Saturday, February 16, 2008

This May Throw Your Eating Habits For A Spin

What I about to share will most definitely ruffle your nutrition
feathers (if there is such a thing).

Raw fruits and vegetables (and the eliminating of unrefined sea salt)
may be doing more damage than good. You may in fact be EATING TOO
WELL!

As strange as that sounds, I'm beginning to believe this is true.

As you may know I have battled intestinal problems for about 10
years. Without going into detail I believe I have found the
solution. With the help of God directing me, I came across Dr.
Jonn Matsen, a
naturopathic doctor in North Vancouver, author of Eating Alive,
The Secrets to Great Health from Your Nine Liver Dwarves, and
Eating Alive 2.

He has presented to me in person and in his books, particularly
Eating Alive 2, that the root of my problem and a myriad of other
chronic conditions that people suffer from such as atherosclerosis,
heart
disease, strokes, etc is mercury toxicity (whether from amalgam
fillings or vaccinations)
and yeast overgrowth.

Without going into too much detail and boring you to tears I'll try
summary his theory.

He states that the mercury in your body acts as an antibiotic
killing off the good bacteria in your gut. As a result yeast that
are usually kept in check by the good bacteria begin to flourish
and grow. On a side note, yeast prefer an alkaline environment
whereas the good bacteria (probiotics) produce an acidic
environment and thus compete with the yeast for space. With the
yeast not kept under control they begin to affect a whole slu of
systems and metabolic processes in your body.

On top of this (feather ruffling about to occur) most people are eating too many raw
fruits and vegetables (high in potassium) which if not balanced by
higher sodium foods such as meats and/or sea salt, low calcium
absorption soon results. This low calcium absorption will lead to
calcium being taken from other parts of the body namely bones, valves, etc. We all know the implications of losing bone so I won't go into that but what about losing calcium
from valves? Well Dr. Matsen shows that as calcium absorption
decreases due to eating too many high potassium foods in relation
to higher sodium foods that your ileocecal valve (which connects your
small intestine to your large intestine) becomes weak. When this
valve weakens yeast and previously good bacteria that resided in
your large intestine back flow into your small intestine and cause
havoc. Good bacteria now become "bad guys" as they are where they
shouldn't be.

A few things these "bad guys" do are:
-eat sugars, from which they make alcohol
-eat your fats and your minerals
-steal your vitamin B12 as well as tryptophan and other amino acids
(proteins)
-deconjugate the bile salts in your upper small intestine which
further disrupts your amino acid absorption
-destroy the anzymes of your digestive tract so you can't digest
lactose or maltose or gluten (in wheat among other grains) any more
-most important they can overwhelm the glutathione enzymes in your
liver (think having problems with detoxification and elimination of
wastes).

Not to good so far eh?

The reason why he believes eating too many raw fruits and
vegetables (salads included), or eating too well, is a problem has
to do with your kidneys.
Belows I've included his explanation of it.

The hot, sunny weather of August makes fruits and vegetables grow
and the quantity of these nutritious fresh foods in our diet
increases. August is also the time of year that many of us take
time off work and get outdoors much more. This combination of fresh
food and outdoor activity make August the healthiest month of the
year for many people.

During September, there's a tendency to continue eating a lot of
fresh fruits and salads. However, people are usually back indoors
more because the new school year begins and jobs resume. This sets
the scenario for ileocecal valve problems, commonly seen in people
who "eat too well."

The ileocecal valve is located between your small intestine and
your large intestine. This valve is usually kept closed so that the
food you've eaten stays in your small intestine long enough to be
digested and absorbed fully. It also prevents the good
micro-organisms in your large intestine from getting into your
small intestine, where their waste products could easily be
absorbed. As digestion and absorption are completed in your small
intestine, your ileocecal valve opens, and the food passes into
your large intestine or colon.

When your ileocecal valve is weakened, the billions of normally
"good" bacteria that live in the large intestine get through the
ileocecal valve, up into your small intestine, where they're not
supposed to be. There, they can become "Bad Guys"--they steal
important nutrients like vitamin B12 and tryptophan before you have
absorbed them, and they can also dump toxins into your liver. Once
your good bacteria become bad, yeast soon join the party. The
alkaline pH of the small intestine allows the yeast to multiply
vigorously.

Your ileocecal valve can become weak when your calcium levels are
low for more than five days--calcium helps to strengthen this valve.
Increasing your calcium intake doesn't necessarily solve the
ileocecal valve problem, because the cure depends on whether the
calcium is being absorbed by your body. Vitamin D is required for
calcium absorption--it stimulates your intestinal cells to make a
calcium-binding protein that dramatically increases your absorption
of calcium. Vitamin D is made by your skin when exposed to the
ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun, and then it is stored in an
inactive form in your liver.

Vitamin D is relatively passive until it's activated by your
kidneys, which change the activation of vitamin D as the weather
changes. Sodium in the diet tells the kidneys it's not sunny, so
they activate vitamin D, while potassium tells the kidneys it is
sunny, so they don't activate vitamin D.

As I stated before, the ileocecal valve problem is commonly seen in
people who "eat too well." That is, they consume too many foods
that are high in potassium (such as salads and fruit), and don't
consume enough sodium in the form of animal protein or salt. This
confuses the kidneys into assuming they are in the hot sun of
mid-summer, so they deactivate vitamin D, resulting in less calcium
absorption and ultimately a weakened ileocecal valve.

As temperatures get cooler this month and/or if you're not getting
outside in the sun very often, I recommend that you switch over to
a more warming diet as outlined in Eating Alive II (cut back on raw
vegetables, including salads; seasonal fruit for the climate in
which you live; etc.). You might also consider taking calcium
and/or horsetail in supplement form, and if you're unable to get
regular sun exposure, take vitamin D as well. Eat leafy green
vegetables regularly for their vitamin K, which gets the calcium
into your bones. You can continue to eat salads when you're out in
the warm sun, but switch to steaming your greens the rest of the
year. And remember to add a little bit of unprocessed sea salt to
your vegetables and grains.

Visit Dr. Matsen's site at www.eatingalive.com

Sorry for throwing your whole nutrition paradigm upside down but I
hope this was helpful and made sense.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Resurrect the body you were created to have,
Tyron
www.MakersBody.com
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