Tip 63. Che
w
,
ch
e
w
, c
h
ew, for it's
t
he thing to do.
The process of digestion begins in t
h
e mouth. The saliva in t
h
e moth, besides helping
to masticate t
h
e food, carries an enzyme called p
t
yalin which begins the chemical action of digestion. It
initiates
the
catabolism
(
breakdown) of
carbohydrates by converting starches into simple sug
a
rs. This explains the ne
e
d for thorough mastication of starc
h
y food in the mouth. If this is
n
ot
d
one the ptyalin cannot
carry out its functions
a
s
it is ac
t
ive in an alkalin
e
,
neutral or slightly acid
medium and
is inac
t
ivated by
t
he highly acid gas
t
ric juices in
t
he stomach.
Although enzymatic action starts w
h
ile food is
b
eing chew
e
d, digestion
moves into high gear only when the chewed food has passed the es
o
phagus and
reached the
stomach. While the
physical action of perist
a
lsis
churns
a
nd kneads
solid food in
t
o a semi-solid amorphous mixture called chyme, this mixture undergoes chemical changes
ini
t
iated by gastric juices s
e
creted by
the walls of
t
he stomach. These juic
e
s
include mucus for lub
r
icating the
stomach, hy
d
rochloric acid
and
g
a
stric
j
u
ice.
The enzyme
or active principle of the gastric j
u
ice is pepsin.
T
his enzyme in combination with hydrochloric acid star
t
s
t
he breakd
o
wn of proteins into abs
o
rbable amino acids
call
e
d polypeptides. An additi
o
nal enzyme, rennin, plays an important role in the stomach of the
infant. It cu
r
dles milk a
n
d allows the
pepsin to
w
ork upon it.
The gastric
juice has no
effect upon starc
h
es or fats.
Tip 64. Eat plant foods for faster healing.
An exclusive diet of raw juices
o
f fr
u
its and
v
egetables res
u
l
t
s in much f
a
ster recovery from diseases a
n
d more effective cleansi
n
g and regeneration of t
h
e tissu
e
s
t
h
an the fasti
n
g on pure water.
Dr. Ragnar
Berg, a world-renowned authority on nutriton and
biochemist
r
y observes:
"
During fasting the body
burns up a
n
d excretes
h
uge a
m
oun
t
s of accu
m
ulated wastes. We can help this
cl
e
ansing process by drinking alkaline juices i
n
ste
a
d of water while fasting.
I have supervised
many
fasts
and
m
ade
extensive
ex
a
m
inations
and
tests
of
f
asting
pati
e
nts,
and
I
a
m
convinced that drinking alkali-fo
r
m
ing fruit a
n
d vegetable
juices,
inst
e
ad of water, during fasting will
i
ncrease the
healing eff
e
ct of fasti
n
g.
Eli
m
ination
of uric ac
i
d
and other i
n
organic acids wi
l
l be
accelerate
d
. And sugars in ju
i
c
es
w
ill strengt
he
n the heart.
Juice f
a
sting
is,
therefore, the best form of fastin
g
."
Tip 65. Safety
measur
e
s for preventing back pain.
Certain saf
e
ty measures, especi
a
lly, for people in sedentary occupation,
a
re necessa
r
y to relieve and prevent backache. The
most impor
t
ant
of these
is exercise
which improves the supply of nutrients to s
p
inal discs, t
h
ereby delay
i
ng the proc
e
ss of deteri
o
ration that comes with age and eventually affects everybody. Safe
exercises i
n
clude walki
n
g, swimming
and bicycling.
The latter s
h
ould be do
n
e keeping t
h
e back upri
g
ht. Controlling one's weight is anot
h
er important step towards relieving backache as e
x
cess weight
greatly increases the st
r
ess on soft
back
t
i
s
s
ues.
Those with
sedentary occupatio
n
s
should take a break to st
a
nd up every
hour. Soft cushioned seats sho
u
ld be avoided and position should
b
e changed
a
s
often as
p
ossible. Pe
r
sons with
back probl
em
s should sleep on a fi
r
m mattress on their sid
e
s with knees bent at right
angles to the
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