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SECRETS OF THE INTESTINAL LABYRINTH (intestinal disorders)
In our belly, tightly packed,
there lives the gut, a lengthy tract,
it’s not a snake and not a worm –
a maze of life in a weird form.
We often say, tongue in cheek, that the nervous system is to blame for medical conditions. Now researchers realize that many diseases may indeed be rooted in a single source, intestinal disorders.
The indispensable inner «worm»
Doctors have noticed that the symptoms of ADD and autism in children may often be alleviated by eliminating the intestines’ allergic reaction to some foods. It also turned out that the gastrointestinal tract is closely linked to the so-called autoimmune conditions (when the body’s immune system starts destroying joints or nerve tissue). The gut is a key element of metabolism. The gut controls much of our capacity for growth and development. Yet we hardly care, we believe in magic pills. Few gastroenterologists are interested in every detail of their patient’s diet and the frequency of their bowel movements.
Lately, however, doctors and researchers have started paying more attention to the links between digestion, metabolism, and diet. Some recent discoveries have shed quite a bit of light on the significance of our unappealing “intestinal worm.” The gastrointestinal tract does resemble a large snake or worm, the primitive life forms whose “mentality”, i.e. contact with the environment, as well as the self-defense system (which later evolved into our immune system), are concentrated on their surface.
The gut and its companions
The gastrointestinal tract hosts over 80 percent of lymphatic nodes and produces about 90 percent of serotonin, the fashionable “happiness hormone” controlled by most antidepressants used today. |
Scientists have noticed that the gastrointestinal tract hosts over 80 percent of the body’s lymphatic nodes and produces about 90 percent of serotonin, the newly fashionable “happiness hormone,” whose level is controlled by most current antidepressants. Any inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract mobilizes the entire immune system and consumes an enormous amount of energy. So the patient’s liveliness gives way to fatigue, heaviness, and muscular pain. His serotonin level drops. What follows is depression and nervous exhaustion.
The total length of the human gastrointestinal tract is about fourteen feet in a live person, and about twenty to twenty-seven feet when relaxed after death. |
The immune system and the hormone system are not at fault– the true cause of the patient’s malady is in the gastrointestinal tract, the deepest part of the human body.
Note that the health of microorganisms inhabiting the gut is often as significant as the health of the gastrointestinal tract itself. These “saprophytes” neutralize various toxins and produce antibiotics against harmful germs. They also generate vitamins and hormones controlling the immune system. What a centaur of a human organ this gastrointestinal tract is, a true hybrid!
You reap what you sow
Chronic diseases, including tumors, and aging are various forms of inflammation that start in the gastrointestinal tract. |
The idea of a healthy diet has been thoroughly revised over the past few decades. We now realize that many thoughtlessly consumed foods poison our bodies and kill their microbial tenants. Gluten-rich products, chemically processed ready-to-eat fare heated in the microwave, and excessive amounts of liquor, medicines, and chemicals damage our protective intestinal flora. They cause inflammation of intestinal walls and increase their permeability to toxic molecules. The ultimate result is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that ignites a fire throughout the body.
Chronic illness (including tumors) used to be thought to come naturally with old age. Aging itself essentially has little else but a mixture of chronic inflammations starting in the gut. This means the key to good health and lasting youth should be sought in the depth of the gastrointestinal labyrinth.
To restore and maintain a properly functioning gut, be careful with your diet, take a good amount of probiotic dairy products such as yogurt or kefir, and make reasonable use of digestive enzymes. Restrict the intake of medicines to the most essential ones, and reduce their damage on digestion and the intestinal microflora. In this case, your “labyrinth” will lead you to good health, not to a dead end.
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