If you follow my twitter (@drarce), you'll know that I recently tweeted about a vegetarian punk singer who had surgery to remove a brain tapeworm (which if you didn't know, you can only get from unhealthy, uncooked pork products) which he received eating a veggie burrito some where in South America, about 4 years ago.
Theory is that he consumed eggs of the tapeworm transferred to his food by the maker of his burrito.
A majority of the time, people actually digest the eggs in the stomach, since the environment is very acidic. If they are not digested and "escape", they grow in the intestines or muscle tissue. If they are the real bad kind (or if the person really has a weak constitution) they can circulate to the brain.
Now put a pin in that and let's go back to the digestion of the stomach. The stomach has multiple responsibilities. Once something, anything, passes the lips or nose and goes down the throat, it's confronted by the troll under the bridge, the stomach. The stomach has a very powerful environment, the pH is very low making it far more acidic than lemon juice. That same liquid, if poured on your skin, would eat a hole through it. Wow, huh!? It is specifically designed to breakdown the most complex proteins.
So as this object gets to the stomach most likely it is broken down into tinier molecules. Then it is tagged and brought to different organs for processing and metabolization.
This is how our body "sees" the world. We ingest material - food, chemicals, allergens, (babies eat dirt and bugs) and many other things. Lungs do a similar task, but is a lightweight compared to the stomach.
This material is processed, tagged, and "recorded" so the body knows next time how to deal.
But here's the kicker.
Lots of stress, lack of proper nutrients especially certain minerals, an incorrect diet, intake of toxic material (including drugs&alcohol), intake of certain medications (especially those that are given for acid reflux/GERD), eating lots of carbohydrates or a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, can all change how this process goes.
Now when that material gets there, like in the scenario of the tapeworm eggs, the acidity of the stomach is not so great and the enzymes don't work, then guess what happens?
The material, the eggs, don't get broken down, and pass through onto the next stage of metabolization and digestion. Problem is the next phase is not as tough and the object is then pushed further and further down the intestinal tract. Now when it comes to eggs of a worm, the intestines is a great environment to be lodged in, since there are so many grooves and has a very "accepting" mucus membrane.
Now let's take the pin out and address the issue of the vegetarian punk rocker.
As a person reduces their intake of animal protein, the body reduces the need to create the acid that breaks down that protein. The protein in veggies & legumes do not instigate the same response as animal protein. The stomach needs the exercise of animal protein to adequately and constantly produce the necessary acid and enzymes. That would be the natural way of addressing the issue. Another way is lots of naturally fermented veggies as well as digestive enzyme supplements (which have to animal based anyway).
Eventually the stomach then becomes a little more lax, and allows many different things to pass, causing all sorts of problems down the road. A big issue, that can and will occur is depreciation of immune function in stressful environments.
Example: Throw a vegetarian in a jungle environment where chances of parasites are high, and you have yourself a disaster.
Moral of the story: if you want to have a strong stomach, it needs to be exercised. The stomach is a very important part of the immune system. Neglect it, and you'll see a lot of nasty stuff happen, allergies - especially to foods, gas, burping/belching, easy to get colds, fatigue, indigestion, bloating....it can keep going.
No comments:
Post a Comment