Dynamic Conditioning Centre

Have you ever had that not so fresh feeling?  If you’ve ever had bloating, indigestion, gas, sleepy or sluggishness, heart burn, constipation or anything remotely relating to irritable bowel syndrom (IBS), you know what I’m talking about.

Any of the above can be the result of a poor digestive system, lack of stomach acid or harmful bacteria/bad stomach health.

Here are some things to look for and ways to improve your digestion and stomach health.

• belching or gas within one hour of a meal
• bloating and fullness shortly after eating
• heart burn or indigestion
• bad breath
• loss of taste for meat
• nausea after taking supplements
• brittle fingernails
• yeast infections
• undigested food in stool
• foul-smelling stools
• stomach pain
• desire to skip meals
• estrogen buildup
• acne rosacea
• depression

There are many reasons for low stomach acid, such as B vitamin deficiency, excessive carbohydrate intake, hypothyroidism, food sensitivities, too much soda pop and aging. But the most common cause of low stomach acid is actually stress. 

If you are producing little or no stomach acid, you may be a candidate to supplement with HCl.  Some other suggestions to help normalize your stomach acid levels are to avoid carbonated drinks, all-you-can-eat buffets (largest contributing source of food-borne pathogens) and finally, the use of herbs such as gentian, peppermint and ginger.
Another way to keep the body in optimal working order is to do a regular cleanse or detoxification.

In the past I wrote about doing a regular detox that coincides with the seasons – one in the Spring and one in the Fall.

Things you can include:

• 2 Massage Therapy treatments (for increased blood flow/circulation and relaxation).
• 2 Osteopathic Treatments (for improved lymphatic drainage, and body realignment).
• 3 Infrared Sauna’s (for increased detoxification).
• Scaled back training protocol – focused more on recovery and maintenance work OR training with low weight and high repetitions in order to induce lymphatic drainage.
• Dietary adjustments – Focus less on meats and more on vitamin rich veggies for increased alkalinity.
• Liver detoxification – Look into a good liver detoxification protocol (and not something you can typically purchase in the grocery store) – women can include an estrogen detoxing agent such as DIM AVAIL to rid the body of bad estrogens

If you’ve got the time and focus required to do a cleanse more regularly, it may be of great benefit.  Charles Poliquin has recommended to do an intense liver detox once a month for 3 days  if possible.

I caution you, this is not for the faint of heart and will need modification based on your weight, muscular development, stress levels and overall health.

This is from a 7 days cleanse that included;

• 2 fiber drinks with chlorophyll (one in morning and one in the evening)
• 3 Primal Clear (clean protein/super food to aid in liver detoxification) shakes alternated with
• 5 Greens (organic super green products) shakes .
• Glutamine
• BCAA’s
• Amino Acids
• Vitamin C
• P1P2 Balance (liver support)
• Magnesium
• Carnitine
• Taurine
• Vitamin E

I added some extra probiotics for good stomach health, regular lemon in my water to further stimulate the liver and Caprillic Acid/Bentonite clay to help with any pull any yeast out of the intestines.

Also included were 1 to 3 meals consisting of veggies or a veggie of the day mixed in. Veggies such as broccolli, brussel sprouts, asaragus, mmm yummy:)
 
Actually, I’m just finishing day 4 of this craziness and while I thought I would loose a ton of weight, be rediculously angry and hungry all the time, I am actually dealing quite well. 
 
The hunger pangs supsided after day 2, my weight is stable (I’ve only lost 3 lbs), body fat is down about 3%, energy is great and my mind is clear and focused (again much better than days 1 through 3).
 
If you want to know more about this or any other cleanse/detoxification, it’s perhaps the best way to jump start a new program and rebalance the body.