Articles by Donna DiMarco

It has been said that you are not what you eat, but rather what you digest, absorb and assimilate.  This is true.  Health begins with the food choices, but I frequently find people who make significant dietary changes, yet the issues still remain.  One of the first places I look is in the gut.  Is the food moving along the GI tract at the right speed?  Is digestion occuring?  Are the pathogens interfering?  Is there “leaky gut”?  Is there a significant amount of probiotics?  Are the wastes being eliminated?  Is the immune system in the gut functioning properly? Each of these aspects must be investigated thoroughly and must also work properly in order to restore and/or maintain health.

The stomach needs to be acid in order to break down food which will then trigger the release of bicarb from the pancreas.  If you take a lot of antacids, there won’t be enough acid to trigger the bicarb release.  Bicarb is alkaline.  The small intestines must be alkaline in order to digest food further.  When you upset the stomach, you upset the small intestines.

The GI tract is where 70% on your immune system resides.   If you are someone who gets frequent colds and is susceptible to catch whatever someone else has, you may want to support your gut.  Secretory Immunoglobulin A is a good indicator of gut health. 

 ”Leaky gut” is a term used to describe intestinal permeability.  Tiny junctions between the cells that line the GI tract become separated.  This leaves a pathway for partially digested food or pathogens to enter the body.  If it is partially digested food, it may manifest as a food sensitivity.  If it is a pathogen, it may mean an infection.  Either way, it will stimulate an immune response and send your body into an alarm state.  This causes adrenal stress and could lead to the development of an autoimmune disorder.  Leaky gut is caused by a high refined diet, steroid hormones, birth control pills and some other medications. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to reverse.

Probiotic are the good bacteria that live in your gut and help keep the bad bacteria in check, they help absorb nutrients and help provide vitamins like the B vitamins and vitamin K.  If you take an antibiotic and you get a yeast infection, it means your gut flora (probiotics) is low. A normal, healthy gut can withstan 8-10 days of antibiotic therapy without having the good guys die off enough to cause the yeast to grow.  Everyone should be on a good probiotics formula, always.  Lack of probiotics is often the cause of constipation.  Sometimes I find that food is improperly digested.  This can easily be remedied by supplementing with digestive enzymes.  There are different enzymes produced in different parts of the GI tract.  I suggest a broad spectrum digestive enzyme to skip the guess work.  But ultimately, you need to get your body producing enzymes again.  If you have indigestion and pain after eating, consider enzymes.

This is especially true of  hydrochloric acid (HCl), which is produced in the stomach.  This strong acid keeps pathogens from infecting our bodies; it helps digest food, absorb minerals and triggers the bicarb release from the pancreas.  It can be hindered by poor diet, medications, especially proton pump inhibitors, which are given for acid reflux and heartburn. There is also a bacterium called H. Pylori that can cause low HCl, but I find that the most common cause is a deficiency of niacinamide.  Low HCl sufferers typically have gas and bloating  after a meal and foul smelling stool and flatulence.  They may also have symptoms very similar to too much acid, like reflux and indigestion.  Simple supplementation with niacinamide in a hefty dose helps the body produce enough acid.  I have found that this works when nothing else does.  Be sure to use niacinamide; niacin actually works but it causes a flush and itching response to occur. Fiber is another important part of good GI health.  Fiber bulks up the waste material, which triggers the bowels to expel the stool.  Fiber also absorbs toxins, cholesterol and excess hormones released from the liver to be excreted.  Lack of fiber allows these wastes to be re-absorbed back into the body to further hinder proper function. Pathogens, parasites, yeast and fungus can all be found in the gut.  Parasitic worms are often picked  up from walking barefoot outdoors, from kissing and sleeping with pets, from casual, and of course intimate contact.  Any of these can cause the immune system to respond in an effort to get rid of the offender.  These “bugs” must be identified and destroyed so health can be restored. 

There is only one sure way to check for most of these issues– polymerase chain reaction/DNA stool test.  This state of the art exam can help you identify all these factors at one time, and with considerable accuracy.
If you have some of the symptoms described, consider this GI test for yourself.

Stay Healthy!

Donna

By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC

Water Is Important

Most people don’t drink enough water. A simple way to check is the skin turgor test. Simply pinch the skin at the anatomical snuffbox (the area where the thumb and index finger meet). If it snaps back into place easily, your water level may not be that bad, but if your skin remains pinched for a second before it falls back into place on the hand, you probably need more water.

Water dilutes toxins and allows them to flush out of the body. It is believed that most people eat when they really need to drink more. The main function of the large intestines is to absorb water out of digestive wastes. If wastes remain in the colon too long, the water is drawn out and the stool becomes dry and hard and more difficult to pass, so a vicious cycle begins

Drink at least 80 oz of pure water daily to keep the wastes moist.

2. Fiber for Health

Very few people eat the RDA allowance of fresh fruits and vegetables, which provide not only nutrients and antioxidants, but provide fiber as well. Whole grains are another good source, but again, we fall short. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is mostly made up of refined white flour. Think back to your elementary school days; you mixed white flour and water to make glue and paper mache. Fiber is needed to absorb toxins and wastes, but it also increases the bulk of stool, which in turn stimulate peristalsis, the wave-like contractions of the colon to force wastes out of the body.

Psyllium husk powder is inexpensive and works well. Add a teaspoon or two into a glass of water once or twice a day. You’ll be amazed at the results.

3. Walk, Run or Dance; Just Do Something!

Exercise daily, if even just a daily walk. Nothing helps constipation like exercise. It also stimulates the skin to remove wastes through sweat and the lungs to oxygenate more effectively. Exercise gets the GI tract moving, it stimulates the thyroid, helps stabilize blood pressure, helps sleep, reduces stress, and if done first thing in the morning, it gets the metabolism burning fat better. If you can only walk, start with that. Walk three minutes in one direction then walk three minutes back. Each day add another minute until you are walking 20 – 30 minutes each day. Of course, if you are physically able to do more vigorous workouts, do it.

Please be sure to get your physicians approval before you start any exercise program.

4. Magnesium, Please!

Consider a magnesium supplement. Because our vegetable consumption is so low, most people are lacking magnesium. Magnesium is needed for energy production, detoxification processes, sugar metabolism, maintenance of normal blood pressure and muscle relaxation. People who crave chocolate are often magnesium deficient, as are people who suffer from muscle cramps and those who fall asleep but awaken in the middle of the night. Another sign of magnesium deficiency is constipation. Remember the old laxative called M.O.? That stands doe magnesium oxide. If you’ve ever had a colonoscopy, chances are you drank citrate of magnesia or perhaps your mom gave you milk of magnesia. Things haven’t changed; magnesium helps the bowels move, but it is also needed for energy production, detoxification, muscle relaxation, blood sugar balance, and much more.

A supplement of magnesium glycinate works well. Be careful not to take too much and check with your physician first.

5. The Critters Within

We all should have about 4 pounds of good bacteria (probiotics) in our intestines. These friendly fellows help with digestion, help with vitamin intake, give us immunity, keep our colons at the proper pH, fight bad bacteria and parasites and help reduce cholesterol.

Probiotics are killed off by antibiotics, steroid hormones, birth control pills, poor diet, and other medications. Eating the most popular yogurts is ineffective at increasing their numbers. Some fermented foods like sauerkraut and miso can help, but I recommend an acidophilus supplement purchased from a good health food store that keeps it refrigerated. I recommend the powder but capsules work well too.

Acidophilus should be taken twice a day on an empty stomach so that stomach acid doesn’t destroy the live cultures.

By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC

If you’ve been following my articles in sequential order, you would have learned many of the basic principles of healthy eating. I wrote about drinking with meals, sugar and milk consumption, and even chewing. If you’ve incorporated these tips into your lifestyle, you should have noticed your energy increased, your skin cleared, your mental clarity improved, and your digestion is better. My goal is to help you be your own nutritionist. Today I’ll discuss the importance of fiber.

What comes to your mind when I mention fiber? Grapenuts®? Metamucil®? Most people haven’t a clue as to what fiber really is, what it does, or why we need it, but we really do need it for optimum health.

Fiber, by definition, is the particular composition or structure of something made up of filaments. In our diet, fiber is comprised of the connective strands and vasculature found in plant foods. It is a bulk-forming agent that helps sweep out intestinal debris by soaking up liquids and fats from the diet, then expanding. The expansion of the intestines due to the fiber swelling and the increase in intra-intestinal pressure stimulates the contractions (peristalsis) of the muscles around the intestinal tract, which then promotes evacuation. Plainly speaking, fiber is a form of carbohydrate that doesn’t get absorbed into the blood stream.

Picture a long balloon (like the kind a clown twists into animal shapes); as you squeeze one end, the other expands as the air is forced further down. Like the balloon, peristaltic contractions start squeezing near the top of the intestinal canal, then gently move down, causing wastes to get into position to exit, hence the term “to move your bowels”. Without adequate fiber, wastes remain in the gut to putrefy and to produce toxins. Those who eat little fruits and vegetables are usually consuming a low fiber diet and typically suffer from constipation.

Most people on a low fiber diet have a bowel transit time of 48 to 96 hours, but Abram Hoffer, MD, Ph.D. states in his book, ORTHOMOLECULAR MEDICINE FOR PHYSICIANS, that the normal bowel transit time should be 24-48 hours. He believes that even regular bowel movements aren’t necessarily a sign of good bowel health. “The normal range is probably one to three movements a day and that the fecal mass should be the consistency of toothpaste so it is expressed easily without the need for excessive strain by the abdominal wall.”

Many years of improper diet ultimately can cause toxic matter to collect in the intestinal wall forming a hard, putrefied shell that can possibly cause colitis, diverticulitis, prolapsus, or more frightening, cancer. It has been stated that up to 80% of colon cancers could be prevented by dietary changes. Some researchers believe that fiber helps prevent colon and rectum cancer because the food stays in the bowel a shorter time; the bacteria in the large intestines has less opportunity to convert fecal material into carcinogens. Many studies indicate that fiber has other benefits as well. It can give some relief to allergy sufferers by binding toxins in the intestinal tract. It also helps prevents hemorrhoids and may lower blood pressure by as much as 10 percent, it can help lower cholesterol and triglycerides, it can help prevent hormone related cancers. Fiber can help blood sugar problems, including diabetes, by slowing, stabilizing, and preventing sugar absorption.

There is soluble and insoluble fiber found in our diet, each serves a specific purpose. Insoluble fiber, which is not dissolved in water, absorbs liquids causing the fiber to swell and increasing the bulk of stool. This helps increase transit time through the bowel, which reduces the chances of putrefaction and fermentation that release poisonous gases. Dr. Linda Berry, a chiropractor in Berkeley, California, who promotes internal cleansing and colon health, believes that organs surrounding the colon can be irritated by these poisonous gases, causing low back pain or even the common headache.

Soluble fiber breaks down in the digestive tract but is not absorbed into the blood stream. Good sources would be oat bran, psyllium and beans, along with fruits and vegetables (one third of their fiber content of fruits and veggies is soluble). Soluble fiber is believed to prevent bile acid re-absorption and prevent cholesterol production by almost completely fermenting into short chain fatty acids. James Anderson MD., professor of clinical nutrition and medicine at the University of Kentucky states that soluble fiber lowers cholesterol without the harmful side effects of drugs that can cause constipation, heartburn, abdominal pain and nausea.

Soluble fiber will not cleanse the intestines as well as insoluble fiber, but it produces benefits of equal importance in the heart by its aid in reducing cholesterol 11 to 32 percent, according to Dr. Anderson.

Soluble fiber sources include: dried white beans, dried split peas, cooked rolled oats, and of course, oat bran and psyllium.

Good sources of insoluble fiber include: shredded wheat, barley, wheat bran, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, green beans, carrots and broccoli.

The National Cancer Institute advises us to increase our fiber intake to 30 grams a day, including 5 grams of soluble fiber from a concentrated source of fruit, beans or oat bran.

Fiber should initially be taken in a small amount and gradually increased to prevent sudden onset of bloating, gas and diarrhea. The maximum intake should not exceed 60 grams a day to prevent interference with vitamin and mineral absorption. The easiest way to insure adequate fiber intake is to increase those fruits and veggies. Be sure to get at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, and by the way, french fries and corn chips DO NOT count. Try to eat whole fresh fruit between meals. It will help carry you until your next meal, provide you with the much-needed fiber, and nourish your body with a plethora of nutrients needed for health. Be sure to add a serving of veggies and even a small salad with lunch and dinner. It will help provide all the important nutrients and add good amounts of fiber as well. Be sure to drink large amounts of water throughout the day. It will help the intestines evacuate more readily, but it will also dilute toxins, cleanse the liver, bathe each cell, and help transport nutrients through the cell membranes.

Fiber is one more tool to restore and maintain good health.

Donna

By Donna DiMarco, BS,CN,LNC.

One important requirement to achieve good health is often overlooked, that’s water. We all know that water is necessary for every creature to survive, but do you realize just how important water is to maintain good health? The body is composed of mostly water and is necessary to bathe each of the millions of cells of your body. Water dilutes and removes toxins and metabolic wastes from the body. It helps the kidneys work to capacity to avoid these toxins from being dumped back into the liver.

Water is the simplest way to prevent constipation. One of the most important functions of the large intestines is to absorb water into the body. If we don’t consume a significant amount, the intestines absorb whatever is available in the gastrointestinal tract, leaving the fecal matter hard and dry, and more difficult to pass. The longer it remains in the intestinal tract, the more toxins get absorbed, which then makes passing them become increasingly more difficult.

A simple reduction of 4-5 % of water in the body will reduce the work performance by 20-30%. That means a decrease in energy. All you ladies who complain of being tired, try drinking lots of good water. When you consider that we lose 2 cups of water in respiration, 2 cups through perspiration during normal daily activities (not exercising), and approximately 6 cups through intestinal and kidney excretion, we come up with a total loss of 10 cups of water per day. This must be replaced. Athletic activity can cause an additional water loss of as much as 4-5 quarts per day. This is why we can go weeks without food, but only a few days without water.

We typically take in 31/2 cups of water from our foods. The body actually produces an additional 1/2 cup of water as a by-product of metabolism. Simple mathematics concludes that we, therefore, need at least 8 cups of water per day.

Room temperature water, consumed in large amounts prior to a meal, can stimulate the production of digestive enzymes. Water can act as an appetite suppressor and actually can help the body metabolize stored fats into usable energy.

Many people suffer from water retention and think that drinking water will make matters worse. Actually, the opposite is true. The more water we consume, the more we excrete. The body retains water when we are not consuming a sufficient amount. To insure survival, it holds on to what it has by suppressing anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). We can rectify the problem by simply drinking more water. The body identifies an abundant supply then allows some to be released.

My massage therapist hands each and every one of his clients a large glass of water after every massage to insure excretion of the lactic acid and metabolites released in the course of a massage. He instructs them to continue to drink copious amounts throughout the next day to facilitate a thorough flushing of these toxins.

I usually recommend my clients to drink at least 1/2 gallon of pure water daily. I suggest that they fill up a half-gallon container, refrigerate it so it can be carried to work throughout the following day. They are not to retire for the night until all the water in the container is consumed. This helps them become more conscious of how much they need to drink and whether they are truly drinking the right amount.

Remember to always drink good quality water, never from the tap. I recommend spring waters from out of your own state so more stringent testing procedures apply. At home I use a reverse osmosis filtration system but I add liquid minerals back in so as not to promote acidity in the body.

This is a little comparative list between water and coke that was sent to me. I CANNOT attest to its accuracy but I thought it was interesting.

Read this, then make your choice.

“Water”1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half world population)

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger. 3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a U-Washington study. 5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. 7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

COLA 1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of Cola in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of cola and it will be gone in two days. 3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Cola into the toilet bowl and let the Coke sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Cola removes stains from vitreous china.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Cola. 5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Cola over the terminals! to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes. 7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake.  Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the cola for a sumptuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield. This is very interesting. Check it out. For Your Info

1. The active ingredient in cola is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.  Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis. 2. To carry Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the hazardous material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of cola have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years! Now the question is, would you like a glass of water or cola?”

Think about it. Until next time…Donna