Dr Vries, Jan. Dr H Med. Ph D. D.Ac. D.O. ND. - STOMACH AND BOWEL DISORDERDERS - We are what we eat

STOMACH AND BOWEL DISORDERS by: De Vries, Jan, Dr.H.Med., Ph.D., D.Ac., D.O., N.D.


Dr. de Vries is the director of seven health clinics in Britain, including the Mokoiya Health Centre in Troon, Scotland, one of Britain's best known alternative medicine clinics. He uses a wide range of therapies to treat degenerative diseases including proper nutrition, homeopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy, special mineral baths and herbal medicine. He pioneered alternative medicine in Holland, and together with Dr. Alfred Vogel, established the very first alternative health clinic in that country. He is the author of a popular series of books which focuses on alternative treatments using herbs and diet for degenerative diseases. The accomplishments of Jan de Vries have won him international acclaim and he has been presented with the prestigious Dag Hammarskjold Award for outstanding contribution to humanitarian causes. He is a scientific member of the Cancer Research Board in Britain and is presently doing research in Arcen, Holland for the European Commission, investigating the effectiveness of herbal medicine. It was about 30 years ago that Dr. Vogel and I lectured in Amsterdam, and at that time we did not have the common problems that we do today, like diverticulitis, diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and Crohn's Disease. Dr. Vogel mentioned that there are four things we should look at in order to increase the quality of our health: quality of food, quantity of food, digestion of food and absorption of food. You don't get any quality from angel delight pudding or a tin of tomato soup which has never seen a tomato. You get quality of food from food which is cell renewing, because that is what life is all about, a renewing of cells and cell tissue.

ACID-ALKALINE BALANCE

With all these digestive problems, the acid-alkaline balance of your system is very important. Diverticulitis, diverticulosis, peptic ulcers, gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, psoriasis, eczema are all born in an overly acid system. The worst food to eat is from the pig because it's the highest animal acid and highest animal fat - two things we could do without. You only need to take a sample of your urine. In all the thirty-five years I have been in practice, people with peptic ulcers, duodenal ulcers, gastric ulcers are all overly acidic. You must get rid of acid foods. Many ulcer conditions can be cleared up by the juice of a raw potato. You take a potato with the skin, wash it well and grate it. Then you push the juice out of it, you get just a little, and you take that first thing in the morning, and it is excellent for filtering acidity. It is a very good alkaline food. There is also a good remedy, a little blue flower called the corn flower. It is a very good acid binder and will even desensitize people who are allergic to wheat and some grains. It is available in health food stores as Centaurium from Dr. Vogel.

CANDIDA ALBICANS

We all have Candida Albicans, but thankfully it is not active in everybody. But you can make it active through eating the wrong kinds of foods and wrong food patterns. You can have a problem in a very short time. Many Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients have started with the Candida because Candida will rob your immune system. Knowing how much harm it does, the first thing I will do is ask the patient to remove five foods from the diet, that's all: coffee, cheese, mushrooms, wine, chocolate, sugar and fermented food like yeast. Candida loves these foods. Now that's only five foods I ask them to remove. It is so important that you don't continue these foods because your immune system gets so depleted from the active Candida that you invite all kinds of invaders to cause even more problems. I have seen lately so often that many terminal cancer patients have an active Candida. Devil's Claw is a remedy that Dr. Vogel and I brought to Europe many years ago and it is a wonderful remedy to help Candida.

ALLERGIES

The allergy problem is very much related to stomach and bowel problems. When we have allergy problems, we have to learn to combine foods correctly, especially foods we might be allergic to. There is no point in eliminating a whole list of foods in trying to solve your problem. It is very often the combination of foods. If you get the combination right, you will be all right. For instance, you may be able to eat a banana, but when you combine it with other foods you may have a problem. There are two very jealous foods which you should always eat alone - the melon and the banana. If you strengthen the immune system, some of the allergies will disappear. I have outlined proper food combining in my book, Nature's Gift of Food.

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

If you get plaquing of food which doesn't digest in the sigmoid colon, that is when health problems arise. That is what Candida loves the most. When you get plaquing, it is very difficult to remove it. That is the reason why it is so important that you have the right roughage in your diet. The most common cause of the irritable bowel problem is drinking coffee, number one. It is very important to remove coffee from the diet. Instead of drinking coffee, drink peppermint tea. I am a great believer in keeping things simple, and I have helped many irritable bowel problems with drinking peppermint tea and balancing the diet. It is very important that you get a good healthy mucous in the bowel. Some people take many colonic irrigations, many enemas, many laxatives. They think they can remove that old plaque that sits and ferments if they remove it with a lot of ammunition. No, you can't do it that way. You have to take action and do some simple things like drinking peppermint tea and flaxseed. The little insignificant seed of the flax fills your mouth with a good healthy mucous which is fantastic for the bowel because the bowel needs the right mucous for its processes. That is the right remedy. One of the finest flax remedies is Linoforce from Dr. Vogel. Watery stools and diarrhea are very often caused by a lack of friendly bacteria in the bowel. Healthy mucous and acidophilus should be present in the bowel. When watery stool and diarrhea appear, that is very often lacking. Take a jar of natural yoghurt and some acidophilus or bifidum every day. The herbal remedy Tormentavena is also very helpful.

DIVERTICULITIS AND DIVERTICULOSIS

Once you have these problems, you probably have an incurable situation. But you can control it if you start to help yourself with a good diet. Make sure that you take the right remedies. Then it will often become non-active. Fibre must be increased in the diet. When flatulence and bloated feelings occur, patients can benefit from taking Arabiaforce, a herb preparation for stimulating stomach activity, and promotion of appetite. Garlic is a wonderful remedy and it has tremendous antiseptic properties and is of great benefit in these cases. The worst thing for either diverticulitis or diverticulosis is taking antibiotics. Friendly bacteria in the bowels are destroyed and the condition could easily go from bad to worse.

CHRONIC CONSTIPATION AND BLEEDING OF THE BOWEL

Constipation can lead to a lot of problems. Sometimes it's good to have a colonic irrigation, but don't get addicted to it. I have some patients who almost need it three times a week, and that's no good, because your bowel should do it itself. It's very important that once you have had a clean out to take things like Linoforce which is simple linseed, and follow a good diet. For chronic bleeding of the bowel you have to be very careful and see your doctor about it. Take the remedy Witch Hazel - Hamamelis Virginiana, which is excellent. And the constant bloating that you have can be helped with the remedy Tormentavena.

COLITIS

In treating colitis, raw vegetables are not very helpful until the colitis has cleared, not even juices. It is better to cook vegetables, although it is against my usual principles to say this. But years of practice have proved that it is a mistake for people with Candida or even thrush to eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, but this keeps the thrush going all the time. You have to cook your vegetables and fruit or you will never really get completely rid of the thrush. It is also important not to eat fruits and vegetables together because fruit and vegetables together make a very indigestible food. You bombard you digestive system. It is better to eat them separately or leave 20 minutes between eating them.

HIATUS HERNIAS

I am terribly against an operation for a hiatus hernia. It is a very big operation and it is not always successful. Osteopathically I am usually able to adjust it and to give people the freedom they need. Hiatus hernias are often caused by wrong food patterns, such as eating too quickly and not mixing food with saliva as it is chewed. It is better to take six small meals than three big ones because you overload the system.

DETOXIFICATION

The alarm bells which tell you that you have digestive problems are swollen tummies, irregular bowel movements from constipation to diarrhea. These problems have increased lately and there is a very simple remedy that I prescribe 100 times more often than I did ten years ago. It's called Tormentavena from Dr. Vogel and it regulates the bowel movements and removes some of the toxicity. If foods really upset you, if you have any of these problems, detoxifying is very important. There are a lot of good cleansing foods like watercress, garlic, leeks, and onions. They will help you detoxify and there are detoxifying courses like the Rasayana Program from Dr. Vogel to cleanse the colon and stomach. Candida hates it, and all the viruses and bacteria hate it when you detoxify.

SORE THROAT

The throat is becoming almost a cesspool of bacteria. A throat infection affects the whole body and can lead to so many problems. So it is very important to use a good natural antiseptic. I am not a great friend of dairy food but there is one I do like and that is the leftover when you make cheese - the whey of the milk which is an excellent remedy for the pancreas, and for diabetes, but also a very good antiseptic for the throat. Molkosan from Dr. Vogel contains concentrated liquid whey and is available in health food stores. Take a teaspoonful twice a day and this will disinfect the throat beautifully. When you have chest congestion and don't breathe freely, drink a little extra peppermint tea, or some camomile tea and take Echinaforce, a good natural antibiotic.
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