I know, I know it's been awhile since I've last posted. Quite honestly, I had nothing to add to the blog informative wise as I thought I had all the bases covered, until now......
So if you've read all of my posts you're well aware of how HIT is caused. Inflammation in the gut which causes the lining of your intestinal walls to get tiny little holes (perforations) so that nasty, undigested proteins can seep out back into your blood stream and wreak havoc on your body, basically causing an autoimmune response, hence, histamine overload.
But what if I told you more? More as to WHY that food wasn't being digested? What if I told you a few things that could be causing the HIT to even start?
Let's start with probable cause #1:
Zero or very little STOMACH ACID: That's right, surprised? I sure was especially finding out about it years after I healed myself of my HIT (using my protocol). That's why I wanted to come back and share this with you all because it's very important to realize this problem so that once healed, you don't have to ever deal with HIT again later on. Or, perhaps you can stop someone else from even dealing with it initially.
Stomach acid plays a very important role in breaking down our food so it can be digested and ultimately expelled from our bodies through our poop shoot. We don't want our old food sitting in there for any longer than it should fermenting and causing gas, bloating, reflux, stomach distention, constipation, belching or over all stomach pain/discomfort in general. So, if you suffer from these ailments every time you eat and particularly after you've consumed copious amounts of protein, such as red meat(s) then you more than likely have very little to no stomach acid. There of course is a medical term for those of us that experience this, it's called "Achlorhydia".
Achlorhydia is a lack of stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) due to the failure of the parietal cells to produce gastric acid. On the flip side, Hypochlorydria is the term for diminished secretion of stomach acid. Achlorhydria may also be referred to as "gastric anacidity". Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is not the ONLY component of gastric juices so in achlorhydria, there is still gastric juice but it is absent of HCl.
Hydrochloric acid has many functions but there are 3 that are most important, and they are:
1. It is the primary digestive juice responsible for breaking down proteins, preparing them for assimilation. (Fun Fact #1: That's why people lacking this acid cannot eat meat in general, especially red meat, because they have a hard time processing it/breaking it down. Fun Fact #2: Women, more than men are plagued with this lack of acid, which also leads me to believe why women more than men suffer from HIT to begin with).
2. It acts as a venting mechanism for the build-up of excessive concentrations of hydrogen ions in our blood and interstitial fluids. Basically, we consume acid forming foods and/or engage in acid forming activity, the production of stomach acid uses up considerable amounts of acid forming material (hydrogen ions) thereby assisting in the elimination of excessive tissue acidity.
3. It acts as a protective barrier, killing many potentially harmful micro-organisms in our food. (I will get to this later as reason #2 for the cause of the perforations in the intestinal lining)
Ironically, the symptoms of producing TOO MUCH stomach acid AND LOW TO NO stomach acid are exactly the same! Crazy, right? Doctors are quick to hand out acid blocking medications, because the general American public over consume unhealthy foods at an alarming rate. Not to mention the fucking pharmaceutical companies "bank" off this!! That's a whole other blog post, in itself!
So before you fill that prescription for an acid blocker actually invest in a test. The "Heidelberg Capsule Test" is available but can be expensive and is not covered by insurance and lastly, few physicians even have the equipment in their offices to provide the test. However, there is a lower tech method of testing. This involves using a Betaine Hydrochloride supplement that is used to challenge substance, when eating, to see if digestive function improves with its use.
Basically this is what I've done, even though I no longer suffer from HIT, I do still suffer from digestion issues which I'm worried will get so bad that I'll end up with HIT again. So I purchased Betaine HCl caps with Pepsin, I chose the TwinLab brand as they do not contain Magnesium Stearate. Taking these for several weeks up to several months will retrain your stomach to start making acid on it's own to where you can bring down your dosage to 1 pill per meal until you quit taking them altogether.
For testing as well as general purpose usage (if you already know little to no stomach acid is your problem) you'll want to take 1 pill at the very start of your meal. Following that monitor your stomach and see how if feels during and after eating. Should any burning or heaviness happen, or if you had burning in your stomach prior to taking the supplement and the supplement has made it worse, discontinue taking this supplement. This is an indication that your stomach is overproducing acid, or your stomach lining is jacked up already.
If you felt no problems, then on the start of your next meal take 2 pills and monitor yourself. If you feel a burning in your stomach take it back to using just 1 pill at the start of your meals, if no burning is felt in your stomach and you feel fine then up it to 3 pills (by this point you'll know that obviously you aren't making stomach acid) monitor again. You should, at this point have burning in your stomach if you're still fine, it is recommended to still stay at this dosage as MOST individuals will not require 4 pills. However because I'm always that 1% of dickheads that nothing applies to I am currently up to 4 with no problems......figures. I will up it 5 my next meal and see how it goes. I have recently read of some people taking up to 11 and that is their cut off before feeling any burning. I've got to say if I am able to get up to 11 I will NOT be a happy camper. I hate swallowing pills in the first place!
So again, if you have any of the symptoms please try this and see how it works for you. Please be advised that ironically all H2 inhibitors will fuck with your stomach acid and can actually CAUSE Achlorhydia. So it's a catch 22 really if you're using my protocol for HIT. I want to add, however, that I have ALWAYS had digestive issues, bloating, gas and stomach problems before my HIT kicked in. So, I don't think for a moment that me using the H2 blockers for my HIT did anything to me. I also didn't take them enough or long enough to have an issue. But I just wanted you guys to be aware of it. I would also think that most all of you would fall into the same category as me (already having digestive issues previously).
Moving on now to probable cause #2 for the perforations in your intestinal walls that caused HIT to rear its ugly face. PARASITES!! As disgusting as this may sound or have your skin crawling right now this is a REAL thing and DOES happen. We all have to be completely ignorant or living under a rock (crawling with parasites) to not know that humans being hosts to these life sucking, nutrient grabbing suck us dry pieces of shit don't exist. We are living beings and living beings have parasites, bacteria etc. in us and on us. Some are microscopic and some you can see in with the naked eye doing the back float in the toilet looking up at you giving you the finger.
So lets talk about worms. Hookworms specifically, a large majority of humans have worms, it's a known fact. However, most people never have problems because their immune systems are kick ass and keep these disgusting soul sappers at bay. BUT, there are some of us with low immune systems because we have other issues going on like celiac disease for instance that makes our immune systems work over time and if we get a cold or a virus on top of that, well we are asking for a worm takeover.
These critters set up house in your intestines and take all the nutrients from the foods we eat instead of us receiving them. The hookworm literally has fangs (look this shit up on google, you will never be the same, I promise) they literally hook their fangs into our intestinal walls and suck our blood causing at some point for our organs to look like Swiss cheese! Yes worms definitely migrate to other places in your body other than the intestines, including the brain, which ultimately will kill you. There's also pin worms and round worms as well as flukes. Flukes get into your liver. But I'm not here to give you a break down on all parasites just the ones that cause the holes in our intestinal walls. I may sound like I'm on repeat but if you suffer from digestive issues (and the stomach acid wasn't the answer) then you are more than likely the Holiday Inn for a group of uninvited wormy thugs. These holes they've put into your intestinal lining again, allow for protein particles of undigested foods to seep back into our bloodstreams and you know the rest of the story!
So what to do? Take a parasite cleanse pronto! I use Hulda Clark's Parasite Cleanse. It pertains of three herbs. Cloves, Wormwood and Black Walnut. The Black Walnut is a liquid and the other two herbs are capsules. It's an 18 day cleanse but after that it is HIGHLY suggested to stay on the maintenance program indefinitely! Once a week you take a handful of pills and that's it. It can be a pain in the ass to stay on the maintenance program but after 18 days of getting rid of those suckers, who wants them back?? Additionally, if you have owned or do own dogs, cats, animals in general you DO have parasites no question about it. The other pain in the ass is when you take the parasite cleanse your entire family needs to be on it too as well as any pets. Otherwise you are just taking the cleanse in vain. Pin worms are highly contagious and get picked up from bedding, clothing, furniture, carpets etc. Please also don't go barefoot or allow your children to be barefoot outside as this is one way to get worms. Please also wash your fruit and veggies extremely well and wash your hands and scrub your nails with a nail brush anytime you deal with animal feces.
I know some of you may be saying what the hell? I'm currently dealing with HIT so this is all a moot point now. No, not really because if you can "fix" your stomach acid and "kill" those little bastards in your intestines you will be repairing your intestinal lining! These are just a few more options to my protocol that you can do to help you heal yourself from this awful condition. It could also help save a loved one from ever having to go through it in the first place!
Hope I've helped someone out there. Be good and I wish you all much health!
Peace out.