by Libby Weaver
As described above, stomach acid is stimulated by chewing, and the aroma of food, as well as by the consumption of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar (ACV). The chewing action sends a message to the brain to send a message to the stomach to let it know that food is on its way. When we inhale our food, this doesn’t happen. Historically, we regularly took much longer to prepare our meals and the slower cooking process generated an aroma of the upcoming meal, again signaling to the stomach that food was on its way. These days, many people aren’t present when they eat. They watch TV or read a mobile device rather than looking at their food. Visual cues, as well as aromas, can help to support good digestion.
Lemon juice and ACV physically stimulate the production of stomach acid. If you haven’t consumed either of these before, it is best to dilute them initially and ideally consume them five to 20 minutes before breakfast (or all of your main meals if that appeals). For example, you might begin with half a teaspoon of ACV in as much water as you like. Over the coming days and weeks, gradually work up to having one tablespoon of ACV while you gradually decrease the amount of water, or keep the larger dose more diluted. If you would prefer lemon juice, start with the juice of half a lemon diluted to your taste with warm water and gradually work up to having the juice of a whole lemon in less warm water. As an aside, it can be a good idea to wait for around 20 minutes to brush your teeth after you have consumed the lemon juice to prevent any potential problems with tooth enamel in the future. Use these tips to wake your stomach acid up before you eat!
The potential effect of drinking water with meals
We need the pH of our stomach acid to sit at around two. Water has a pH of seven (neutral pH) or above, depending on the mineral content (the higher the mineral content, the higher/more alkaline the pH of the water). When you add a liquid with a pH of seven or more to one with a pH of two, what do you potentially do to the stomach acid? You dilute it. And we need all the digestive fire we can muster to get the maximum nourishment out of our food and the best out of us. In my ideal world, we wouldn’t drink water 30 minutes either side of eating.
When I’m giving a seminar on this topic, at this point in the presentation, a member of the audience invariably shouts out, “What about wine?” Wine has a more acidic pH than water, so although it puts a load on the liver (Puzzle Piece 4, The Liver), from a digestion perspective, it takes less of a toll than water. Usually, at that point in the seminar, I am everybody’s new best friend!
You do not need to be concerned about the water content of food, nor do you need to focus on omitting all beverages at every mealtime. Simply aim to drink water between meals, not with meals, and don’t put food in your mouth and wash it down with a swig of water. It can be a challenging habit to break. Set yourself a goal of not drinking with meals for one week… and then preferably keep the new habit going. Or, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice if you insist on water with your meal for your own reasons. Just cut it out for a week, (one little week out of your very long life) and see if you feel any different.
PH gradient of the digestive system
Once food has been somewhat broken down in the stomach, it moves through the pyloric sphincter, a one-way valve leading into the duodenum, which is the beginning of the small intestine. Physically, in your body, this valve is located in the middle (or just slightly on the left) of the chest, just below where a woman’s bra sits and just below a man’s pectoral muscles.
While food is in the stomach, messages are being sent to the pancreas to secrete sodium bicarbonate (as well as digestive enzymes), which has a highly alkaline pH. The bicarbonate is designed to protect the lining of the first part of the small intestine, as well as allow digestion to continue. What is known as a “pH gradient” is established all the way along the digestive tract, and each region of the big long tube (see figure 2,) has an ideal pH. When the pH gradient is not established in the stomach (i.e., when the pH is higher than ideal), digestion problems are likely further along the tract. These may be symptoms of the small or large intestine, such as bloating, pain, or excessive wind. It can also mean that the absorption of nutrients may be compromised. Insufficient pancreatic bicarbonate production may also cause digestive symptoms such as a burning sensation underneath the stomach in the valve area described above. Pain in this area can also indicate that the gallbladder needs some support or investigation. It is best to consult with your health professional about this if you feel discomfort in this area.
The best way to let the pancreas know that it needs to jump to action and produce bicarbonate and digestive enzymes is to have good stomach acid production at optimal pH. The digestive system runs off a cascade of signals from one organ or area to the next, via the brain. Use the suggested strategies given above, especially chewing food well, to stimulate the pancreas to fulfill its role.
There are occasions when I suggest clients use supplements of pancreatic enzymes, which are appropriate if there is a genuine lack rather than simply poor stomach acid conditions, but I usually suggest the aforementioned strategies before trialing supplemental enzymes. However, when symptoms are severe, and once other causes have been ruled out, a gastroenterologist might need to measure pancreatic enzyme levels.
Absorption
As food moves through the small bowel, digestive enzymes are secreted from the pancreas and the brush border (lining) of the small intestine. The role of these enzymes is to continue what the stomach acid began, which is to continue to break down the food we have eaten into its smallest, most basic components. It is in the small intestine where you absorb all of the goodness (vitamins and minerals) out of your food. Think about that. All of the goodness, all of the nutrients that keep you alive, are drawn out of your food and into your blood so that your body can use those nutrients to do all of the life-sustaining jobs it does. Alcohol and vitamin B12 are virtually the only substances you absorb directly out of your stomach (rather than your small intestine) into your blood. Alcohol tends to be in your blood within five minutes of consuming it, which is why humans may get tipsy if they drink it on an empty stomach.
The small intestine is where the nutrients in your food move from the tube that is your digestive tract into the blood, which is obviously a different set of tubes. This is how we are nourished, and it is how you stay alive!
Just because you eat something, though, doesn’t mean you get all of the goodness out of it. Just because a food contains, for example, 10mg of zinc, doesn’t mean you will get (absorb) the whole 10mg when you eat it. The absorption of nutrients is dependent on a whole host of factors, some of which have been discussed above. If you inhale your food, drink water with your meals, or have poor stomach acid production, for example, you may absorb very little of the goodness in your food. Nutrients are essential for life, so simply, as a result of the way you are eating, let alone the foods you might be choosing, you may be robbing yourself of some of the goodness your food provides. Give yourself the best opportunity to absorb as much goodness out of your food as possible by applying the tips above. It may add energy to your years and years to your life.
Is that niggling pain in your side appendicitis?
Countless clients describe experiencing on-again, off-again pain that hits them quite low down on the right-hand side of their abdomen. If you place your little finger on your right hip bone and use your thumb to find your navel, this pain tends to be located about halfway between on that diagonal line. This is the ileocecal valve, where the small intestine meets the large intestine. Many people mistake ileocecal valve pain for appendicitis, as the appendix is located close to this area. Always see a medical professional to diagnose your pain.
For many, pain begins in this area after a tummy bug (infection) or after travelling, usually overseas or camping, and having diarrhea, or after a bout of food poisoning. Even though the obvious symptoms of the causative infection have long since gone, it is as though the nasty little critters that caused the original upset tummy have taken up residence in the valve
. Or perhaps they have changed its function. To remedy this pain, there are numerous options to try. One is to release the reflex connected to this valve by rubbing the area with your fingertips 20 times in an anticlockwise circular motion with reasonable pressure, not so it hurts you but also not with fairy fingers. Another option is to use anti-parasitic herbs, such as Chinese Wormwood and Black Walnut for four to eight weeks every day, before each main meal. The other potential remedy is one of my favorite substances on Earth, Lugol’s Iodine, also known as Lugol’s Solution. The liquid of potassium iodide is not only a source of iodine, necessary for so many body functions, but acts as a potent anti-parasitic agent that clinically seems to help clear the last of the nasty critters from this important valve. It is possible to overdose on iodine so it is best to check your dosage with a health professional to make sure the dose is right for you.
Gut bacteria
Now that the food has progressed through to the large intestine, can you guess what lives in here? Bacteria. On average, an adult will have 6½–9lb (3–4kg) of bacteria living in their colon. So, just as an aside, every time you weigh yourself remember that number on the scales is also comprised of gut bacteria that are essential for life. See how crazy it is that we weigh ourselves. All you do when you weigh yourself is weigh your self-esteem, but more on that in later chapters.
Some of the bacteria in your large intestine are good guys and some are bad guys. You want more good guys than bad guys. The role of the gut bacteria is to ferment whatever you give them. To come back to the circle concept of food (see figure 3), gut bugs love it when you give them something that is one or even two circles in size. They know what to do with that. But if a previous digestive process has not been completed sufficiently, the gut bacteria in our colon may be presented with fragments of food that are five or even seven circles in size, and all they know to do with any food they are offered is to ferment it.
What word springs to mind when you think of fermentation? I love asking this question at my seminars, as the answers usually amuse me as well as the audience. People will often say “beer,” “wine,” “sauerkraut”! But usually I get the answer I’m after, which is “gas.” Fermentation involves bacterial action on a food source and the subsequent production of gas. Some gases are essential to the health of the cells that line our gut, while others seem to irritate them and give us a bloated, uncomfortable stomach as the day progresses, whether we have eaten in a “healthy” way or not.
The trouble with a bloated stomach for many women (in particular) is that it messes with their brain. When they look down and see a swollen tummy, something inside immediately communicates to every cell of their body that they are fat, whether they consciously think this thought or not. Many of my clients go up a size around the waist as the day progresses, even though they feel they have eaten with their health in mind. This can add a layer of stress to a person’s life that they just don’t need or understand. It is especially stressful because they can’t fathom why it is happening. Sometimes it is the foods you are choosing. Sometimes it is the bugs that are living in your colon. Sometimes it is because of poor digestion further up the process, such as insufficient stomach acid. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this is considered a spleen and/or liver picture and a TCM practitioner is likely to use acupuncture and/or herbs to support the spleen and liver.
Stress
Poor digestion can also be due to stress or, more precisely, adrenalin. Adrenalin diverts the blood supply away from your digestive processes and concentrates the blood in your periphery (your arms and legs). The reason for this is that by not having blood focused on digestion, you are more likely to get away from the perceived danger; it keeps you focused on escaping the danger. If blood were still concentrated on the digestive system, there is a risk you would be distracted by food. Again, if you really were in danger, which is what adrenalin communicates to your body, your life might be over if you suddenly spotted a piece of fruit hanging in a nearby tree rather than remaining focused on getting out of danger. Stress, stress hormones, and the processes they drive in your body, including those related to body fat, weight loss, and digestion, are explored in great detail later in this book.
Bowel evacuation
In dealing with clients one-on-one, I have had to work out ways to extract information from people using “appropriate” language and also with words that accurately investigate what is going on for that person. Many years ago, one of the questions I originally found difficult to phrase was around how empty someone felt after they had used their bowels. I tried to dream up ways to word this question so that it wouldn’t make clients feel uncomfortable (not that many of them are concerned!) but also so that I could gain more insight into how their bowel was functioning. As with most things, a client turned out to be my teacher. While asking him about his bowel habits, he said, “You know what? My greatest discomfort comes from incomplete evacuation.” There they were. The words I needed. So, early on in my consultation work with people, I started asking about feelings of incomplete evacuation.
For some, it’s not an issue at all. They have no idea what I’m talking about when I mention it. For others, they are so excited that someone has finally given them the words to describe such frustrating discomfort. They wouldn’t answer yes, if I asked them if they were constipated, as they may use their bowels every day. It is just that when they do go to the toilet, they feel like there is more to come but it doesn’t eventuate and evacuate.
This feeling can be the result of numerous scenarios. It may be insufficient digestive processes as outlined previously. It may be inadequate production of digestive enzymes due to poor signaling or a damaged or inflamed brush border. It may be a food allergy or intolerance. It may be poor fiber intake or dehydration. It can be stress hormones causing the muscles surrounding the bowel to contract and hold onto waste. It may be a magnesium deficiency not allowing the walls of the bowel to relax and allow the thorough passage of waste. The thyroid gland may not be working optimally. TCM teaches us it may be insufficient spleen and/or liver chi (energy). The list of scenarios is almost endless.
One option to improve this challenge is to have a health professional help you get to the bottom (no pun intended) of it and remedy the situation. You might increase the green vegetables and decrease the processed foods in your diet for a week and see if that makes a difference, especially given that green vegetables are good sources of magnesium, water, and fiber, among other things. You may be suspicious of a food or a group of foods that are causing this feeling but because you love this food you are reticent to remove it. I cannot encourage you enough to remove your suspicious food from your diet for a trial period of four weeks. Four little weeks out of your very long life, an expression I use regularly with clients to highlight the relatively short time period necessary to offer potentially enormous insight into their health challenges. You may get an answer to your challenge over the trial period and, if not, you can relax and thoroughly enjoy this food that you love rather than silently wondering if it is the basis of your incomplete evacuation. But I can hear you already asking, “What if it works… what does that mean… can I never eat that food again?” My answer is always that it is your choice.
I’ve witnessed people be so resistant to dietary change but, after trialing a different way of eating, they feel so different, so much better that they have no desire ever to go back to their old way. I also meet others who miss a food terribly. If it is the latter, I suggest to that person, that “now they know.” It is no longer a mystery to them why they feel this way. Then they are in control. Unless the problem is due to a true allergy, I find that when people are strong, meaning when they are very robust from a digestion perspective, their gut will tolerate this food better than if they are stressed. I also support them to explore why they feel they can’t live without this particular food, as the reasons may also be emotional. Either way, once you know, you are in control, and it is your choice. You know that if you have
an important event coming up, you might like to avoid the culprit food for a time so you feel and look your best for the occasion. Again, unless the food is a true allergy for you, your tolerance of it may change and improve over time, especially with a focus on gut healing and stress management. Don’t think that because it hurts you today it always will. Your body changes and renews itself constantly. Just know there is a reason for your symptom. It is simply a matter of finding your answer.
