However much Jainists and all those sincere souls, who believe implicitly in the sanctity of life and non-violence as the solution to all the world's ills it is, alas - an impossible dream. For Life consumes Life, for there to be Life and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it but accept the fact. Our existence and very consciousness is a Mystery, by definition beyond our comprehension. In all aspects, macro and micro, awesome powers of destruction and creation are contained. Look at the cosmos, look at nature and look within ourselves.
That is not to say that we should encourage violence or not seek to remove it from the normal conduct of social affairs of humankind. We should, but it is only by true acceptance of the tragic aspect of the human condition that we can find the equilibrium of a greater context and thereby experience the joy that is also available to us in our short span through conscious participation in a Mystery that is eternal.
Our bodies are a microcosm that reflects this. Within us the most savage strife is constantly being waged, preserving a precarious balance between wellbeing and disease. Leading exponents of integrative medicine, which is the treatment of the body as a whole organism by all available means, allopathic and complementary, subscribe for the most part to the theory that our health is governed by the bacterial terrain in our gut. That almost all cancers and the diseases that kill us before our time are caused by the overgrowth of malign bacteria or the mutation of benign bacteria in our gastrointestinal tract (GI Tract).
Digestive Disease is Endemic
It is estimated that more than 100 million people in America are affected by some form of digestive disease. That's almost half the US population. If that is so in the US then that is roughly the proportion thatprevails elsewhere in the world. For some people, digestive disorders are a source of irritation and discomfort that may cause them to limit their lifestyles and miss work from time to time. For others, these disorders can be extremely crippling and even fatal. But the essential point is that if the bacterial terrain in our gut is out of whack our quality of life will suffer and sooner or later we will develop serious chronic disease.
The GI tract itself is a long muscular tube that functions as the food processor for the human body. The digestive system includes the following organs: the mouth and salivary glands, the stomach, the small and large intestines, the colon, the liver and pancreas, and the gall bladder. Irritations or inflammation of the various sections of the gastrointestinal tract are identified as gastritis (stomach), ileitis (ileum or small intestines), hepatitis (liver) and cholecystitis (gall bladder).
The GI tract is not a passive system; rather it has the capacity to sense and react to the materials that are passed through it. For a healthy digestive system, every person requires different food selections that matchtheir GI tract capacity. The aging process and certain disease conditions cause a reduction in the body's enzyme production. One effect of this deficiency is a bloated feeling shortly after eating a large meal. Research has shown that the long term effects of chronic enzyme deficiency are enlarged livers and pancreases, because these organs must work overtime to process food. When treated with enzymes, no such pathological enlargement occurs.
Enzymes are Vital
Enzymes are essential to the body's absorption and full use of food. The capacity of the living organism to make enzymes decreases with age and most scientists believe that humans could live longer and be a lot healthier by guarding against the loss of our precious enzymes.
What exactly are enzymes and what do they do? Enzymes are responsible for every activity of life. Even thinking requires enzyme activity. There are two primary classes of enzyme responsible for the maintaining life functions: digestive and metabolic enzymes. The primary digestive enzymes are proteases used to digest proteins, amylases which digest carbohydrates and lipases, to digest fat. These enzymes function as a biological catalyst to help break down food. Raw foods also provide enzymes that naturally break down food for proper absorption. Metabolic enzymes are responsible for the structuring, repair and remodelling of every cell you have, and the body is under a great daily burden to supply sufficient enzymes for optimal health. Metabolic enzymes operate in every cell, every organ, and every tissue in your body and they need constant replenishment.
Digestion of food takes a high priority and has a high demand for enzymes. When we eat, enzymatic activity begins in the mouth, where salivary amylase, lingual lipase and pytalin initiate starch and fat digestion. In the stomach. hydrochloric acid activates pepsinogen to pepsin, which breaks down protein and gastric lipase begins the hydrolysis of fats. Without proper enzyme production, the body has a hard time digesting food, eventually resulting in a number of chronic disorders.
Poor eating habits, including inadequate chewing and eating on the run, can result in inadequate enzyme production and hence malabsorption of food. And this is exacerbated with age, for as you age you produce less hydrochloric acid and your secretion of digestive enzymes progressively declines. If you gobble your food, slow down and chew some. You'll not only tend to eat less but it can add years to your life.
Eating food in its natural unprocessed state is vital to the maintenance of good health, and the lack of it in the modern diet is directly responsible for much degenerative disease. Cooking of food, particularly if heat is prolonged and more than 118 degrees Fahrenheit, destroys enzymes in that food, leaving what is commonly consumed in the modern person's "enzymeless diet". This is one reason that by middle age we become metabolically depleted of enzymes. If food is consumed uncooked fewer of the body's digestive enzymes are required to perform the digestive function. The body then adapts to the plentiful supply by secreting fewer of its own enzymes, preserving these to assist in vital cellular metabolic functions. In practical terms that means that you should ensure that a minimum of 30% of your diet is uncooked and in its natural state.
Bacteria - The Good & The Bad
In addition to disease and age-related depletion of digestive enzymes, the use of antibiotics to fight disease causes the reduction or elimination of beneficial bacteria that normally reside in the gastrointestinal tract. These friendly intestinal bacteria also aid the digestive process, reducing the need for enzymes and keeping harmful bacteria that can generate toxins and carcinogens, from proliferating.
After antibiotic therapy, it is important to directly supplement with bifido bacteria to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. The fact that breast-fed infants are healthier than those fed by formula may be attributableto the fact that they have more than double the bifido bacteria levels than those given formula. Other evidence shows that bifido bacteria can reduce serum cholesterol by digesting it before it is reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Lower blood pressure has been associated with higher levels of fecal bifido bacteria. Finally, bifido bacteria produce vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and folic acid.
Toxic bacteria induce fermentation in the colon that results in the formation of liver toxin, ammonia and known carcinogens such as nitrosoamines, secondary bile acids, altered estrogens and numerous other cancer-causing metabolites. Since 40 - 55% of fecal volume is comprised of bacterial mass, the amount of toxic and carcinogenic metabolites formed by colonic fermentation cannot be ignored. The toxic bacteria E.Coli and Clostridia are known to participate in the fermentation (production) of carcinogenic fecal metabolites.
Bifido bacteria prevents the growth of harmful bacteria through the production of lactic and acetic acid, which inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria E.Coli, Clostridia, Salmonella (food poisoning), Shigella (dysentery), Staphylococcus (staph infection) and a host of other bacteria that are potentially lethal to an immune-compromised individual.
By overwhelming these putrefying bacteria with the friendly bacterial flora, bifido bacteria, a significant reduction in the production of toxic metabolites occurs. And as stated, aging and disease cause a reduction in bifido bacteria, increasing the amount of toxic and carcinogenic metabolites fermented in the colon. This reduction in bifido bacteria has been shown to contribute to the diseases of aging, in particular immune dysfunction leading to cancer and serious infection, and the autoimmune diseases, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and diabetes. Stress has also been shown to decrease beneficial bifido bacteria, leading to many of the stress-related illnesses of modern life.
Getting it Right
We have a finite supply of enzymes which decrease as we age. Some of us completely lack certain enzymes and that is why those people simply never could digest certain foods. By our forties most of us would do well to supplement with a digestive enzyme complex, which should be taken just prior to eating. Such a complex would ideally contain pancreatin, and various forms of amylase, protease, lipase and cellulase, some of which can come in the form of bromelain and papain. Pineapple and papaya are full of enzymes and are a great way of getting them naturally.
For those who suffer chronic digestive problems a herbal complex comprising black radish, Linden bark charcoal, artichoke extract, calcium phosphate, cholic acid is extremely effective in speeding up the digestion of fats and meat protein; preventing the stagnation of food in the intestines; treating and preventing stomach cramps, acid reflux, bloating, nausea, constipation, gas and diarrhea; reducing the side effects of some prescription medication; increasing systemic immunity and creating an inhospitable environment for harmful bacteria and parasites.
When it comes to benign bacteria, you need them by the billion. Three billion for starters. A good probiotic formula should include bifobacterium longum, bifobacterium bifidum, lactobacillus acidophilus, streptococcus faecium and lactobacillus casei. A word of warning. Mostly you will see probiotic formulas on sale in refrigerators on the theory that this keeps the bacteria alive. That is all well and good, but there is no use keeping dead bacteria cold and dead bacteria won't do you any good. You got to ask yourself, do you really believe that a "live" product shipped halfway round the world into the tropics contains any live bacteria? I don't think so! That's why I always play safe and buy a freeze dried probiotic formula. Eating yoghurt is a good way of getting some of the bacteria you need, but not all. In a place like Bali where things just grow and stomach upsets are frequent, you can hardly get enough of the good bacteria. Think in tens of billons of the little critters and you'll be doing yourself a good turn.
In any supplementation regimen it is all to easy to forget about enzymes and probiotics. My advise to you is, do not ignore the need. It is simply too important for the maintenance of good health.
Integrative medicine maintains that most cancers and other serious diseases begin in the gut. Maintaining the correct bacterial terrain is probably the most effective preventative act you can do to maintain optimum health.
