Stomach Acid
The body produces hydrochloric acid (HCL) which gets
pushed into the stomach from the blood! The enzyme, carbonic
anhydrase, a zinc enzyme, is involved. Not many ways are
known to stimulate this whole process. Drinking water before
meals stimulates it in unknown ways but is hard to do for the
elderly. Next best is to provide acid.
Because strong HCL would dissolve teeth it is not available
as a solution to aid digestion. Ask a pharmacist to make a 1%
HCL solution and use 10 drops of it in a beverage at mealtime
once a day. HCL as a tablet (“Betaine HCL”) is available but
doesn't have enough HCL in it.
Using a lemon or vinegar and honey beverage helps with digestion
although this provides citric or acetic acid, not hydrochloric.
These acids are completely metabolized so they don't
add to the body acid level. But the fact that it is not hydrochloric
means that it can't kill bacteria and parasites in the stomach
like regular hydrochloric acid could. The stomach becomes a
haven for Salmonellas and other bacteria and this is the biggest
digestive plague of the elderly. Salmonellas dig deep into the
stomach wall, safe from antibiotics and stomach acid and aren't
washed away with the food. When they take over the region near
the top of the stomach, it weakens the esophageal sphincter and
food keeps coming back up a bit—a most uncomfortable
development, especially after supper or when lying down.
When the Salmonellas spread out further to invade the diaphragm
around the sphincter, the diaphragm weakens, and lets a
bit of the stomach up through the hole.
This causes hiatal hernia distress. Don't settle your loved
one in an easy chair after supper. This presses the stomach upward
and the food up, too. Leave them sitting at the table a while,
then walk a bit, to get the food down lower. The food will sink
lower if some of it can leave the stomach at the lower pyloric
end. But if Salmonellas are entrenched here, too, the lower end
does not have enough action to push the food through the valve.
Drugs like ReglanTM are given to speed this up.
What helps most is getting digestion completed. This sets up
the natural cues for emptying. Digestive enzyme tablets have been
in popular use to help digestion. But they may not be safe since
they have not been sterilized. Always try the vinegar and honey
method first. Coughing during eating is a sign that the diaphragm
is irritated (by a hiatal hernia). If drinking water starts the
coughing, omit it at the beginning of meals. Work in sips during
the meal.
Salmonella and
Shigella
Some Salmonella infections can bring dizziness to your elderly
person. Dizziness is another plague of the elderly, keeping
them from going shopping, getting to church and even from getting
around their own homes. Drugs such as AntivertTM are
given but only take the edge off the problem. Feeling dizzy can
make your loved one home bound and stuck to a walker for every
move.
Salmonellas, along with Shigellas, produce very toxic substances
that cause dizziness. There are three common Salmonella
varieties: Salmonella enteriditis, Salmonella paratyphi, and
Salmonella typhimurium (386, 380, 354 KHz). Kill Salmonellas
daily for a month by taking Lugol’s iodine (6 drops in a half cup
water, after meals and bedtime, see Recipes). Unfortunately, this
will not kill Shigellas; follow the Bowel Program (page 546) to
get them.
During this time set up a system of sterilizing all dairy
products (see Milk, page 425) since this is the source of reinfection.
Set up a system of rinsing fingers (and fingernails) in
10% grain alcohol in the bathroom. Deli food and restaurant
salads carry Salmonellas and Shigellas, too. Kill them, routinely,
after eating such food due to necessity. A warm stomach
full of food at a neutral pH is just the right culture condition for
these bacteria. It's like putting yeast into a bowl of warm water,
flour and sugar. In half an hour it is overflowing with growth.
Once Salmonella is entrenched in an organ it is difficult to
eliminate. Only an electric zapper can kill them all (in an organ,
not the bowel). If your body has the right conditions (like a low
acid stomach) to let them grow you dare not swallow another
one! Shigellas arrive with dairy foods, too, but prefer the lower
intestine as their headquarters. Indigestion that starts right after
eating is probably due to Salmonellas. If your indigestion comes
in the night, this suggests Shigellas, since they've had time to
reach their favorite place further down.
Campylobacter and E. coli, other digestive bacteria, are
sometimes the culprits. The Bowel Program is effective against
these also. Besides getting digestive improvement you get mental
improvement, less depression, less dizziness, less irritability
after clearing these up. Remember that eating bacteria and
killing them later will not solve the problem. Stopping eating
them will.
