Your Blood, Your Body, and the Holy Spirit’s Temple, Part 2

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

It’s In Your Gut
In the first part of this series – Your Blood, Your Body, and the Holy Spirit’s Temple, Part 1 – we referred to Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. There, he details the difference between things that are considered to be sinful (things that go against God’s law), and those things that are simply not beneficial for Christians to be involved in. Regarding the latter, he mentioned foods. He stated that though anything is permissible for him (apart from known sinful practices), not everything is beneficial for him to indulge in. He stated he will not be mastered by anything and that includes foods (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:12).

I have come to learn just how vastly important this concept is for me, not only as a Christian, but as a human being. I pointed out, using examples from my own life, that I have food allergies. This has been clearly understood from actual blood testing. That is the proof. For this particular test that I took, anything that registered over 199 was a food or ingredient that I am sensitive to and I will almost certainly have a negative reaction if I ingest that particular food.

For instance, when tested, I learned that I am allergic to Baker’s yeast, which registers at 823. That’s really high. Many products contain Baker’s yeast. I am also sensitive to gluten (206), wheat (230), Brewer’s yeast (249), Cow’s milk (313), lemon (229), watermelon (244), tomato (203), lettuce (241), Swiss cheese (260), etc.

Knowing this, let me ask two questions concerning the above foods and ingredients.

1. is it sinful for me to ingest any of those listed foods?
2. is it beneficial for me to ingest any of those listed foods?

Clearly, since food itself is amoral, it is not sinful for me to eat any or all of those foods. However, it is just as clear that it is not beneficial for me to eat any of them. Prior to having this blood test done, I routinely ate the following:

• pizza
• bread
• pasta
• cheese
• milk
• ice cream
• chocolate

Now, consider that you cannot go to a fast food restaurant without being forced to order something with a bun or bread. I could get a lettuce wrap, but I’m sensitive to lettuce. What to do? I now have the choice of avoiding many of the foods I have eaten regularly for years or eating them and suffering the physical consequences.

Eating these items causes gastric pain, along with numerous other symptoms. Looking back, I realize now that throughout the years, this gastric pain was not due to a “bug” or germs or something else. The problem was that these foods immediately created problems in my GUT and that, dear friends, is where our health actually starts and ends.

Leaky Gut
There are numerous definitions of what is being called “leaky gut” syndrome. Here is one that serves our purposes because it is more concise than others.

“Leaky gut syndrome is not generally recognized by conventional physicians, but evidence is accumulating that it is a real condition that affects the lining of the intestines. The theory is that leaky gut syndrome (also called increased intestinal permeability), is the result of damage to the intestinal lining, making it less able to protect the internal environment as well as to filter needed nutrients and other biological substances. As a consequence, some bacteria and their toxins, incompletely digested proteins and fats, and waste not normally absorbed may “leak” out of the intestines into the blood stream.”

Dr. Weil points out that leaky gut is when the intestinal lining becomes more permeable. This allows all manner of toxins, bacteria, and the like to leak out of the stomach and intestines and into our blood streams where they are not supposed to be. The results can range from depression to an overall achiness in our bones and joints, to high blood pressure, to many other ailments.

When our guts are working correctly (due to the healthy and balanced level of gut bacteria or flora alive in our stomachs and intestines), we are healthy and nothing leaks out of the intestines (through the intestinal lining) into our bloodstream that is not supposed to do so. It is vital that we understand this because if we do not, we could end up with all sorts of ailments that make us feel like death warmed over, all because of the things that we are eating that are not beneficial to us.

Here is another definition from a Dr. Leo Galland that highlights the same thing, but stated differently.

“Leaky Gut Syndromes are usually provoked by exposure to substances which damage the integrity of the intestinal mucosa, disrupting the desmosomes which bind epithelial cells and increasing passive, para-cellular absorption. The commonest causes of damage are infectious agents (viral, bacterial and protozoan) [43-46], ethanol [47, 48], and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [20, 49, 50]. Hypoxia of the bowel (occurring as a consequence of open-heart surgery or of shock) [51, 52], elevated levels of reactive oxygen metabolites (biliary, food-borne or produced by inflammatory cells) [53], and cytotoxic drugs [54-56] also increase para-cellular permeability.”

Dr. Galland points out that when we ingest certain things (whether it’s food, anti-inflammatory drugs, etc.), that are not beneficial to us, the vitality of the intestinal mucosa is damaged. Over time, this can create tiny holes in the intestinal lining that allow toxins in the intestines that would normally be expelled through the waste process, to go instead into our blood streams. Once there, they create all manner of health problems that are not easily detected.

Often people will go to a doctor only to be told that nothing is wrong. Conversely, the doctor might prescribe a powerful drug (like a painkiller) that merely masks the symptoms but does not eradicate the problem.

How is the problem corrected? If it starts in the gut, that is where the focus needs to be. If something is causing a person to have a leaky gut (increased permeability of the intestinal lining to the blood stream), then the best way to solve the problem is by determining what is causing the leaky gut in the first place and eliminating it from the body, correct?

So while it is not “sinful” for me to eat things with Baker’s yeast in them, it is most certainly not beneficial for me to do so because, for me, my body is very sensitive to Baker’s yeast. Therefore, to ingest foods that contain Baker’s yeast is to introduce a substance into my system that will negatively impact the flora in my gut. Once the flora in my gut is negatively impacted, my body tries to fight it off (signaled by pain or “inflammation” there). Over time, if I keep eating things that are harmful to me personally, the things that I am sensitive to will win out.

Your gut’s flora (bacteria) is designed to be a well-balanced machine. Did you know that the neurotransmitters in your brain are actually created not in your brain, but in your gut? The more I study and read, the more amazed I am at wonderfully and fearfully we are made. It seems that in order to have a healthy body, our gut flora needs to be healthy. In order to have a healthy brain, our gut flora needs to be healthy. If it is healthy, it is doing its job.

When we stop putting into our systems the things that cause and keep an imbalance in our gut flora, we actually introduce all forms of problems into our bodies. Big Pharma wants to help, right? The problem is they only treat symptoms and that’s all they will ever be able to treat. If we come to understand what is beneficial and what is not beneficial for our bodies, we go a long way in avoiding Big Pharma because we are correcting things at the source.

These short articles are not exhaustive. They are designed to introduce subjects to you, to start you on your journey.

We will back next time to discuss wheat and gluten. Did you know that today’s wheat was drastically changed in the laboratory in the 1960s? What we eat today is called “dwarf wheat” and unfortunately, the gluten proteins associated with it can be and are extremely harmful to many people. We’ll get into the details next time.

Recommended Reading:

• Wheat Belly, by Dr. William Davis
• Grain Brain, by Dr. David Perlmutter
• Brain Maker, by Dr. David Perlmutter

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective