The Alkalizing Diet. Istvan Fazekas

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СКАЧАТЬ odor, as that may indicate a toxic environment of the colon’s rectal columns. It is important to achieve the proper balance of healthy intestinal bacteria. Any chronic imbalances in this area could lead to other problems, the least of which is a very malodorous elimination. Of course, it is not going to smell like gardenias, but it should not make the hallway smoke detector activate either. You get the picture.

       The Liver

      Your liver is located on the right side of your body, behind your rib cage. This is the largest visceral organ in the body, weighing an average of 3–3.5 lbs. Some textbooks and clinical manuals attribute over two hundred functions to the liver. It is an extremely important organ, being the prime blood cleanser in the body. All toxins get filtered out in the liver, even medications, which the liver often sees as a foreign substance and tries to eradicate. This is why you have to keep taking a medication every 2 or 4 hours: your liver is getting rid of it for you.

      Here is a short list of the many things your amazing liver does daily:

      • Stores iron, just in case you need some extra that the blood does not have an abundance of. This is why eating the liver of animals is considered a rich dietary source of iron. Be very cautious—remember that the liver is filtering out toxins in the blood and all toxic materials that an animal ingests will also be stored in the liver. If you are going to eat organ meats, be very selective and know your source. If in doubt, leave it out.

      • Stores fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. When your body needs extra, the liver has the supply. Recall that anything in excess the body likes to store.

      • Helps regulate cholesterol levels and other blood fats.

      • Stabilizes blood sugar levels. Working with the pancreas, blood sugar (glucose, via the hormone glucagon) and insulin levels are regulated by the liver.

      • Manufactures bile (approximately one liter daily), which your body needs to break down fats. The liver’s little neighbor to the south, the gall bladder, will store and concentrate the bile, which will be released as needed in the small intestine. You can still function without a gall bladder, but you will have to alter your intake of dietary fats and support your endocrine system with the right nutrients. Good dietary choices, food combining, and antioxidant support are key in this case.

       The Pancreas

      On the left side of your body, behind your stomach, lies your pancreas. It is an elongated, cigar-shaped organ approximately six inches in length with a nodular surface. This organ has two major jobs: (1) To produce a very alkaline substance called pancreatic juice, which is very rich in digestive enzymes. These enzymes break down fats, proteins, and starches. The amylase, the starch-specific enzyme, is almost identical to the amylase found in the saliva. In effect, when your mouth starts watering, so does your pancreas. (2) To secrete insulin, a hormone that keeps blood sugar levels regulated, and glucagon, a hormone that keeps blood sugar levels from being too deficient. It is a kind of yin-yang of the body (one of many)—when one goes down, the other rises, and vice-versa. Diabetics who take insulin shots cannot produce their own insulin in the pancreas, and their blood sugar levels can easily become excessive. When you eat a lot of refined sugar, your pancreas produces significant amounts of insulin to keep you in balance. At some point, the pancreas can “burn out” and lose its natural insulin or glucagon functioning. Some scientists think this is what may be happening in certain cases of adult-onset diabetes, where there is a strong dietary influence.

      There is a lot more to the body, of course, but this is just a basic survey of the significant organs involved in digestion. It is good to be mindful of all the processes involved in turning food into your health—all the more reason to choose quality nutrients, take your time, chew well, think positive thoughts, and observe the Three-Quarters Rule.

       Three Main Nutrients

      THE MAJORITY OF FOODS WE EAT ARE A MIXTURE OF THE THREE PRImary macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Steak, for example, is thought of as being a pure protein. The main ingredient in a steak, however, is water, at about 59%, followed by protein, about 32%, then fat at about 8%, all depending upon the type and cut of the meat. Water, although a macronutrient, gets its own special category as a unique nutritional substance. When a food is designated as fat or protein, this refers to what nutrient is most dominant. Cheese is dominant in fat but does have some protein in it and a slight amount of carbohydrate. We therefore consider cheese a fatty food.

      The following will briefly explain the major nutrients and some sources for each.

       Protein

      Derived from the Greek root for first, protos, (as in prototype and protoplasm) protein refers to the most essential nutrient for building structure, facilitating growth, and repairing tissues. As a matter of fact, your body is basically one giant protein matrix, being that protein is the bulk of muscle tissue, blood, connective tissues (for example, fascia, tendon, ligament), hormones, antibodies, and enzymes.

      All proteins are composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. It is the inclusion of nitrogen that distinguishes proteins from fat and carbohydrates. The smallest functional unit in protein is an amino acid. There are about twenty common amino acids in total, but only nine are considered essential and are given the plausible title, essential amino acids. The body requires a dietary source for these nine essential amino acids. A chain of amino acids creates a distinctive protein structure called a peptide, or when many peptides glue together, a polypeptide.

      Since meats can create either an acidic or alkaline reaction according to metabolic type, it is recommended that you know your metabolic requirements relative to protein intake. There is more value for the use of animal proteins when you are recovering from a major surgery or injury, when you need to repair and rebuild tissue. This is why chicken soup, a.k.a. “Jewish penicillin,” has been popular for recovering from colds, illness, and physical trauma. The large amount of calcium-phosphorus coupled with the amino acids in the muscle tissue is ideal for somatic recovery and reparation, especially for protein-dominant metabolic types. You can recover with vegetable protein, however: a soup made from carrots, leeks, garlic, parsley, cilantro, millet and almond butter is a nice recovery broth, one that carbohydrate-dominant metabolic types especially appreciate. There is also the old standby of miso soup to rely upon, made of fermented soybean paste.

       Protein Sources:

      Animal-based

      • Eggs

      • Milk (including cheese, yogurt, and other)

      • Muscle tissue (usually just known as meat, but yes, you are eating the muscles and connective tissues of an animal when you eat steak, chicken legs, and pork loin)

      • Blood (Numerous cultures eat the blood of animals, raw and cooked.)

      • Organ (visceral) meats: spleen, liver, heart, brain, glands, and other

      • Gristle (often the cartilage, ligament, tendon, and the like; all the collagen-rich connective tissues of the animal)

       Vegetable-based СКАЧАТЬ