Drop in Energy Levels?
Are you feeling tired? sluggish? like your not getting enough sleep? Your problem could be digestive fatigue.
One of the first signs that our cells are not being fed or nourished properly is a drop in our energy levels. We become tired easily and earlier in the day. Soon other symptoms start to occur. These early symptoms are little signs our bodies give us as warnings. Often our bodies warn us over and over again until finally illness sets in – and then disease. This is when the average person begins to realize something is wrong and takes notice.
The following is a partial list of illnesses resulting from an overworked, or fatigued, digestive system. These can be corrected, but patience and consistency are needed. Results can be seen in a shorter period of time than the time it took to create the problem in the first place depending on the diligence and self-control of the individual.
1. Weight Gain (fat processing)
After the sign of a lack of energy, the next symptom of digestive fatigue is often difficulty maintaining the proper body weight. Most individuals gain weight (although some lose weight and cannot gain). When the digestive glands are stressed out, food cravings set in, and weight is gained. This is one of the primary reasons why most people gain weight and for the same reason cannot loose it.
Popular weight loss plans do not usually deal with root causes; therefore most people are not successful in their attempts. You have known people who are overweight, hardly eat any fat, and exercise consistently but still cannot loose their weight. You have known others who have a normal weight, eat lots of fat, and hardly exercise but still maintain a healthy weight. The key is the efficiency of the digestive system. If the digestive system is able to deal with the fats in the proper way, proper weight will be maintained.
The liver is one of the digestive glands that can become overworked. A normal liver produces bile into the gallbladder where the gallbladder holds it until such a time it is needed to break down fats in the small intestine. The pancreas is also a digestive gland, producing pancreatic fluid. Under normal conditions, pancreatic fluid and bile work together to process fats, albeit in different ways depending on the needs of the body.
Here is how a healthy body processes fat:
- Needed fat is absorbed into the blood and used as fuel for the body.
- Some fat is absorbed into the blood and stored for later use.
- Unneeded fat is processed out of the body by the normal digestive process.
When the digestive glands are overworked – this process breaks down.
Bile and pancreatic fluid are not produced in the proper volume or strength and cannot break down fats properly. This causes unneeded fat to be absorbed into the bloodstream rather that be eliminated. It is eventually stored somewhere in the body. Weight is gained.
A second factor influencing weight gain is the lack of nutrients in the body due to poor food absorption or the consuming of low nutritional value food. The brain recognizes the lack of nutrition and sends signals to the body to eat, eat, eat – causing overeating and eating the wrong kinds of food. This adds stress on the digestive system in an never ending cycle – until broken.
While what we eat is important, it is even more important how our digestive system processes the food we eat.
Proper fasting can be the caveat to align the system to function as God designed.
2-3. Hypoglycemia and Diabetes (blood sugar imbalances)
Diabetes is metabolic disorder affecting the way our bodies use digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.
After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas.
When we eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from our blood into our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body through urination. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose.
Hypoglycemia is the over-secretion of insulin by the pancreas in response to a rapid rise in blood sugar or “glucose.” Hypoglycemia is the body’s inability to properly handle the large amounts of sugar that the average American consumes today.
All carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits and grains, as well as simple table sugar) are broken down into simple sugars by the process of digestion. This sugar enters the blood stream as glucose and our level of blood sugar rises. The pancreas then secretes a hormone known as insulin into the blood in order to bring the glucose down to normal levels.
In hypoglycemia, the pancreas sends out too much insulin and the blood sugar plummets below the level necessary to maintain well-being.
Since all the cells of the body, especially the brain cells, use glucose for fuel, a blood glucose level that is too low starves the cells of needed fuel, causing both physical and emotional symptoms.
Some of the symptoms of hypoglycemia are: fatigue, insomnia, mental confusion, nervousness, mood swings, faintness, headaches, depression, phobias, heart palpitations, sweet cravings, cold hands and feet, forgetfulness, dizziness, blurred vision, inner trembling, outbursts of temper, sudden hunger, allergies, and crying spells.
When the pancreas is overworked or stressed out, it cannot produce digestive fluid properly and digestion is affected. This also interferes with the production of insulin in which the pancreas produces too much or too little insulin.
Fasting rests the pancreas, allowing it over time to produce the proper levels of pancreatic fluid and insulin, bringing the digestive system into normal function.
4. Food Allergies
When the digestive glands produce fluids in the proper volumes and strength, a healthy environment is maintained throughout the entire digestive tract. On the other hand, when the digestive fluids are not in proper balance, the environment ceases to be healthy. This can result in a weak lining of the small intestine, causing inflammation and irritation.
Under normal conditions, the inside lining of the small intestine is porous so that very small particles of digested food can pass into the bloodstream. When the lining is irritated and inflamed the pores enlarge allowing large particles of improperly digested food to pass into the blood. The immune system sees these particles as foreign and attacks them because these particles are in an unfamiliar form. This is the beginning of food allergies or food sensitivities. The more the lining of the small intestine becomes inflamed (enlarging the pores and allowing improperly digested particles into the blood) the more types of foods a person becomes intolerant or allergic to.
One can certainly be tested for food sensitivities for the sake of avoidance, but correcting the root problem is the preferred option. This can be done simply by resting the overworked digestive glands.
5. Candidiasis (yeast infection)
Candida are yeast or fungus that normally inhabit our digestive system: the mouth, throat, and intestinal tract. Candida is a normal part of the intestinal or bowel flora (the organisms that naturally live inside our intestines and are not parasitic). Candida has many functions inside our digestive tract, one of which is to recognize and destroy harmful bacteria. Without Candida in our intestines we would be defenseless against many pathogenic bacteria. A person who is healthy can have millions of Candida. Our immune system is designed to keep the Candida under control, together with “friendly” bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus , B. bifidum, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, S. thermophilus and L. salivarius). If the number of friendly bacteria is decreased (through antibiotics, pesticides, chlorine, oral medications, and other indigestible elements in our food), the immune system is weakened causing the Candida to become out of control. This can be worsened by diets high in sugar and when there exists an improper pH in the digestive system.
Candida will then shift from a yeast to a fungal form and start to invade the body, multiplying out of control. In the yeast state, Candida is a non-invasive, sugar-fermenting organism; while in fungal state, it is invasive and can produce rhizoids, very long root-like structures. Rhizoids can penetrate mucosa or intestinal walls, leaving microscopic holes and allowing toxins, undigested food particles, and bacteria and yeast to enter the bloodstream. This condition is known as Leaky Gut Syndrome.
Again when the digestive glands produce digestive fluids in proper proportions and strength, the candida yeast will function as it should and properly stay under control from over multiplying. But when such fluids are not produced as they should, candida multiplies out of control producing all kinds of other digestive problems.
6. Intestinal Parasites
Intestinal parasites are an increasing problem within people’s digestive tracts. Yet they are avoidable. The problem is on the rise not because there is an increase in the number of parasites that can attack the human body, but rather because of the decrease in the efficiency of the digestive system. A healthy digestive system digests or destroys parasites very quickly, but a system weakened by imbalanced digestive fluids can not properly deal with these parasites. If a normal digestive system can digest meats, grains, and other hardy foods, it can also destroy a parasite. A healthy intestinal tract provides a chemically balanced environment that destroys and eliminates toxins, parasites, or any other elements that are not beneficial for the body.
Taking herbs and other supplements to kill parasites is good for the short term, but dealing with root cause should be the long term goal.
7. Colon Problems
Colon problems often originate in the small intestine, stomach, or even the mouth, where digestive enzymes begin the digestive process. These enzymes remain active and potent even after digestion is complete, ending up in the colon where they help maintain a healthy chemical environment. When these digestive enzymes are not properly working or balanced, a large number of problems can develop in the colon (as in any other part of the digestive system). Digestive problems most often relate back to overworked digestive glands which cannot produce the right volume of fluid in the right strength.
For most American people, an overworked digestive system is a prominent catalyst to the health issues mentioned above, though the list is incomplete and there are often other contributing factors.
Fasting allows the digestive glands to rest and rebuild themselves over time, especially when care is taken to not overeat, not eat too often, and not eat processed foods.
Next: Healthy Blood Through Fasting: Health Problems Resulting from Toxic Overload
Return To: Biblical Health Study
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Reformed Health exists so you can take control of your own health and be all that God has designed you to be. The information shared on Reformed Health is the sole opinion of the author and is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness. None or our claims have been evaluated by the FDA or any other government organization. We are not medical doctors, nor do we have any medical doctors on staff. If you are having a health emergency, please call 911, contact your doctor, or visit a local emergency room. Always consult your doctor before engaging in any new exercise regime.
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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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© 2017 Mischelle Sandowich
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