Ever tried to build a brick wall without bricks? Plant & mineral nutrients are the building blocks of the body. Every system within the body requires its own set of nutrients to operate at peak performance.
The human digestive system is no exception. Feed your digestive system with its unique nutritional requirements (along with proper food combining practices) and your digestive system will produce all the digestive juices you need (regardless your age) and deliver nutrients exactly where they need to go.
Leave out certain digestive nutrient building blocks when consuming a meal, and parts of your digestive system will simply fail to function at peak performance.
Minerals are the foundational building blocks of the material aspects of the body. Minerals are essential to the composition of digestive enzymes, HCL, sugar regulating hormones, liver function, friendly bacteria propagation, and numerous supportive functions of the body.
Plant based nutrients (also composed of minerals) are second in importance when providing solid nourishment for body systems in general (along with their organs, glands and fluids).
This being said, it is clear that garden produce, herbs (including sea vegetables), and clays are the most original and suitable nutrient sources for the human body in general.
1) herbal bitters & digestive spices
2) clay minerals
3) various plant compounds (for their enzymes & nutrients)
4) soil based organisms (SBO's) (and prebiotics to make them multiply)
5) Proper food combining practices
which together form an empowering array of vital nutrients for peak digestive effectiveness.
Just like an infant, whose diet does not require flesh food, the most original humans also did not require flesh foods. Meats entered the diet as a result of diminished food supplies and a nomadic lifestyle, eventually becoming habitual.
The fact that a portion of our ancestors ate meat does not automatically translate to the belief that humans need to eat meat today.
The healthiest people on the planet today are breatharians who live primarily on prana (from Nature & positive thoughts/relationships) and sunlight. Food or juice, when desired, which may be two or three times a week, is consumed to have a taste sensation, not to sustain the body.
With such a lifestyle food has simply ceased to become a habit or addiction common to many today, while proving that flesh foods, or any food for that matter, are not required to maintain health.
In fact, I have observed that all popular diets today, from paleo, to vegetarian, to vegan, to fruitarian, tend to compromise the health in one fashion or another. In most cases it is due to simple food combining practices, like consuming nuts with fruit, or olive oil with honey, or your typical sandwich that combines a starch with a meat.
(See How to Get Enough Protein Without Eating Meat for a deeper insight into the choice for flesh foods.)
Flesh foods play a major role for many in diets of today, so they are not to be ignored (because transitions need to be taken gradually), but because they add undue strain on the human digestive system, along with a push to the acid side of the balance, they are not to be seen as the optimal food for ideal digestive health. Possibly for other reasons, just not for peak performance in digestive powers.
The same holds true for other constipating foods like nuts, cheese, yogurt, cream, eggs, sugar, bananas, and processed foods in general.
This does not mean they cannot be eaten, but if your goal is to maximize digestive performance, it is best to leave these out until your goal has been achieved, then reintegrate them according to your preference. Diets tend to evolve naturally when the intent is strong enough.
Ox bile, HCL, & digestive enzyme supplements are poor substitutes for missing digestive powers. As you keep reading, you will understand clearly why they could never be complete enough to support every digestive organ in the entire array of digestive activities required for the complete breakdown and assimilation of nutrients from your food.
You will understand why the supplementation approach in general is grossly inadequate, and why the nutrification approach (coupled with proper food combining) is all that is required, being the way Nature intended for us to care for the human body.
The second drawback to digestive enzymes, HCL, and ox bile has to do with the way supplements of this nature tend to atrophy, or disrupt, the normal functions of your organs that manufacture the human versions of the same.
It is like walking with a crutch or cast on your leg, it atrophies the leg muscles and makes you walk with a limp until the cast is removed and the muscles are rebuilt through exercise.
Better to support your digestive organs with strengthening nutrients (rather than crutch supplements). The goal is to restore and support your digestive organs, not weaken them with enzymes, acid, and bile replacements.
Apart from extended fasting designed to return digestive powers back to normal, your body's own digestive organs can provide all that you need to fully digest your food – provided your organs are fed with the plant-based nutrients and the minerals they need to manufacture their full complement of digestive juices.
For example, we all know that enzymes are essential for the digestion of food. Do you also know that digestive enzymes are naturally manufactured by your stomach, pancreas, liver, and intestines?
When these organs are provided the nutrient building blocks they need to build the enzymes your body needs, enzyme supplements are not required, regardless of your age.
When food quality and food combining practices align with Nature's intended design for the human body, digestive powers are naturally restored to full strength.
Earth based mineral sources, soil based organisms, bitter herbs, and digestive spices are Nature's provisions designed to keep our digestive processes at peak performance.
This is why ancient cultures ate bitter herbs and digestive spices with each meal. They were built into the recipes, or eaten separately, for good reason.
Curry blends, Italian seasoning, anise or fennel after a meal, radishes, and cilantro or parsley garnishes are examples of traditional ways digestion has been supported naturally.
The myth put out by supplement companies and health education institutions that your body's ability to manufacture enzymes and HCL naturally declines with age, is based on an ignorance of just what the body really needs to remain at peak digestive performance for your entire life, regardless of how long you may live.
It is true that we are observing a trend toward the loss of digestive powers as we age, but this is not due to age itself. It is caused by an increasing numbers of years spent assaulting our bodies with foreign substances and stressful lifestyles habits.
Former antibiotic use, mercury amalgam tooth fillings, chemicals in our water, concentrated sugars, processed foods, and a host of other influences have reduced our natural digestive powers compared to that of our ancient ancestors.
Exemplary in ancient cultures, you will find that clay minerals, bitter herbs, digestive spices, and soil based organisms are the natural ways to support digestion.
They complement human physiology, being designed by Nature to help us restore & maintain our inherent digestive powers.
How? This will become very clear after sharing a little knowledge about how the human body works to process the food you eat.
Many organs and glands of the body are involved in the complete digestion of the foods we consume. The most prominent of these include the:
all of which play a role in the digestion of your food.
At the same time, each organ or gland requires specific plant based and earth based mineral nutrients to build their respective digestive juices with (unless, of course, you are simply living on prana, which manufactures these needed components naturally).
Soil based probiotics (SBO's)add another essential dimension to digestive effectiveness, playing essential roles in the breakdown of foods. Friendly probiotics break plant and mineral compounds apart according to the natural wisdom of the body. They make micronutrients available from the foods we consume for better assimilation at the cellular level.
Soil Based Organism probiotics are protected from stomach acids when combined with Humic & Fulvic Earth. Mineral and plant prebiotics (certain herbs, mineral sources, and inulin or FOS containing plants) provide additional food sources for their propagation in the gut. (The body needs about 4.5 lbs. of friendly flora living in the gut for optimal digestive performance.)
When nourished properly with natural mineral sources, bitter herbs, digestive spices, and SBO's, these organs and glands have what they need to construct the juices & build gut flora necessary to convert your food into cellular nutrition.
When you give your digestive system the nutrition it needs to perform at optimum levels, your digestive system will deliver an abundance of bioavailable nutrients to cells throughout the body.
This is how your body processes the food you eat:
(As you read this list make a mental note of the quantity & variety of digestive juices required to manage the food you consume, then contemplate how impossible supplying all of these organs with laboratory designed supplements would be, and just how much more sense it makes to simply work toward restoring your body's own digestive organs back to full strength naturally.)
◦ saliva & enzymes to begin the breakdown of starches and fats
◦ protein-digesting enzymes (proteases)
◦ Intrinsic factor (necessary to absorb B12)
◦ gastric acids (HCL, gastric lipase) to break down the food bulk, protein and fats
◦ bicarbonate (to reduce acidity in the stomach when necessary)
◦ emulsify (digest) your oils and fats in the small intestines (close to a quart of bile is produced by a healthy liver every day!)
◦ increase the absorption of Vitamins A, D, E, & K
◦ digestive enzymes (primarily for proteins and fats)
◦ bicarbonate ions (to alkalize the acidic chime (food) leaving the stomach)
◦ enzymes required for the digestion of starches
◦ bicarbonate (by the duodenum) to further alkalize stomach acids
The liver uses bilirubin as a constituent of bile fluids essential in the digestion of fats. The spleen also plays a role in the removal of excess fluids in the body.
The lymphatic system absorbs and transports fats & fatty acids (referred to as chyle) from the intestines to be transported to the blood. The lymphatic system consists of several organs and glands including the:
thymus
spleen
tonsils
lymph glands & vessels
bone marrow
The glands of the lymph system work in concert to:
further the digestion of food components
transport nutrients from the blood to the cells (nutrient assimilation)
remove waste, cellular debris, bacteria, & proteins from the blood
perform a major defense role for the immune system (antibody production)
regulate body fluid levels
With all this digestive juice production, enzyme activity, friendly microbe action, and various support roles played by several organs required to fully digest your food and deliver nutrients where the body needs them most, will the foods & supplements you consume be adequate to support the entire body's total digestive requirements?
Even our organic soils are commonly depleted of minerals and microbial life (essential for plants to absorb nutrients), so how can today's health foods provide us with the full array of nutrients we need to maintain our digestive powers and our health?
A single orange, or cucumber, or a few lettuce leaves, or similar, easily satisfies the body as a meal if grown in mineral rich, microbially dense, ormus-bearing soil. Foods grown with these goals in mind become so rich in minerals and plant compounds that only a small quantity is required to satisfy the body's needs.
After speaking with numerous organic farmers, I realized that the labor intensive soil building programs are rarely implemented by even the organic growers in ways that would result in the quality of food I am suggesting here.
Most of the larger organic foods companies have been bought by Big Ag, which has no interest in soil building if it will impact their bottom line.
Organic foods alone are simply not nutritionally adequate today to maintain the level of heath that most desire.
Adding clay minerals, SBO's, bitter herbs, & digestive spices to your diet with every meal (and just before bed to help your body complete the job while you sleep), your digestive organs will have the building blocks to form just the right kind, and the specific quantity, of digestive juices needed to extract the most nutrients from the foods you eat.
These well nourished organs and glands will then be effective to deliver their required amount of digestive juices at the right time and in the right quantity to get the most from the foods you consume.
These same digestive organs and glands will insure maximum provision of nutrients to your cells throughout the body, all according to the body's own natural wisdom!
This is about nourishing your digestive system back to peak performance, not supplementing it.
The Digestive Bitters formula provides herbal nourishment for your complete digestive system from top to bottom (pun intended). The formula includes bitter herbs & digestive spice designed to meet the nutritional needs of each organ and gland participating in the digestive process.
The Friendly Flora formula provides a complex array of Soil Based Organisms (SBO's) in combination with prebiotic food sources for the probiotic organisms (prebiotics make the pros multiply in the gut faster).
The Mineral Manna formula provides five earth based mineral sources: Ancient Plant Minerals, Sacred Clay, Humic/Fulvic Earth, Himalayan Salt & Ormalite, supplying a broad array of macro & trace minerals as prebiotics, and for the construction of digestive metabolic compounds essential to peak digestive performance.
Other support systems for effective digestion include:
Coconut Milk Kefir (which can be made at home with coconut and milk kefir grains), grass fed unpasteurized whey, and Pro-EM-1.
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