The Five Root Causes of All Digestive Disorders

Since I have made a commitment to you to primarily focus on need to know information,

I am going to cut to the chase here a bit and distill the millions of pages of books and articles and research reports devoted to answering this question down to a few simple paragraphs. There is no single cause for any “degenerative” health problem. There are multiple causes, all working together, preventing your body from functioning normally. These causes are various habits and influences in our environment, diet, and lifestyle.

“We should first exclude the simpler causes for disease emergence in the body, and then (and only then!) think of the more complicated causes.”
Feyerdoon Batmanghelidj , MD

The root causes of all digestive system problems are:

Dehydration (Chronic Unintentional Dehydration)
Nutritional Deficiencies (especially micro-nutrient deficiencies)
Nutritional Excess (especially macro-nutrient imbalances)
Dysbiosis (Intestinal Dysbiosis)
Stress (including toxic overload and many others.)

Let me explain each one briefly.

Chronic Unintentional Dehydration

75% of the physical structure of the human body is water. 65% to 85% of the physical structure of every cell in our body is water. Our blood is mostly water; our brain cells, mostly water. Water, as the major component of each and every bodily fluid carries nutrients (including oxygen) to our 100 trillion-plus cells, and carries away metabolic waste. Our digestive system needs lots of water to properly process and effectively eliminate our fecal waste matter. Chronic unintentional dehydration is one of the root causes of constipation, and almost every other malfunction in the body as well.

Nothing happens inside our bodies, in terms of basic physiological functions, without the presence and assistance of water (including and most importantly) digestion!

Everyone knows that you are supposed to drink water. In fact, if you ask Aunt Polly, or even Joe Sixpack, they will tell you that we are supposed to drink at least 8 to 10 eight ounce glasses of water every single day. They will not be able to tell you why, but most people have learned this little health-tip along the way. Proper daily hydration is one of the most important complementary habits on the road to complete intestinal regeneration.

The truth is, most of us are dehydrated, even if we drink a lot of water! I know this from direct personal experience and I see it confirmed and re-affirmed every single day in the stories told to me by my clients. Even if we drink water, there are many dehydrating influences in our diets and lifestyles. Coffee, tea, alcohol, soda, and too much meat and sugar are all dehydrating. Many medications are dehydrating. Exercise is dehydrating. Sitting in an office is dehydrating. Airplane travel is dehydrating. The stress of rush-hour traffic and commuting in general is dehydrating. Even if you sat in bed for the entire day, your body would still sweat one quart of water. Doing nothing is dehydrating!

I have people tell me all the time: “I drink tons of water!” Maybe they do and maybe not.

Drinking water, even drinking a lot of water, does not mean you are properly hydrated. I first learned the difference between drinking water and proper daily hydration from the world's foremost authority on the subject, Fereydoon Batmanghelidj , MD. He is better known to his many friends and colleagues as Dr. B.

Water, the solvent of the body, regulates all functions, including the activity of the solutes it dissolves and circulates. Chronic cellular dehydration painfully and prematurely kills. Its initial outward manifestations have until now been labeled as diseases of unknown origin. The greatest health discovery of all times is that water is a natural medication for a variety of health conditions. (F.Batmanghelidj, MD, Your Body’s Many Cries for Water [Falls Church, VA: Global Health Solutions, 1995], 19)

Some of the conditions Dr. B. associates with chronic cellular dehydration include: asthma, allergies, dyspeptic pain, stomach ulcers, constipation, colitis, hiatal hernia , rheumatoid arthritis, angina, headaches, migraines, depression, anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes among others.

I first learned about Dr. B and his watercure recipe (page 121) back in the winter of 1997. I was suffering from one of the worst periods of depression and anxiety in many years. I was acutely dehydrated and did not realize it. After a long telephone conversa-tion with the good Dr. B, I started to implement the basic ingredients of the watercure recipe into my daily routine. After fourteen days on the watercure my depression lifted and has not returned since. Not once. After 25 years of periodic and medically “unexplainable” depression and anxiety, I was finally free. Nothing else I had tried in all those 25 years worked. And I tried everything. Since the most basic and fundamental root cause of my problem was dehydration, the only thing that was going to work in order to reverse, regenerate, and heal my condition was to get properly hydrated and then stay properly hydrated.

Imagine that.

It has been 9 years since that pivotal learning experience and I can tell you this. I have not missed one day in all that time of making sure I am properly hydrated. At first I was driven by the fear of the anxiety and depression returning. Now I am motivated by the experience of being well and staying well and understanding the role that proper daily hydration plays in the normal functioning of my body. I follow the watercure recipe precisely, each and every day. It is always my first recommendation to others no matter what the health issue is, but most especially for anyone with digestive system problems.

The importance of this complementary habit of proper daily hydration cannot be over-stated or overemphasized. Just like the earth itself, we have our own hydrologic cycle within us, and its fluctuations, modifications, and proper daily maintenance represents one of the most significant opportunities we have to take proactive control of our health and dramatically increase the quality and quantity of our life in the process. I encourage you to jump ahead to page 121 and read the watercure recipe and start implementing it right away. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing this.

Here is a summary of some of the most important things I learned about proper daily hydration from Dr. B's first book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water:

Dehydration can cause disease. It is often the root cause of many problems.
Every function of the human body depends on water.
Morning sickness may be a thirst signal of both fetus and mother.
The dry mouth is the very last sign of dehydration.
Products manufactured in the brain cells are transported on waterways to their destination in the nerve endings for use in the transmission of messages.
Proteins and enzymes in the body function better when the body is hydrated.
The body needs water! Coffee, tea, fruit juice and other beverages mixed with water don't count. The body needs a certain amount of pure water every single day.
Proper daily hydration is the key to normal immune system functioning.
Your body needs a minimum volume of drinking water each and every day that is roughly half your body weight in ounces. A 200 pound person drinks 100 ounces.
Dark colored urine is a good sign of serious dehydration. The normal color of urine should be somewhere between very light yellow to almost clear, the color of lite beer.
Don't overdo it either. Too much water is just as bad as not enough.
Build up to normal levels gradually. The cells of the body are like sponges. It takes time for them to become properly hydrated again. Allow two to three weeks' time.
Organic sea salt is important to a healthy body. Oxygen, water, sodium, and potassium rank as the primary elements for the survival of the human body. Please avoid commercial table salt which is highly processed and totally denatured.
Sodium deficiency could be a factor in the development of osteoporosis.
The water you drink should contain a small amount of organic sea salt to aid in the absorption and assimilation of the water and minerals into your cells. About one quarter of a teaspoon per quart is all that is needed. If this tastes too strong at first, start with a smaller amount (even one grain of salt) and build up gradually.
If you drink 100 ounces of water per day, you will eliminate 100 ounces of urine. This is normal. Whatever volume of water you drink you can expect to produce an equal volume of urine. The frequency of urination may increase, but the urgency should feel normal. Your bladder capacity will expand (and return to normal size and shape) as it becomes properly hydrated again.
Urinary incontinence is often caused by a condition of chronic unintentional dehydration.

The habit of proper daily hydration is a huge piece of the puzzle in our Intestinal Regen-eration Program. You will want to re-read the above quotations several times and really think about them. Most importantly, you will want to integrate the habit of proper daily hydration via the watercure recipe as soon as possible. There are other habits, as you will discover, that are equally important, but there is no habit more important than proper daily hydration. Purchase and read Dr. B's books about hydration and health. You will find more information about this and other topics in the Resources section at the end of the book.

Nutritional Deficiencies (especially micro-nutrient deficiencies)

There are two major categories of nutrients; macronutrients and micronutrients. Macro-nutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber. Micronutrients include things like vitamins, minerals, trace-minerals, enzymes, amino acids, essential fatty acids, phyto-nutrients, anti-oxidants, and pigments like chlorophyl. Most people get enough macro-nutrients in their diet. They may eat too much protein, too many carbohydrates, and too much fat, but deficiencies in macronutrients is not usually the problem in the United States and other developed countries. Macro-nutrient deficiency is a very serious problem in Third World countries. Any time you hear or see stories about starvation, you are seeing the long term results of macronutrient deficiencies. Where there is macro-nutrient deficiency, there is always micronutrient deficiency. The problem in the United States and other modern and industrialized nations is primarily micronutrient deficiencies (along with the other major causes of degenerative disease).

Why aren't we getting the micronutrients we need? We eat too many processed foods.

We eat too much snack food, junk food, chips, candy, and chocolate bars. We drink too much soda, coffee, tea, beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages. We don't drink enough water. We eat too many foods made from the flour milled from whole grains and not the whole grains themselves. Bread, muffins, pastries, donuts, chips, pretzels, cookies, cakes, pies, cereals, pasta are all processed foods made from refined and processed grains. We eat too many processed luncheon meats. We eat too many processed breakfast cereals. We eat too many previously prepared foods. We eat too many frozen and bottled and canned foods and not enough fresh foods. We do not eat enough whole foods. For a complete list of whole foods and processed foods read the article called: The Modern Cornucopia. (page 193)

Let me attempt to permanently clarify the critical distinction between whole grain foods and processed foods that are made from the milling of whole grains. ( The Truth About Whole Grains is found on page 198.) The milling process turns whole grains into flour. Whole grains are seeds. You wash them, put them in a pot with water, bring them to a boil then simmer them for about an hour. This basic gruel or porridge has served as a staple food for thousands of years in many cultures around the world. As seeds, you can put whole grains in soil and in a few days they will sprout. This is the only relevant test of whether you have a whole grain in front of you or some processed food made from the milling of whole grains. You can't put a rolled oat or corn flake or rice puff in the soil and have it sprout. Why? Because these are not whole grains! They are highly processed foods made from the flour derived from whole grains (or in the case of rolled oats, simply flattened in a stainless steel roller). The best way to get the full nutritional benefits from whole grains is to eat them in a cooked, whole form. This is a distinction of critical importance for the success of your Intestinal Regeneration Program . (Specific guidelines for the preparation of cooked whole cereal grains will be found on page 200.) Almost every form of processed whole grain product is, at best, nutritionally weak and at worst, nutritionally worthless. Processed grain products are not neutral. Processed grain products in the diet are one of the primary causes of all digestive system problems!

Why aren't we getting the micronutrients we need? We over cook our foods, destroying many heat-sensitive micronutrients and enzymes. We microwave foods, permanently altering molecular structures and also destroying heat-sensitive nutrients. We harvest fruits and vegetables prematurely and ripen them artificially in refrigerated trucks. We add things to our foods like preservatives, coloring agents, artificial sugars, artificial flavor enhancers, antibiotics, growth hormones, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The presence of these non-essential and non-nutrient substances interferes with the normal intake of micronutrients from our blood-stream and into our cells. Many of the substances I just listed are toxic to the body and cause additional stresses and strains. Please read the article called: Toxicology and Human Health (page 202) to better assess the damage to our bodies caused by various non-nutrient substances. As far as our body is concerned, if the substance or fluid in question is not helpful to normal cellular function-ing, then it's harmful. If it is not nutritious to the body, it's toxic to the body. Nothing is neutral. It's just this simple.

Another cause of nutritional deficiencies has to do with the lack of minerals and trace minerals in the soils themselves. The Green Revolution in modern agriculture started right after World War II with the implementation of NPK fertilizers. NPK stands for Nitrogen (N), Potassium (P), and Phosphorus (K). It was initially accepted that applying only these three minerals to the soil would be sufficient for optimal growing conditions for all of our food crops. But the soil scientists were sadly mistaken. As it turns out, dozens of minerals are needed to be present in the soil, along with dozens of various soil micro-organisms and soil bacteria and enzymes and earthworms and more in order for food plants to absorb and then manufacture the nutrients that we depend upon for health.

A few of the trace minerals necessary for healthy plant growth are: magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, calcium, boron, manganese, molybdenum, cobalt, and chromium. But the absence of just one element (mineral) from the soil can cause great health problems. For instance, if inorganic cobalt is missing from the soil, the plant cannot absorb it and convert it into organic cobalt. Without organic cobalt, the human body cannot manufacture vitamin B12. When we don’t get enough vitamin B12, we can’t assimilate iron properly or make strong red blood cells. If we can’t make strong red blood cells, we become anemic. Anemic people become weak, depressed, and vulnerable to disease. (Dr. Bernard Jensen, Empty Harvest [New York City: Avery Publishing Group, 1990], 8)

The primary reason to make the shift away from conventionally grown food crops (including conventionally raised and processed animal food products) towards organ-ically grown food crops is that organic farmers invest heavily in building mineral-rich and micro-organism-rich soil, and conventional farmers do not. If the minerals are not in the soil, they simply cannot show up in our food plants. It's just this simple. Organic farmers avoid the use of toxic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics, preservatives, growth hormones, and GMOs, but conventional farmers, growers, and processors do not avoid these harmful influences and production methods. They are starting to. Clean food is a buzz phrase today and the fastest growing trend in the billions of dollars food business. Certified Organic is your only insurance of truly clean food and beverage products. ( How To Find Certified Organic Foods is found on page 206.)

Finally, we suffer from nutritional deficiencies when the villi and micro-villi in our small intestines are not functioning properly. Most commonly, our villi and micro-villi are not functioning properly because the balance between beneficial bacteria and pathological bacteria is off. This is a condition called intestinal dysbiosis . (Read about this below)

Nutritional Excess (especially macro-nutrient imbalances)

Too many people eat too much food: too much protein, too much refined carbohydrates, too much fat. We consume too much processed food; too much party food, snack food, junk food. We eat too fast. We eat too often. We eat too much. When the digestive system is stressed from overwork, instead of converting our food nutrients to energy (its primary function), it converts our food nutrients to fat. We must chew more and eat less.

Intestinal Dysbiosis

Ninety-nine percent of all the world's bacteria is helpful and beneficial to life in general and human beings in particular. Over 400 individual strains of beneficial bacteria have so far been identified as useful inhabitants of the human digestive system. Imagine that.

The two most popular and beneficial intestinal bacteria are called acidophilus and bifidus. Beneficial intestinal bacteria are commonly known by the name probiotics . Biotics comes from biology, which is the study of life or the study of living organisms. The prefix pro means “for” or “in support of.” Thus, the word probiotics means for life or in support of life. Acidophilus is the dominant probiotic in the small intestine. Bifidus is the dominant probiotic in the large intestine. There are other probiotic materials, but none are more important than these two.

In 1908, Dr. Eli Metchnicoff won the Nobel Prize for medicine for his work on the role of probiotics and their ability to boost the human immune system. He was a colleague of Louis Pasteur and succeeded him as the director of the Pasteur Institute in Paris . He coined the term dysbiosis as a way of describing a condition that was opposite one of intestinal symbiosis , which means living together in a state of mutual balance and harmony. The prefix, dys means not, so dysbiosis describes a condition of intestinal imbalance, conflict, and turbulence…even outright war. And it certainly feels like a war going on down there, doesn't it?

Dysbiosis or Intestinal Dysbiosis refers to the imbalance of intestinal bacteria, sometimes referred to generally as the intestinal microflora. When the intestinal bacteria are out of balance, the entire list of digestive system problems, symptoms, conditions, disorders, and labeled diseases become increasingly more likely to the point of inevitability. One of the most common problems associated with intestinal dysbiosis is the overgrowth of a very nasty opportunistic bacteria/yeast called candida albicans. This is usually referred to as a “yeast infection.” It is also known as candidiasis.

Other problems associated with intestinal dysbiosis are these: intestinal permeability or leaky gut syndrome, mal-absorption syndrome, chronic fatigue, dizziness, the inability to concentrate, gastritis, abdominal cramping, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea, and skin problems including acne. This is a very short list. Go back a few pages and realize that every single digestive symptom/condition listed there is in some way directly related to the problem of intestinal dysbiosis. The bottom line is this when pathological bacteria exist in the gut they produce toxins that cause symptoms of ill health and dis-ease.

When the intestinal bacteria are out of balance you will have symptoms and you will be sick, and nothing you try will correct this problem completely until you actually correct the root cause of the problem. The root cause of intestinal dysbiosis is the imbalance between pathological bacteria and beneficial bacteria. Fortunately the solution is simple. Stop doing the things that kill the beneficial bacteria and invite the increased growth of the pathological bacteria. Start doing the things that nourish and grow the beneficial bacteria and kill the pathological bacteria. Start using effective probiotic supplements every single day to increase the populations of the beneficial bacteria. (page 147)

Stress

You can easily make the argument that everything in our lives is stressful. It's true. So stress is not the problem. The problem is the balance between positive stress factors and negative stress factors. The problem is not knowing the difference between positive stress factors and negative stress factors. The problem is thinking and believing that negative stress factors are neutral (or relatively neutral as in the phrase “not that bad”) and that positive stress factors aren't that important. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, nothing we do, and no influence in our diet or lifestyle is neutral. This may be the single most important sentence in the entire book, so I think I will repeat it: Nothing we do, and no influence in our diet or lifestyle is neutral . Every habit, every influence is positive or negative, helpful or hindering. The problem is having too many negative stress factors in our diet and lifestyle and not enough positive stress factors. In all future references in this book, I will be referring to positive stress factors as complementary habits and influences and to negative stress factors as insulting habits and influences. For a complete list of these habits and influences as they relate to problems of the digestive system please read: The Habits of Functional Nutrition , page 166.

Our bodies cannot function normally if we are suffering from micro-nutrient deficiencies. Our bodies cannot function normally if we overwork our digestive system by eating too much and eating too fast. Our bodies cannot function normally if we are dehydrated. Our bodies cannot function normally if we are suffering from intestinal dysbiosis. Our bodies cannot function normally if toxic chemicals and other toxic substances in the environ-ment are finding their way into our cells through our food, water, and air supplies. The subject of toxic overload is critical to a fuller understanding of the relationships between human health and the various environments in which we live and from which we derive all of our sources of sustenance. The presence of microscopic bits of toxic and non-nutritious materials in the body creates the opportunity for cellular malfunction and cellular degeneration. When this process takes root, the door swings open to the possibilities of every degenerative disease symptom and condition known.

So far 51 chemicals, many of them widely used, have been shown to act at extremely low levels as hormone disrupters in wildlife, laboratory animals, and in humans. Examples include dioxins, (the result of incinerating chlorine-containing products) PCB’s, chemicals in many plastics, pesticides, mercury, and lead. Typically, 10-40 years may elapse between the initial exposure to a toxic chemical and the appearance of any detectable symptoms. Partly because of this time-lag, many healthy teenagers and young adults have trouble believing that their smoking, drinking, eating junk foods, and other lifestyle habits today, could lead to some form of degeneration later on. (G. Tyler Miller, ed., Living in the Environment [Pacific Grove: CA Brooks/Cole Publishers, 2000], 442)

“For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to dangerous chemicals from the moment of conception until death.” - Rachel Carson

Is There a “Cure” For All These Problems?

The word “cure” has a lot of baggage attached to it. The modern allopathic medical-pharmaceutical-industrial-research complex has invested billions and billions of dollars to find the cure for all the digestive disorders already mentioned and every other known sickness and disease as well. The result of all those billions of dollars invested? Degen-erative Disease is now the number one cause of death in America today and has been for the last thirty or forty years.

Imagine that.

“Western Allopathic Medicine, seeking only to destroy disease causing micro-organisms rather than strengthening the person against them, is based on a total misconception.” - Sagen Ishizuka

There is no question that the primary tools of allopathic medicine are pharmaceutical drugs and surgery. If they are not successful in killing disease causing organisms with radiation, chemotherapy, antibiotics, and other biochemical agents, they go to the knife.

When in doubt, cut it out! Allopathic medicine gives lip service to nutritional and life-style changes, but relies on a vast pharmaceutical armada to stimulate or depress, trick and cajole the cells of the body to do its bidding. At what price? Adverse reactions to normal dosages of common pharmaceuticals are responsible for upwards of 100,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. The short-term goal of alleviating symptoms has been sacrificed on the altar of quick-fix solutions and corporate greed . Health can-not be defined as the absence of disease symptoms. Health is the presence of vitality. Health cannot be created by alleviating the symptoms of disease but only by nourishing the roots of life within us.

The tissue of life to be, we weave with colors all our own,
>and in the field of destiny, we reap what we have sown.
John Greenleaf Whittier

Many people are abandoning the religion of false hopes embodied by the phrase medical cure. It's about time. I try to remember what my friend and colleague Jeanne Silk once taught me many years ago: “There are only two things in life that have been cured; ham and leather.” Imagine that.

As a result, I prefer the word “heal” and I like to talk about the process of personal healing. Personal healing is a direct consequence of taking more personal responsibility for our own choices and decisions and our own results . So I won't be using the word cure at all because I do not want to be associated with pharmaceutical or medical “cures.” I make this choice for all kinds of interesting reasons, some of which I can explain easily, others not so easily.

A lot of people do not understand that allopathic medicine is focused on finding medical cures, to the exclusion of almost everything else. (Why aren't we being taught about the benefits of probiotics and their immune boosting capabilities?) Right now, medical cures are defined as pharmaceutical or surgical or biotech interventions. If it cannot be patent-ed, it will not be pursued and we will not hear about it ( it being anything outside of conventional allopathic medicine). If we do hear about it , we will be told that it is non-scientific, or anecdotal, or unproven. We will be told that it is dangerous and risky.

Many people fail to understand this point. Many people fail to understand that medicine is big business. Because of the triumph of modern medicine over certain contagious diseases like smallpox, tuberculosis, and polio by the middle of the twentieth century, it was assumed that modern medicine would be able to triumph over every other form of disease as well. Maybe it will, but not without some serious revisioning and refocusing and reprioritizing. More and more physicians will give lip service to the benefits of dietary and lifestyle changes, but they will be very limited as to the best way to help you, the patient, make an effective transition. You probably already know just how true this is, from your own direct personal experience.

What I am presenting in this book is common sense information that just happens to be backed up by the most current and accurate understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body and the human digestive system. Why this information has not filtered down into current allopathic medical practice is not the subject of this book or the purpose of my life . I am not primarily interested in changing the medical establishment or standard allopathic medical practices although clearly massive changes need to take place. I am primarily interested in helping you to improve the quality of your life, by changing and improving the habits in your diet and your lifestyle. I am primarily interested in helping you to heal yourself. I prefer to use the term heal . I will not be using the term cure at all in any reference to the purposes of Functional Nutrition in general and to my Intestinal Regeneration Program in particular.

Trust me when I tell you that this is not just a matter of mere semantics. Good people have been shut down, shut up, and imprisoned because they did not understand or respect the legal ramifications and political and economic volatility of the critical differences between medical cures and personal, proactive, nutritional healing .

I healed myself from a variety of digestive system disorders. I healed myself from a 25- year history of panic disorders, anxiety attacks, and periodic bouts of severe, acute clinical depression. I healed myself from these disorders without the use of any pharmaceutical medications or surgical procedures. I healed myself with the proper use of simple whole foods, cellular detoxification and cleansing strategies, effective nutrition-al supplements, and proper daily hydration. I am writing this book to teach you how to do the same thing, if you want to ! I am writing this book to teach you how to become more proactive in your own self-care. I believe that you will be able to heal yourself from whatever digestive system problem you may be currently suffering. Imagine that.

Let's keep these important differences and distinctions in mind as we move further down the path of personal nutritional healing in general and intestinal regeneration in particular.

(These are excerpts from the book; Healing Digestive Illness, by Russell Mariani pages 21-37.)