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August 2026Feeling good begins and ends with a clean heart closely followed by good digestion. Without good digestion even the best foods and pills can’t work right, nor can your brain. Some call digestion “the first line of defense against disease.” I call it second because first comes what you decide to chew on and swallow. A young body swallowing something harmful will throw it up or speed it down and out with maybe a tummy ache. An older body without the energy for these healthy reactions may have more serious issues, but hopefully an older brain has learned to choose more wisely.
Good digestion begins with the pH of digestive juices. Here are a few rules.
1). Saliva needs to be in the 7.3-7.4 range for the starch digesting enzyme amylase to work If saliva pH is off it is likely the pH of other digestive juices are also off. Choose nutrition that balances your pH.
2). Stomach juices must be acid in the 0-1.5 range to break protein down and kill bad bugs and parasite larvae you swallow at the salad bar. A common problem in the elderly is too little hydrochloric acid (HCL) with parietal glands suppressed due to overall systemic acidity. Some doctors report that when you alkalize the system (balance pH) parietal glands start working again.
3). Bile and pancreatic juices must be slightly alkaline for digestion and assimilation of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, things known and unknown. You can’t test this but you can test saliva and urine with litmus paper that tests in .2 increments in the 5.5 to 8.0 range.
4). Body pH balances with two branches of the autonomic nervous system, sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PSNS). The PSNS is in charge of automatic body functions including digestion. When the SNS is activated by stress the PSNS shuts down partially or completely, and while your heart beats faster your stomach may stop working - gastro paresis.
BOTTOM LINE...balance pH as a first step to digest food right and feel right. Beyond pH are other major factors for good digestion. One is the viscosity or fluid-solid ratio of what you swallow that affects assimilation since all nutrients work with H20/water for assimilation by microvilli. Ultimately, viscosity affects liver function and blood, the “sludge” problem. Factor in cell hydration and you appreciate why “soup is good food” (Reader’s Digest).
After getting your pH and food and drink viscosity in the ballpark don’t miss the natural fiber in raw fruits and veggies that supports amazing microbes that make B vitamins, non-specific antibodies, and a comfortable transit time to move toxins in bile down and out. Other factors that support friendly gut microbes are raw and fermented foods in your diet. A simple rule is A LITTLE RAW AND A LITTLE FERMENTED WITH EVERY MEAL.
Here are a few more aspects of the big picture to be aware of. Digestion involves chemistry by way of pH and other factors that support healthy mitochondrial function. It involves physiology by way of fiber, liquids, chewing etc. It involves nervous systems, stress, and hormones that manage all systems. It involves microbes that can help us or hurt us. This quickly becomes too complicated to deal with unless we are closely connected to God’s ways with our natural appetites working, and we listen to them. It helps if the society we live in is enlightened enough to give us only healthy choices.
Whoops! Now we know where some real problems need fixing.
It’s important to balance pH and digestion together, but other body systems may also be relevant to good digestion and feeling good depending on your unique chemistry and lifestyle. In body systems balancing a recommended approach is to balance blood pressure, pH, and digestion first.
Balancing blood pressure gets the sodium-potassium balance going the right way which covers a multitude of sins. The pH factor covers enzymes, electricity, and oxygen.
Good digestion provides raw materials so everything else can work. Voila – balance these three systems and you should be on your way to feeling great if you don’t wait too late to get started. A clean heart (spiritual) preempts all things. “Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
A major key to success in all aspects of natural healing is self-testing. Doctors may help with dozens of tests for digestion and body functions but some of the most powerful tests are those you do for yourself. They are powerful because they help you learn by trial and error, the Nutrition-for-life way.
As with pH, digestion self-testing lets you know where you stand compared to a healthy standard. It reveals your current status and lets you know if changes you make are in the right or wrong direction. My personal philosophy is that self-testing is monumentally more important than most other testing because it reveals what does and doesn’t work for your unique chemistry and because you are more motivated by the results to do something. Nevertheless, see your doctor whenever symptoms so indicate.
A first self-test to determine overall digestive function is the “Puppy dog” test. This covers all aspects of digestion known and unknown and reflects overall health. Ask yourself a simple question. Do you enjoy one or more non-straining bowel movements a day that leave you feeling somewhat like a puppy dog after it does its thing outside — running, scratching the grass, full of zip and go etc. — relative to your age of course?
If you are eliminating all the waste your body needs to get rid with a good bowel movement you should feel good right after. Words like “clean” and “whole” apply. That’s how God made us. If you can honestly say YES to the puppy dog question it is likely all your body systems including digestion are in good working order. If not, you have work to do.
The next priority test for digestion is the F.E.C.A.L test.
F – stands for Floating. Healthy stools should float due to the fatty acids produced by good microbes. Fat is lighter than water. You may have to work on your digestion for some time to get this right, but it is essential to feeling great. Good microbes below do a lot more than just make healthy fats. They make B vitamins, non-specific antibodies for immunity, and much more.
E – stands for EASE of movement. If you have to strain there is a problem most likely related to fiber, gut microbes, fluid balance etc.
C – stands for COLOR. Healthy stools are golden brown like those of a healthy baby on breast milk from a healthy mother. You don’t want black, gray, or light, stools that represent some aspect of toxicity, imbalance, and disease.
AL – means always on time. If you miss a day don’t fret, but if you miss two or more days fret a little as you take action to get things moving down and out.
A basic question to ask in balancing/healing digestion is: should it be bottoms up or top down? Many doctors believe it makes sense to focus first on the end of the line. Fix the colon right and everything else may fall in line.
Fixing constipation with an occasional purge is not the same thing. Some report that upper level digestive problems are automatically resolved when colon and lower level problems are properly fixed. Think of a dam. Stuff backs up. Break the dam, upstream stress is relieved. You may have heard that “death begins in the colon.” That explains why so much focus in natural healing is on fixing the end of the line in digestion first.
Stay tuned for more tips on balancing digestion and feeling good. Meanwhile, may the Lord bless and keep you whole in body, mind, and soul.
To help spread the word on “A Healing Gospel,” email your contact info with “Kindness” in the subject box to Jim at LeBeaultj@aol.com. You may download articles from Wisconsin Christian News website or phpower.org. All articles are for informational purposes only.
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