The battle within, won or lost, at what price, at what cost?

What you may not learn from your doc, what may be able to get you off many toxic and side effect riddled drugs...... what may be able to return you life to you, Digestive Wellness, either you have it or you don't, and knowing whether or not you have it may not be as simple as it would seem.


Digestive Wellness: Elizabeth Lipski

Chapter 5 Dysbiosis: A Good Neighborhood Gone Bad

"Within these regions battles rage; populations rise and fall, affected just as we are by local enironmental conditions, industry thrives and constant defense is exercised against interlopers and dangerous aliens who may enter unannounced; colonists roam and settle---some permanently, some only briefly, in general we have in miniature many of terrestrial life's vicissitudes, problems and solutions."

Conditions associated with intestinal permeability:

Alcoholism
Autism
Celiac Disease
Chemotherapy
Crohn's disease
Environmental illness
HIV-Positive
Hives
Acne
Cystic Fibrosis
Inflammatory joint disease/arthritis
Intestinal infections
Malnutrition
Pancreatic Insuffiency
Schizophrenia
Thermal Injury
Ulcerative Colitis
Aging
Childhood hyperactivity
Giardia
Multiple chemical sensitivities
Ankylosing spondylitis
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Eczema
Psoriasis
Food allergies and food sensitivities
Endotoxemia
Liver dysfunction
Trauma
NSAIDs enterpathy
Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Digestive Wellness: Elizabeth Lipski page 75

"Resistant strains of bacteria are communicating with each other, and passing resistance information on to other types of bacteria. For example, we now have antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, leprosy, staph, and strep. Similarly, many bacteria that cause disease primarily in the digestive tract-cholera, dysentery, E. coli, Enterobacteriacaea, Enterocuccus faecium, Klebsiella, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Serratia marcenscens, and Shigella---have mutated to become to specific antibiotics. (For a lengthy but fascinating look at the world through the eyes of virologists, read Lori Garret's The Coming Plague.) In 1992, 13,000 hospital patients died of infections that resisted every drug doctors tried."

My point: Probiotics, arabinogalactan, glyconutrients, extracts of mushrooms, vitamin c, and many many others are potent immune system stimulators.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967605091/ref=ase_theenvironm06-20/104-0964664-4959140?s=books&v=glance&n=283155&tagActionCode=theenvironm06-20
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0967605091.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,32,-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
I Was Poisoned By My Body: The Odyssey of a Doctor Who Reversed Fibromyalgia, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - Naturally! (Paperback)

IBS and Chrones disease as the Baby Boomers encounter them.

It IS interesting how much the Macro-cosm reflects the Micro-cosm and vice versa.

Our assumptions that all "things" are discrete entities are wrong.

has an excellent protocol for restoring intestinal integrity/restoring proper immune response, they are tied together but no one is being told this either by their healthcare practitioners or anyone else for that matter. If people were informed of this, our healthcare costs would be manageable, they would be reduced, and our healthcare system could cover the 45+ million Americans who currently go without proper healthcare with its resultant 18,000 deaths per year.

http://www.ei-resource.org/lgs-books.asp
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0879839848.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879839848/ref=ase_theenvironm06-20/104-0964664-4959140?s=books&v=glance&n=283155&tagActionCode=theenvironm06-20

Not only is the list of difficulties caused by poor digestion lengthy, it includes many health problems that people don't immediately associate with their digestive process. Most people know that bad breath, indigestion, hiatal hernias, and Crohn's Disease are related to what happens in the digestive tract. Clinical nutritionist Elizabeth Lipski, M.S., C.C.N., also includes arthritis, autism, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, and schizophrenia in the list of digestion-related ailments.

Lipski cites all the latest research and studies on digestive disorders and therapies in her new book, Digestive Wellness, Updated Second Edition.
Digestion begins in the mouth and continues through the stomach and intestines to the colon. Each organ has an important role to play in helping the body break down foods so that their nutrients can be absorbed. Lipski says that "most of us don't think much about digestion unless it isn't working well," adding that "many people with chronic digestive problems continue to eat poorly, never realizing that their food choices are causing their ill health."

She starts with an exploration of the causes of digestive illness, which is often related to lifestyle choices. She then describes how a healthy digestive system works, and explains where and how the process can get out of balance. Lipski also includes information on how to pinpoint the source of your particular digestive disorder and provides recommendations and therapies for restoring wellness.

My body is telling me that it doesn't like meat, nor alcohol and that it wants to be more active (helps relieve the body aches of age). I would have trouble stopping wheat, but my daughter did - that and several other things: sugar of course, corn, soy, caffein, tomatoes . . . ). And I'm a womyn of "a certain age", so I've been listening to my body, instead of medicating it for menopause. So I expect more changes, and even look forward to what is happening.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553382098/qid=1134247136/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0964664-4959140?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0553382098.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Quite possibly every female over the age of 12 will find this huge book enlightening, pain saving, and perhaps even lifesaving. Think of it as a much more empowering and holistic Our Bodies, Ourselves. Northrup is a gynecologist who acknowledges the power of natural therapies and herbs, but also maintains that allopathic treatments, including surgery, are sometimes best. In Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, she covers the treatment of many physical concerns--among them PMS, menstrual cramps, breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis, infertility, depression, childbirth, abortion, cystitis, and menopause--explaining how many of these physical problems have roots in emotional upsets. For example, a woman who is unhappy with her marriage may be infertile because deep down, she knows that her husband is not the right man to have children with; a teenager who has cramps may be having problems accepting society's expectations of her as a woman.
Some readers may be put off at first by Northrup's obviously unconventional ways of thinking. Her medical approach is decidedly feminist, blaming our "addictive" and patriarchal society for many of the health problems plaguing women. She clearly illustrates her ideas, however, by drawing upon two decades of experience from her medical practice and citing dozens of her patients' remarkable personal stories. Northrup also delineates the best way to go about tuning in to one's body and mind in order to start the healing process, a self-induced therapy of sorts. She also includes in the book a copy of the eye-opening health inventory she gives her clients. It includes unusual questions such as "Are you bored with your life?" and "Do you have enough friends or neighbors?"

This book will be of special benefit to women who are pregnant or entering menopause. Northrup is an unequivocal believer in natural births and her dialogue on the birthing process will remove the fears of even the most petrified mother-to-be. She criticizes episiotomies (she should know; she's given birth without one) and supports midwifery. She also warns against the harmfulness of cesarean births and includes illustrations of acupressure points that help turn around a breech baby.

For women in perimenopause or menopause, Northrup will help turn this life phase into one of peace and personal growth instead of one of suffering. She was one of the first doctors to use natural progesterone to treat menopausal symptoms, and this revised edition includes a clear primer on the latest in hormone replacement therapy and how to determine if it's right for you. Northrup also expounds upon the benefits of acupuncture and herbalism--as well as emotional self-analysis--for alleviating hot flashes and mood swings. --Erica Jorgensen--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

And, eventually, to my stacks . . . .

I'm reading for a readers' theater project that I'm writing.