When embarking on the natural healing journey there are a few fundamental things that must be addressed. Digestion, blood sugar management, stress modification and hormone metabolism.
When these four factors are working, the body can produce energy. We need to be able to make energy efficiently. If the body can’t produce energy properly, it can’t heal.
Digestion
This starts with strong digestion. Digestion, like all other body functions, should be symptom free. If you are using acid stopping medications, antacids because of stomach burning and belching, it is an indication that you are not able to use the food you eat properly. Strong digestion requires proper stomach acid and enzyme production and is essential to health and regaining your health.
By the time we reach 50 years old, our digestive strength can be reduced by as much as 60 percent. Most stomach burning is caused by overactive stress response. Eating while stressed will cause reflux.
“Acid indigestion” is probably the most misdiagnosed and misunderstood condition in health care. The fact that 90% or more of those diagnosed with too much stomach acid production produce too little. People who suffer from indigestion are usually stressed and eat in a rush, on the run or while upset.
The resulting state of stress this puts the body in (fight flight) depresses all digestive function and does not cause an overproduction of stomach acid.
- Zypan - for increasing hydrochloric acid and pepsin in the stomach, and to help the stomach produce more of these on its own.
- Water - drinking 8 oz of water ½ hour BEFORE meals helps supply fluids to form sufficient gastric juices and prevent indigestion.
- Digest Forte - this herbal product provides bitter herbs which stimulates digestive function.
Blood sugar management
Maintaining stable blood sugar depends on what and when you are eating. If you have sweet and carb cravings, that is a primary indication of blood sugar problems. It is not normal to have sweet and carb cravings.
Sweet and carb cravings are an indication of specific vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Getting stress hormones and insulin under control by diet change. If blood sugar is unstable, it will put your body down a stress pathway which causes the hormonal system not to function properly.
Lower carb med and / or phase 2 diet
Using the herb Gymnema (or others) is very helpful to put the brakes on cravings.
Stress modification
This determines healthy steroid hormone (male, female, and stress hormones) output which is the key to male / female hormone recovery.
In short: no prolonged stress response or pregnenolone steal allowed. Although we may not be able to get away from stressors initially, we can change the way we react to stress. Adding light exercise, meditation, or prayer to name a few. Also, appropriate stress hormone support and chiropractic care.
Hormone metabolism / elimination
This is defined by how well your liver and gall bladder are working.
In short: Bile should be thin like water, but many people have thick bile like molasses. This is an indication that your liver is unable to handle the job of getting rid of waste. Estrogen imbalance is one main thing that stagnates bile and impairs hormone metabolism. This slows down hormone metabolism and elimination.
The energy production
Good food choices, strong digestion, and the ability to properly absorb gives us the resources we need to produce energy: blood sugar, glycogen stores (a storage form of sugar), fat stores, amino acids (from protein). You can think of this as filling your gas tank. The gas tank can be full, and the car can still have trouble running.
When the fuel is in the blood stream it is useless until it gets into our cells through the cell membranes. Cell membranes require the right fats, essential fatty acids, and proteins for fuel to get into the cell. Trans fats (from fried foods) inhibit how fuel can get into cells. The body uses insulin to move blood sugar into the cell.
Once inside the cell, energy is produced inside a structure called the mitochondria. This is one place thyroid hormone T3 goes to work.
Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are broken down and ultimately turned into energy (ATP). All the pathways can also be reversed to build up carbohydrates, fats and proteins for rebuilding and repairing body structures and functions.
All these steps require specific vitamins and minerals to run properly. If you are deficient in them, you can’t produce energy properly.
Carbohydrates (sugars) require:
- B vitamins, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and enzymes containing copper, manganese, and zinc
Fats require:
- Copper, B vitamins, manganese, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and calcium
Proteins require:
- B vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin K,
Liver Detoxification – how the liver keeps us clean.
The main purpose is to transform fat-soluble (the liver handles fats) compounds into non-toxic water soluble, easily eliminated compounds. This can ONLY happen when our body has a supply of specific nutrients.
This is how our body gets rid of used hormones. If we can’t get rid of these used hormones, it causes our hormones not to work properly.
There are three phases of Liver Detoxification:
Phase 1: Detoxification
- There is a large group of enzymes that begin to change toxic fat-soluble substances into water soluble not so toxic substances.
- Products we use to help this include: Livaplex, LivCo, SP Green Food, Cruciferous Complete
- The food you need to eat to help this: broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, garlic.
Intermediate Stage
- These may be more toxic than the substances we started with, so if your liver can’t work optimally, it may be making you more toxic.
- Vitamins needed to make this work are: Cataplex E, Cataplex ACP, Trace Minerals
Phase 2: Conjugation
- Conjugation is a big word meaning a toxic substance is bound to something that makes it safe for our bodies to deal with.
- Products used to help this include: Livaplex, LivCo, SP Green Food, Cruciferous Complete, products containing magnesium and B vitamins.
- Foods you need to eat to help this: broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, garlic.
These are now water soluble and can be excreted through the bile (gallbladder), urine and sweat glands.
Obtaining health and wellness isn’t hard, it just takes certain steps.