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.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Obamacare vs. Rugged individualism (by Brad Jordan at Food Riot Radio)
While many of my friends are celebrating the passage of the “Affordable” Care Act, I am longing for the days of Dr. Quinn.
In those days, people didn’t run to the doctor every time they got a runny nose, which unlike myself – a vaccinated, antibiotic-pumped, junk “food”-fed kid – they probably didn’t get very often.
In those days, people could afford to pay a doctor to make house calls. Instead of insurance, they had something called a savings account (something many of us, including myself, have forgotten the definition of). They drew from this savings account only in times of emergency, which again, I imagine were few and far between, as people ate natural diets back then and weren’t exposed to so much toxic garbage.
In those days, people didn’t expect (or want) the government (other taxpayers) to take care of them (at the point of a gun). Rather, the poor relied upon the voluntary charity of others. Since people didn’t herd like GM-corn-fed cattle at hospitals back then, I’m sure the burden of charity care on society was far lighter than the load imposed on us through taxes today.
Basically what I want is the kind of freedom the Medicine Woman had – the freedom to birth my child at home (or under a tree in Doc Quinn’s case), a much healthier and cheaper way to birth a child; the freedom eat wholesome, nutrient-dense, natural foods; the freedom to use herbal supplements rather than synthetic pharmaceutical drugs; the freedom not to purchase “affordable” “health” care services, and the freedom to risk getting in a fatal car accident (or falling off my horse) without insurance.
I think the term “rugged individualism” – a term that thrilled me to the core when I first heard it in high school – scares most people these days. Obamacare supporters translate it to mean – tough, lonely, cruel, selfish, inhumane, scary. I interpret it to mean – freedom, independence, strength, prosperity, health, and a leg-up from a willing neighbor (not a taxpayer at gunpoint) when I need it.
People say it could never work in today’s society… “our problems are too big, our nation is too unhealthy, healthcare is too expensive, too many people are too poor to pay for it, taxpayers are paying too much for the uninsured who end up in emergency rooms…”
I say, if people would just cut the cord with the government – stop eating the genetically modified garbage government subsidizes for us, stop relying so much on expensive drugs and medical procedures, stop taking government handouts, stop taking tax-subsidized health insurance from your employers, and start eating real food, exercising, resting, spending more time outside, saving money for emergencies (which might require ending the Federal Reserve), donating to charity, and taking responsibility for their own health – it could work.
Life may have been rugged in the Wild West, without Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare, but at least people were free. I realize freedom is scary because it requires taking care of yourself (and those in need), but wouldn’t you rather take care of yourself (and the needy) and be free, than indebted and enslaved to a government that, I assure you, doesn’t care about you (or them) at all?
http://foodriotradio.com/2012/07/obamacare-vs-rugged-individualism/
In those days, people didn’t run to the doctor every time they got a runny nose, which unlike myself – a vaccinated, antibiotic-pumped, junk “food”-fed kid – they probably didn’t get very often.
In those days, people could afford to pay a doctor to make house calls. Instead of insurance, they had something called a savings account (something many of us, including myself, have forgotten the definition of). They drew from this savings account only in times of emergency, which again, I imagine were few and far between, as people ate natural diets back then and weren’t exposed to so much toxic garbage.
In those days, people didn’t expect (or want) the government (other taxpayers) to take care of them (at the point of a gun). Rather, the poor relied upon the voluntary charity of others. Since people didn’t herd like GM-corn-fed cattle at hospitals back then, I’m sure the burden of charity care on society was far lighter than the load imposed on us through taxes today.
Basically what I want is the kind of freedom the Medicine Woman had – the freedom to birth my child at home (or under a tree in Doc Quinn’s case), a much healthier and cheaper way to birth a child; the freedom eat wholesome, nutrient-dense, natural foods; the freedom to use herbal supplements rather than synthetic pharmaceutical drugs; the freedom not to purchase “affordable” “health” care services, and the freedom to risk getting in a fatal car accident (or falling off my horse) without insurance.
I think the term “rugged individualism” – a term that thrilled me to the core when I first heard it in high school – scares most people these days. Obamacare supporters translate it to mean – tough, lonely, cruel, selfish, inhumane, scary. I interpret it to mean – freedom, independence, strength, prosperity, health, and a leg-up from a willing neighbor (not a taxpayer at gunpoint) when I need it.
People say it could never work in today’s society… “our problems are too big, our nation is too unhealthy, healthcare is too expensive, too many people are too poor to pay for it, taxpayers are paying too much for the uninsured who end up in emergency rooms…”
I say, if people would just cut the cord with the government – stop eating the genetically modified garbage government subsidizes for us, stop relying so much on expensive drugs and medical procedures, stop taking government handouts, stop taking tax-subsidized health insurance from your employers, and start eating real food, exercising, resting, spending more time outside, saving money for emergencies (which might require ending the Federal Reserve), donating to charity, and taking responsibility for their own health – it could work.
Life may have been rugged in the Wild West, without Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare, but at least people were free. I realize freedom is scary because it requires taking care of yourself (and those in need), but wouldn’t you rather take care of yourself (and the needy) and be free, than indebted and enslaved to a government that, I assure you, doesn’t care about you (or them) at all?
http://foodriotradio.com/2012/07/obamacare-vs-rugged-individualism/
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