Real Life Wellness: Your Digestion Matrix
By Bill Hemmer
The first matrix to understand is called the Digestion matrix. This matrix contains 4 parts. The first part is the amount and quality of Stomach acid you produce. The second part is the amount and quality of the Pancreatic Enzymes you have. The third part is the amount and quality of the Bile you produce. The final part is the quality and quantity of your Bowel Flora.
These four parts of the matrix are extremely important for us to rebuild your ability to handle stress. The only ways you can put deposits back into your health bank from a chemical point of view is to first digest then absorb what you bring into your body. This is why these four parts of the digestive matrix are so important.
The amount of stomach acid you produce is extremely important for your future health. Stomach acid is necessary for you to digest minerals, fats and proteins. If you don’t start to break these substances down with strong stomach acid, your ability to absorb them in the small and large intestine is compromised. Stomach acid is also necessary to kill parasites, bacteria and viruses found in our food. So, infections are much more common with people who don’t have strong stomach acid.
The quality and quantity of pancreatic enzymes you currently produce is also very important for your health bank account. Pancreatic enzymes help you break down and digest different types of carbohydrates. So, if your pancreas isn’t producing enough enzymes, undigested food moves into your lower digestive track causing all kinds of problems that are never addressed in the normal disease-based model of health care.
Bile is produced in the liver and is usually stored in the gallbladder. Bile is injected into your digestive track just below the bottom ring of your stomach and is necessary to digest and break apart fats and proteins. When a person has had their gallbladder removed, their ability to digest fats and proteins is significantly decreased. If you can’t digest fats and proteins effectively, it leads to deficiencies in minerals and fat-soluble vitamins, such as, Vitamin D, E and A.
The final part of the digestion matrix is the Bowel flora. You have about 5 pounds of live bacteria living in your digestive tract right now. Without these bacteria, you couldn’t absorb your food, you wouldn’t have an immune system and you couldn’t produce many vitamins and neurotransmitters (this is why they often refer to your digestive system as your second brain).
So, the makeup and health of your bowel flora is an extremely important part of your overall health bank account balance. You have 3 different types of bacteria right now living in your gut, good bacteria, bad bacteria and bacteria that can be good or bad depending on the situation.
Things like, antibiotic use, drugs, alcohol, processed foods, environmental toxins and pesticides can all play a role in how much of each of the 3 types of bacteria you’re currently carrying around inside of you.
Once you begin to live your new healthy lifestyle, your good bacteria can crowd out the bad bacteria. Then the bacteria that are on the fence will join the good guys and your health bank account will continue to fill up. This is what we want for you and your family.