People in North America are now beginning to realize that this is the very foundation for holistic nutrition and medicine which is increasingly being practiced here in the west and has been practiced in the orient for thousands of years.
Auto-Intoxication is epidemic in our society, and it has to do with the gastrointestinal diseases that we develop within us as a result of the amounts and types of food that we eat. The human suffering and the social, medical, and economic costs of gastrointestinal diseases and disorders that have become so common in the US and Canada are nothing short of gargantuan, representing a huge share of our annual health care expenditure, as well as being responsible for a large loss of productivity.
Up to 100 million North Americans suffer from intermittent forms of digestive diseases, and the estimated lost work, lost wages, and medical costs comes to over 50 billion dollars per year. It is also estimated that some 200,000 workers miss work every day due to digestive problems.
When the eliminatory system of the human body is not in top-notch working order, particularly if it has become sluggish or clogged, it cannot properly process foods and eliminate food wastes and toxins. Medical science has finally acknowledged that 85% or more of all adult Americans suffer from some form of intestinal stasis (i.e., constipation, sluggish bowels, IBS, etc.). This virtually guarantees toxic build-up in the colon which, over time, inevitably results in one or more forms of serious illness or chronic degenerative disease. Intestinal stasis sooner or later causes the wastes and toxic by-products from the foods we eat to build up to such an extent that they start to become putrefactive. In turn, this putrefactive build-up in the colon becomes a veritable breeding ground, encouraging the rapid growth of huge colonies of toxin-producing, disease-causing bacteria (e-coli is one good example) along with a host of known toxic chemicals and waste products.
When the digestive and eliminative systems are not properly working to rid the body of this accumulating putrefactive build-up in the colon, the resulting toxins are then absorbed from the colon into the bloodstream, and are carried back into every part of the body. This process of self-poisoning is known as “auto-intoxication”. In a nutshell, because of intestinal stasis, the body ends up chronically poisoning itself with its own wastes and toxins instead of carrying out its designed purpose of eliminating them.
This process of continued self-poisoning inevitably results in candidiasis and a dramatically weakened immune system, which can lead directly to such common ill-health conditions as chronic fatigue and body weakness, nervousness, depression and mood swings, skin disruptions such as acne, rashes and boils, ulcers and other gastro-intestinal disorders, headaches, arthritic joints, swelling of hands and feet, chronic allergies, bronchial problems, cardio-vascular irregularities (arrhythmias, high blood pressure, etc.), pathological changes in the breasts, premature senility, epilepsy, and many other serious and debilitating problems.
Health statistics also show that more North Americans are hospitalized due to diseases of the intestinal tract than for any other group of disorders. The medical costs of these diseases are estimated to be $20 billion or more per year.
The annual cost of prescription and over-the-counter drug products used for digestive tract diseases is approximately $2 – 2.5 billion dollars per year, and has grown at a steady rate of 10% over the last decade.
The following is an estimate of some of the most common costs, and adequately demonstrates the fact that these diseases present a significant public health problem, which contribute substantially to our overall health care costs:
Cancer of the colon and cancer of the rectum are the second most common forms of cancer in North America, exceeded only by lung cancer. This year alone there will be approximately 150,000 new cases diagnosed, and approximately 60,000 related deaths. Perhaps as many as one out of every 10 North Americans will die of these two diseases.
The following are some of the other very common diseases and disorders that are directly related to the Colon: Constipation, Appendicitis, Gastritis, Diverticular Disease, Hemorrhoids, Benign Tumors, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Ulcerative Colitis, and Crohn’s Disease.
Because the body is amazingly resilient, impaired digestion, poor absorption and a general deterioration of the intestinal tract can go for years without producing any definitive symptoms. When symptoms first appear they are usually general and non-specific and can include: decreased energy, headache, fatigue, reduced resistance to infections and minor digestive problems, such as bloating, gas, belching, indigestion and constipation. Most of us either ignore these early manifestations of bowel dysfunction or suppress them with antacids, gas relievers, laxatives and numerous other drugs peddled by the pharmaceutical industry.
As the bowel function continues to deteriorate, other serious (but seemingly unrelated) problems may appear. They range from asthma and allergic reactions to arthritis and cancer. They include auto-immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and lupus. Chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and hives are also common.
In short, faulty digestion, poor absorption, altered intestinal permeability, bacterial imbalance and massive amounts of auto-intoxication can be traced to most chronic conditions known today. Some of us may not develop serious life-threatening diseases from the intestines, but almost all of us will suffer from auto-intoxication caused by fecal matter buildup. The risk increases with every passing year as we consume more meat, white flour, refined sugars, saturated fats, coffee, antibiotics and prescription drugs.
Virtually all diseases are either caused by, or severely complicated by autointoxication which occurs when the body absorbs too much of its own toxic waste. Autointoxication is the outcome of an imbalanced diet, faulty bowel function, or an accumulation of metabolic wastes and is the root cause of many disorders and illnesses.
Disease most often starts in the large intestine, or colon. The colon is a muscle that has two basic functions: it moves along digested matter; and rehydrates the blood supply. Bulk waste is pushed out of the body, and the remaining water is recycled into the bloodstream. When we consume denutured, over-processed foods, they act like glue when they become dehydrated and then adhere to the colon wall. This matter begins to putrefy, feeding unwanted bacteria, and compromising our health.
If waste cannot be eliminated and is allowed to accumulate in the body -perhaps suppressed by drugs or extreme tiredness and fatigue- disease sets in. Bacteria and acidic wastes accumulate, causing the body’s pH to go from an 80% alkaline state to as much as an 80% acidic state. When the body’s pH is balanced, it is an unfavorable environment for most pathogens. It is only when our bodies have a highly acidic state that disease can get a foothold.
Our bodies deal with disease on a daily basis by throwing off all foreigh invaders. It is only through our lifestyle choices that our bodies become overburdened, allowing both disease and the aging process to accelerate. It is our choice to consume over-processed foods, with little or no life to them, or to maintain an acid-forming diet. It is also our choice to carry around unpleasant thoughts and emotions that stop peristalsis – the natural movement of the intestines. Even slight anxiety, annoyance, apprehension, or ill temper will stop all movement of the intestines, promoting a diseased state.
Some people are chronically constipated because of a state of ill will or anger. Grief shuts up the outlet of the body’s system as tightly as does fear. The worried colon neither secretes not contracts. Both actions are needed – secretions for lubrication and contractions for transportation of waste. Chronic stress from any cause can and will render the colon dysfunctional, promoting autointoxication.
When the bowel is under active, toxic wastes are absorbed through the bowel wall into the bloodstream. The blood the circulates these toxins to every part of the body and deposits them in tissues. The greatest amounts of toxins are retained in the constitutionally weakest tissues. If any other elimination organ is compromised (lungs, kidneys, skin, or lymph), more wastes are retained in the body. As these toxins accumulate, alterations in cellular function take place and organs begin to malfunction. In addition, as our ability to digest deteriorates, partially-digested material starts to putrefy, furthering the toxic accumulation. Degenerative disease states are a definite sign that toxic settlements have accumulated in specific organs or systems. When this happens, chronic inflammation sets in, further promoting a diseased state.
When the body is overwhelmed by toxic accumulations as a consequence of fatigue or poor circulation, proper oxygenation cannot take place in the tissues. Without oxygen, the body loses energy and cannot throw off toxins, which is why sick people are always tired. The more tired we get, the greater the buildup of toxins, which furthers the cycle.
Organs & body systems are directly affected by our lifestyles, so it naturally follows that if we want to improve our health we have to first look at our lifestyles.
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