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Conserving the Digestive Fire:
What to Do When Traditional Foods Cause Digestive Problems
By Katherine Czapp
Because of the media hype and woefully inadequate
information, too many people nowadays are deathly afraid of their
food, and what does fear of food do to the digestive system? I am
sure that an unhappy or suspicious stomach, constricted and uneasy
with worry, cannot digest properly. And if digestion is poor, the
whole body politic suffers.
-Julia Child (1912-2004)
Stomach: A slave that must accept everything that
is given to it, but which avenges wrongs as slyly as does the slave.
-Emile Souvestre (1806-1854)
Digestion is one of the most delicately balanced
of all human and perhaps angelic functions.
-Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
My soul is dark with stormy riot,
Directly traceable to diet.
-Samuel Hoffenstein (1890-1947)
These observations on a process crucial to human happiness provide
both comfort and chagrin to the many who struggle with digestive difficulties
today. It is some comfort to know that you are not alone with your complaints,
but also deflating to see how elusive perfect digestion appears to be.
If you have recently adopted a nourishing traditional diet yet still
suffer from a number of garden variety digestive troubles, this can
seem especially frustrating.
It is important to note that the practical findings of Dr. Price's
years of research on optimal human nutrition are most applicable to
the raising of children, starting even before conception with improved
nutrition for the parents. Infants and young children will show the
most gratifying responses to this early care, which will most likely
carry them throughout life. For the rest of us, who may be well into
maturity and past the childbearing years, adopting a nutrient-dense,
traditional diet is nevertheless highly recommended, yet we may have
many years of doubtful nourishment and harmful food habituations to
compensate for. The following suggestions and thoughts are intended
to provide insights to help improve your overall digestive health, as
well as increase your pleasure and satisfaction in your daily meals.
Importance of Taste
Unless you were born into a family in which traditional foodways were
the norm, you may not have had the opportunity to learn early in life
some of the healthy habits which naturally result in good digestion
and vibrant health. This first of all includes having an early-learned
sense of taste for authentic foods that can be your guiding star all
your life amid the morass of sinister "foodlike" concoctions
with which modern commerce floods our markets.
Without that early experience of authentic taste linked pleasurably
to family mealtime rituals, one can fall prey to ersatz flavors and
textures in contrivances that only bear the remotest resemblance to
genuine food, if at all. This means, for example, that the mention of
Pringles potato chips will induce salivation in some people, whereas
the word "liverwurst" might bring forth a grimace, and "sweetbreads"
utter incomprehension. Salivation is, after all, one of the first steps
necessary for digestion when we sit down to a meal, and is of course
linked to our sense of "this is good to eat." What does
it mean if honest victuals produce a response that is appropriate for
filth, whereas utter junk initiates the pleasant anticipation of appetizing
food? Loss of this greater taste faculty is as serious as blindness
or deafness, but is less obvious in its manifestations.
This phenomenon is part of the post-traumatic syndrome of survivors
of the modern standard American diet. Not only do many people find they
must heal their bodies from years of consuming toxic and rancid vegetable
oils, a chemist's vat of harmful additives, fake soy fabrications
and just plain nutrient-deficient, fractionated foods, but their palates
have become atrophied as well, and may need to be reacquainted with
genuine flavors, aromas and textures. While this means that some wonderfully
nutritious foods will seem repugnant to some people, it also means that
even if these foods are accepted and generally liked, they may be served
or eaten in ways that hamper their digestion because their use is new
and still rather unfamiliar to the newly initiated. To top it off, there
may also be an internal voice of authority that commands you to swallow
it down, no matter what, and ignore the many natural sensory responses
you have to the food set before you. It's no wonder so many people
have a bellyache!
Soothing Soup
One very vital, but very often overlooked fixture in a nourishing traditional
diet is the regular inclusion of soup made from bone stocks. I don't
know anyone who doesn't love a soothing, delicious plate of soup,
but it is peculiar how few families prepare soups regularly. In fact,
genuine, generous soup plates are themselves rather hard to come by
in the United States—most often smallish bowls are supposed to
serve the purpose, along with tiny, almost useless spoons. In a country
where cheap fast food is super-sized, and restaurant steaks are cut
in one-and-a-half pound slabs, soup doesn't even rate serious
consideration. But right under our noses is not only a most appetizing
aroma rising from a plate of beautiful soup, but the secret to our enjoyment
of the rest of our meal and its easy digestion.
Most traditional cuisines begin the main meal, which is usually served
at midday, with a plate of soup. In fact, it is generally understood
that "first course" means soup. The gelatin-rich, complexly
flavored broth used as the base of the soup is made from the bones,
feet, heads, tough cuts of meat, cartilage and so on from various animals.
This broth is not only flavorful, but easy to digest, as gelatin attracts
digestive fluids in the stomach. The addition of soup is the best way
to moisten a meal, which in itself helps the process of digestion. Gelatin
is nutritive, and has many healing qualities for the entire intestinal
tract as it is soothing and restorative. Kaayla Daniel's in-depth
article on gelatin-rich bone broths, Why Broth is Beautiful, (www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/brothisbeautiful.html)
details gelatin's many other values in not only digestive health,
but also for skin, bones, heart, detoxification and immune function.
It is worth repeating that bone broth is the only genuine article,
and though not particularly labor-intensive to prepare, requires many
hours of slow simmering to become an almost magical, healing liquid.
Most restaurants and institutional kitchens purchase "soup bases"
that are condensed slurries of cheap thickeners with artificial and/or
soy-based flavorings, MSG, and other undesirables. Canned soups have
many of the same loathsome ingredients. Real, healing, nourishing broth
must be made at home, by you or someone who loves you.
Bone broth, through the vehicles of soups, stews, and ragoûts,
can be the best way to reintroduce meat to the former vegetarian. Even
small amounts of meat will be nutritionally enhanced by the amino acids
that bone broth contributes, and the gelatin will prepare the way for
complete digestion. Further, these sorts of slow-cooked dishes with
several ingredients tend to harmonize themselves nicely into one nutrient-dense,
and soul-satisfying meal, and are much more agreeable and digestible
than a "pot luck" assortment of unrelated dishes. This is
something to consider if you have a "touchy" stomach.
Cultured Foods
Lacto-fermented foods, beverages and condiments comprise a second category
of nutrition necessary for healthy digestion. Ubiquitous, beneficial
lactobacilli preserve foods beautifully and also alter them nutritionally
for the better—their vitamin content increases while the lactobacilli
produce enzymes that aid digestion. The fermentation by-product lactic
acid is also a promoter of healthy flora in the intestines, and helps
keep the balance among all the necessary microorganisms in check. These
factors all contribute to normal bowel function.
Restoring good digestive function by introducing these fermented foods
may need to be done slowly and thoughtfully. Small amounts of pickled
foods and relishes have an important place in meals where their contribution
of sour taste complements other flavors and "wakes up" the
digestive process while also contributing a good dose of healthy bacteria.
They are powerful food, though, and must be used with discretion or
they can upset stomachs if consumed in excess or with sweet "cold"
foods such as milk. I have attended lunches where milk, sauerkraut,
kimchi and raw vegetable salads (another "cold" food) were
all served together. It seems obvious that these foods should not be
eaten in the same meal, but sometimes over-enthusiasm with new food
choices carries one away, to the detriment of happy digestion. Lacto-fermented
condiments are best used with hot, rich foods; in this combination they
provide balance to the richness of the meal and aid in the digestion
of fats.
Lacto-fermented dairy products are in a category by themselves as nutritious
and healing foods—especially for regulating digestive functions—yet
a measure of care is necessary when introducing them into one's
diet as well. In fact, real dairy products of all sorts can be something
of a challenge to those who have known them earlier in life in much
different guises.
Problems with Milk
You may have enjoyed commercial milk as a child, and then gradually
lost the ability to digest it and so avoided it for many years. Or,
you may have taken to drinking skim milk in response to the mass calling
to reduce animal fat intake. You may even have only drunk reconstituted
powdered milk during childhood and subsequently detest the very idea
of milk—that is, until you learned about real, raw milk from truly
contented cows on green pasture. You decided to give it a try, and lo
and behold, it was pleasant to drink. But later it upset your stomach,
gave you gas, intestinal cramping, diarrhea and/or constipation, and
even phlegm. What is going on here?
"Milk is considered cooling, nutritive, strengthening and vitalizing;
also demulcent [soothing to mucous membranes] and emollient [softening]….As
an article of the diet milk is peculiarly adapted for all—children,
the aged, wounded, emaciated, suckling women…for patients suffering
from chronic bowel complaints, gastric catarrh…and is useful in
relieving irritation in the respiratory and digestive tracts or organs."
So writes Dr. K.M. Nadkarni in his 1925 Indian Materia Medica, a text
including Ayurvedic presentations of many traditional remedies. In the
Charaka Samhita, an original Ayurvedic source compiled in verse about
400 BCE, cow's milk is described as sweet, cold, soft, unctuous,
dense, heavy, slow, viscid and clear. The rare epithet of "that
which is free from all defects" is conferred upon milk, and it
is called "an elixir par excellence." Warm milk straight
from the cow is ambrosia. However, both sage sources point out that
milk requires a strong digestive fire in the person who drinks it. The
elixir must be consumed with respect.
The science of Ayurveda is an ancient holistic approach to health and
living life that focuses attention on the particular constitution of
each individual as well as on the qualities of the foods he eats. This
wisdom includes keeping in mind important mutable variables such as
climate, time of year and stage of life, which all bear their influences
on one's overall state of health. The goal is balance and harmony
in the body systems; the premise to understand is that like increases
like, while opposites tend to balance each other.
When speaking of the use of milk in the diet, modern Ayurvedic commentators
point out that in the West, milk is treated in ways not considered by
the ancients. First, it is pasteurized and homogenized, which, all agree,
create a mostly indigestible product for numerous reasons.
Second, milk is usually served cold, straight from the refrigerator.
As milk is already a cold food by nature, ingesting it cold increases
that quality, along with its heaviness and difficulty to digest. For
those people whose own constitutions have a tendency toward coldness,
slowness of metabolism and heaviness, drinking cold milk can provoke
production of mucus or phlegm and slow down digestion. For anyone, however,
cold milk will be something of a douse to his digestive fire. Depending
on the inherent strength of one's digestive capacities, this effect
might be barely noticeable, or could produce an unpleasant heaviness
in the stomach.
Third, milk is served unspiced. A simple way to mitigate the coldness
and heaviness of milk is to warm it and add warming spices such as cardamom,
cinnamon, cumin, black pepper or saffron. Honey, which is light and
dry by nature, also balances these qualities.
Fourth, milk is often taken in excess, and in combination with other
foods; notable difficult combinations are milk with fruit, leafy vegetables,
fish and sour things. Milk is a complex and complete food, and is best
regarded as such, rather than as a beverage to be consumed with a meal.
It can be cooked successfully with other foods such as grains or in
custards, where it lends many nutritive qualities in easily digested
forms. The common American breakfast habit of eating cold cereal with
cold milk and fruit is quite hard on the stomach, and the worst fruit
to eat with milk is bananas (though sweet to the taste, they have a
sour post-digestive effect, whereas milk's is sweet).
These insights into the qualities of a super food such as milk may
help those who wish to include it in their diet but are finding it somewhat
difficult to digest because they are consuming it in inappropriate ways.
You may have downed buckets of corn flakes with milk (and bananas!)
with seeming impunity as a teenager, but consider that the vital force
(and digestive fire) of a young person is much stronger than that of
one in middle age. In youth we built body tissues as we grew and had
other energy demands that a mature, modestly active adult no longer
requires.
Part of the strategy of being well-nourished in the second half of
life must include understanding the limits of one's digestive
capacities and maximizing their function through wise food choices and
eating habits. Although raw milk does contain enzymes that aid in the
digestion of lactose and other components, its inherent heavy and cold
qualities may also need to be mitigated by simple means: heating it
gently, adding warming spices, and/or adding honey or ghee. Ghee (clarified
butter), either with milk or used elsewhere in meals, is considered
light, and according to Ayurveda, confers intelligence and beauty, promotes
memory, is one of the best rejuvenatives, and, very importantly, enkindles
digestive fire. It also enhances the absorption and assimilation of
nutrients. A cup of warmed milk with a teaspoon or two of ghee and enhanced
with cardamom, cinnamon and honey is indeed ambrosial, I assure you!
Try to consume dairy products as a meal by themselves, at least an hour
or so away from larger meals.
Yogurt and kefir are lacto-fermented products that can aid digestion.
They may be the only dairy products that some people will be able to
tolerate well. Ayurveda cautions not to take these foods cold, however,
and never with sweet milk. I, for one, cannot stomach cold yogurt or
clabbered milk or kefir, but I love them warmed to body temperature
and have no problems digesting them that way. Adding a bit of salt also
increases their digestibility. The traditional Indian postprandial digestive
drink lassi was not originally a sweet liquid dessert, but merely yogurt
stirred one part to four with warm water and a few pinches of ground
cumin, coriander or ginger and salt, and is good for most constitutions.
The current practice of drinking milk or yogurt in smoothies with fruit,
blue green algae and 47 supplements is a sure recipe for digestive strain
and upset, either immediately or over time. Ayurvedic practitioners
note that these sorts of dietary "clashes" actually inhibit
digestive enzyme function, create confusion within the body's
metabolic systems and confound cellular intelligence. "Green juice"
brews can produce similar discord in the stomach and beyond, creating
residues that the body must expend vital energy to get rid of, while
the function of digestive enzymes is compromised and nutrient assimilation
is questionable.
Rhythm and Routine
Finally, a few words should be said about rhythm and routine in our
daily mealtimes. Everyone benefits from a regular schedule of mealtimes,
for most people three times a day, although some are happier with two,
and some, especially those who are underweight and ill, with four or
five smaller meals. Regular meals help your body know when to be hungry,
and you should only eat when you are truly hungry—that is when
your digestive fire will be strong.
For those of us who are mature adults and exert only modest amounts
of physical activity, it is normal to have a moderate appetite. In this
case it is very important to "spend" our caloric allowance
each day very wisely, both in terms of nutrients we take in and digestive
exertion. Breakfast and lunch should be the most important meals of
the day as our capacity to digest fat, for example, is greatest in the
morning and early afternoon, and these times will be the best for larger,
heavier meals. Sipping warm, mild ginger tea (made simply by chopping
ginger and steeping it with boiled water for a half hour in a teapot)
will help keep digestive fire strong during mealtimes.
Supper should be a much lighter meal, with at least a couple of hours
between it and the time you go to bed. Our digestive faculties are winding
down as the day closes, and going to sleep with an empty stomach allows
the natural processes of organ rest and repair (as well as sound, uninterrupted
sleep) to occur unimpeded.
Several years ago I got into the habit of eating two meals a day: a
hearty breakfast that allowed me to work outside until about 2 o'clock
when I stopped for a two-hour dinner. After dinner and a short rest,
I could work again for several hours until the early evening, when I
would prepare for the leisurely close of the day. I had found I wasn't
truly hungry for a third meal and discovered that without it, I slept
more soundly and awoke feeling light and alert.
Although I wouldn't lightly recommend my pattern for others as
general advice, you might seriously consider making supper a very light
meal if you find that you feel heavy and sluggish in the mornings and
your tongue is thickly coated when you awake, and perhaps especially
if supper is right now the heaviest meal of your day. Some foods that
may be giving you digestive difficulties at suppertime may not do so
earlier in the day. A very light supper will help you be hungry for
a hearty breakfast, too.
It helps to remember that when we have improved the quality of our
meals, we may not need the quantity we have been used to. It is possible
to make ourselves sick by merely eating too much of a good thing, just
as a fire fed with too many logs will be snuffed out. To help digestion
proceed smoothly, learn to stop eating when your stomach is three-quarters
full.
"Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of
our cooks," said Lin Yutang in The Importance of Living. Our material
and spiritual happiness is founded on the quality of our daily offerings
of food to our "internal fire sacrifice." Yet even with
the most beautiful, nutritious food, it is up to us to invest our mealtime
rituals with unhurried attention, peaceful surroundings and pleasant
companions in order to digest it well on all planes.
About the Author
 Katherine Czapp was raised on a three-generation,
self-sufficient mixed family farm in rural Michigan. After studying Russian language
and literature at the University of Michigan, she is gratified to discover that the
skills and experiences of her anachronistic upbringing are useful tools in the 21st
century. She works independently as a three-season organic gardener and WAPF staff
editor. She and her husband Garrick live the slow life in Ann Arbor, Michigan. To
learn more about authentic sourdough bread recipes and to obtain a live culture
starter, visit www.realsourdoughbreadrecipe.com.
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