Intestinal Gas and How to Alleviate It
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by Sheila Shea
ome gas is a normal part of intestinal health and functioning. Excessive and painful gas is not. The intestines register pain from gas before pain from inflammation, adhesion and ulceration. Our body alerts us: “Pay attention to gas pain, understand the cause, then alleviate it properly.� In a traditional colonic, a person rests on their back. However, since most clients now have excessive gas, all clients begin on their left side or Left Sims position, which helps the gas to come out more easily. The bowels are stretched and weakened by continuous gas bloating. The colon muscles do not have the energy to move and release the gas, nor the ability to eliminate stool.
The Metabolically Deficient Abdomen The metabolically deficient abdomen is the fermenting abdomen, percolating tons of microbial growth. Gas is a byproduct of this fermentation. According to Elaine Gottschall, MS in Breaking the Vicious Cycle, excessive gas is caused by a microbial overgrowth. Bacteria and fungi migrate from the large to the small intestines to 20
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feed mainly on complex sugars or complex carbohydrates that the person is not breaking down with normal human digestion. The microbes feed on the complex sugars. This kind of digestion is called fermentation digestion. The fermentation byproducts are gases, acids and other metabolites that are toxic to the system. Through appropriate healing of the gut wall, one can return to human or enzymatic digestion. Causes of gas include: consumption of processed foods, added sugars and seed oils; carbohydrate indigestion and/or inability to break down complex sugars; enzyme insufficiencies in digestive processes including liver, gall bladder, pancreas, stomach and small intestines; overeating, food addiction and eating disorder; eating all day long, late night eating, overeating, overlapping meals, five or six feedings daily; overabundance of pathogenic bacteria, virus and fungi; imbalanced microbiome; accumulation of waste in the system, slow transit, constipation; insufficient exercise, therefore lack of tone in the abdominal muscles; inability to develop coping mechanisms for stress; and various pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics and steroids.
