Colon Health: Your Ticket to Overall Wellness

A healthy body depends on a healthy digestive system. Therein lies the root of all health problems for so many folks. It's easy to think if you don't have any apparent digestive problems (indigestion, acid-reflux, bloating, etc.) that your gut must be doing fine. Au contraire, fair members. Listen up.

These days most food, water, and air contain toxins that aren't being moved out of your system effectively. And, it's hard for your colon, liver, and immune system to keep pace with so many toxins.

Did ya know cold and flu viruses are actually ways for your body to cleanse itself? If you suppress all that de-yuckifying with symptomatic treatments like decongestants and fever reducers, your body may not be able to finish getting all the stored toxins out.

Chronic conditions often result from your body never having the chance to completely rid itself of toxins. Not only do stored toxins cause unpleasant side-effects like body odor, bad breath, and acne but they also contribute to a disease-ridden body.

An unhealthy gut can invite parasite invasions, constipation, leaky gut syndrome, candida, allergies, and much more.

Parasites Quite Common, Even from Tap Water!

Tess recently had a conversation with Dr. Rodier about his favorite topic, the gut and the parasites that commonly infest the gut. And, young Tess was overheard to be making that signature sound of hers: eeww.

Parasites can hitch a ride in many ways – when you walk barefoot on contaminated soils, when you eat raw or under-cooked meats, when you eat unwashed fruits and vegetables, and even when you drink tap water.

Did you know that nasty single-celled organisms like cryptosporidium and giardia have a tough outer shell that helps them survive even the best water chlorination treatments?  Some estimate that 85% of Americans are infected with some form of parasites.

Once into your body, these bad boys expel loads of their waste to cause abdominal pain, bloating, colon disorders, fatigue, headaches, immune system strain, anemia, and much more.

Parasites thrive on diets with too many carbohydrates, fats, and sugars. And, too many rounds of antibiotics and excessive stress support parasite colony proliferation as well.

Alas, parasites can be extremely hard to diagnose and so chances are many of our fair members have unwholesome parasite communities causing mischief in their bowels. 

Getting rid of parasites using diet and supplements is usually a long process and involves eliminating sugar, dairy, and fermented foods and adding botanicals like black walnut oil, garlic, and ginger. 

Boosting intake of raw, sulfur-rich foods -- like garlic, onions, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, pomegranate seeds, and figs — is key. 

Dr. Rodier finds that most folks don’t have the patience for such an approach and require a combined pharmaceutical and nutritional approach.

Constipation & Absorption of Toxins

Talk to Dr. Rodier about your health, and you're bound to get the question, "How many bowel movements do you have each day?" While some folks are squeamish when talking about their deposits at the porcelain bowl, this information is critical when assessing health.

Ideally, you should have at least two bowel movements a day—da bigger, da better, as one of our dear friends likes to say. With fewer trips to relieve your hard-working bowels, you become constipated, and trouble inevitably brews in your gut.

With constipation, more waste remains in your colon with some of that waste adhering to your colon walls (not pretty, I know). Over time, toxins from slow-moving waste have the chance to be reabsorbed, leading to problems ranging from basic fatigue to scary bouts of colon cancer.

Waste buildup impacts your brain as well. As early as 1917, researchers reported 518 cases of neurological symptoms that were eliminated by addressing intestinal toxemia (rooted in constipation).

Constipation is clearly not a trivial concern. Eat high-fiber foods, buy our fiber-rich products (Fiber Fit, Constant Health, Soothing Greens), buy bulk fiber, drink more water, exercise, do whatever it takes, get that nasty toxic stuff moving on out of your system. 

Leaky Gut: The Syndrome Behind Allergies, Malnutrition & Other Maladies of the Gut

Last year, Cindy wrote about leaky gut troubles. With leaky gut, inflammation creates spaces between cells in the gut and allows toxins to slip into the bloodstream instead of being eliminated. 

Because of this inflammation and toxin release, leaky gut has been tied to acne, asthma, celiac disease, chemical sensitivities, eczema, chronic fatigue, food allergies, IBS, liver disease, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Raw Food Makes for a Healthy, Inflammation-Free Colon

As far back as the 1930s, a Russian scientist discovered the number of white blood cells in the intestines increased dramatically when cooked food was ingested. Thus, a diet comprised of mostly cooked foods can set the stage for intestinal inflammation.

Later a Swiss scientist discovered raw food produced no such white blood cell increase, and when raw food preceded cooked food, the number of white blood cells was less than with cooked food alone. 

Fresh, raw foods like fruits and avocados and steamed vegetables, like yams, help heal the digestive tract.

Consider also grains like millet, buckwheat, and basmati rice for breakfast. They're easy to digest and full of nutrition. Thermos-cooked grains help heal your digestive tract, too, as the slow-cooking process helps retain valuable enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and proteins.

---

Too Cheap? Ahem, According to Whom?!