DIY Health #3

What do we use to snip the protein spaghetti into individual amino acids? We use enzymes. Enzymes are like tiny scissors, snips, and clippers. They come in different shapes and sizes to fit into the spaces between different amino acid bonds. There are also different enzymes for breaking apart different types of sugar, starch, and fats. All these specialized clippers are manufactured in the alpha cells of the pancreas along with a powerful fluid which neutralizes the acid from the stomach. So our next DIY focus is on the health of the pancreas. (This is distinguished from the pancreas beta cells which produces insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels.) We don’t have any simple at-home tests for pancreas function so we have to rely on symptoms to tell us if there is a problem with the pancreas. Take this test –  0 means the least/or never increasing up to 3 means most/or always

Small Intestine (Pancreas)

Roughage and fiber cause constipation                0 1 2 3

Indigestion/fullness lasts 2-4 hours after eating    0 1 2 3

Bloating 2-4 hours after eating                                 0 1 2 3

Pain, tenderness, on left side under rib cage        0 1 2 3

Excessive passage of gas                                            0 1 2 3

Chronic nausea and/or vomiting                              0 1 2 3

Stools poorly formed or contain undigested food  0 1 2 3

Stool  foul smelling, mucous-like, greasy                 0 1 2 3

Chronic diarrhea                                                           0 1 2 3

Unexplained weight loss                                              0 1 2 3

                                          Score _______

Only add up the 2’s and 3’s – ignore the 1’s.  A score of 6 or more indicates a need for action.

A secondary set of symptoms might show up if there has been a problem for a long time. Since your body cannot absorb the foods you eat until they are completely broken down into their tiniest building block parts, if the pancreas is not working properly, you will become malnourished. Symptoms of malnutrition could start showing up. The unexplained weight loss would be the first step, but then muscle loss, weakness, edema, hair loss, brittle nails, and a host of symptoms that result from the inability to absorb the vitamins A,D,E, and K. There are even weird kidney symptoms that can result because the tube from the left kidney to the bladder (the ureter) passes through the pancreas. Inflammation of the pancreas can spread to the kidney from this connection.   

Unfortunately, the production of enzymes from the pancreas decreases as we get older. This is a natural byproduct of everything in the body slowing down because the energy factories in all our cells (the mitochondria) are getting weaker and produce less energy. Making enzymes requires a lot of energy. As our energy levels go down, we make fewer enzymes and are less able to digest our food. The less we digest our food, the fewer replacement building blocks we have to repair our tissues, including rebuilding new mitochondria. This forms a vicious cycle of less and less that we come to know as aging. You can begin to appreciate why I start with digestion as the basis of rebuilding our health.

Besides age, what decreases our enzyme production from our pancreas? The number one biggest damage to the pancreas comes from drinking alcohol. Chronic pancreatitis is a common result of excess consumption of alcohol, so keep the alcohol consumption down to a maximum of one glass of wine or equivalent per day. Alcohol tends to poke holes in the gut anyway, creating a leaky gut. This produces all sorts of immune system problems such as allergies and autoimmune conditions. So I avoid alcohol altogether. Any sort of inflammatory condition of the gut can end up damaging the pancreas, so situations like irritable bowel, celiac disease, and a bunch of long-named diseases can mess with the pancreas.

So what can we do about not producing enough enzymes to digest our food? Our first line of action is to replace the missing enzymes with supplemental enzymes so we can digest our food. We need to use a wide spectrum enzyme product since we will be affecting not only protein digestion, but carbohydrate, sugar, and fat digestion. In the old days, the approach was to extract the full set of enzymes from cattle or pigs by harvesting their pancreases when they were slaughtered for food. This helped a great deal, but it was not a complete solution as neither of these animals normally eats as much protein as humans do. Consequently, their pancreases don’t produce the level of protein enzymes we need. Other sources of enzymes had to be found. One particular class of protein digesting enzymes can be found in pineapple and papaya. Many people use these sources to improve their digestion.

When using supplements, it is important to remember that the enzymes need to be waiting for the food when it gets down to the duodenum, the part of the small intestine just below the stomach. This is where the pancreas attaches to the digestive tract and injects its load of enzymes into the food. Sol you must take enzymes before a meal. It does no good at all to take enzymes after a meal. A similar reasoning is applied to supplementing with betaine hydrochloride for low stomach acid. This supplement needs to be mixed into the middle of any meal that contains protein. Taken before the meal, it will pass out of the stomach before it has a chance to act on the food. Taken after the meal, it will sit on top of the meal in the stomach and do little good.

Some people are concerned that taking supplements will cause the body to stop producing its own enzymes or HCl. This can happen with hormone replacement therapy. But in the case of enzymes and HCl, the lack of sufficient quantities is because the system is broken or old. The only choice is to use replacement therapy, at least while trying to repair the problems. Unfortunately for us over the age of 60 types, that means supplementing our digestion at most meals in order to stay healthy. It helps to eat small meals several times a day to not overrun the system. As stated in last newsletter, we need to be sure that our zinc levels and B12 levels are good to enable us to repair our stomach acid production. But with the pancreas, there is no common magic nutrient to repair its problems. We might talk about protomorphogen therapy, but that would be the subject of a different newsletter. Generally, we are looking at improving our general health on all levels to address pancreas issues.

That should cover enough for DIY Health #3. We have one more piece to look at for upper GI and digestion health next time – gallbladder and liver concerns. We will catch you next week.

Take care,

David

Ellen

Ellen has been working on creating a supplement test kit for use with her patients. Sometimes their concerns involve nutritional imbalances that affect their feeling states. She used to have a complete test kit for Standard Process products, the oldest vitamin company in existence, but it was stolen several years ago. However I won such a test kit last month at a relicensing seminar and Ellen is using mine to replicate one of her own.

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