How I discovered how important digestion is to health

In 1991 when I had my car accident that disability retired me from my career in criminal justice, I thought I would recover and get back to work. But someday never came and just like that, in the blink of an eye and with the sound of the crash reveberating in my head forever, it was over. I was never to put a uniform on again. It was a crushing blow to my ego. It was an even worse blow to my body which never seemed to recover from the trauma, both from the accident and the loss of my career. After months of wallowing in self pity and anger, I was finally able to let go of the grief (with the help of counseling) and begin to rebuild my life, although at the time I seriously wondered what life I had left to live. But the Universe always provides answers when we open to the possibilities. I was in so much physical pain from the accident that it kept me from spending a lot of time thinking about the job I'd loved and lost. I spent years going to doctors, having them put me on this drug then that one. One caused constipation so bad I thought I was backed up from San Francisco to New York City. So they gave me another drug which made me have so many out of body experiences I was beginning to wonder where my true body really was! When I began showing signs of memory loss, inability to form words and the loss of use of one hand and foot the doctor told me to shop for a wheel chair and I said "NO MORE!" I'm done with this shuffling around with no one having answers or caring enough to help me figure it out.

My first step was to begin a regimen of digestive enzymes. I worked with a wonderful enzyme therapist who tailored a program specifically for my needs. In about 2 weeks time I began to feel more alive, more like....well....me, again. Hello me! Wow it felt great. But it was expensive, and without a job, it was hard to keep paying the money it took to take the pills. I perservered for 2 years though because my husband and I both were committed to finding my way back. I got off all the drugs after a few months (never ever just quit, you could make yourself deathly ill or cause irreparable harm. Any weaning should be done under a doctors care, as I did, especially if you are taking any kind of narcotic or addictive drug. Always always always do it with your doctors supervision, there is no room for cheating here.) The panic attacks went away, the muscle pains were fewer and I regained all control of my hand and foot. Still, I had limitations but at least I was able to function.

After I became a Biofeedback Specialist, I always saw key things come up for my clients: water, which I've already discussed in a previous post and digestion combined with adequate exercise which we'll discuss in another post. Digestion is what I want to talk about today though, because we never give it a lot of thought. We take it for granted for the most part. We ignore it when it starts acting up, causing belching and rectal gas, sometimes we have pain, constipation or diarrhea. We just swallow an antacid or take another over the counter pill and wish it away. Eventually, we learn to live with it, identifying the foods that make it worse and avoid them, or in some cases, eat them anyway because they taste too good to pass up. So here is a brief anatomy lesson. It's just a general description, so all you medical people out there don't yell at me, I'm just trying to make a point here: Your digestive tract is a tube. When you put something in your mouth, something should be coming out the other end. If it isn't, you have a problem. If you have gas or pain, you have a problem. This is your body trying to tell you something is not right. Pay attention. The simplest thing you can do is increase your water, but not at meal time. It was recommended to me that I drink no more than 4 oz. of fluid one hour before, during or after a meal. This is so the enzymes in our body don't get diluted so much they can't do their job of breaking down the food we are eating. Their job is to basically liquify the stomach contents before it reaches the small intestine. Hydrochloric Acid and enzymes work together to make this happen. If one or the other is off, you have a problem. Research I've read recently on Dr. Mercola's site, along with Dr Susan Lark and Dr. David Williams all say that acid stomachs come from too little acid, not too much and the piling on of antacid medications only makes the problem worse in the long run.

Think about it this way. If you aren't pushing something out your "tube" when you take something in, where is it going? What is happening to it as it sits in your gut and begins to back up and putrify? Does it just grow bigger and harder and cause upset stomach and nausea? Sometimes for some people it may do that. Does it become so hard because you aren't drinking enough water, remember water is absorbed through the intestines, that it punctures holes in your intestinal walls and pass bacteria into the bloodstream where it can invade other organs and make you sick? Maybe for some people it does. So what can you do about it? Besides drink more water you mean? I'm so glad you asked! Digestive enzyme formulas can be found at any health food section of supermarkets and health food stores. Online there are enzyme formulas marketed by direct marketing associations and independent companies and of course, yours truly carries a line of energized enzymes. Some are pretty good, some are so so, some are awful in my experience. Ideally, a good enzyme therapist would be my first choice if you can afford to do that. If not, look for a product that has active units of plant based enzymes. If it is in milligrams, forget it, you want to see USP units for Amylase (breaks down carbohydrates), Protease (breaks down proteins), Lipase (breaks down fats) etc. Oxbile or Pancreatin alone usually isn't enough, but if it is working for you then great! Keep at it. Just don't IGNORE your digestion. It is the key to everything else our body does. If you can't absorb the nutrients you are eating, your body is starving. What else can it do? And if it is starving, what is happening to the foods that aren't being broken down in your stomach and passed whole into your intestines? Something to think about. I know for me, once I got my digestion handled, a lot of my pain went away. I can eat corn now and not see it come out whole at the other end. That is how I know I'm digesting! Try it and see for yourself.

Have you seen the Secret yet?

The internet is all abuzz about the new movie called "the Secret" If you haven't heard about it, please click on www.thesecret.tv to learn more. There has been such a rush of people trying to buy it or download it that the company can't keep up, but keep trying, it will be worth the effort. Then share it with everyone you know. They will thank you for it too!

On the health front here at home, Buddy continues to hold his own. He amazes me with his stamina and will power. There are a few days that he has not been interested in food, and I honor that but usually by the next day he is ready to eat on his old schedule again and then I am grateful. He prefers to sleep a lot now and he has become even more loving, if that is possible, always wanting to be near me. If I dare sit down without space for him, he comes and stares at me, willing me to move to the sofa so he can climb up and snuggle on my lap. it gets a little crowded up there when the 2 cats and the other greyhound decide they want in on the action too, but we all seem to accomodate each other. We all have a sense of each others needs to be together as Buddy goes through this. It is a special time, albeit a sad time when I allow myself time to dwell on it, which is not often. I dare say I am much too busy to have a lot of time to myself to just sit and think of late.

One of the benefits of being a biofeedback specialist is since I have been at this for almost 5 years now come September, I am considered the "expert" on the block. As such I have been appointed as a Zone Manager for 4 counties to help other practitioners get their business up and running and assist those interested parties in obtaining a device for their own business and practice. I am running in many directions at once it seems. In addition to this new responsibility, I am also sitting on committee with other natural health devotees in my area to develop a Power of Wellness Conference, slated for November. Together we are working to develop a full day of speakers and demonstrations of options for members in our community to identify what choices they have to empower themselves on their healing journey. It is an exciting time for all of us and if you have hopes of developing something similar in your neck of the woods, please let me know and I'll be glad to let you know what we're doing so you can get started too.

Water and Health

I know that many of you have been told to drink water and I'll bet most of you don't know how much is enough. My clients tell me they drink anywhere from none to 2 quarts a day, but how does one really know when enough is really "enough" for your body? Clearly, none is not enough, and the standard 8 glasses a day is a good measure but we are all different, even though we are the same. The body needs enough water to flush out the toxins, which keeps the kidneys working like they are intended, but I'll bet you didn't realize that water is actually absorbed through the colon. Which is why most people who don't drink enough water are constipated. And if you haven't been drinking enough water for your body, the kidneys flush it out right away before it has a chance to be absorbed into your cells and organs. Yes, every organ, every cell needs water to survive, and when we deprive our bodies of the water it needs, the body starts to shrink itself, as a protective shield, it is just trying to get along in the terrain that you have given it to survive, kind of like the lizards in the desert survive by shutting down when water is scarce. I don't know how true that is, but it reminded me of how our bodies work when we are deprived of adequate hydration, we go into shut down mode until we are sure any water we are given is actually going to be lasting. There is an excellent book
"Your Body's Many Cries For Water!" written by Dr. Batmangheldhi, a medical doctor trained in London, England who had first hand experience with waters healing abilities when he became an unwitting political prisoner in Iran and was forced to treat fellow prisoners using only water. What he discovered was that giving the body adequate amounts of water could stop pain, improve energy, and help support the body to heal itself. He was so engrossed in his work at the prison that when the warden tried to release him, he asked to stay on another year to complete his research. This book is the result and is quite illuminating. Dr. Batmangheldhi developed a formula for determining how much water was enough for each person. Take your body weight, divide it by half equals ounces of water per day you should drink. The more you weigh, the more water you will drink. Is there such a thing as drinking too much water? Yes, if your kidneys are impaired in any way. You should always consult your doctor before making dramatic changes to your diet or water intake. You can order the book at www.watercure.com if you are interested or check your local library.

So back to Buddy, the 11 year old Greyhound, he instinctively began increasing his water intake when he took ill. Buddy was always a good water drinker, I never had to coax him to take his water in daily, he and Rocket both are on a good water drinking schedule. His water intake has increased dramatically though, as he listens to his body's cries for water. With humans, it seems we do the opposite. We get sick or busy or whatever and the last thing we want to do is drink water, it's too soon, it's too late, we don't want to interrupt our activities or road trip for a potty break, and soon the entire day has passed and all we've managed to drink is perhaps some coffee or soda, both actively dehydrate the body by the way, which further shrinks our cellular reserves.

What I did to start getting adequate hydration in my body was to rely on a hospital jug, you know the kind you get if you are hospitalized, it has a lid and a straw with measurements on the side so you can track how much you've taken in. Personally I go through 2 jugs a day and in the summer heat, I up it to 3 to compensate for perspiration and water loss through yard work and exercise. I drink 1 cup of organic swiss water processed decaf coffee a day (I order it through www.strictlyorganic.com and have it delivered to my door, it is the freshest coffee I've ever had. Richard, the owner doesn't know I am posting his site here, so he may be surprised when he starts getting busier than usual), I do not drink sodas but I do enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner once in a while. If you are lucky enough not to have been hospitalized or know someone who has who isn't using their jug, Weight Watchers sells a good one and a lot of sports stores are now carrying polycarbonate water jugs that would work just fine. If you are one of the folks who do not drink water, I can't emphasize enough how important it is for you to start, but start slowly. You don't want to overwhelm your kidneys, besides, you will be spending a lot more time in the bathroom at first as your kidneys start flushing, so just take it slow and easy. In no time I know you can build up to your level and the potty breaks will decrease as the fluid starts to enter your cells and hydrate your colon.

On my first post I said I would talk about the lesson I've learned from Buddy's illness. It is this: Listen to your body, open your heart to hear the message, drink water, even if you are not thirsty, love unconditionally, sleep when you are tired, and if the spirit moves you, run like the wind when you go outside to play. Namaste. Susan
http://advancedbiofeedback.com Using Quantum Biofeedback Technology to help you find out what your body is trying to tell you
www.paths4life.com Program Authoring the Human Subconscious ~ linking the body and mind to create what it is you truly want in your life
www.hghsusan.com Anti-Aging, Immune Science and Weight Loss

Getting Started

This is Rocket (left-age 5) and Buddy (age 11) on the right. They are retired rescued Greyhounds and are 2 of our family of 4 legged babies. You can see that Rocket always goes for the comfortable spot and Buddy, the gentleman that he is, takes what is left. What does this have to do with health? A lot actually, we just had a health scare with Buddy who suddenly lost 8 pounds in a very short period of time and he didn't have parasites. So the C word was bantered about as the only other possibility, after all, the vet told us, he is 11 years old now and that is a lot older than other dogs at that age. She meant because of the hard life greyhounds live while at the track, often abused and poorly treated, living their first 4-6 years in a cage, unable to sit or lay down unless they are in their cage or face being beaten. Trainers often want these dogs ready to run, and it doesn't matter at what cost to the dog. Once they stop making money, they are destroyed, with hardly a chance to live out their lives unless a rescue organization steps in and adopts them out. Amazingly though, Greyhounds don't have a lot of health issues other than the expected arthritis from running so many races and some are prone to bone cancer and most have some dental issues due to lack of care. BTW, there are plenty of good, caring owners and trainers but there are also way too many who are bad. So how does a dog, who is not always taken care of, get to live out a long, healthy life under such extreme circumstances yet humans, who have so much going for them, including opposing thumbs, can't seem to manage their destructive eating habits, ruined digestion, broken down immune systems and deteriorating mental health? Is there an inate sense of knowing that we have disconnected from that animals are more aware of? Or could it be that we, as humans, think we are above all that body talk nonsense, that we are here to enjoy what we have created for ourselves and by God, we are going to indulge and enjoy, let our bodies figure it out as we go along? I think it's both actually. There is a lesson to be learned from Buddy's health crisis and in my next post I will share my thoughts on that. But in the meantime, let me say that I am not a doctor, I don't pretent to be and anything I post on this blog is personally gained information I have gleaned over many years of being interested in health and working the natural health arena for the past 5 years or so. By the way, Buddy is rebounding, he's gained all his weight back and he is active and happy though there is clearly a degeneration happening in his body. For now though, he is doing well and me and my family are grateful for that. My hope is that he will choose to be with us for a bit longer. For now, Mo, my 14 lb Tabby Cat who is supervising my typing right now wants to take a nap and has asked me to stop making noise. Apparently the keyboard is disturbing him so til next time, drink plenty of good filtered water, studies show it can help you with fatigue, increase energy, improve sleep and help the body heal.