STOMACH AND BOWEL DISORDERS

The work of the Trust is centred around holistic forms of medicine, the best known being homoeopathy, osteopathy and acupuncture, which are increasingly being used in conjunction with orthodox medicine by the medical profession. This complementary medicine, as it is known, is successfully treating twentieth-century diseases such as Candida albicans, irritable bowel syndrome and ME by treating the person as a whole, as opposed to selective treatment. In the following pages Jan de Vries discusses reasons behind today’s widespread health problems related to drinking, smoking, overeating and, of course, stress, and the exciting medical options now available to us.

Jan de Vries is one of Europe’s foremost practitioners of complementary medicine, and for over thirty years has helped bring holistic healthcare to a point where demand is greater than qualified practitioners can supply.

The Trust, set up in his name, aims to maintain and improve research and training into holistic medicine, and increase the number of qualified practitioners who in turn are helping to build bridges between orthodox and complementary healthcare. It also strives to provide patients with much needed financial support for both orthodox and complementary treatment.

This practical handbook will provide help and guidance to those people interested in complete health, and royalties from sales of this book go to the Trust.

I often point out to patients that abdominal pain should never be ignored, because frequently this is a signal that something, somewhere, is not as it should be. I probably ignored the initial warnings because I was so busy, but I eventually reached the point where the pain became so obvious and persistent that I was forced to seek the help of a specialist. I had discussed the matter with a colleague with whom I had worked for many years and she insisted that I speak with a friend of hers. We spent the best part of a Sunday together and he made plenty of notes and thoroughly checked me over. Afterwards my colleague received the following report:

Fortunately, there was no need for me to follow the advised drug treatment, because I knew perfectly well which natural remedies to select for my problems. This left me with the dilemma of finding the necessary recovery time, because many of my patients come from far afield and appointments are made a long time in advance. However, with some careful rescheduling, I managed to ease my workload slightly and I was rewarded; once I had been made to see reason, I worked very hard towards recovery.

The primary reason for including the report at the very beginning of this book is to stress the importance of paying attention to the alarm signals produced by the body. I stress this point in my book Body Energy, where I mention a number of examples of physical symptoms which indicate that some function or other is impaired. It is likely that a persistent niggling pain or a recurring bout of indigestion can alert us that something is wrong. It is easy to forget that today’s stress can result in fairly serious future problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, an ulcer, or many other non-specific digestive problems. Too often it is an indication that we pay insufficient attention to sensible dietary management.

In my book Nature’s Gift of Food I repeatedly remind the reader of the importance of food combining. It is vital that we learn to respect food, and allow ourselves the time to prepare our meals properly. Bear in mind that good nutrition is the foundation for good health, and that it, combined with stress management, are the ‘pillars of health’. Of equal importance is good digestion and good absorption. When food enters the mouth, it passes through the stomach and enters the duodenum, and this is where my personal problems originated.

In my case the duodenum could not cope with the stress or with the little time I allowed myself for a meal break. Although I should be grateful that according to the report I was considered a reasonably fit man for my age, I still experienced considerable problems. I had to admit that I had paid insufficient attention to my own wellbeing. Better than most people, I should know that the most important aspects of food balancing are maintaining the balance of amino acids, glucose and essential fatty acids. This knowledge had not been reflected in my dietary programme.

Bearing in mind that some carcinogenic conditions may well have started with either abdominal pains or a duodenal or gastric ulcer, we must conclude that food absorption is of vital importance. Many of the thousands of patients I have seen over the years have been worried about indigestion; personally, I am much more concerned about absorption. If the absorption is deficient, a number of problems can arise. If absorption is correct, and food passes through the small intestine, the residual waste reaches the large intestine from where it can leave the body by an elimination process.

Remember, however, that the intake of inadequate food will result in impaired blood circulation. If a person is troubled with constipation, well-functioning blood circulation is of great importance. The circulation affects the functions of every organ, including the liver and the heart, and this will influence the cell renewal process. The constant reproduction of cells, good or bad, is a constant battle to provide the body with healthy cells. This is where I was so lucky and why I managed to continue working long hours before I was fully recovered. I very consciously adapted my diet and lifestyle in the knowledge that adequate nutrition should contain plenty of amino acids, glucose, essential fatty acids, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and oxygen. No matter how busy one’s life is, one should always set aside some time to exercise in the fresh air. This encourages the elimination of waste matter through the blood, so that the function of the kidneys, lungs and skin is not impaired. It can usually be seen at a glance whether a person has good health or not.

I never tire of pointing out the three major dangers to our health, which I refer to as ‘the three S’s’, namely, stress, sugar and salt. A healthy constitution depends to a large extent on nutrition and relaxation, which allows the body to get on with the job for which it has been so excellently designed. I admit that in some of the tropical countries I have visited, I have sometimes found the slow pace of life of the natives slightly irritating. Few seemed to suffer stomach or bowel disorders, however, because their bodies were allowed sufficient time to enable the chemical process that is required for good digestion and absorption to take place.

In using the word ‘chemical’, it is essential to specify what kind of chemicals we are referring to. These should be ‘responsible chemicals’: in my work I have come to appreciate the importance of food that has life in it. The roughage in food will help the army of healthy cells to overcome the sick cells in our body in order that we get the best out of life. It must be understood that there is no place for food containing colourings and additives.

Thinking back to my statement on the ‘pillars of health’ that are necessary for a chemical balance, the aspects to consider are nutrition, digestion, elimination, circulation and relaxation. These are the factors that will determine our physical wellbeing and our mental and emotional state. Some of the problems discussed in this book can linger for long periods before they are checked, and abdominal pains can easily be an early sign of developing irritable bowel syndrome, which is often connected with the non-acceptance of an existing problem.

My first reaction to the report from the specialist who examined me for stomach disorders was ‘Why me?’. This question is often asked when illness or disease occurs, and it indicates a general refusal to accept that something is wrong. There is a voice at the back of our mind which maintains that such things only happen to other people, not to us. We egotistically refuse to acknowledge the implications of our lifestyle. Certainly, in my own case, I deserved to pay a price for my obstinate refusal to give attention to my health. Upon consideration I could have come up with an instant answer to the question ‘Why me?’. It really was my own fault and it only needed some common sense to correct the situation.

Illness and disease are very closely associated with self-awareness, possibly something in our lifestyle, which may be either imbalanced or too demanding. We eventually reach the crucial point where we either decide to do something positive about the problem, or else resign ourselves to the fact and adapt our lifestyle accordingly. So many times I hear patients remark that they may as well try to learn to live with their problem. They seem to forget that, given half a chance, this problem will take over their lives. Acceptance in this case does not provide us with a sensible answer. If we have a problem we must find a way of overcoming it, paying heed to the alarm signals sent out by the body. These are like calls for help in the only language the body knows.

We know that stress, nervousness and a negative mental attitude influence and cause imbalance in the immune system. This will reflect in the chemical industry of the body, as the mind and consciousness are closely associated. There is little point in agreeing that stress affects the immune system and then ignoring the issue. It may need some courage to admit that the body does not function as it should and if we are prepared to view ourselves objectively, we can discover what must be done to change the situation so that we can enjoy a more worthwhile life. I once heard a lecturer make the apt comparison that ‘an ill person is like a caterpillar, while a healthy person is like a butterfly’. This saying rather appealed to me.

To repeat what was established at the start of the chapter, we are now more likely to realise that abdominal pain may be a symptom of an existing disease. It could result from a multitude of disorders and indicate serious problems such as ulcers, appendicitis, obstructions, pancreatitis and other conditions which I will discuss later in this book.

I must use this opportunity to emphasese the importance of nutrition. First we must have an answer to the following questions:

Healthy eating means regular mealtimes with food that has life in it. Only eat when hungry, and chew the food thoroughly. Many abdominal problems are self-inflicted because no attention is paid to these simple ground rules. You may know the expression ‘we are what we eat’, which contains a lot of truth. There have been many changes in nutritional ideas over the past few decades; it is quite baffling to learn that in the 1960s a distinguished Harley Street specialist started prescribing a diet rich in bran for patients with diverticulitis. Yet, at the same time, he confided in them that if this prescription became common knowledge he would be ridiculed by his colleagues. Now, fortunately, every medical authority recognises the importance of fibre in our diet. Despite the relatively recent changes in nutritional ideas and the publicity they receive, we still see abdominal conditions which had been allowed to get out of hand because of poor nutritional management. The alarm signals have been ignored.

With persistent abuse it does not take long for a stomach ulcer to develop, and it is sad to note that the statistics claim that approximately one in ten people suffer from this problem at some stage of their life, primarily because the early warning signs have been misinterpreted. At one time doctors used to advise ulcer patients to follow a milk or a bland diet to neutralise stomach acid, although there was very little evidence that such steps were effective. Nowadays ulcer sufferers are advised to take regular meals which are rich in fibre, while avoiding fried and highly spiced foods. Even with non-specific abdominal pains it very often helps to avoid alcohol, drinks containing caffeine, spices, salt and sometimes sugar, too.

Recently, it has been scientifically proved that food has a mechanism for adjusting living bodies to maintain health. The defensive or immune system needs more understanding, but we do know that various organs and their functions within the body support each other and interrelate. For example, the nervous system and the internal secretion system need to work in harmony in order for the body’s defence system to be effective. The air around us contains a great number of bacteria and if these were to invade, the body would start a concerted fight against them. If the body is defeated in this battle, we may get a cold, which could result in pneumonia. If there is an inflammatory reaction or allergy, we may experience abdominal discomfort. So to keep our health in optimum condition we have to protect the balance. Certain nutritional elements are necessary for this.