Comments on Nancy's questions

[Guest guest]

" Vinod, I hope you don't mind a few questions. (1) Is the acidity of

soda, especially soda with aspartame, also health damaging in your

opinion? (2) I've read that the balance of water inside and outside

the cell changes as the body tries to counteract the added acid,

causing excess water outside the cells. Is this the same as dampness

in TCM? "

 

Yes – but the excess can also be in the cells. More on this below.

 

" Is acidosis actually a cause of dampness? "

 

It is the primary cause – but there are others like excess salt.

 

" (3) Do you believe aspartame triggers insulin release, thus

leading to overproduction of insulin and insulin resistance? "

 

No. But if the acids in the blood are sufficient to cause

stagnation in the Liver then sugar metabolism will be radically

effected. Once the Insulin resistance starts as example if one had

at one time eaten large quantities of rapidly digesting

carbohydrates as a dietary habit and continues to do this even if

reduced in quantity then the insulin resistance will be difficult to

resolve. Systems that correct Insulin resistance cut out ALL rapidly

digesting carbohydrates for a time. Look at Bob Flaws and his diet

for Spleen problems and this will be the TCM approach to healing

these insulin problems – if one can not follow the TCM diets then

look into diets like the South Beach Diet, which resolves Insulin

resistance.

 

" And a comment. What you've written here adds a piece to the puzzle

for me. I knew I had some sort of issue with low dopamine because

I've tested high for prolactin and dopamine is the brake that shuts

off prolactin. Up until now I didn't have any idea why I would be

low in dopamine,…. "

 

In brain chemistry the equivalent to Yang deficiency states is low

dopamine function – but depressed hypometabolic people will also

have Yin deficiency as well – this is generalized deficiency.

 

" The scary thing is, I've been drinking large quantities of Diet

Coke for years. I hate to think that the damage is permanent, all

because of a false hope that it would somehow make me thinner! Nancy

S+13 "

 

It is rarely as serious as to be permanent. But everyone must

realize that sugar is less harmful than Aspartame and Aspartame in

no way causes one to be `thinner'. All of these substances cause

water retention, which is the first step in gaining weight.

Ayurveda describes this pathway to gaining weight – excess fluid

(water retention) causes stagnation's – these stagnation's congeal

and form types of phlegm which causes further stagnation's of any

excess substance and these excess substances get transformed into

fat. In modern terms we are talking about many chemical processes

but the key issues have to do with excess food (mainly rapidly

digesting carbohydrates) – excess cortisol production – excess salt

and fat – weakened Kidneys and Liver stagnation – too big a subject

to get into here. Some of this I will hit on in the following.

 

Soda pop is a virtual chemical feast it has a host of greater or

lesser harmful substances. Aspartame is just one of these

chemicals – but there are many more including many implicated in

cancer and other diseases – artificial colors and flavorings as an

example – but far and away the most harmful substances are the

acids. In ordinary soda sugar and acids are the main culprits – in

diet soda – acids and aspartame are the culprits. All soda is

harmful – let us just look at the acid problem.

 

From childhood my father taught us about the evil of acid – because

from his naturopathic perspective all acquired disease process comes

from excess acid. In ancient times the Vedic scholars and holy

people mentioned that the stomach is the source of disease. This was

also the teaching in China with the further point being made about

the importance of the Primordial Kidney Qi. What did this mean?

There are three basic ways in which acids are formed in the body.

Ingested exogenous acids in foods and beverages, acids formed by the

fermentation processes in the stomach and intestines, and acids

produced by metabolic processes. All of these acid engendering

processes are natural and do not cause any problems except when they

become excessive. Many things cause acids to form in the stomach –

excess acids in ingested items as was mentioned – excess foods which

slow down the digestive processes and cause the fermenting food to

stay to long in the stomach – excess salt – which causes the same

kind of problems by interfering with water balance – excess sweet

which does the same thing – these are only a few of the issues in

stagnation processes in the stomach. The point is that once these

stagnation's or sluggish processes begin we get a very toxic soup in

the stomach – made up of many types of toxins the main category

being various acids but there are many other toxic substances like

peroxides, aldehydes, ketones, etc. etc.. These substances are what

begin the disease process – they create poor digestion – meaning

that the functions of digestion are interfered with and the

nutritive elements in food instead of being properly transformed

remain partially digested – especially proteins and fats – this

partially digested food combined with the other toxins being

produced get absorbed and we are off to the races in the disease

producing process.

 

The first organ system harmed by this fermenting mess is the Spleen –

the Spleen is responsible for separating the nutritive elements

from this toxic soup and delivering it to the blood – the toxic part

is supposed to go into the intestine where it becomes the chyle –

but the Spleen is not able to perform this superhuman function and

it becomes stagnant itself even further confounding the developing

problems. In TCM this is called Spleen dampness with heat. This

fouls the blood with acid toxins, and the blood takes these acid

toxins to every organ system.

 

Vast percentage of degenerative disease processes in all of the

organ systems begins in just this way. The process is not simple it

is actually very complicated and manifests in a host of ways in each

system – having gone through many transformations as the energy

moves around the body in the generation cycle but the source is the

same – acid toxins – and these toxic conditions began in the

stomach.

 

This process began innocently by eating wrong foods and or excess

foods and it escalated slowly into further complications until the

entire organism breaks down under these stressors. People with

genetic hypometabolism are obviously more susceptible to these

stagnations. It is impossible to go into the infinite permutations

of this process here but if we remember that these acids cause more

than any other thing water retention – then we can easily see how

all of the organs eventually become stagnant and deficient. Toxic

deficient blood destroys us.

 

This is the understanding of every natural healing system. This is

why all natural healing systems attempt to improve the quality of

the blood by improving digestion and removing these toxins. This

removes the endogenous stresses to the organs and allows them to

repair themselves. Healing is natural but can only take place when

we stop assaulting ourselves with these overwhelming foods and

habits, which are creating the process of disease creation. If we

do this we start recovering. My father has advised many people in

recovery from the most serious disease processes by simply showing

them how to stop forming disease with foods, beverages, and

unnatural habits – he uses no medicines at all. I have the same

understanding that he has but I believe that medicines are necessary

for most modern people – traditional people can follow the very

restricted lifestyles necessary for recovery – few modern people

can – so they need medicines and other techniques to support them.

Stopping acid production exogenously and endogenously is an

essential starting point in recovery. This is why I frequently

emphasize mild diet – a diet that has no excess qualities like

overly acid, sweet, salty, etc, because these are primary causes of

the Spleen stagnation.