Metabolic Solutions Report

Terry Chamberlin, B.Sc., C.N.C., Bioanalyst Nova Scotia, Canada [email protected] 902-584-3810

Digestion and Regularity

Digestion begins with meal preparation. When food is being prepared, the aroma of the food will stimulate
the body to begin producing those digestive enzymes that the body will use to digest that food which is being
prepared. Being around the food (within sniffing distance) while it is being prepared is an important prelude
to good digestion. When we chew our food, we not only break up the food into small, more easily digestible
pieces, but we coat the food in saliva, which contains important digestive enzymes. This prepares the food
for the next stage of digestion, which occurs in the stomach. Very few people chew well or slowly nowadays,
and so consequently very few people have excellent digestion.

In the stomach, several things occur. The stomach secretes hydrochloric acid, which breaks down the food
into a more digestible state. Also, various enzymes are supplied by the liver and pancreas to aid in digestion.
If this stage in the digestive process is efficient, when the food leaves the stomach and enters the small
intestine, the nutrients in the food can be easily and efficiently extracted. If the stomach is not able to
adequately prepare the food for the extraction process in the small intestine, less of the nutrients in the food
will be extracted, and the food will enter the large intestine (the colon) in a partially-digested state.

Though there is still some limited nutrient-assimilation occurring in the large intestine, it is here that the
body attempts to dispose of waste, toxins and poisons. The colon acts as a dehydrator, which means that it
extracts water from the stool (the hopefully digested food particles) as it passes through the colon. It is here
that constipation, also called auto-intoxication, occurs. When a person's pH is too alkaline, the digestive
process tends to slow down; when it is too acid, it tends to speed up. Alkaline people tend to be constipated,
while acid people tend toward loose stools or diarrhea. These tendencies, however, are affected by other
factors, so they are not completely predictable. As the pH moves away from perfect, whether too acid or too
alkaline, digestion/assimilation progressively diminishes.

There is a lot of talk today about people not having enough fiber in their diets, and the all-too-common
occurrence of constipation is blamed on that. But, in reality, the problem of constipation is caused mostly by
a lack of digestive enzymes, and not primarily by a lack of fiber. If a person eats a regular diet of
unprocessed foods such as whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, organic meats, dairy,
etc., and minimizes or eliminates hard-to-digest foods such as peanut butter, commercial cheese, red meat,
white flour, white rice, etc., and then consumes the concentrated foods and supplements mentioned here, that
person is highly unlikely to experience digestive or eliminative difficulties. This is, of course, presuming that
their body chemistry issues (pH, etc.) have been addressed and any pre-existent gastrointestinal disorders
have been first resolved by the appropriate measures. The effect of extra fiber in the diet is that fiber helps
the colon (the large intestine) to move along the stool through the colon, a bit like throwing hay or straw
under the tires of a car which is stuck in the mud helps it to have more traction.

But the reason for the constipation in the first place is not primarily because of a lack of fiber in the diet, but
because the food is poorly digested from a lack of digestive enzymes. The same processed foods that are
lacking in fiber are also lacking in nutrition. When the liver and pancreas get the nutrients they need from the
food (and supplements) we eat, they will produce the enzymes that are needed for good digestion. If a person
who eats a healthy diet and who has good health and good digestion occasionally eats processed food, he will
not experience constipation, even though the food he has eaten is completely devoid of fiber, because his
body will digest that food, processed or not.

As the body's digestion becomes less efficient from a lack of nutrients/digestive enzymes, constipation
occurs. Fiber is an important part of the digestion/elimination process, but eating more fiber than naturally
occurs in food can eventually create an imbalance. Good food is designed to come with everything our
bodies need. When man tries to adjust his food to make it "better" (prettier, sweeter, saltier, softer, thicker,
thinner, longer shelf-life, etc.), it always makes the food less compatible to the body's metabolism. Of course,
Good Food, as it was grown 100 years ago, is virtually impossible to obtain today, and that is why we must
supplement our diets with concentrated foods and supplements, and, if need be, digestive enzyme
supplements. A person who made a point out of completely omitting processed foods from his diet (along
with establishing healthy and efficient digestion) would not need to consume extra fiber, for the food would
provide all the fiber that he needed. But the modern lifestyle frequently means eating on the run, which
usually means eating processed foods. Adding extra fiber to one's diet to offset processed food consumption
can be a good idea, provided good digestion is first restored by balancing one's biochemistry with
comprehensive, appropriate supplementation and the use of concentrated foods and, if need be, digestive
enzyme supplements.

The nearly universal experience of people who begin eating concentrated foods like brewers/nutritional
yeast, juicing and sprouted/fermented foods is a dramatic improvement in their regularity. This is because
their digestion also immediately improves, not because these foods have a "laxative" effect, but because the
body finally has the nutrients it needs to improve its digestion.

A last word on constipation: Throughout the rest of the animal kingdom, in their natural habitat, an animal
has as many bowel movements per day as it has meals. Birds eat all day. What else do birds do all day? You
have only to stand under a bird on a branch for a few minutes to find out! Most people eat three to five meals
per day (including between-meal snacks during the day and that "midnight" snack). If such a person had two
bowel movements per day (twice as often as average), it would still mean that the food he ate on Monday
would not leave his body until Friday! If you were to take some food, say some soft-boiled eggs, and put it
into an oven set at 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about the temperature of your body), and leave it in there for five
days, what would the food be like when you took it out? It would be quite spoiled, wouldn't it? What would
happen if you ate that spoiled food? Probably make you sick, right? For the food you eat to stay in your body
for five days, continuing to spoil (at 98.6 degrees) as it slowly travels through your gastrointestinal tract, is
certainly going to detract from sound health! Adding extra fiber to your diet before you have restored good
digestion can actually mask a poor digestion problem, because the regularity that it seems to create is not
from improved digestion, but merely from improved "traction"!

Going days without a bowel movement is, in my opinion, quite serious, not normal. Let me give you a
test: Food that has been too long in the bowels will putrefy and the bowel movement will stink. People with
healthy digestion/regularity have odorless bowel movements (bet you didn't know that!). How are your
BMs? No odor? Actually, sometimes a person's stool is so hard there is no odor, but that's certainly not
healthy. The medical world makes no distinction between "normal" and "average". Yes, one bowel
movement per day is average, but it's far from normal. People who have one BM per day are storing each
meal for two weeks before some (not all) of the food leaves their body. What's left (that doesn't leave their
body) eventually hardens into a substance the consistency of tire rubber that clogs up their colon and
encourages a list of colon and other problems: Celiac disease, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease
(ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), allergies, post-nasal drip and other sinus issues, complexion
problems, infections, tumors, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Candida, etc., etc. I would highly recommend that
you personally include per-meal usage of Concentrace with your own meals.
Concentrace usage:

See my article, "Nutrition in a nutshell" for an overview about Concentrace. The first thing to
understand about taking Concentrace is that it is the most comprehensive, concentrated mineral
supplement being sold today. When you first start taking Concentrace, your body may be a bit
amazed at the amount of minerals it is receiving. It may have trouble assimilating them until it gets
used to it. Many folks start off taking a much smaller amount than what the label suggests (which I
would recommend), until their body can adjust to it. Even starting with 2 drops of Concentrace per
meal provides more minerals than your body is used to getting from today's modern commercially-
grown food. So, take 2 drops in some water on Day One with each meal, 3 drops per meal on Day
Two, etc., adding another drop each day each time you take it (with each meal) until your digestion
is excellent, however many drops that takes (some folks needed 20-30 drops per meal). How will
you know? You will be having three, regular, quick, effortless bowel movements per day, usually
within an hour after each meal. The key is to start small and gradually increase.

If you take more than your body can initially assimilate (what the label recommendeds), your body
will simply get rid of the excess minerals through loose stools or even diarrhea, but to prevent this
from even happening, start off with the low dose I am recommending. Many people, wanting to
remineralize their bodies after years of eating mineral-poor processed foods, will gradually increase
their intake until they reach the loose stools level, then cut back slightly. By taking it with each
meal, you are adding the minerals to that meal that used to be in food 100 years ago. Remember, the
goal is to improve your digestion to the point that you have a bowel movement within about an hour
after every meal.

How to manage bitter the flavor: Concentrace mixes in well with soups and stews and other salt-
based foods. You can mix it into any kind of tomato sauce or tomato juice. It mixes well with all
vegetable juices (V-8 type juices). If mixed with fruit juice or milk into which you have stirred 1 - 3
tablespoons of nutritional yeast, you cannot taste the Concentrace. If you put 2 drops of Concentrace
per 8 oz. of your drinking water, you will barely taste it, and if you are drinking the amount of water
you should be drinking, you will get a lot of minerals that way. Or of course you can mix the drops
into a smaller amount of water and gulp it down, it’s really not bad.

The most common effect reported by those who regularly take Concentrace is improved digestion
and regularity. This is not because Concentrace is a laxative, but because your body uses the
minerals to manufacture strong, healthy digestive enzymes, resulting in improved digestion and
regularity. Many people report increased energy, clearer complexion, shinier hair, clearer
lungs/sinuses and a stronger immune system. Arthritic sufferers frequently report improvement (see
my article, 'Bone-joint Nerve Rebuilding Program'). Combined with taking the right type of calcium
needed by your body (determined by pH testing - see my articles, "The calcium connection" and
"The importance of pH"), Concentrace meets your body's most basic nutritional needs.