Many chronic mental as well as physical problems are caused by toxins that accumulate in the body. The most common toxin in the body originates in the bowels. Bowel toxins are due to the overgrowth of putrefactive bacteria in the small and large intestines. Putrefactive bacteria live on partially digested food (especially from animal protein), that accumulates in the intestines. These bacterial toxins are absorbed into the blood stream, sent to the rest of the body. They especially affect the brain, where they may cause mental disturbances.
Bowel toxemia is caused by overeating, eating too frequently, eating late at night (when the digestive powers are low, and a weak digestive system. The diet that most contributes to bowel toxemia is high in animal protein and fat, and low in complex carbohydrates and fiber.
In 1933, Dr. Anthony Bassler, a professor of gastroenterology summarized a twenty-five year study by saying, "Every physician should realize that intestinal toxemias are the most important primary and contributing causes of many disorders and diseases of the human body."
When intestinal toxemia is treated, physical symptoms such as fatigue, nervousness, gastrointestinal conditions, impaired nutrition, skin manifestations, endocrine disturbances, headaches, sciatica, various other forms of low back pain, allergies, eye, ear, nose, throat, and sinus problems, and even cardiac irregularities have been reversed. This doesn't mean that bowel toxemia is the only cause of these problems, but it is a factor that is often overlooked.
Intestinal toxemia, as mentioned, is also associated with a variety of mental disturbances. In 1917, medical researchers, Satterlee and Eldridge, presented 518 cases to the AMA which showed that by treating a patient's bowel toxicity, there was an alleviation of the following symptoms: mental sluggishness, dullness, stupidity, loss of concentration, memory, and mental coordination, irritability, lack of confidence, excessive worry, exaggerated introspection, hypochondriasis, phobias, depression, melancholy, obsessions, delusions, hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, delirium, stupor, and senility.
Some of the main bowel toxins are ammonia, indole, indican (a conjugated indole), skatole, clostridium perfringen enterotoxin, guanidine, phenol, and high concentrations of histamine. Indican is one of the most common intestinal toxins, and its presence in the intestines generally suggests the occurrence of other toxins. I routinely test all my clients for indican in the urine. A high indican count is often associated with sacroiliac, upper lumbar, and thoracic subluxations which do not respond to appropriate chiropractic adjustments.
One of the quickest and easiest treatments for bowel toxicity is an extended juice fast. I have found that the indican count is usually reduced to zero after only seven days of fasting and daily enemas or colonics. A liquid diet provides the bowels with a much needed rest, allowing any inflammation to subside, while the protein reduction provide the putrefactive bacteria with nothing to consume. For those who are uncomfortable fasting, a low protein (20-30 grams per day), low fat, and high natural complex carbohydrate diet of at least 80% raw vegetarian food will be effective, but will take longer to produce the same results.
There are several practices we can employ in our daily routines to avoid the occurrence of intestinal toxemia. The easiest, and most important, is to avoid overeating. Consuming the main meal of the day in the late morning or early afternoon, and eating only a light meal or juice in the evening provides the digestive system with a rest during sleeping hours when digestive energy is low.
Exercise, because it stimulates bowel motility, is another practice that reduces the occurrence of bowel toxicity. Lastly, a lactobacillus acidophilus supplement, taken orally, will re-colonize the large intestine with normal healthy bacteria, while inhibiting the growth of putrefactive bacteria. Because most people's digestive systems are exhausted from overeating and eating too much cooked foods, adding digestive enzymes and/or herbs to stimulate and repair the digestive system is also good.
The second most common type of toxins found in the human system come from the natural metabolic processes. Some of those originate within the body, while others are from external sources such as herbicides and pesticides found in our food. Both are harmful to proper neurobiochemical functioning.
For example, two of these metabolicneurotoxins--adrenolutin and adrenochrome--breakdown products from the body's own epinephrine. Both are associated with biochemically based schizophrenia. Adrenochrome is a hallucinogen which also inhibits nerve cell transmission. If the body is making an excess of adrenochrome, from either stress or a poor biochemical ability to break it down into harmless by-products, we have the potential for brain dysfunction. A slowly emerging awareness from the scientific literature suggests there are a number of brain disturbances that are related to the accumulation of various neurotoxins in the brain.
Many of these neurotoxins are deactivated by liver enzymes. The liver uses two sets of enzyme systems to do this. The first is called the cytochrome P450, which makes bio-transformed intermediates, some of which are in themselves toxic. There are six separate pathways by which these toxin intermediates are made into non-toxic excretory products before they are excreted from the body. The deactivated neurotoxins are then excreted in the urine or the bile. This molecular detoxification is done by various types of molecules combining through a process called conjugation. If one of these two liver enzyme systems has broken down, or the two systems are not working in harmony, then neurotoxins may begin to accumulate in the brain.
A person who is malnourished, or has a toxic liver from a diet high in animal protein, fat, and food filled with herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals, may not have adequate liver enzyme function. Researchers have also found that if a person has an inflamed intestinal mucosal, substances from the putrefying bacteria in the gut get absorbed back into the system. This increase in toxins may overload the liver detoxification system and disrupt neurological functioning.
The neurotoxins create free radicals, and lead to more oxidative stress. Free radicals are highly active molecules that combine in a deleterious way with our normal healthy biochemical structures. These free radicals react with the different protein structures, such as DNA or cell membrane lipids, and cause non-specific tissue damage.
In brain damaged children, researchers have found high oxidative stress levels. Like others under oxidative stress, these children were helped by the ingestion of supplemental anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C and E, coenzyme Q-10, B vitamins, especially B3 and B6, bioflavinoids, carotenoids, enzymes and activating minerals such as zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium all of which are nervous system protectors.
Another way to strengthen the system against oxidative stress is to increase the amount of oxygen in the system through deep breathing and exercise. The increased oxygen enables the nerve tissue mitochondria to energize neuron cell function. When neuron cells have enough nutrients and oxygen, the breakdown products from epinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin begin to normalize and therefore stop acting as neurotoxins in the brain.
A person whose body has developed and maintained energized neurons and a healthy liver has the power to detoxify a variety of toxic chemicals, pesticides and herbicides which may act as neurotoxins to another person's body who has a poor diet and lifestyle. No matter how complex the details of the biochemistry are, the general solution remains simple and the same.
Living a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of deep breathing and exercise as well as a vegetarian diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and low in protein and fat, we give power to the nerve cells. This metabolic neuron power helps to create a metabolic energy that is sufficient to create neurotransmitters and neural regulators and sufficient biochemical power to detoxify these neurotransmitters without going into oxidative stress, or building an excess of neurotoxins.
