Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion, Fourth Edition (104 page)

De-gas your beans.
Beans are an excellent source of vegetarian protein, containing both soluble and insoluble fibers, as well as sitosterols, which help normalize cholesterol levels. However, beans are notorious for their gas-producing effects. They contain substances that are difficult for us to digest. For instance, beans, grains, and seeds hold their nutrients with phytic acid. Soaking or sprouting releases the nutrients so that we can absorb more of them. First, soak the beans for 4 to 12 hours, then drain off the water, replace with new water, and simmer for several hours until they are soft. Some people find that putting a pinch or two of baking soda in the water helps reduce gas. Others add kombu, a Japanese sea vegetable, or ginger. Beano is an enzyme product that contains the enzymes necessary for digestion of beans. Place a drop or two on your food; it helps reduce flatulence for most people. Beano is sold widely in drugstores and health-food stores.

Also recall that we produce digestive enzymes for foods we commonly eat. If you eat beans rarely, start by eating a tablespoon or two of beans each day. Your body may begin to produce the enzymes necessary for their digestion.

Explore food sensitivities.
Although lactose intolerance is the most common food sensitivity, people can be sensitive to nearly any other food. The most likely culprits are sugars and grains. Careful charting of your foods and flatulence levels can help you detect which foods are giving you the most trouble. Food sensitivities don’t usually exist by themselves. If you have a number of food sensitivities, check for dysbiosis.

Check for dysbiosis.
An imbalance of bacteria, yeast, or parasites often causes excessive gas. These microbes eat sugar and cause fermentation of sugars, fruits, and starches that we feel as gas and bloating. A comprehensive digestive stool analysis, organic acid test, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth test can determine whether or not you have dysbiosis or other dysbiotic imbalance.

Avoid alcohol sugars
. Sorbitol, maltitol, isomalt, and xylitol are indigestible alcohol sugars found in most sugarless candy and gum. They are used by diabetics and dieters because these sugars are sweet but don’t affect blood sugar levels. Large amounts of sorbitol and xylitol cause gas, but even small amounts can cause a problem for those who are sensitive.

Take chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll liquid or tablets can help prevent gas. Take 1 tablet two to three times daily with meals.

Use ginger, fennel, and anise.
Most of us have at least one of these spices in our kitchen, and they are valuable tools for reducing gas. Put a few slices of fresh ginger or ½ teaspoon of dried ginger in a cup of boiling water and steep until cool enough to drink. It will soon begin to dispel your gas from both ends, and you’ll be much more comfortable. Fennel and anise can be used in tea or you can simply chew on the seeds to relieve gas. In Indian restaurants, you find small bowls of these seeds. They also cleanse the palate with their sweet pungency.

Use herbs and drink herbal teas.
Traditionally herbs and spices were added to foods to aid digestion. Nearly all our common kitchen herbs and spices have a beneficial effect, including basil, oregano, marjoram, parsley, thyme, celery seed, peppermint, spearmint, fennel, bayberries, caraway seed, cardamom seed, catnip, cloves, coriander, lemon balm, and sarsaparilla. You can find many digestive herbal tea blends in health-food stores.

Try activated charcoal tablets.
Charcoal absorbs toxins and gases and can be found in nearly any pharmacy or health-food store. Your stools will turn black—that’s the charcoal leaving your body. It has been rated “safe and effective” by the FDA for acute poisoning. It’s inexpensive and very helpful. Take one to four tablets as needed, with a meal or immediately if you are having gas problems.

Celiac disease, also called gluten-sensitive enteropathy, is a genetic autoimmune disease that affects about 3 million people in the United States. When people with celiac eat gluten-containing grains, there is inflammation and ultimately damage to the lining of the small intestine. It is often discovered in childhood, but it can go on for decades before being recognized. If the disease is left unchecked, people often have other diseases as a result of the undiagnosed celiac. The typical signs of celiac are indigestion, abdominal pain and bloating, diarrhea, inability to gain weight, and anemia. If only a small segment of the intestines is damaged, or the inflammation is mild, symptoms may be different. Celiac disease is like a chameleon: only 1 out of every 8 to 15 people present this way; most people with celiac don’t have any GI symptoms at all. Only half of people present with diarrhea at diagnosis. Other common presentations are depression, bone loss, dental erosion, arthritis/joint pain, mouth sores, muscle cramps, skin rashes, irritability, stomach discomfort, and neurological problems. In children the most common symptoms are abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, failure to thrive, and vomiting. Malabsorption of nutrients can cause far-reaching health problems. Often by the time of diagnosis people have other health issues, such osteoporosis, infertility, neurological issues, or other autoimmune conditions, that are a result of this. Dr. Marios Hadjivassiliou and colleagues have estimated that 57 percent of people with neurological dysfunction of unknown cause have gluten sensitivity. Thyroid disorders have been found in 30 to 43 percent of people with celiac disease. There is an eightfold incidence of cirrhosis in people with celiac. With early detection, I wonder how much of the collateral damage we can prevent? The World Health Organization believes that a policy of mass screening for celiac disease is warranted because it is common and because avoiding gluten-containing grains is an effective treatment.

SIGNS AND CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CELIAC DISEASE