Maximizing Your Digestive Power to Lowering Your Toxic Burden

Maximizing Your Digestive Power to Lowering Your Toxic Burden

By age forty-five or fifty, many of us have stopped producing hydrochloric acid
(HCl), the stomach acid we need to thoroughly digest our food. Pancreatic function
may have slowed down as well, resulting in less-than-optimal levels of digestive
enzymes. These deficiencies often manifest as bloating and other bothersome
symptoms, although many people exhibit symptoms that are more subtle and not as
clearly related (such as iron-deficiency anemia or weak fingernails). Whether these
deficiencies are recognized symptomatically or systematically via medical tests, we
suggest taking immediate steps to correct them. For a deficiency of hydrochloric
acid (HCl), we recommend the following:

• Take bitter herbs, such as Swedish bitters or a gentian tincture, twenty minutes prior to eating.
• With each meal, drink one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with warm water, as suggested by Dr. D. C. Jarvis (1958) in his classic book Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor’s Guide to Good Health, to improve digestion and help with a variety of conditions, including balancing pH. Dr. Jarvis suggests using one teaspoon of honey with each teaspoon of cider vinegar if the vinegar alone is too sour. In most cases, people can tolerate up to 3 teaspoons of each. If you experience any burning sensations anywhere along the digestive tract, it’s best to stop taking vinegar or to neutralize the discomfort by taking baking soda in water or drinking a small glass of milk.
• Take an HCl supplement, available at your health food store or through your health practitioner. The amount of HCl a person needs can vary from 30 to 100 grains. Start with one capsule per meal and build to tolerance. A burning sensation in the stomach will tell you that you have taken too much.

Once your HCl is back in check, your pancreatic enzymes should follow suit,
since HCl signals the release of these enzymes. However, if you are still
symptomatic or continue to test low in HCl, add a pancreatic enzyme supplement at
the beginning of each meal. We strongly suggest working with a nutrition consultant
or other qualified practitioner to assess your status and to determine the best
remedies.

“Nature Will Castigate Those Who Don’t Masticate”

Horace Fletcher (1849–1919), also known as “The Great Masticator,” coined
this phrase as part of a Victorian-era campaign to get people to chew their food
more vigorously. Fletcher maintained that people should chew their food about
thirty-two times before swallowing it. The eccentric masticator and his adherents
took it to the limit, even arguing that liquids, too, had to be chewed in order to
correctly mix with saliva.

While we certainly don’t advocate chewing your vegetable broth, we’re
sympathetic to Fletcher ’s basic premise: chewing your food thoroughly may be one
of the most important habits you can cultivate to improve your digestion. Chewing
thoroughly helps all the other players on your digestive team do their best work.
And as a bonus, your food will taste better!