Digestive Information

KEY TO LIFE AND THE KEY TO NUTRITION IS “BALANCE” IN ALL THINGS

How Does The Body Become Toxic?

Each year the average American consumes 150 lbs. of sugar and 566 cans of soft drinks (“liquid candy”).  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that is equal to “52 teaspoonfuls of added sugars per person per day.” Can you imagine yourself sitting at the kitchen table gobbling down 52 teaspoons of white sugar – every single day?  Well, that’s exactly what most of us are doing without even realizing it!

Junk food consumption has increased drastically in the last few decades.  Compared to 1981, in 2001 the average American consumed in one year: 45 large bags of potato chips – up 78%; 120 orders of French fries – up 130%; 190 candy bars – up 80%; 120 pastries or desserts – up 95%; 150 slices of pizza – up 143%.

Toxins “stimulate neurons to death”

Junk foods and soft drinks contain dangerous additives, chemicals, and many are laced with excitotoxins such as MSG and aspartame.  Excitotoxins are “substances added to foods and beverages that literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees.”

Our modern unhealthy diet and lifestyle will first have a devastating effect on the colon, before damaging other organs.  This is where the saying “death begins in the colon” comes from.

"Cleansing is the missing link"

Understanding that our quality of life is determined by our daily choices, we have the power to improve our health and well-being quickly and dramatically.  Good nutrition is a key factor, but our health depends not only on what nutrients we eat, but how much of those nutrients are absorbed and how well and regularly the body’s waste products are eliminated.

With the proper use of cleansing and detoxification we can maintain health and vitality, even as we age.

Here we have a very important principle of nutrition – balance.  You’ll encounter this over and over again.  Too much or too little creates a problem.  This applies to food, vitamins, exercise, antioxidant nutrients, hormones, and life in general, yet we so often see it neglected with people who overeat or take too many vitamins.  Glucose metabolism is a balance system.  Two primary and two secondary hormones, plus other factors, work in conjunction with or in opposition to each other to control this essential system.  Our lifestyles put stress on this system in several ways.  Under stress, this system functions in its default mode for safety and survival.  The default is weight gain through the storage of fat.

What is your level of insulin resistance?  Are you eating too many carbohydrates and increasing your fat storage beyond what the metabolism can burn?  This questionnaire cannot diagnose insulin resistance, which is the domain of a lab test, but it can give you a clue if you are susceptible to developing this dreaded condition.

If you scored more than 5 yes answers, you may be experiencing insulin resistance.  The degree of insulin resistance can be determined by a lab test by your doctor. 

If you have any questions, feel free to call Bridge To Higher Health for a 15 minute consult at!  Or make an appointment! 

717-737-7224

FOUR LIFESTYLES THAT HELP YOU “EARN” INSULIN RESISTANCE:

There are other ways to earn insulin resistance other than by eating sugar or having a genetic predisposition to it.

Lifestyle 1:  Skipping breakfast

This is a big one.  During sleep, the body’s metabolism has continued to work.  In fact, your body burns a majority of its calories during sleep.  The muscles burn fat and glucose.  On waking, the body’s reserves are low.  It’s time to break the fast.  With the activities of the day, more energy is expended.  As blood sugar drops lower with the morning’s activities, the pancreas becomes more and more ready to drive glucose into the starving cells.  Like a track runner before the starting gun, the pancreas is ready to do its job.  This causes the over-exuberance that will slowly develop insulin resistance over time as the body is forced to adjust to a more rapid pushing of glucose into the cells.  Even a tiny, balanced breakfast served on a saucer or a properly balanced food bar can prime the fat-burning hormone “pump” through blood sugar stability.  Thus, breakfast is essential for the dietary control of the fat-burning mechanism.

Lifestyle 2:  The Humongous Supper

Eating lightly all day and then overeating at supper is another way to earn insulin resistance.  Dieters often do this.  They start the day with good intentions and eat lightly.  In the name of calorie reduction, they skip lunch.  But by supper, their bodies are screaming for the comfort and well being of eating.  So, having behaved so “good” all day, the evening meal runs berserk.  The person can’t shut off the appetite that starts screaming for carbohydrates and emotional gratification.

Oftentimes these people are very dedicated workers.  They have a piece of fruit in the car on the way to work and a quick, light lunch eaten while working.  Then, after 10 or 12 hours of working hard, they eat a big supper to unwind, relax, and catch up.  This big evening meal shocks the pancreas with work, both digestively and with blood sugar control.  Further, this is very poor timing.  The body is given its primary energy fuel at a time the person is preparing to rest and sleep.  The cells know the circadian rhythms and are preparing for rest and repair during sleep.  Then a huge load of glucose hits, followed by a huge dose of insulin.

The pancreas gets stretched like a rubber band:  too much sugar, too little, too much, too little.  Finally, it becomes exhausted.  This situation becomes more complicated when human growth hormone naturally diminishes with age, the metabolism slows down, and the adrenal glands are on a “hair trigger” to release cortisol due to caffeine intake and the stress of daily life.  These lifestyle factors take their toll.  We must learn a new lifestyle to break this detrimental cycle.

Lifestyle 3:  Dessert for Breakfast

A third way to earn insulin resistance is to begin your day with a soft drink or sugared breakfast cereal, or just toast.  Pancakes with syrup will do nicely.  These sugary/starchy foods convert to glucose at an alarming rate, putting the pancreas into the Rapid Rate Induction Mode.  This high/low stretching of glucose metabolism leads to pancreatic over-reactiveness which, in turn, leads to resistance of the cells.

Understanding this, we could say that each person has a certain number of “shocks” their pancreas’ can withstand.  Some people can tolerate only a few.  These are the obese children, genetically prone to glucose intolerance.  Some people can handle 20,000 shocks, so they become hypoglycemic in their mid 20’s and diabetic in their 30’s.  Other people can take 50,000 shocks and don’t have problems until they are in later middle age.  Then they blimp out.  Finally, some people just seem to get away with it.  These are the thin, trim people, who probably smoke and eat all the sugary desserts they want in their late 90’s and can’t understand what all the fuss is about.  George Burns was the “poster child” for this genetic profile with his cigar and martini at age 100.  The key element here is:  how many shocks can you take?

Lifestyle 4:  Concentrated protein With Concentrated, Refined-Carbohydrate Meals

Generally, the premise of balanced nutrition is to have all three macro-nutrients on the plate with every meal.  This is true, provided we apply The Weight Is Over’s 12 Optimal Nutritional Factors and avoid the protein/carbohydrate combination that can actually cause an elevation in insulin response.  We’ll not take on the topic of “food combining” here, but I will point out that when a concentrated protein such as meat is eaten with a concentrated, refined carbohydrate such as instant mashed potatoes or apple pie, the insulin response can be even greater than eating just the carbohydrate.  Here is where the case for quality foods is so important.

Life styles can create weakness in the digestion which lead us spiraling into the depths of symptoms, disease and degeneration.  Looking at a way out = clean up time = colonics = rebuilding work.

Hormone-Balancing, Low Glycemic Meals

In a terrific, hormone-balancing, low glycemic meal such as the two in the table above, we find protein (fish or miso), carbohydrate (salad, vegetables), and fat (avocado), but these meals do not invoke a high insulin response as a meal featuring a concentrated protein and refined carbohydrate.  In contrast, the problem with the “hamburger and a coke” meal, or even pasta and meatball meals is that they combine a solid protein with a high glycemic (sugar) food at the same meal.  Here also is the undoing of the dessert after the prime rib meal.

Before you pull your hair out in dismay, rest assured there are simple ways to overcome this problem, which is largely due, once again, to the use of refined carbohydrates.  When we learn what proportions of macro-nutrients are right for us, we will not be misled by the government’s Food Pyramid that bases human nutrition on the fluff and dough of carbohydrates.  We’ll establish our own food pyramid that will build health instead of obesity.  We’ll use quality foods to build and maintain an excellent degree of health and simultaneously resist chronic degenerative diseases.

The Weight is over Twelve Optimal Nutrition factors

Dr. Jack Tips

  1. Quality:  Does the food or diet provide the highest quality food sources and get them on the plate?  Foods from nature in the whole form?  Overcooked?  Fresh?  Genetically modified?  Irradiated?  Organic?  Processed?

 2. Digestion:  Will the food(s) digest well?  Enhancing combinations or enzymatic conflicts?  Peaceful dining or emotional turmoil?  Chewed well?  Conflicting beverages?  Inhibiting ingredients?

 3. Assimilation/Humanization:  Can we assimilate the food after we digest it and can the liver process it into “self?”  Proteins too complex?  Warped, trans fat molecules?  Heat altered proteins?

 4. Bio-Availability (Low stress): Is the food mostly low-stress, or are there high-stress foods resulting in a loss of vitality?  In other words, does the food/diet provide more energy than it takes the body to process it?  Can the body render energy and nutrients effectively?  Sprouted?  Stir fry?

 5. The balance of the Macro-nutrients (Protein, Carbohydrate, and Fat):  Will the food provide for and maintain our balance of macro-nutrients and support a balanced hormonal response to the meal?

 6. Complete, balanced Micro-nutrients (Vitamins, Minerals):  How rich is the food in nascent vitamins and minerals? Organically grown?  Commercially grown?

 7. Enzymes:  Are there an abundance of living enzymes in the food or meal, or is it a “dead food” meal?

 8. pH (acid/alkaline balance:  Does the diet support the proper acid activity cycle and an alkaline reserve of the blood and tissues?  Or is it an extreme food that causes the body to compensate?

 9. Fiber:  Is there adequate fiber for proper absorption of nutrients and transit time of food through the intestines provided?

10. Water content: Is the food or diet water-bearing as opposed to dehydrating.

11. Water content: Does the food contribute to the body’s toxic burden, or does it assist in the cleansing of cellular wastes?

12. Bio-energy – The Life Factor: Does the meal impart vitality, (ch’i, or qi energies) to the person’s electromagnetic field?  Our cells receive nutrients via an electrical charge.  If a food depletes that charge, the body must add energy to the food.  If the food carries vitality, it serves the body with ease and contributes to the electrical and electromagnetic activities of health.  Bio-energy is found in raw foods.

FOOD COMBINING AND THE PANCREAS

The basis for food combining rests on the fact that the different pancreatic digestive enzymes do not work at the same pH (acidity/alkalinity), and the theory that the pancreas will produce the easier-to-make enzyme, amylase, to the exclusion of protease and lipase when the digestive signal shows a lot of carbohydrate in the diet.  This position varies in intensity from person to person meaning that for some, but not all, attention to food combining is essential.  For others, it is less important because the stomach will contract and compartmentalize foods for enzymatic dominance and control the flow to the small intestine so that the pancreas can provide the appropriate enzymes.

The key here is protein digestion. Carbohydrate and fat digestion have back up systems from other organs.  But protein digestion is dependent on hydrochloric acid in the stomach initiating the release of protease enzymes from the pancreas.  The protease enzymes do not have a backup system until they are assimilated and the liver and immune system must act upon them.  Thus, protecting this system and keeping it functioning optimally is essential to good health.

MAXIMIZE PROTEIN DIGESTION

We have seen with the addition of enzymes at a meal for the specific purpose of re-establishing protein digestion has had great success.  It usually consists of:

• 1. An enzyme with betaine HCl

•  2. A supplement to strengthen the stomach’s intrinsic factor for protein digestion and uptake of vitamin B-12

•  3.  A supplement to conserve nucleoproteins and make them available for cellular function.

•  4.  A pancreatin supplement

While the validity of this concept is passionately debated, it cannot be denied that people following the dietary “care and feeding” of the human body” book “The Pro-Vita! Plan for Optimal Nutrition” and the principles set forth by Dr. Wheelwright, reap tremendous benefits when they separate concentrated proteins from concentrated starches and allow the pancreatic enzymes to work more efficiently.  (The Pro-Vita! Book is available from apple-a-day-press.com)

 THE PANCREAS LINK

 Many pancreases' show the signs of stress (overwork) and the result is a lower production of enzymes. This lower production sets off a chain of events that leads to many other symptoms and health conditions.

In nature, the body would not be exposed to refined sugars that demand an instant response from the pancreas.  Instead, the diet would contain complex carbohydrates, ones that take longer to digest.  Yet today, people often start their day with soda pop, donuts, sugared breakfast cereals, sugared coffee, and pancakes.  These foods contain refined sugars and cause the metabolism to burn “jet fuel”.  This creates a lot of work for the pancreas – not only in its enzyme activities but also in its endocrine function of insulin production.

Pancreatin is a mixture of several digestive enzymes produced by the exocrine cells of the pancreas.  It is composed of amylase, lipase, and protease. This mixture is used to treat conditions in which pancreatic secretions are deficient, such as pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis.  It has been claimed to help with food allergies, celiac disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, and weight loss.  Pancreatin is sometimes called “pancreatic acid,” although it is neither a single chemical substance nor an acid.  Pancreatin contains the pancreatic enzymes trypsin, amylase, and lipase.  The trypsin found in pancreatin works to hydrolyze proteins into oligopeptides; amylase hydrolyzes starches into oligosaccharides and the disaccharide maltose, and lipase hydrolyzes triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerols.  Pancreatin is an effective enzyme supplement for replacing missing pancreatic enzymes, and aids in the digestion of foods in cases of pancreatic insufficiency.

Intrinsic factor —a glycoprotein produced by the parietal cells of the stomach.  It is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12 later on in the terminal ileum.  Upon entry into the stomach, vitamin B12 becomes bound to one of two B12 binding proteins present in the gastric juice.  In the less acidic environment of the small intestine, these proteins dissociate from the vitamin, enabling it to bind to intrinsic factor and enter the portal circulation through a receptor in the ileal mucosa specific for the B12-intrinsic factor complex.

SYMPTOMS OF PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY

 When does the pancreas become insufficient?  This will vary with each individual and her or his genetics.  Just like “mileage on a car” the life of the pancreas depends on the driver, how well it was built, how hard it is used, the terrain, the fuel, and the maintenance.

For the clinician, there are many ways to gain insight into the condition of the pancreas.

1. Lab tests include comprehensive digestive/stool analysis for the enzyme functions and diabetes/ hypoglycemia glucose blood tests for the endocrine function.
2. Dr. Wheelwright taught that pancreas stress could be quickly detected in the sclera (white of the eyes) by the formation of a red line in a certain zone and substantiated in the feet via Foot Glyphology.  [For information about the Sclerology certification course contact the International Sclerology Institute, 512.328.3996 or visit www.sclerology-institute.org.]
3. Kinesiologists and electro-acupuncturists have developed the ability to determine digestive pancreatic problems.
4. Included here are self-test questionnaires that practitioners can give their clients to screen for pancreatic problems.

 DO PANCREATIC ENZYMES FUNCTION BEYOND THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM?

It used to be believed that digestive enzymes only functioned in the Gastro-Intestinal (GI) Tract, and that belief was taught for many years.  However, it is erroneous.

Beginning with Dr. Edward Howell’s book, Enzyme Nutrition, we now know that the body conserves some of its precious enzymes by reabsorbing them.

Now, there are numerous studies that show oral administration of trypsin and chymotrypsin allows those enzymes to enter the bloodstream and eventually come back to the pancreas for reuse.  Thus, the pancreas is actually involved in a circulatory system just like the liver/gallbladder recycles bile salts.

The pancreas secretes enzymes into the small intestine.  The enzymes do their job to digest food.  Extra enzymes can be reabsorbed.  These enzymes can then effect a beneficial activity in the body such as the reduction of inflammation and the breakdown of fatty deposits, and then work their way back to the pancreas for another tour of duty.  Hence the importance of not only the Ps formula but also the MELA formula – high potency protease enzymes that serve to reduce inflammation.

Why is this so important?  Because this is the basis for the effectiveness of supplementation.  If we provide the ailing body nutritional enzymatic support, then it not only helps the body accomplish the digestion it needs to accomplish, but it also gives the pancreas a rest of its enzyme bank and restoration of its function.

On this positive note of supplementation, let’s look at symptoms of pancreatic insufficiency and how herbal/enzymatic therapies can have a dramatic impact.

PARASITES:  STOPPING THE HUMAN FEAST

People who have intestinal parasites (a condition that is considered pandemic in America and the world) have a pancreas insufficiency!  Why?  Because the pancreatic protease enzymes, as they pass through the intestines, help rid the GI Tract of bacteria, worms, protozoa, candida, and fungi.

Now, think about all the millions of dollars that American consumers have spent buying herbs like green black-walnut, and expensive parasite cleanse programs, and building “zappers,” all which have helped many people, but have never gone back to the root-cause of the problem – a protease pancreatic enzyme insufficiency!

Here the wisdom of Doc Wheelwright leads the way.  It’s why he put the high level of protease enzymes (bromelain) in the VRM-1 parasite formula along with nature’s vermin-ridding herbs.

Statistics show that over one billion people worldwide are afflicted with one or more kinds of parasites.  While many parasitic diseases occur in third world countries, the United States is now also seeing an increasing prevalence of parasite-related problems.

A nationwide survey was conducted in 1976 by public health and private laboratories across the United States.  The results were compiled by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.  Approximately 450,000 feces samples were examined and of these, 15. 6% were found to contain one or more parasites.  With more advanced diagnostic techniques now available, health experts suggest that infestation percentages may today be twice as high as the 1976 survey, or about one person in three.

With all this information, it all funnels down to a problem with some part of the digestion not fulfilling what we need to function and toxins are building up in our system.  Why?  Each person is unique and requires a unique approach specific to them to restore balance.  Health is in the middle where balance is.  If you have symptoms, you are out of balance.  Some may say I am not sure what is wrong, I just don't "feel right".