April 30, 2025

DIY Health #2

HI ,

For our purposes, the first place we want to focus our energies to build this vitality is the process of digestion. We need the raw materials in the right amounts in order to build a healthy body. The bulk of those materials comes from the food we eat. But we can not use food as it is presented to our mouth. Our food has to be broken down to a molecular level. This is what digestion does when it is working properly and completely. 

First we chew our food to physically break it down. Our saliva adds enzymes to the food as it is chewed to start breaking apart various starches into sugar. Then the food travels to the stomach where powerful acid dissolves the bonds holding proteins in their complex shapes. Next the food travels to the duodenum where the acid is neutralized and other enzymes chop the proteins into tiny pieces as well as break down other starches and sugars into usable forms. Shortly after this step the food is combined with bile from the liver and gallbladder which acts like a detergent to break up fat globs and make it absorbable. All this happens in the first couple hours after you put food in your mouth. 

It is these first steps of digestion that we want to focus on in these newsletters. More specifically, what do we look for as symptoms that tell us that there is a problem in one or more of these first steps, and what to do about it? Last newsletter I introduced you to the hydrochloric stomach acid test to see if you are producing enough stomach acid to break down your proteins and prepare your minerals for absorption. What other symptoms might make us suspect that there is a problem with the stomach? Take this simple test - 0 means the least/or never increasing up to 3 means most/or always.   

Hypochlorhydria (Low acid)– Do you have:

Excessive belching, burping or bloating  0 1 2 3 

Gas immediately following a meal           0 1 2 3 

Offensive breath                                     0 1 2 3 

Difficult bowel movements                      0 1 2 3 

Sense of fullness during / after meals     0 1 2 3 

Undigested foods found in stools            0 1 2 3 

                                          Score _______

Hyperacidity (high acid) – Do you have:

Stomach pain, burning, aching immediately after eating                                                      0 1 2 3 

Stomach pain, burning or aching 1-4 hours after eating                                                      0 1 2 3 

Do you frequently use antacids               0 1 2 3 

Feel hungry an hour or two after eating  0 1 2 3 

Temporary relief from antacids, food,

milk, carbonated beverages                    0 1 2 3 

Digestive problems subside with rest and relaxation                                                0 1 2 3 

Heartburn due to spicy foods, chocolate, citrus,

Peppers, alcohol and caffeine                0 1 2 3 

                                        Score _______

Add up the scores of each section. Only add up the 2’s and 3’s – ignore the 1’s. A score of 6 or more indicates a need for action.

Stomach is the first stop on our assessment of our digestion. How did you do on the scores for the two groups of stomach questions? Between these questions and the stomach acid test from last week, you should have a pretty good idea whether your stomach is doing its job or not. These symptoms ask about immediate feelings in your stomach area around eating. But if your stomach has not been working well for a long time, you can form all sorts of symptoms all over your body related to low protein levels in your bloodstream and low mineral levels. You can form anything from osteoporosis to weak muscles, cramping, brittle nails, hair loss, fatigue, memory loss, numbness in the hands or feet, headaches, anemia, loss of taste, skin disorders, a weak immune system, and many more.

You must have good stomach function if you want any sort of health. Nothing in the body works right if you do not have the basic building blocks to repair the cells of your body. You are made of protein, fat, minerals, and water. Without good stomach function, you are missing out on the minerals and protein. I say this specifically to highlight what a terrible idea stomach acid-blocking drugs are. It even says in the literature that comes with these drugs that they should not be used more than two weeks. Yet I have patients that have been on them for years. Yes, such drugs may be necessary for a very short time while you recover from a stomach ulcer, but they are not the answer for acid reflux. In fact, most stomach acid reflux is caused by acid levels that are too low. You need super strong acid to tell the valve at the top of the stomach (the esophageal sphincter) to close tightly. Stomach acid that is only 1/10th as strong as it should be will allow it to stay open and cause reflux. 1/10th strength acid is still plenty strong enough to burn your throat, but not strong enough for the stomach to do its job. Fun facts: acid blocker drugs like PPIs increase the risk of dementia by 52%, kidney disease by 20-50%, and heart attacks by 15-20%.

So what causes these stomach acid problems? How do we address these causes? Well, the production of stomach acid is controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called the relax and digest nervous system. This system is shut down when we are stressed, either chemically, physically, or emotionally. The number one cause of stomach troubles is our go, go, go lifestyle. Time pressure, fear, worry, regret, sadness, anxiety, aggressiveness, obsessiveness, competition, shame, guilt, any emotion that kicks up our fight, flight, or freeze sympathetic nervous system shuts down our ability to digest our food. If you are feeling any of these emotions, don't eat food that requires digestion. This is probably why so many people live on sugar and coffee. No digestion is needed yet you have the feeling of energy you need to meet the challenges of the day. Sure, this actually works briefly, so if you need it to churn out a major project for one day or two at most, you will survive. But we need to rebuild and replace damaged cells every day by the millions. This kind of stress will destroy your health no matter what drugs you take to hide the symptoms of your health degeneration from yourself.

What else destroys your stomach function? A deficiency in thiamine (vitamin B1) or a deficiency of the mineral zinc. We use a zinc taste test in the office to assess your overall functional zinc levels. If you are low in zinc, you simply need to take zinc daily for a while. The most powerful food source of zinc is oysters. Another way to create insufficient hydrochloric acid is to simply overrun the system. When you pig out on too much food all at once, you will overtax the system. This is especially true if it is too much protein that you eat all at once. So those big backyard barbecues are problematic. Stick to just the one big burger or slab of ribs. You can have a stomach infection with the bug H. Pylori, which turns off stomach acid production. There are also certain autoimmune conditions that can disrupt stomach function, but they are beyond the scope of this article to discuss.

Okay, we have gotten as far as the stomach. The big killers of our health so far are stress, overeating, and maybe some nutrient deficiencies. Stomach problems are not caused by a deficiency of antacids, PPIs, or H2 blocker drugs. So what can we do? Well, if our problem is low acid production, we can take actual stomach acid tablets at the beginning of any meal that has protein in it. If you are lacking in zinc or thiamine, you can take those as supplements. If your problem is an H. pylori infection, you can use oregano oil pearls or take specific antibiotics to kill off the bad bugs. If the problem is overeating, then eat smaller, simpler meals, and never eat while on the run or while stressed. If you are on the run and stressed and you get hungry, then don't eat protein-type foods that require a lot of acid to process. Whole, fresh fruit is a good example of a food that needs no stomach acid to digest. Your best indicator of what works best for you is the body symptoms from the checklist above. If you have no symptoms, then your stomach is probably doing fine. Do your best to reduce the chemical stressors (like white trash food), physical stressors (like poor sleep, noise, activity while eating), and emotional stressors ( like pushing yourself too hard, hanging out with negative people). Managing stress comes down to loving yourself more than whatever draws you to the poorer choices.

Take care,

David

Ellen

 To celebrate Easter Ellen invited her family over for pupus and pineapple upside down cake (gluten free and sugar free of course). Here we see Ellen, her niece Andy, her sister Christine, and her other niece Leatha.

High BP? Increase potassium
 

I have been telling patients this for 40 years - if you have high blood pressure what you need is to increase your potassium intake, not lower your salt intake.

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"If you don't feel it then no one hears you. People listen for emotion in your words. If there is no emotion or passion then they pay little attention to what is being said."

~David DeLapp

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Don't exercise in the evening
 

Evening exercise revs up your body for about 4 hours and interferes with your sleep. So make sure that workout is over at least 4 hours before bed time.

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"If you don't feel it you can not heal it. Knowing the answer does nothing for you. You have to go back in imagination to the experience of the original wound / conflict and feel the solution in action changing the outcome. "

~David DeLapp

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CT scan cancer risk
 

Radiation increases your chances of getting cancer. X-rays are radiation. A single CT scan is equal to about 100 standard x-rays. It is estimated that overuse of CT scans is responsible for about 100,000 cancer cases each year. About 93 million CT scans are are performed each year. A CT scan may be necessary , but it is not without risk.

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"Embrace your desires, own them. When you do this you consciously seek to achieve them. You pay attention to what works and what does not work. This opens you to the feedback life uses to teach you balance."

~David DeLapp