How is Your Digestion?

I feel poor digestion and absorption of nutrients is the cause of major health problems. Often, people starting on a nutritional program will not experience optimum results, because they are not Properly digesting and assimilating the products. So I often suggest that anyone over age 30 start with organic apple cider vinegar first for 30 days, before beginning to use other supplements.

An interesting characteristic to tell you when someone has poor digestion is the dowager’s hump at the base of the neck where it enters the shoulders. There are nerves connected to digestion there, so enlargement means that the body is sending extra energy there to try to stimulate digestion. It also means that your spine is becoming demineralized from your body’s efforts to alkalize your blood.

Let’s back up and look at the digestive process. We know from the book “Your Health Your Choice” by Dr. Morter that our stomach is the only organ that should be acid rather than alkaline. When you eat a meal, especially protein, stomach acid should fall to a pH of 2, which is strong enough to take the wax off your floor! When you have indigestion, gas or heartburn, it is because you have too little stomach acid, not too much. Antacids work by soaking up stomach acid, creating an emergency, so your body goes on red alert and secretes more acid to finish the digestion, and that’s what makes you feel better.

I think you would be better off to take a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar in water, which acidifies your stomach and then alkalizes your system. You will feel better in minutes.

On my health cruise last year, we ate extravagantly at dinner every night – filets, rich sauces, cherries jubilee, etc. Then we drank a little water with an ounce of organic apple cider vinegar and nobody was uncomfortable.

Ironically, if your body does not have the proper alkaline reserve of organic minerals from your properly chelated supplements and a 75% vegetable and fruit diet, your stomach cells cannot make enough hydrochloric acid. I often take a good chelaated mineral supplement before a holiday dinner just for that reason.

Side-effects of poor digestion range from constipation, headaches, depression, food allergies, cellulite, parasites and bacteria, infections like e-coli, fatigue and gas/heartburn to arthritis and autoimmune diseases and even cancer. This is because undigested food rots in your colon, releasing toxins that invade the bloodstream and poison your whole system. It is often said that “death begins in the colon.” This is why I am appalled at the new over-the-counter availability of acid blockers. Most people don’t have a clue how dangerous these products really are.

Ideally, you should have three bowel movements daily, one for each meal you eat. I feel that doctors who consider it “normal” to only have a bowel movement every few days are way off base. My carrot salad, eaten for one week each month , helps stimulate peristalsis and bile secretion. Magnesium supplementation helps to relax the smooth muscles of the intestinal tract for regular elimination, Redmond clay helps to detoxify the digestive tract.

Drinking at least eight glasses of quality water a day and incorporating lots of water-containing, high fiber fruits and veggies will keep your elimination on track, and you will experience more energy as you become less toxic.

Avoid dairy products, which cause mucous that coats the digestive tract.

Normal coffee actually “tans” the digestive tract like leather, so it can’t absorb nutrients.

People often ask me if they should take digestive enzymes. I feel that is propping the body up rather than assisting natural functions. When we have the full spectrum of trace minerals in our system, we can manufacture our own enzymes properly. So if you take digestive enzymes for a specific reason and limited time under the guidance of your practitioner, that is one thing. To just live on them will make your body lazy. Your optimum digestion is essential for your health.