[whitecrow]

Of all the Avalon Forums, I am finding this one, Health/Alternative Medicine, the most useful. There are well-informed people here as well as those who are seeking ways to own their own wellbeing. I can't vouch for all the remedies and cures that get posted, but I can second much of the information, especially concerning herbal remedies and nutrition.

This is a natural place to share what I have learned in the course of taking ownership of my body. I've been wanting to post some information regarding digestion.

Digestion uses 80% of the energy our bodies consume. That's eighty percent. Everything else we do comes out of the paltry two-tenths of our energy remaining after we have digested and metabolized our food.

If we're not running efficiently, then our bodies will rob energy from the main consumer - the digestive system - in order to deal with stress, attempt to heal, have sex, whatever. The result is a condition which most Americans suffer from...I call it a crapped-out digestive system, and it's the source of a great deal of suffering, sickness and death. It is also the cause of lost productivity and wages, additional burdens on the health care establishment, and drives an entire industry devoted to relieving symptoms while perpetuating the conditions that cause them.

That eighty percent, by the way, is the reason that sick animals fast. They instinctively know to conserve their energy usage so that the body can rebound and heal. Any time you are sick, drink liquids and eat a minimum of solid food.

The mouth is the beginning of our digestive woes because it's the place we put most of the poison. Our diet is poisonous to the extent that we eat processed foods with artificial ingredients. Our ideal diet is raw vegetables and fruit, with perhaps a small amount of meat, especially fish. It is a true fact that the close your diet approaches this ideal, the better you will feel physically and the better you will function mentally. It's also true that even the best diet is deficient because our food contains far less nutrition that was true fifty or sixty years ago. Therefore supplementation is advisable. This is a whole 'nuther discussion.

The stomach is the one part of the body that is intended to be acidic. It is lined with a healthy layer of mucus so that it is not injured by the secretions of hydrochloric acid that perform the initial breakdown of the stuff we put into our mouths. This breakdown is enabled by the one thing we are most lacking in a typical diet: enzymes. It is enzymes that work in the stomach to break things like steak, celery, Cheerios, cheeseburgers and beverages down into the chemical components which the body can use. Following this, the material is passed on into the intestines, where it is further digested by friendly bacteria that flourish there, and the process of absorption takes place. Wastes are filtered out, primarily through the kidneys and liver, while the remaining solid material is finally gathered in the colon until it is expelled in a bowel movement.

This is how a healthy digestive system works. Here is how a compromised digestive system works:

Garbage enters through the mouth and is passed through the esophagus to the stomach. On the way it frequently encounters a hiatal hernia where the stomach extrudes through the diaphragm, impairing the function of the pyloric valve. This results in stomach acid leaking into the lower esophagus...the usual response is to take antacids, which seriously destroy the ability of the stomach to digest food of any kind.

Anyway, once this stuff reaches the stomach, it's broken down in the usual way by a solution of hydrochloric acid. Unfortunately, most people eat a diet with almost no enzymes present (cooking destroys enzymes), and they aren't informed enough to take them...so even though the food is dissolved, it is not broken down at the molecular level into components the body can use. Then it is passed on to the intestine...

...which is sorely lacking in probiotic organisms in most people. Without these friendly bacteria, the intestines are overloaded with unusable food stuff. The walls become coated with a kind of slime that keeps the villi from functioning. This slime contains all the toxins that are in the improperly digested junk that went into the mouth an hour or so earlier. These are absorbed along with whatever nutrition the body has been able to glean from the garbage it's been eating...

...overwhelming and toxicifying the liver, pancreas, adrenals and the other glands which take the nutrients and process them into the chemicals required to run the others systems of the body.

Meanwhile, fecal material piles up in the large intestine which unable to function properly due to the system-wide breakdown (which started when junk was put into the mouth). It sits there, not digested, rotting...and yes, it is just that unpleasant, and more so. It is the source of disease and death, and the average American has POUNDS of it sitting in their gut. POUNDS. KILOS.

So what do folks do? They take a laxative, of course. This forces the action of peristalsis and hopefully ejects the material from the bowel. It also further depletes the system of desperately-needed nutrients, and may cause tearing of the rectum and injury to the colon. And the cycle continues, abetted by the medical and pharmaceutical industries because it is hugely profitable.

Can you change this? Abso. Flippin'. Lutely. Ask me how I know. I used to weigh 75-80 pounds more than I do now...on a 5'5" frame! I had a heart attack at age 42...I'm almost 60, now. It took years for the picture to become clear of exactly what I had done to correct my own health...and it all begins with digestion.

I don't care what is wrong with you. There are no magic bullets, but if you get your digestion working right, I promise that a whole cascade of other health issues will fall into place and begin to resolve themselves. Why? Because you will have freed up energy, it's that simple. You create energy when you absorb nutrition, and this is how your body rebuilds itself every day. Deny your body the tools it needs, and you will suffer. Period.

For some people this may be difficult. It does not involve a spartan diet, just a healthy one. But it involves paradigm changes, it involves the ability to learn and the will to act. These are some of the very things that are impaired in people who eat a mainstream diet.

When you eat healthy and digest well, you find that in so doing, you have stopped feeding the machine that was poisoning you. This is exactly what the mainstream media and the corporate kleptocracy don't want you to do! If you see it advertised, it is almost certainly at best garbage, at worst poison. You will have to learn and do your own research.

You may think that eating organic and taking supplement is expensive. Balance it against over a decade without seeing a doctor, a dentist, or any prescriptions of any kind. No, it is not expensive. It's a challenge in other ways, but not economically.

I suggest learning about the many ways that enzyme therapy can be used to address inflammation as well as digestive issues. Most people should take enzymes daily. The other necessary supplement for frequent if not constant use is probiotics. These are the opposite of antibiotics: culture colonies of the friendly bacteria we MUST have in our guts for efficient digestion.

I hope this is helpful information. Sorry to go on so long. It's something I try to impart constantly. Working in a health food store, I see people constantly who are buying supplements and asking health questions. As much as I try to learn, I cannot answer every one. Some of these people are quite ill, some are battling serious diseases, some are merely suffering from the systemic poisoning of corporate greed.

There are many ways for people to address their own bodily needs, but there are commonalities. The strongest one I know is care of the digestive system. Everything else is built upon it.