Happy 2015! Let’s go beyond the annual “resolution” and make a lifestyle change! Just a quick recap or if you need to catch up with us.
Part I explained briefly of how the digestive system is suppose to function, essential ingredients for the digestive system to function optimally, signs of an impaired digestive system, and how no less then 2 bowel movements/day is 1 of 6 essential ingredients to have a fine tuned system. Part II gave a few recipes for your holidays, (we would love to hear any recipes you’d like to share). Part III of this wellness blog will cover - how your eating habits can be (or have) destroying(ed) your reserves of digestive enzymes, exactly - what is a healthy pH balance and how an imbalance can wreak havoc on your digestive system, and - finally how minerals are a fuel source for the body BUT eating healthy doesn’t necessarily mean your body is getting those minerals.
3 Essential Ingredients to a Health Digestive System: Digestive Enzymes, Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) and Minerals The keyword here is “essential” meaning the body does not have the ability to continue to make these ingredients on its own, and rather must come from our food supply. Our bodies only have so much of these ingredients when we are born. Starting from day 1 out of the womb, it is essential to being fed the proper foods (such as healthy mommas milk) in order to continue to have a lifetime supply of these nutrients. Not only is important to eat the right foods, but it’s also important to understand what destroys our supply house of digestive enzymes, HCL, and minerals faster then our body can produce them with end result of a poor digestive function and poor health. A list of some items that rob our reserves:
• Eating foods grown in soils that lack nutrients and/or have not reached full ripeness
• Over eating acidic foods: (toxic meats from animals raised in unnatural conditions, pasteurized dairy, improperly prepared grains, highly cooked foods)
• Processed foods (canned, boxed)
• Refined grains
• Pasteurized dairy
• Sugars (except honey that has not been heated)
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Drugs (recreational, pharmaceutical and vaccinations)
• Chronic stress
• Eating meals past 7pm
• Personal/Home/Environmental Toxicity: (personal care, home care, environment products, tap water, air pollution, heavy metals, dental materials)
• Chronic: (stress, anger, negative held emotions[conscious & subconscious])
• Infection rob minerals from body: (bacterial, viral, fungal, dental, parasitic)
• Negative Electrical Magnetic Fields (unprotected: cell phones, microwaves, scanners, x-rays, ipads, laptops computers) for more information read here
• A malfunctioning digestive system that blocks the absorption of these ingredients
The pH buzz Since pH seems to be the trendy acronym used when talking about health these days, I felt it would be important to share a simplistic explanation of what pH is and how it connects to a poor or healthy digestive system. What is pH? In a simplistic definition it is a measurement of the body’s oxygen levels which correlates with a body’s mineral levels.
· Each of our internal tissues have different optimal pH levels example: blood 7.35 – 7.45, stomach below 2.0, liver 9.7, pancreas 8.0
· It has been clinically established that the pH of urine is an accurate reflection of the whole body’s measure of tissue oxygen (pH)
· an optimal/balanced pH range of urine is 6.4-7.0
- Olympic athlete’s discovered 6.8 leads to optimal performance & recovery
- pH below 6.4 indicates the body is in state of physiological dysregulation
- having a pH chronically above 7.0 indicates that a body is in state of emergency
(ammonia buffering)
- In the last 50 years the nutrients of our foods have decreased over 50%, it has \ also been researched identified that the average American’s level of pH has dropped from 6.0 down to 5.0.
- There is a saying “we are acid by function and alkaline by design”
How does this connect to digestive health? It is essential to have a balanced pH in order for the digestive system to absorb and utilize vital minerals that nourish the entire body. A chronic pH imbalance produces low mineral levels à sick cells à a sick body.
Does your body have enough minerals to carry out optimal cellular function?
Minerals are the building blocks of your body! The millions of cells in your body require essential (nutrients that can’t be produced by the body) nutrients to grow, develop and work together. Minerals are suppose to be received through foods Minerals jobs (a few) * Fuel for the body to: - uptake nutrients,
- remove waste/toxins from the body
- carry out daily survival functions - regulate pH levels throughout the body (this is huge with those with back issues because when the pH is balanced, it dramatically reduces the pain from the disc degeneration)
* Make up the architecture of your bones
* Iron is required for oxygen to be transported (via RBC) to deep tissues
* Required to make nerves generate an impulse that, signals your body to move & contract muscles in your heart
Items that build your digestive enzymes, HCL, and mineral reserves and a balanced pH Raw foods and beverages (non-pasteurized coconut water,
Foods in season Cultured foods and beverages (kefir, sauerkraut)
Sprouted legumes, seeds, nuts
Honey (that has not been heated
Spring water*
Low heated, untreated salt (especially during childhood)
Sea vegetables
Bone Broths
Raw eggs (from pasture raised chickens) Vegetable juicing *Long term consumption of “alkaline water” has been researched to show bone loss. Water in its natural replenishing state is slightly acidic. A deeper explanation of this goes beyond the scope of this blog. Please go to this link for more information. Countless times, clients come to me with a relatively decent diet and still can’t understand why they are having symptoms such as: bone loss, back pain, weak immune, arthritis, undigested foods in their stools, inadequate sleep, and/or a test results from a doctor showing a variety of minerals that are low. Why is this? There are a couple of things that can be considered: #1 There is a lot of misunderstanding and confusion on the subject of healthy foods. For example, in the craze of “gluten free diets” many companies have jumped on the bandwagon creating “gluten free” processed carbohydrates made with rice, sugar, potato starch, tapioca flour, soy, buckwheat flour, etc. Being these ingredients are typically processed, (aka out of its natural state as its been either extruded, highly heated, bleached, de-odorized etc, just like most gluten products these days), these “gluten free” ingredients can be just as harmful on the digestive tract because they no longer carry the enzymes, minerals and other nutrients it had its natural state. As a result, it requires more of the body’s reserves (enzymes, HCL) to break it down and dispel it as well as, the body treats it like a toxin (instead of a nutrient) alarming and wearing down the immune system. #2 If an individual already is now eating healthy but has a history of any of the following: (not being breast fed, mom/dads gut flora was unhealthy, years of poor diet, not being brought up on unprocessed salt, years of drinking damaged water, drugs, pharmaceuticals, surgeries, lack of good oils in the daily diet etc…), the digestive system has a very strong probability of being impaired, and therefore its incapable of breaking down the foods to absorb the nutrients. In this condition not only are you not getting the nutrients you are feeding but the foods get stuck in the digestive system and begin to rot. This creates an opportunistic environment for parasites, bad bacteria viruses and fungus to grow and if not addressed will eventually leak into the blood system. This can lead to all forms of “symptoms” chronic migraines, chronic fatigue, ADD, low libido, MS, cancer, IBS, menopause, the list goes on. BUT the important news is, your body has the amazing innate ability to heal and correct itself when given the right nutrients and effective gentle cleansing. So whether you are in this for prevention or at the point of symptomatic assistance, my practice as a certified QRA Wellness Practitioner this were I can partner with you. .http://www.coe-dynamics.com/whole-health-and-nutrition-programs/ and Saturday January 31st will kick off CoeDynamics annual 30 Day Real Food & Pilates Challenge program to Restore & Recharge. This program will guide putting your education of repairing and building an optimally functioning digestive system into action. For more information and to register click here or call 310.798.7600.
To Great Health & Wellness
Tracy CPT, certified QRA & Wellness Practitioner
References:
Salt: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/17/dangers-of-salt-restriction.aspx Cod Liver Oil: the Number One Superfood by Krispin Sullivan, CN http://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil/clo-number-one-superfood June 30, 2002 Gut and Psychology Syndrome Dr. Natasha Cambell-McBride MD pH madness by Roger Bezanis
Dr. Carey Reams http://www.highbrixgardens.com/dr-carey-reams.html
Dr. Max Gerson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Gerson
Movie: “The Beautiful Truth” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qA7T6P4mS8
Dr. Edward Howell Enzyme Nutrition: The food concepts. Avery publishing 1985