I am very happy to announce that I have a new testing service available!

With my drive to put health knowledge back in the hands of each and every person, I have launched a new site that can help anyone that is suffering from a digestive problem find the answers they need to get well.

In the past people have had to go to their doctors, cap in hand, to try and find out the true cause of their health concerns, instead of just accepting a prescription that they know won’t heal them in the long run.

Well that situation may be a thing of the past, as I’ve made a digestive health test called a Complete Digestive Stool Analysis available to everyone who demands more detailed information about their health.

This is the most comprehensive bowel test I have come across - and it is simple and easy to do from the privacy of your own home. 

Along with the enormous amount of knowledge it provides, I also analyse the results and interpret them for you in a 15-20 page report, giving explanations, suggestions and treatment plans to investigate.

To learn more about it, or to order your own test kit, just go to www.digestionhealthreport.com

Knowledge is power - be empowered!

Further to my post a few days ago regarding low iron levels, one of the factors that I often find in my low iron patients is a digestive disorder where the levels of stomach acid are too low for good mineral absorption.

Many minerals need a certain level of pH in the stomach for them to be converted into a form that renders them available for absorption in the small intestine.  In a situation where there is less than optimal Hydrochloric Acid levels in the stomach, minerals such as iron may not be available for absorption, no matter how much it we actually eat.

Hydrochloric Acid production lowers for any number of reasons, although I find the biggest reason by far is stress.  When we are under pressure or stress, our body moves into fight or flight mode.  Now our body is pretty clever and if it perceives a danger in the environment that we have to deal with, then it uses it’s energy wisely.  It sums up the situation and thinks “Hmmm.  I need to run away from this Saber Tooth Tiger (Boss, Bills, Relationships, Kids etc) that is chasing me and that is going to take X amount of energy – so therefore all that energy that I’m using to digest my lunch can be diverted for my fight or flight response.  And once the danger is passed, I’ll relax and digest my meal then”.  Very clever, but if we’re in fight and flight mode all day every day, when do we ever stop to digest our food properly?

The long term dangers of this are obvious.  Malnutrition of specific micronutrients like minerals, and also macro-nutrients such as protein.  I have found a very strong link between disorders such as Oesteoporosis and long term low stomach acid.  Another factor that emerges in a low acid environment is the disturbance of the rest of the digestive tract.  Hydrochloric Acid is the first line of defense against pathogens in our food, and if we have low levels, then bacteria, viruses, microbes, yeast, fungi and parasites can enter our small and large bowel, where they can cause havoc.  If we had nice high levels of acid, then these pathogens would be neutralised before they had a chance to invade our bowel.  Our food would also be well digested which would create a healthy environment where pathogens could not take hold.

There are a couple of tests that I will often use to evaluate this area in more detail.  One is a Hair Mineral Analysis test that gives us an overview of the mineral status of the body from a sample of hair.  When I find four or more minerals that are very low, it will often be an absorption problem.

The other test that I often do is called a Complete Digestive Stool Analysis and this test evaluates the whole status of the gut from the stomach down.  In this we can not only pick up whether there are satisfactory HCl levels or not, but also whether the pancreas and liver are working properly and if there are any pathogens disturbing the bowel and affecting the overall function.  I do a lot of work with these tests and will be posting more about them in the future.

There are a couple of simple ways to increase HCl levels.  Addressing stress is a big one, but even just being aware of taking your time to relax over a meal can help; using a bitter before meals to stimulate digestive juices, such as apple cider vinegar, bitter herbs, lemon or bitter salad greens; being well hydrated helps; having optimal zinc and chloride levels also assists.  If all of these fail and you are having symptoms of low acid such as bloating, burping, gas, reflux and heartburn (yes, heartburn is mainly LOW acid not HIGH – antacids make the problem worse over the long term), then you may need supplemental HCl (it’s called Betaine Hydrochloride) to assist your body in breaking down your food better so that you can get the most out of it.

Even if you are on the perfect diet, you can still be nutrient and mineral deficient if your digestive system isn’t keeping up.  Taking higher doses of supplements isn’t the answer – but correcting the digestion system just might be.

One subject that is often discussed at Hippocrates – a completely raw, vegan, living foods retreat, is whether 100% raw is the ultimate diet.

Now I have trouble sticking to rules of any kind – not that I go deliberately out of my way to break rules, but I do believe that any intelligent, conscious and aware human being has very little need for rules or laws.  When you are aware of your actions and how they impact yourself and those around you, you also have an understanding of consequences.  Of course as a society we should decide how we choose to live within that society, but currently our government is so far removed from what many people actually want, we have thousands of petty laws dictated to us that do not advance humanity as a whole.

Many laws are also made to protect government or industry interests, such as the law that Naturopaths are not allowed to treat cancer – purely for the benefit of medical and pharmaceutical interests – certainly not there for the patients’ sake!

No matter what position in society one person may hold, we should always keep in mind that we were born totally free and that one person may never hold dominion over another – any regime that elevates one person above another is only an illusion.

OK, I’ve gotten right off track here and could expand on the above for hours, but let me get back to raw food.  I don’t believe that any one diet is perfect for every single person – everyone is biochemically individual and is at a different stage of age, health, disease, stress levels, chemical load etc. I find that a very high percentage of raw food works for most people, but it is not a one size fits all program.

I had a patient who was inspired to do a 100% raw food diet for several months.  Over that time certain areas of her health did improve, but one area that was not previously a problem – her digestive system – certainly became one.  She developed a very sluggish bowel, became very bloated, had quite bad pain in parts of her abdomen and became quite fatigued.  I had her do a Complete Digestive Stool Analysis to find out exactly what was happening in her digestive system, and we found some very interesting answers.

The level of short chain fatty acids in the gut which are fuel for the cells in the bowel, were almost zero.  These fatty acids are made by the fermentation of fibre by the good bacteria in the bowel, and can be low due to either poor levels of good bacteria in the bowel, or by not enough of the right types of fibre in the diet.  Low levels of one SCFA, butyrate, can be a very good marker for bowel cancer.

In this lady’s case we had an urgent need to provide the right type of fibre for her bowel, and this included starchy foods such as brown rice, lentils, corn, and even the occasional baked potato.  In this case, balancing the raw fruit and vegetables with small amounts of these cooked foods resulted in the digestive system normalising in a very short period of time.  The bloating, pain and sluggish bowel all resolved and she is very happy to have now found the balance of foods that keeps her feeling energetic and vibrant.

Which just goes to show that as soon as you proclaim that this is the right way and is the only way, you close the door on thinking – and you don’t allow new information in that might expand your old concepts for the better.