Common Origin of Disease
Robert J Fox MSOM, L.Ac
Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, is known to have said "death sits in the bowel." In my experience, and the experience of many before me, it seems as though he was right. When our digestion and elimination are deficient we do not assimilate the nutrients from our food properly nor do we excrete toxins in a health promoting manner. This leads to organ dysfunction, neurotransmitter deficiency, neuromuscular dysfunction, as well as bacterial and fungal infection.
How does disease start in the colon?
Elimination is the first thing to look at. What is healthy regarding bowel elimination is two to three bowel movements per day. What is normal with regard to bowel movement is one bowel movement a day or one every other day. Bowel movements should coincide, either before or after, with eating. Most people eat two to three meals per day. Thus, we should have two to three bowel movements per day.
When individuals go on for years with sluggish elimination they slowly build up toxicity. This toxicity is coming from individuals housing waste in their intestines. As waste remains in the intestines it can slowly seep through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. Not only does this occur on its own, but due to the prolonged time of waste remaining in the intestines most individuals develop bacterial or fungal infection in their intestines. These microorganisms start eating away at the intestinal wall, which then allows for higher levels of waste to be passed into the bloodstream. This also allows for the microorganisms themselves to travel to other areas of the body and set up residence.
The waste and bacteria and/or fungus that is seeping into the bloodstream is putting a constant stress on the immune system. Eventually this can become too much for the system to handle and disease starts setting in. In the Holistic Medical Community bacteria and/or fungus have been tied to arthritis, multiple sclerosis, parkinsons, certain cancers, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, IBS, crohns, colitis, sinusitis, psoriasis, eczema, and many more diseases.
What if I have chronic diarrhea?
Chronic diarrhea will eventually lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. When our digestion is deficient we do not assimilate the nutrients from our food properly, leading to organ dysfunction as well as neurotransmitter deficiency.
Digestive deficiency can stem from a few different causes. One being multiple cycles of antibiotics. Antibiotics are good for bacterial infection. I personally like to use herbs that have antibacterial and antifungal properties, but no question antibiotics are good for bacterial infection. The problem with Western physicians prescribing antibiotics is that they don’t prescribe probiotics with them. The term antibiotic really means anti life. Antibiotics kill off the bacteria that is causing the bacterial infection along with killing off the good bacteria in the intestines, lungs, and vagina. Probiotics are pro life. They are the bacteria that reside in the lungs, intestines and vagina that aid the body in digestion, killing off harmful microorganisms, and balancing pH. When antibiotics are prescribed alone it leaves the body open for future bacterial invasion. This wouldn’t be of concern if the typical American diet was one that consisted of food that was laden with soil organisms and fermented and cultured foods.
Thus, poor diet is another major cause of digestive deficiency. The typical American diet consists of refined grains, refined sugar, fried foods and alcohol. And when Americans do eat fruits and vegetables they are typically eating ones that have been sprayed with pesticides that kill the beneficial soil organisms on the food. The pesticides causing the food to be too clean, meaning that there is no "good" bacteria on the food to allow for proper nourishment of our intestinal flora.
Along with a deficient digestive system most people do not eat the right foods. Depending on one being a fast or slow oxidizer an individual should focus on either more carbohydrates or more proteins. Oxidizer relating to the cells production of energy. Fast oxidizers need to produce cellular energy at a faster rate than slow oxidizers, thus the need for food that doesn’t need to be broken down as much to produce cellular energy. Aside from not eating the right foods, most food is deficient in vitamins and minerals due to processing and/or depletion of the soil, as well as laden with preservatives and pesticides that don’t serve any life promoting biochemical process. The soil being deficient due to there never being time off from growing. Just like the human body needs sleep to replenish itself, soil needs around a full year off at times to come back to being full of minerals and soil organisms to aid in the continuation of life.
Natural Organic food is the way to go. It’s not always the cure, but it’s a start.
Robert J Fox MSOM, L.Ac
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Last modified: August 04, 2004