All these blogs share some relevant observation that I
myself made, independently of what I knew at the time. I don’t write much about
what others have discovered but rather refer the reader to these writings. The
role of the stomach was something that I never considered, but it made my life
a lot easier, and took some of the pressure off my monkey brain (we seem to
have another brain in the gut). I provide it as a good example of how becoming
your own doctor and using the personal scientific method will deliver results,
hard fought for and won, that come out of nowhere.
It started one day when I noticed that I was buying some
anti-stomach acid tablets. I wasn’t even aware that I was taking the antacids, as they
were such an essential part of survival when drunk heavily, and seemingly
unimportant. Overlooked my enemy, I did. It was just a couple of bucks for a
candy roll of them, available at every corner store.
But after the positive results from stopping pain medications,
I decided to stop them. The result was I started to feel the inflammation that
certain foods were generating in the way of heartburn. My occasional carb
binges were not as harmless as I had believed.
I found that water (esp. alkaline) would take away the heartburn, but sometimes I would suffer. Interestingly, when the heartburn was bad I would
re-taste the offending food – the stomach was pushing the bad foods back up to
let me know, it didn’t like this particular food. So I started a relationship
with my stomach. It was as though I had suppressed and ignored the wise man in the
corner of the room. I don’t know what foods might react like this for you, but
here are the key foods that my stomach told me, in no uncertain terms, to STOP
EATING!
- · Pizza
- · Bread
- · Pastry
- · Fruit juices
- · Wine
- · Beer
And this gut sense, as real as the sense of touch, developed over
time. Now, I only need to be close to particular foods to feel in my gut whether a
food is good or bad. Is this a superpower, or an ability we share with
relations in the animal kingdom? How does the horse know what to eat? (Well, information
is passed down from the mother, but some horse must have had to work it out.)
The stomach is the controller of the pH of the body. It
makes HCl, hydrochloric acid. Splitting the balanced molecule into its acid and
alkaline components takes energy. But what happens to the alkaline half of the process?
Clearly this is valuable. Perhaps it goes for the production of sperm, which has
an alkaline pH. My suspicion is that it is used by the detoxification machinery
of the body, liver, pancreas, kidneys during sleep-time purification. Better to look after your stomach by being aware of it, rather than filling it up with toxins.
Even if the acid reaction of the stomach has nothing to do with gout, it
must be weakening the whole system. But an acid reaction seems to fit in with
the explanation that I was consuming too much of a certain "humor". Given that gout has
the same aspect as the symptom/message from the stomach (heat), a philosopher
of more ancient times may say that reduction of the humour of fire is necessary,
since it is overreacting. In any case, this knowledge gained from personal
observation can fit into a basic system that may define the human body well
enough to live one's life with health. It seems to be related to the way that people used to think –
that we now spit on and claim they followed magical thinking – which of the two
is more ignorant?
Sometimes toxins in foods have a dramatic effect on the
whole body. Particular types of fast food will give rashes and head fogs, but, for food, only toxins are addictive. "Can’t beat the craving" – well, that’s in your face. The last
time I ate Subway I lost consciousness. A forced sleep of 2-3 hours is hardly
an indication of a good food. So I checked the internet and found that subway
added a chemical from yoga mats (uh?) that may have been the culprit (see link
below).
Finally, I don't have to use my noggin that much to decide what to eat. Take a good at the food, be aware of how it makes me feel. I get the feeling that this is how we were designed.
So eliminate all aids which give comfort. It is an illusion
which tricks. Sometimes you follow your feelings, but when it comes to food, follow
your gut.
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