| 1 | Most probiotics supply between 1 billion and 25 billion organisms per dose, and a few supply substantially more, up to 450 billion. The number, however, isn’t the important thing, as some studies have shown supplements to be effective when they contain only millions of organisms. What matters is whether the product contains living, viable organisms that adhere to the gut lining, are not destroyed by bile, and have benefit once in the body. Yet there is still much to be learned. Research indicates that even dead probiotics can have a profound effect on the immune system. -Digestive Wellness, 4th Edition, Elizabeth Lipski |
| 2 | “All truth passes through three stages: first, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; third, it is accepted as self-evident.” –Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) |
| 3 | Suggested reading: Poop Culture: How America is Shaped By Its Grossest National Product, Dave Praeger |
| 4 | Heartburn is caused by stomach acid backing up into your esophagus. About one third of the U.S. population experiences frequent burning sensations, regurgitation, belching, and a sour taste in the mouth… When diets are shifted to healthier choices and proper food combinations, the heartburn often dissipates, a message that perhaps the trouble is not too much stomach acid but repeatedly choosing the wrong foods in the wrong combinations… Blocking your stomach acids with antacids has negative side effects that advertisers don’t share with you. A gut with suppressed stomach acid becomes vulnerable to harmful microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites). One of the jobs of stomach acid is to kill these unwanted predators… Sufficient stomach acid would normally have killed off these microbes, but [instead] they have an opportunity to enter your gut and cause havoc. Another job of stomach acid is to help break down certain nutrients for easy absorption, especially iron and calcium. Overusing antacids may set you up for osteoporosis or anemia. I know that the advertisements say that your antacid has calcium in it, but calcium needs stomach acid to be absorbed properly! Stomach acid helps digest protein. [When] your digestion is compromised, conditions such as gas, bloating, food allergies, and dysbiosis (poor intestinal bacteria balance) can develop from insufficiently digested proteins… |
| 5 | Medical doctors used to focus on the health of the colon, but have actually regressed in recent years because of [our] rush to abandon obsolete, outdated medical practices in favor of the latest and greatest pharmaceutical remedy or diagnostic gadget. Modern medical doctors just aren’t as good as they used to be in assessing what really causes disease: an unhealthy colon. -Colon Health, Louise Tenney |
| 6 | Irregular or disturbed sleep is [a] contributing factor to constipation which is not generally recognized or accepted… if sleep was disturbed, irregular or insufficient, the bowels will often fail to fulfill their duty. There is [a lack of] physiological stimulus and… the beginning of constipation. It must be recognized that… the necessity of the regularity of sleep, meal times and bowel action… all fit into a beautiful pattern and good health is the logical result. -Constipation, John H. Tobe |
| 7 | The liver is designed to operate with clocklike precision. At about 2 o’clock in the morning it begins to sort out the nutrients received from your last meal. If that meal has been light and eaten not too late in the day your liver can easily manage, sending sufficient bile to the gallbladder for the next stage of digestion. If you eat a heavy meal and eat too late, your liver works overtime- until about 8 in the morning, or later- but with no extra pay! That sluggish liver will keep you between the covers in the morning, not wanting to get up. You’ll be grumpy and complain that you’re not a “morning person.” In reality you’re “liverish.” Your liver has not been able to get rid of its toxic load. -Liver Cleansing Handbook, Rhody Lake |
| 8 | Stool can come in many different colors. Our stool’s brown color is due to the presence of a compound called stercobilin, which is formed when bacteria in our colon digest bile. Most daily variations in stool color are due to the dietary intake of various foods and medications. However, changes in stool color that persist for longer periods of time can be a sign of an underlying gastrointestinal disorder. The following chart can help explain the variations in poo hue:
-What’s Your Poo Telling You?, Josh Richman and Anish Sheth, MD |
| 9 | In addition to diet, one of the primary influences upon the bowel is emotional strain… People who are emotionally upset or under tension may indeed suffer heart problems, but they are much more likely to suffer intestinal distress such as gastritis, heartburn, ulcers, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation or diarrhea, to name but a few… As with all nervous and mental tensions, the cause must be dealt with before any lasting relief can be achieved in regard to… the bowel. -Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Better Bowel Care, Dr. Bernard Jensen |
| 10 | Any symptom or condition of the body, anywhere in the body, at any time, can be allergy, particularly when that symptom is not explainable in other terms. Food allergies in particular are poorly understood. When you eat a banana and get an immediate pain in your abdomen or stomach, you realize that there is a connection between the banana and getting the pain. But if the only response to that banana comes days later in the form of a swollen joint, you do not necessarily recognize that there is a relationship between what you ate and the response that occurred. Much masked or delayed allergy falls into this category. -Allergies: Disease in Disguise, Carolee Bateson-Koch, DC, ND |
| 11 | [Almost all] oils available in supermarkets, corner groceries, and convenience stores - whether from safflower, walnut, sunflower, corn, grape seed, soy bean, sesame, rice bran, canola, almond, peanut, avocado, or other oil blends- are fully refined and deodorized, and are either solvent-extracted or a mixture of expeller-pressed and solvent-extracted oils. The label does not advertise this fact, but trumpets less relevant selling information such as “cholesterol-free” (all plant oils are cholesterol-free), “low in saturated fats” (saturates in plant seed oils are… always low), “for frying, baking and cooking” ([none of the oils listed above] can safely be used to fry or deep-fry), and “high in polyunsaturates” (such oils can lower cholesterol slightly but increase cancer). All of these oils are colorless, odorless and tasteless. -Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, Udo Urasmus |
| 12 | Cholesterol is unique in that our bodies can make it but, once made, cannot break it down. By contrast, sugars, fatty acids, amino acids and nucleic acids can all be taken apart and turned into carbon dioxide, water and ammonia. As a result of this peculiarity, cholesterol must (and can only) be removed from our body through our stool (in the form of bile acid and cholesterol molecules). The removal of cholesterol is increased by dietary fibre. If fibre is absent, up to 94% of the cholesterol and bile acids are reabsorbed and recycled. This is one of the reasons why low fibre diets increase blood cholesterol levels. -Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, Udo Urasmus |
| 13 | After an excellent meal, body and spirit experience a very special sense of well-being. Physically, the face lights up, while the brain refreshes itself; the facial line reddens, the eyes shine, and a gentle warmth permeates all the limbs. Psychologically, the spirit becomes more alert, fantasy more lively… In addition, one frequently finds united around the same tables all factors which make society possible: love, friendship, business, speculation, power, protection, ambition, intrigue- that is why a feast brings fruits of all kinds. -J.A. Brillant-Savarin |
| 14 | Some experts suspect that artificially sweetened foods and drinks could cause carb cravings. Nutritionist Dr. Gittleman contends that artificial sweeteners are “counterproductive to your weight loss goals because they suppress or deplete the production of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that helps control food cravings. When your serotonin levels plummet, your sugar cravings sky-rocket, and this increases the likelihood of binge eating and added pounds. The mere taste of a concentrated sweetener appears to set an instinctual insulin mechanism into place even though it contains zero calories.” As far back as 1983, aspartame’s effect on the brain let MIT neuroscientist Richard Wurtman, Ph.D., to point out that… the sweetener may instill a craving for calorie-laden carbohydrates. -Sugar Shock, Connie Bennett, CHHC, Stephen Sinatra, MD |
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