Digestive Diet

Chronic inflammation throughout the body can result when the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3s gets out of balance. That’s why increasing fish and flax oils in the diet can have such a dramatic impact on arthritis pain, as well as on dozens of other conditions throughout the body.

Antioxidants are crucial not only for joint health, but for overall health in general. Vitamins C and E are just two antioxidants that come to mind. Eating a wide variety of spices (such as turmeric or curry), colored vegetables, and fruits will help cover this base—as will supplements such as alpha lipoic acid. Variety seems to be the key, since new antioxidants are continually being uncovered. For example, researchers at the National University of Singapore’s biochemistry department recently informed me that their tests found dark soy sauce (not the lighter variety found in most restaurants here) exhibited antioxidant activity 150 times greater than vitamin C and 6 to 12 times higher than red wine.

Their study involved 24 healthy students with an average age of 23. Half the students were given a bowl of rice mixed with six teaspoons of dark soy sauce, and half were given rice with food coloring and salt. Samplings of their blood and urine were taken at intervals and tested for levels of free radical damage.

Between three and four hours after the meal, those eating the dark soy sauce had 20 percent less free radical damage compared to the other group. Additionally, those eating the soy sauce had a 50 percent increase in blood flow compared to the other group during that same time period.

The researchers cautioned that one shouldn’t eat large quantities of the soy sauce, because its high salt content might cause an increase in blood pressure. None of the participants in this study experienced any such problem, though, and I thought it was interesting that researchers felt that the small amount of soy sauce used was the reason there wasn’t a blood pressure problem. Six teaspoonfuls in a bowl of rice would be considered an enormous amount by most people in this country.

Keep in mind that this was dark soy sauce. If you haven’t tried it, it’s quite different than what most of us are used to. You can find it in most Asian markets. Based on the above research, it might be something you want to switch to.

For more information about joint pain and other health issues, visit www.drdavidwilliams.com.

While much well-deserved attention is paid to soluble fiber foods, it is insoluble fiber that provides roughage and improves bowel regularity. This natural bulk also gives feelings of fullness and satisfaction, resulting in less food intake.

In the 1980s, there was a huge push promoting the benefits of fiber in the diet, particularly its ability to prevent colon cancer. Since that time, there have been conflicting studies, and, for some reason, fiber has fallen out of favor. I predict (something I do very rarely) that you will soon begin to see a dramatic increase in the ill effects of decreasing the amount of fiber in our diets. We’re already seeing an increase in many of these problems, such as widespread obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous bowel problems.

Fiber has decreased dramatically as our food supply has become more and more processed. To make matters worse, low-carb diets like Atkins and South Beach often shun the complex carbohydrates that contain insoluble fiber or roughage. The most commonly consumed “vegetable” in this country is now French fries. Food manufacturers have increasingly removed insoluble fiber from processed foods, to both lessen the gritty texture and make ingredients easier to combine.

Insoluble fiber, the portion of the plant that can’t be broken down by your digestive system, provides a valuable service. The fiber absorbs water and swells, making the stool bulky, soft, and easy to pass. (This is why you always need to increase your water intake when you increase the fiber in your diet.) Without adequate fiber, bowel movements slow and toxic material remains in contact with the intestinal walls longer. The foreign material causes inflammation, and additional toxins are reabsorbed into your bloodstream. These additional toxins increase the workload of both your liver and kidneys. The slow-moving stools also lead to a condition called diverticulitis.

Diverticulum: Latin for “You Don’t Want to Know”

In the early stages of the disease, as your intestines struggle to remove toxins and waste material, small, pea-sized, irreversible pockets called diverticula develop. Waste material becomes trapped in these pockets, which often expand and become inflamed, resulting in diverticulitis. If the pockets rupture, the resulting infection and inflammation in the abdominal cavity can prove fatal.

Not surprisingly, the treatment for diverticulosis (the condition before inflammation sets in) is to increase fiber and promote bowel regularity. At the same time, I would also highly recommend the use of probiotics and fermented foods like sauerkraut and others to help re-establish good bacterial flora in the lower bowel at the same time. I don’t recommend the long-term use of over-the-counter fiber products like those mentioned earlier. It is my experience that long-term use of these products seems to deplete various minerals, which can lead to all kinds of seemingly unrelated problems. This just doesn’t happen when the fiber comes from a wide variety of foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, dried beans, popcorn, brown rice, and bran.

For more information on common digestive problems, bowel irregularity, or a list of the highest fiber foods, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

Oats contain both soluble and insoluble fiber—8 grams total in one cup of uncooked oatmeal. And they are the highest of all soluble fiber foods (55 percent). The soluble fiber (fiber which dissolves in water) consists mostly of beta-glucan, which has numerous, very beneficial functions.

Beta-glucan is the fiber-like complex sugar found in the cell wall of baker’s yeast, oat and barley fiber, and many of the medicinal mushrooms that have become so popular as immune stimulants in the last few years. (Beans are also a good source of beta-glucan, and barley actually contains three times as much as oats.) Beta-glucan’s two main benefits are cholesterol reduction and immune system enhancement.

When it comes to cholesterol, beta-glucan acts like a mop. It binds to cholesterol and moves it out of the body with the feces. Typically, after only about a month of eating oats, it’s not unusual to see a 10 percent drop in total cholesterol levels and a drop of 8 percent in the LDL form of cholesterol. At the same time, the “good” form of cholesterol, the HDL cholesterol, may increase as much as 18 percent (Adv Exp Med Biol 90;270:119-27) (Eur J Clin Med 97;51:607-11) (Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 99;39:189-202).

As I’m sure you’re aware, cholesterol is not a primary cause of heart disease, but it is a symptom. Many of the eating and lifestyle habits (such as eating oatmeal) that inherently lower your cholesterol levels have a direct link to reduced risks of heart and artery problems.

Beta-glucan—beta-1,3-glucan in particular—has been shown to be effective at activating your body’s first line of defense against foreign pathogens. Beta-glucan activates the white blood cells known as macrophages and neutrophils. These are the natural killer cells and the “clean-up brigade” that recognize and destroy cancerous tumor cells, accelerate the repair of damaged tissue by removing cellular debris, and trigger additional components of the immune system (Pathol Immunopathol Res 86;5:286-96) (Immunopharmacology 99;41:89-107) (Eur J Immunol 91;21:1755-8).

Beta-glucans also appear to help stop the rapid elevation of blood sugar following a meal. In diabetics, this can be a godsend in helping control blood sugar levels. A cup of cooked oatmeal at breakfast can help to stabilize blood sugar levels throughout the day. Apparently one of the benefits of beta-glucan is to increase cells’ sensitivity to insulin, making them more efficient at mobilizing glucose or blood sugar (J Am Diet Assoc 96;96:1254-61) (Adv Exp Med Biol 90;270:119-27).

Due to its ability to enhance immune function, beta-glucan has also been used widely throughout the HIV/AIDS community, as well as by those dealing with other viral-related problems such as herpes and Epstein-Barr. The recommended dosages for these problems vary depending on the product, the condition, and the individual.

Beta-glucans have recently been isolated and are sold as soluble fiber supplements. They can come in liquid form, bulk powder, or in capsules. Generally, the recommended dosage is anywhere from 100 to 1,000 milligrams (1 gram) a day. There are no known side effects of beta-glucans, so, for general purposes, starting with 1 gram a day during the active stages of a problem shouldn’t be a concern.

You can then cut back to about half that for maintenance purposes. If you’re into growing sprouts, you can also increase your beta-glucan intake through that means. Two tablespoons of sprouted rye seeds or ¼ cup of barley sprouts will give you a decent dose.

A couple of shiitake mushrooms daily are also a good source of beta-glucans. Cooking them destroys much of the beta-glucans, however, so they must be eaten raw.

For more information on the health benefits of fiber, other soluble fiber foods, or soluble fiber supplements, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

While everyone sings the praises of the low-carb diet, there’s one offshoot of this trend that rarely gets mentioned, however, and that’s constipation. While the more common low-carbs diets such as Atkins or the South Beach diet both advocate salads and various vegetables, in practice they are often low-fiber diets, and that can quickly lead to bowel regularity problems. Reports are that about half the individuals who go on these diets, or variations of them, experience constipation problems.

The fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by the pharmaceutical companies. GlaxoSmithKline has experienced a jump in sales of its fiber laxative, Citrucel. Procter and Gamble has also started promoting its Metamucil product as a “zero net carb” product to help with the bowel regularity problem. Both of these companies see this as a huge opportunity to begin marketing their regularity products to younger consumers instead of just the geriatric crowd.

And, thanks to this diet fad, their target audience is changing to a younger age group. These two products are just part of the $350-million laxative market, and companies know that the sooner you get a customer hooked on one of these products, the greater the chance the customer will end up staying with them for life.

I have a better suggestion for you, if you have bowel regularity problems from a low-carb diet or other cause. Rather than opting for one of these fiber products, start including oats and oatmeal in your diet. Oats are not carb-free, but their benefits far outweigh their carb content. Oats are one of the simple solutions that inexpensively eliminate and prevent dozens of bowel problems.

For more information on bowel changes or other common digestive problems, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

In the 1980s, the big “discovery” was the importance of fiber in the diet. There were dozens of reports explaining how high-fiber diets could prevent heart disease, colon cancer, and dozens of other problems. For a while, high-fiber diets were all the rage. For reasons unknown to me, they fell out of favor. If you want to lose weight or maintain a proper weight, a diet rich in fiber can help.

There are two kinds of fiber in food—soluble and insoluble. In a nutshell, insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and is considered “roughage.” It swells and softens the stool, and it also scrubs and stimulates the intestines as it passes through. It helps protect against constipation, cancer, and the formation of pockets and inflammation in the colon.

On the other hand, soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms sticky gums and gels. A good example is much of the fiber found in oats. Soluble fiber foods tend to absorb certain compounds like toxins, bile acids, cholesterol, et cetera. They also slow the digestion of food, which improves insulin regulation and helps prevent diabetes.

The highest fiber foods include fruits and vegetables (with the skins left on when possible), beans, and whole grains. Stay away from such refined foods as white flour, cream of wheat, oat flour, cornstarch, and white rice—all of which are low in fiber.

From a dietary standpoint, high-fiber foods are very versatile. Some, like beans, can be the main course, while others, such as fruit, popcorn, and raw vegetables, make excellent snacks. High-fiber foods generally are very low in fat and are made up mostly of high-quality proteins and complex carbohydrates. The fiber itself has no calories, yet provides bulk and a sense of fullness. Fiber isn’t the cure for obesity, but a high-fiber diet with proper nutrition can definitely help you lose weight.

A high-fiber diet decreases what is called “transit time” in the gastrointestinal tract—the time it takes for food to move through your body. A shorter transit time results in less formation and absorption of toxic material into your system. Be aware, though, that higher-fiber diets require an increase in fluid intake. As you start to add more high-fiber foods, be sure you’re drinking plenty of water.

Estimates are that most adults consume between 10 and 15 grams of fiber a day but should be taking in at least 25 to 30 grams. Eating 30 grams a day has been shown to reduce the weight gain that seems to gradually accumulate as one gets older.

For more information on the health benefits of fiber or a list of the highest fiber foods, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

Research has shown that a high fiber diet lowers blood sugar levels as effectively as the use of prescribed oral hypoglycemic drugs. Individuals with type II diabetes generally eat less fiber than the general population. And although the American Diabetes Association recently upped its daily dietary fiber recommendation to between 20 and 30 grams a day, that is still too low.

One study asked a group of diabetic individuals to increase their fiber intake to roughly 50 grams a day (25 grams of insoluble fiber and 25 grams of soluble fiber). After only six weeks, those taking the extra fiber had lower blood glucose levels after meals and throughout the day. Total cholesterol levels dropped an average of 6.7 percent and triglycerides dropped 10.2 percent (New Engl J Med 00;342:1392-8).

Adding additional fiber to the diet is not difficult. In the above study, the individuals did so by simply including more fresh fruits and vegetables—items such as cantaloupes, oranges, papayas, sweet potatoes, winter squash, granola, and oatmeal, all of which are some of the highest fiber foods. For instance, a single serving of oatmeal will give you 28 grams of soluble fiber.

Whole ground flaxseed is another good source of fiber and essential fatty acids. Whole foods like these contain both insoluble and soluble fibers (as well as hundreds of other components) in contrast to isolated fiber powders like psyllium, guar, and pectin.

Increasing your dietary fiber is a far better solution than using oral hypoglycemic drugs if both options achieve the same goal. However, I would suggest that you not take your multivitamin/mineral supplement with a high-fiber meal. Take it with another meal or by itself because the fiber interferes with the absorption of some minerals and fat-soluble components.

For more information on the health benefits of fiber or a list of the highest fiber foods, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

One of the more painful problems you can experience is that of mouth ulcerations, commonly referred to as canker sores. These aren’t necessarily the same as “cold sores” related to the herpes virus, which generally occur on the outside of the mouth.

There doesn’t seem to be any one trigger for these recurrent mouth ulcers. For some women, they develop when certain hormones fluctuate during the menstrual cycle; for other individuals excess exposure to the sun may be the trigger; and for others they seem to crop up in times of stress or from actual physical injury to the mouth.

They can be very painful and interfere with swallowing and eating, and oftentimes take a week or longer to resolve.

One very interesting study screened patients suffering from these recurrent ulcerations, looking for gluten intolerance (an allergy to wheat and wheat products, as well as to other grains that contain the protein gluten). This condition is also called gluten sensitive enteropathy or celiac disease. It’s considered an immune disease where products that contain gluten trigger an immune reaction in the small intestine that can cause permanent damage. Common symptoms also include unwanted weight loss, chronic diarrhea or constipation, and bloating and gas.

When individuals with gluten intolerance were placed on a gluten-free diet, there was a very significant improvement in their prior problem with mouth ulcerations. (BMC Gastroenterol 09;9:44)

A gluten-free diet may not be the answer for everyone with this problem, but for some it will be a godsend in more ways than one. Mouth ulcerations may be just the one noticeable symptom of an allergy to gluten that could be destroying areas of the small intestine. A gluten-free diet is not the easiest thing to follow, but it would be well worth trying if nothing else has helped with your recurrent mouth ulcerations.

For more information on gluten intolerance, or for a list of gluten free foods, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

It’s imperative that you do all you can to reduce your direct exposure to mercury. Just as important, you’ll want to implement a diet and supplement plan that will continuously help remove mercury from your body.

Nature provides various substances that help remove mercury and other heavy metals. Mercury has a strong affinity for sulfur. As such, there’s a long list of vegetables and fruits with high sulfur contents that can help remove mercury from the body. These foods do have their limitations, however. With continued exposure, your body’s natural defenses can easily be overwhelmed.

For most of us, mercury will enter our body either through our intestinal tract (water, food, or amalgam tooth fillings) or through our respiratory tract (vapor from pollution or a broken fluorescent bulb). With our food and water supplies so widely contaminated, it will be difficult to avoid mercury completely. This is where a diet high in sulfur-rich vegetables, fruits, and other foods can help. These foods can bind with the mercury while it’s still transiting the intestinal tract and carry it out of your body.

Sulfur-rich foods include:

• Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, chard, and watercress
• Other vegetables: asparagus, avocado, parsley, red peppers, and tomatoes
• Root vegetables such as carrots, radishes, turnips, garlic, and onions (but not potatoes)
• Fruits like blueberries, cherries, and grapes
• Nearly all grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds
• Animal products: cheese, egg yolks, meat

Unfortunately, I don’t think these foods receive the attention or research they deserve—and probably never will. Most have strong antioxidant capability and are rich in various bioflavonoids. We now know they also have the added benefit of being able to lock on to mercury and prevent its absorption into the body.

Based on the widespread contamination levels we’re seeing today, I would highly recommend adding several of these items to your diet every day.

For more information on body toxins, how to detoxify the body, and eliminating body toxins, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site.

When it comes to skin problems, most people don’t think of detoxification, but they should. In fact, one of the best ways to clear up a variety of skin conditions involves easing the load on your liver in every way possible.

To help you do a liver cleanse naturally, follow these three easy steps.

Liver Detoxification: Step 1
You must make sure your bowels are moving regularly, at least once daily. Food wastes that remain in the body over 24 hours become toxic. Your intestines continue to absorb this waste and it places an enormous burden on the liver to detoxify it.

Liver Detoxification: Step 2
You must drink at least eight, 8-ounce glasses of water per day. This helps both the bowels and the kidneys and lightens the load on the liver. If you drink other liquids, make sure they are sugar-free, but don’t count them as part of the eight glasses of water.

Liver Detoxification: Step 3
Foods high in sugar (natural or otherwise) and high starch foods must be eliminated initially. Some products where sugar has been added are obvious, like soft drinks, candy, ice cream, cakes, pies, etc. The list below contains foods which have a high natural sugar content or an abundance of starch that can be quickly converted to sugars by the body. Eliminate or at least reduce these foods until the psoriasis patches have disappeared.

• Potatoes
• Rice
• Grapes
• Raisins
• Plums
• Figs
• Dates
• Bananas
• Spaghetti
• Macaroni
• Noodles
• Pizza
• Jams
• Jellies
• Corn
• Beans
• Rice
• Peas
• Artichokes
• Breakfast cereal

After reading this list, you may be wondering just what you can eat. Remember, the foods may later be reintroduced into the diet, but in the beginning you will get faster and better results if you stick rigidly to the program. You can eat any vegetable not listed above. You can have any meat except pork. Eggs and dairy products are allowed. But only a few kinds of fruit are allowed such as: strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew melon, peaches and all citrus fruit, which may be eaten if fresh or packed in water. Coffee and tea should be limited to a couple of times a day.

For more information on how to detoxify the body, eliminating body toxins, or liver detoxification, visit Dr. Williams’ Web site. While there, you can also sign up for Dr. Williams’ FREE eLetter or monthly newsletter.

Practically all grains contain gluten, but wheat is one of the most commonly consumed grains found in our food supply—primarily in the form of flour and bread. Cut out the bread and white flour from your diet. (It’s not that easy at first.) Depending on your degree of dependency on gluten, you may experience “withdrawal” symptoms for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

Most people (doctors included) don’t understand that there is a proven additive element to gluten consumption. Gluten is a protein, and when your body isn’t able to completely digest and break down the protein, you end up with forms of biologically active peptides that interact with opiate receptors in the brain. These are the same receptors associated with extremely addictive opiate drugs like heroin and morphine. Studies have found that there are as many as 15 opioid sequences in a single molecule of gluten, and the peptides in gluten can be as much as 30 times more addictive than morphine. (FEBS Lett 92;296:107–111) (FEBS Lett 93;316:17–19)

Considering its potential addictive properties, it’s understandable that gluten withdrawal may be associated with symptoms such as:

• intense food cravings,
• irritability,
• depression,
• mood swings,
• fatigue,
• disorientation,
• insomnia, and
• brain “fogginess.”

From my personal experience in utilizing gluten-free diets, the withdrawal symptoms are not that intense in most people. However, keep in mind that a more serious withdrawal is indicative of a stronger addiction to wheat, and all the more reason to stick with a gluten-free diet.

Following this initial period, if you’re like the majority of individuals (75–80 percent), you can expect to experience a long list of benefits. Just a few commonly reported improvements include:

• fasting blood sugar levels improve,
• LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels drop,
• HDL cholesterol increases,
• bowel problems disappear,
• joint pains subside,
• excess weight begins to fall off,
• energy levels improve, and
• headaches subside.

One of the more painful problems you can experience is that of mouth ulcerations, commonly referred to as canker sores. These aren’t necessarily the same as “cold sores” related to the herpes virus, which generally occur on the outside of the mouth.

There doesn’t seem to be any one trigger for these recurrent mouth ulcers. For some women, they develop when certain hormones fluctuate during the menstrual cycle; for other individuals, excess exposure to the sun may be the trigger; and for others yet, they seem to crop up in times of stress or from actual physical injury to the mouth.

They can be very painful and interfere with swallowing and eating, and oftentimes take a week or longer to resolve.

One very interesting study screened patients suffering from these recurrent ulcerations, looking for gluten intolerance (an allergy to wheat and wheat products, as well as to other grains that contain the protein gluten). Common symptoms include unwanted weight loss, chronic constipation and diarrhea, and bloating and gas.

When individuals with gluten intolerance or celiac disease were placed on a gluten-free diet, there was a very significant improvement in their prior problem with mouth ulcerations. (BMC Gastroenterol 09;9:44)

A gluten-free diet may not be the answer for everyone with this problem, but for some it will be a godsend in more ways than one. Mouth ulcerations may be just the one noticeable symptom of gluten intolerance that could be destroying areas of the small intestine. A gluten-free diet is not the easiest thing to follow, but it would be well worth trying if nothing else has helped one’s recurrent mouth ulcerations.

It’s no secret that gluten intolerance and allergic reactions to gluten can be directly linked to problems like osteoporosis, bowel problems, anemia, and psoriasis. But what is lesser known is that eliminating wheat (the primary source of gluten) from the diet is probably one of the most powerful techniques you can use to lower harmful forms of cholesterol.

There’s no downside to eliminating wheat from your diet, with the possible exception of the withdrawal symptoms. Stick with the program and I think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised in the long run. Let me know how it works. If you don’t see a very significant improvement in your cholesterol levels and overall health in a month or sooner, I’ll be shocked.

The treatment for gluten intolerance and celiac disease is quite simple and can be followed even if there’s just a strong suspicion of the disease. Generally, it involves the elimination of the offending glutens, found in wheat, rye, barley, and any products made from these grains. (Oats are often eliminated because they can be contaminated with wheat residue during processing.)

I’ll be the first to admit that eliminating all wheat products, much less trying to determine which products contain wheat, can be a staggering task. Aside from the obvious wheat-containing foods such as bread, pasta, cookies, and crackers, wheat flour is often a hidden ingredient in many processed foods, including frozen French fries, soy sauce, and rice cereal, just to name a few. However, there are dozens of books, charts, and resources to facilitate the elimination process. A good starting place for lists of gluten-free foods and other information is the Celiac Sprue Association.

There’s no downside to going on a gluten-free diet. If possible, find a doctor who is familiar with gluten intolerance and celiac disease and can help monitor your particular situation.

There’s a critical connection between bowel problems and the nervous system that doesn’t receive much attention in most medical circles. In fact, in testimonials concerning the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, you’ll find that many individuals have seen a dramatic improvement or even complete reversal in such problems as schizophrenia. The same is true when bowel problems are corrected with probiotics or many of the other digestive cleansing methods I’ve discussed in this blog.

Generally, those in conventional medical circles haven’t been able to grasp the connection between toxins in the bowels and neurological disease. (Most still believe the cause of IBS, ulcerative colitis, and similar bowel problems is totally unknown.)

Between 60 and 70 percent of our immune system is located in the digestive tract, which makes sense when you realize it’s one of only three direct connections our body has to the outside world (our skin and respiratory tract are the others)—making it one of the places we are most exposed and vulnerable.

A breach in the gut wall—common in individuals with IBS, Crohn’s disease, and chronic constipation and diarrhea—is commonly referred to as “leaky gut” syndrome. This state allows toxins, bacteria, yeast, fungi, viruses, and incompletely digested foods to enter the bloodstream. An excess of these pathogens creates additional acids, fermentation byproducts, waste, and toxins that eventually overcomes our gut’s defenses.  

That’s why it is vital to maintain bowel health. It’s one of the most effective methods of improving your overall immune function. It can help prevent or reverse many of the neurological diseases on the rise in both children and adults.

Once these toxins and other particles breach our body’s protective barriers, they cause inflammation throughout the body and can often cross the blood/brain barrier, where they then interfere with the circulation and flow of nutrients to the brain—which in turn impairs consciousness, speech, cognition, and behavior. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that digestive and bowel problems are one of the principal complaints of people of all ages with depression, “brain fog,” irritability, schizophrenia, and seizures—even children with autism. It also should be no surprise to see these problems resolved when the bowel problems are corrected.

If you or your loved ones suffer from one of these neurological problems, getting rid of body toxins and restoring the bowels to normal is one thing you don’t want to overlook.

The use of probiotics is preventive medicine at its best. For this very reason it’s important to constantly replenish your body’s supply of these important life-sustaining organisms, which you can do easily with a daily probiotic supplement. And to that you can add my favorite—a nice daily helping of homemade sauerkraut to reap full probiotic benefits.

When you are looking to detoxify the body, you must start with the basics—your diet. To kick off a truly effective cleansing detoxification program, you should try what I call the “weed and feed” program.

The idea is to first cleanse the bowels of any harmful or large numbers of undesirable bacteria, fungi, yeast, and parasites; heal any damage that has taken place; and then re-establish a healthy population of beneficial bacteria.

Overall it’s roughly a two-week program that begins with a 24-hour fast, where ideally nothing would be consumed except purified water. (Chlorinated water is not recommended, because it is not particular about which bacteria it kills—even the beneficial types in the bowel.) If one can’t fast on water alone for 24 hours, a homemade vegetable broth or the low-sodium version of V8 juice can be included, but under no circumstances should you add any fruit, juices, or other foods or drinks.

After the first 24 hours, steamed vegetables and light salads can be gradually added to the diet. (Yeast products, sugar, and starchy foods such as potatoes and rice are not allowed.)

Days 2 and 3 begin the “weeding” of your colon as “broad spectrum” natural antimicrobials are added to the regimen. The standard antimicrobial is garlic, preferably fresh—which has been proven effective against eliminating an extremely wide variety of harmful bacteria, fungi, yeast, and viruses while at the same time sparing the beneficial forms of bacteria. You can achieve these effects by simply consuming two crushed garlic cloves twice daily with your meals.

Beginning on Day 4, and through the remaining two weeks, you need to heal any damage to the bowel and re-establish the growth and dominance of the beneficial bacteria. In addition to adding specific supplements (such as a good probiotic), you can now gradually begin to introduce more and more fresh foods into your diet.

During this period it is important not to consume sugar, alcohol, caffeine, wheat products, or high starch foods such as bread, potatoes, and rice. Steamed or stir-fried vegetables are highly recommended—particularly high-sulfur foods such as cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cress, kale, mustard, radish, and turnip. Cabbage is one of the most researched (and also one of my favorites)—steamed, stir-fried, or fermented as sauerkraut. Onions, asparagus, and artichokes are also good choices.

Legumes (beans and peas) may also be introduced. Keep in mind, too, that these last few items are higher in fiber—which will be  a great help for IBS and other bowel problems, but may need to be introduced later if diarrhea is an issue. The timing of when and how much can be eaten will vary from individual to individual.

Meat can also be gradually added (begin with chicken, fish, or lamb), and it is generally easier and best to do so in the form of broths, stews, or soups. Slow-cooked (not instant) oatmeal is a good addition at this point. Dairy products may also be included. Start with the fermented ones first (such as yogurt).

As you begin to re-introduce different foods, be alert to any changes in bowel changes or symptoms. You may have to discontinue certain foods and add them back later when you see improved bowel regularity.

Glutathione (pronounced "glue-tah-thi-on") is an extremely important compound that naturally occurs in the body. It is composed of three amino acids, namely glycine, glutamic acid, and cysteine. It is particular useful in detoxifying the body.

Research has shown that glutathione levels decline as we age, and there seems to be a corresponding decline in our health and longevity. It's possible in many instances that the drop in glutathione levels may be related to exposure to heavy metals like mercury, lead, and cadmium.

These metals are sulfhydryl-reactive metals. In simple terms, this means that they steal sulfur groups from enzymes, protein compounds and/or peptides such as glutathione. Once these compounds lose their sulfur component, they lose their ability to detoxify the body.

Much of glutathione's ability to improve your longevity and overall health comes from its role in detoxifying various chemicals, thereby preventing them from damaging your cellular DNA. When you increase glutathione, you in turn increase glutathione S-transferase, a naturally occurring enzyme in the body that neutralizes several different carcinogens. It keeps these toxins from damaging the cells' DNA, thus preventing cancer and other cellular damage.

Choose Glutathione–Rich Foods

There are several ways you can help to raise your glutathione levels and help increase the production of the GST enzymes:

1. Eat cruciferous vegetables. This family of vegetables is one of the richest food sources of glutathione. The most potent vegetable is Brussels sprouts. Others include: cauliflower, broccoli (particularly the flowers, not the stem), cabbage, kale, bok choy, cress, mustard, horseradish, turnips, rutabagas, and kohlrabi.
2. Eat garlic.
3. Use rosemary when cooking. At the University of Illinois, researchers found that including the herb rosemary in the diet could increase GST enzyme activity.

For years, I’ve told my subscribers to chew their vitamins. Clinical research has shown that there is more to digesting something than simply dropping it in the stomach and forgetting about it. You should chew (or at least taste) all of the vitamins you are taking! Nutritional substances are really foods either concentrated or extracted in some way or another. It’s not so much the chewing that seems to be the important thing here, but instead it’s the mixing of the saliva that makes the difference.

However, digestive enzymes are the one exception to this rule. You should NEVER chew or suck on any digestive enzymes!

Digestive enzymes often contain acids and substances that are found only in the parts of the digestive system that are able to handle their caustic properties. Chewing or sucking on these substances cannot only remove enamel from your teeth, but it could cause irritation to the membrane lining of the mouth and the throat. That’s one of the reasons why many manufacturers place a coating on their digestive enzyme products.

Simply adding fermented foods and/or probiotics to your diet provides incredible IBS support and can eliminate 75 to 80 percent of all cases of IBS.

The first step for dealing with IBS and other bowel problems is to add fermented food and/or a probiotic supplement to your daily regimen. Research and clinical work has shown that anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of those who make this change will notice a significant difference in their health.

Probiotics are live micro-organisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, provide a health benefit to the host by engaging and neutralizing toxic compounds. It’s a constant battle for control, and beneficial bacteria are often sacrificed in the process.

While commercial supplements are the first thought that comes to mind when you mention probiotics, naturally fermented, “live” foods have been around since the beginning of mankind. The most common include:

• fermented vegetables,
• fermented milk products (clabber, yogurt, cheese, buttermilk),
• kefir, and
• fermented soy products (natto, miso, tempeh, soy sauce, fermented tofu.

I highly recommend you include foods like these regularly in your diet.

My favorite fermented food is homemade sauerkraut. I keep a fresh batch going almost constantly, and some already made in the fridge at all times. It provides one of the widest varieties of beneficial bacteria that are known to protect against everything from bowel troubles to cancer. It’s inexpensive and easy to make and keep. A little salt, cabbage, and a crock are all that’s needed.

During those times when you’re not home or don’t have access to homemade sauerkraut or other fermented foods, I recommend the use of a commercial probiotic product. Look for one that can maintain viability without refrigeration, available in health food stores and over the Internet.

I would venture to say that adding probiotics to the diet (and eliminating products that contain HFCS) would provide tremendous IBS help and could eliminate 75 to 80 percent of all cases of IBS, maybe even more.

IBS has many triggers, including antibiotics, certain foods, and poor digestive capability, just to name a few.

IBS is a complicated condition with several factors that can trigger or contribute to its development. Top among these are antibiotic use, certain IBS trigger foods, or poor digestive capability.

Antibiotic Use

For many people, IBS first shows up after an infection (often one in the gastrointestinal tract), particularly when a long course of treatment or potent antibiotics have been used to address the infection. Antibiotics disrupt the normal bacterial flora in the gut, and this imbalance can lead to IBS.

Food Intolerance

Intolerance to certain foods is one of the primary triggers of IBS. Many people incorrectly refer to food intolerances as food “allergies,” but ingesting the offending foods doesn’t trigger a reaction from the immune system the way a true allergy does. Studies have shown that patients with IBS can usually correct their problem by following a diet that eliminates offending foods.

Some of the most common IBS trigger foods include:

• wheat,
• corn,
• dairy products,
• coffee,
• tea, and
• citrus fruits.

In fact, one study suggests that fructose (fruit sugar) alone may be responsible for 30 to 60 percent of all cases of IBS. The most common source of fructose in the American diet nowadays is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). And while it’s a given that you need to avoid HFCS, fruit can also trigger IBS.

Poor Digestive Capability

A decrease in digestive juices and/or enzymes results in the incomplete breakdown of various foods. Undigested proteins, fats, and carbohydrates can all create havoc in the intestinal tract. Protein fractions can be absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine and cause reactions that mimic allergies, locally as well as throughout the body.

Undigested fats can ferment in warm cavities of the lower bowel and create gas or flatulence, resulting in bloating, distension, and pain. And, undigested carbohydrates can pass to the lower bowel and provide the ideal food for the growth and replication of pathogenic and disease-causing bacteria, fungi, and yeast.

As we age, our ability to produce hydrochloric acid in the stomach is reduced—which reduces our ability to break down proteins. Sluggish bile and gallbladder problems prevent many people from properly breaking down fats in the diet. Surgical removal of the gallbladder without supplementing the diet with bile salts probably increases the difficulty a hundredfold or more.

Additional IBS Triggers

In addition to antibiotics, food intolerance, and poor digestion, there are a myriod of other factors that can trigger IBS. These include:

• genetics,
• drugs,
• radiation therapy,
• smoking,
• alcohol use or abuse,
• carbonated beverages,
• lack of sleep and exercise,
• surgical trauma or injury to the bowel,
• eating disorders, and
• use of hormones (particularly oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy).

Common digestive problems are the second most common cause of hospitalizations. (Pregnancy is #1 with women and coronary problems are #1 with men.) Thousands of diseases can be linked directly to a poor digestive system.

In the case of diarrhea, one of the best diarrhea treatments is to increase your intake of cultured foods, specifically, those made milk products, such as yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, etc.

Yogurt has been used for centuries to cure bowel problems and diarrhea. The oldest people in the world, in the mountains of Russia, reportedly use plenty of yogurt and clabbered milk as their protein source. Similarly, a study at a New York hospital confirmed that between a third and a half cup of ordinary yogurt stopped severe infant diarrhea twice as fast as the standard anti-diarrhea drug Neomycin Kaopectate (Clin. Ped.63;1(7):407-411). In fact, yogurt works so effectively at preventing diarrhea in the first place, it is routinely used for that purpose in hospitals throughout Russia, Japan, and Italy.

Yogurt can do so much more than just correct bowel problems. At least seven natural antibiotics have been isolated from yogurt and fermented milk products. One called acidolin has been shown to be as effective, if not more so, as many prescription antibiotics (J. of Antibiotics 74;27(8):631-636). Eating yogurt may also decrease the risk of cancer. One French study discovered that among women who ate dairy products, those who ate the greatest amounts of yogurt had the lowest rate of breast cancer (J.Nat.Cancer Inst. 86;77(3):633-636).
Yogurt can also drop LDL cholesterol levels as much as 10 percent in one week, while raising HDL cholesterol levels (the good kind) (Ather.77;26[3]:335-340). And regular yogurt (not the low-fat kind) contains the hormone-like substance prostaglandin E2, which, among other things, can prevent ulcers. It can even boost the immune system.

Like just about everything else these days, the type of yogurt you eat makes a difference. The label of any yogurt you buy should say it has "active cultures." Some companies pasteurize the product after it’s been made, and this kills off the remaining beneficial bacteria making it useless. If you can find products made from L. acidophilus bacteria cultures, they will have the greatest benefits. If the yogurts made in your area don’t list the type of cultures used, you may have to call or write the manufacturer.

Also, avoid the yogurts containing sugar. Usually the yogurts with fruit are loaded with sugar. Add your own fruit. Bananas give it a sweet taste and counteract the sourness. For a more consistent sweetness, try blending the banana into the yogurt in the blender.