than the cultures of today. Different people have different sensitivities. It is estimated that 20% of the population may have gluten sensitivity or allergy. A gluten allergy unchecked may possibly develop into a later chronic condition. There has been a connection found between auto-immune disorders and food allergies. See Lieberman s The Gluten Connection. Those with diabetes may be as high as 26% reactive to gluten. You may have a gluten sensitivity if: You feel bloated You find your fingers swell up some days that you can t wear rings You feel you gain weight easily by eating bread Gluten may interfere with sleep You may have an upset stomach after a meal with gluten You may feel tired after a meal with an inability to concentrate Irritable Bowel Syndrome or a sensitive stomach that gets upset after meals. To see if you may be gluten sensitive, you can do a gluten-free trial run. You must be very strict for 2 weeks to make sure that gluten and the gluten reaction are out of your body. What you may notice: losing a lot of weight as water weight in the first couple of weeks, reduction of swelling (noticeably fingers), may even out blood sugar, clear skin, A Gluten free diet will not be missing any essential nutrients. Many health food stores have substitutes, but be careful because a lot of gluten-free labels have substituted rice flour for wheat, making it high on the glycemic index. Best ways to go gluten free Avoid packaged foods Read all labels, even if it says gluten-free Avoid soups and dressings at restaurants Avoid soy sauce and Chinese food 74

8 If you are doing the 2 week trial test to see if you may be gluten sensitive: Keep a daily journal and include a brief summary of your health issues on a daily basis, for example, if you have inflammation, digestive upset, swelling, sinus problems, etc. Note when such symptoms are occurring. Include starchy vegetables: yams, lentils, beans, squash, flax seeds are great for fiber. Good substitutes for the gluten grains (wheat, rye, oats and barley) are: Quinoa, Buckwheat Groats, Wild Rice, Corn Tortillas (medium glycemic index) Health Food stores have great alternatives. Some food sensitivities may be shifted by changing our mental categories and associations of the foods that cause the reaction. In studies involving children it was found that 50% of the children (who had known allergies) had an allergic response when given an inhaler labeled with the allergen, although it was only filled with harmless saline. When these same children were given an inhaler labeled with the anti-dote (filled with saline), 100% of them recovered. This study and other studies like these point to a mental connection to allergy responses. There are more tools now for addressing these underlying mental patterns, namely NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). NLP: Neuro-Linguistic Programming can address the underlying mental and emotional aspects of allergies and food sensitivities. In NLP Perspective, an allergy is simply a mistake of the immune system, the mind and body have created an alarm reaction in response to certain foods. The body then reacts with inflammation, and the allergy response. NLP processes can help re-educate the immune system and the body s neurology to recognize allergens as harmless and nonthreatening. 75

9 From research, we can see the psychological aspects of allergies as demonstrated through studies of asthmatic children. In one study, children with asthma were given an inhaler labeled with a known allergen (although it only contained harmless saline), and 50% of the children had an allergic response. When these same children were given the antidote 100% of them recovered immediately. One client I worked with had a whole range of food allergies including melons, strawberries, peanut butter and bananas. As we worked with NLP, she recognized that when she was 5 years old, she was dropped off at day care, suddenly in a group of strangers with no familiar faces and felt uncertainty and fear. These were the foods she was given at daycare, and her mind made the connection between these foods and high alert. After a few sessions, the allergy symptoms disappeared. Sometimes the allergies we experience are associations our mind has made to the foods and the meanings connected to them. These methods, especially for severe allergies should be supervised by a medical professional. Actions this Week: Set a date for your Gluten Free 2 week trial Visit a health food store to identify gluten free options Add pro-biotics to your diet Drink plenty of water between meals 76

Food Allergens. Food Allergy. A Patient s Guide

Food Allergens. Food Allergy. A Patient s Guide Food Allergens Food Allergy A Patient s Guide Food allergy is an abnormal response to a food triggered by your body s immune system. About 3 percent of children and 1 percent of adults have food allergy.