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Monday, April 14, 2014

DIGESTIVE HELP

Physician’s book may have answers on staying well

Just like a computer needs “disk cleaning,” the body needs gastrointestinal upkeep.

That is the theme of Dr. Anil Minocha’s new book “Dr. M’s Seven-X Plan for Digestive Health: Acid Reflux, Ulcers, Hiatal Hernia, Probiotics, Leaky Gut, Gluten-free, Gastroparesis, Constipation, Colitis, Irritable Bowel, Gas, Colon Cleanse/Detox and More.”

Minocha, of Shreveport, worked on the book, written in layman’s terms, for five years. It is available at most online retailers like amazon.com, itunes.com and barnesandnoble.com. The paperback edition is likely to be released in April.

As a local practicing gastroenterologist and nutritionist, Minocha is involved in training future physicians and said he has frequently been frustrated as well as saddened by the lack of knowledge (or desire to learn) among healthcare providers about the vast variety of “medicines” used by patients.

“As a physician scientist, I have been intrigued by the demand for a much higher level of evidence from complementary and alternative medicine therapies than we demand from mainstream modern Western medicine prior to accepting its use,” he said.

The integrative gastroenterology approach outlined in Dr. M’s Seven-X Plan will promote digestive and immune functioning inside the GI tract and allow one to attain digestive wellness, he said. This book allows the reader to better understand illness and be a better-informed consumer of health information, especially during a visit to the physician. He said a highlight of the book is a generous coverage of natural treatment and alternative medicine therapies, especially coverage of topics like gut bacteria and dysbiosis, leaky gut syndrome, inflammation, probiotics, gluten-free diet, colon cleanse and flush and body detox for digestive tune-up.

Minocha said the gut plays a critical role in health and sickness. Digestive immune processes including gut psychology play a critical role not just in GI illnesses (morning sickness, acid reflux, food allergies, irritable bowel syndrome or spastic colon, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s, constipation) but also in neurobehavioral disorders (autism, attention deficit disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder), chronic pain syndromes (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, restless leg syndrome, temporomandibular joint disorder, migraine headache), autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid arthritis), and skin disorders like allergies, skin eczema, acne and psoriasis. 

The gut has a mind of its own, and the term gut psychology has been used to describe the role of gut in anxiety and depression, Minocha said. “In fact, unhealthy gut bacteria linked to depression have been called ‘melancholic microbes.’”

Evidence indicates that the digestion connection to your overall health is real, he said. “Trust your gut!”

The gut has a mind of its own, literally,” he said. “We have a big brain in our skull and then the little-brain that encompasses the gut. The gut has its own nervous system called enteric nervous system, which is separate but connected with the our big brain.” 

The use of terms like optimal or perfect digestion, healthy digestion, good gut and gutbliss by experts highlights the importance our gut plays in overall health, Minocha said. Likewise, there is a plethora of diet strategies including paleo, Mediterranean, DASH and GAPS diets. 

Minocha said many complex changes have occurred in lifestyle, nutrition and environment in recent decades. Modern agriculture and raising of farm animals bears no resemblance to the ancient jungle life or the medieval country life. There has been a rapid urbanization from country to city to suburbia and a speeding up of our culture with a heavy emphasis on eating out, fast food and stored, canned and processed food. “What we currently consume bears no nutritional resemblance to what our forefathers did,” he said, suggesting to avoid foods that our ancestors avoided.

He said food today generally has a very high glycemic load, high sodium, low potassium, low magnesium and low fiber. There has been an exponential increase in food additives and preservatives and a rising intake of alcohol.

Minocha said the correct diet can fight cancer. Components of cancer-fighting foods have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory actions in addition to suppression of cancer cells. Intake of fried, preserved and grilled meat, animal fats and sugar increase the risk of colon polyps. He said pan-fried or well-done grilled meat and use of animal fat alter meat to produce compounds that cause cell damage and induce cancer cells.

Use of yogurt for health is becoming increasingly popular. He warns that not all yogurts are created equal. Always buy yogurt with live cultures of multiple bacteria with numbers of bacteria in the billions and not the yogurt brand with just the two standard bacteria, he said. “Avoid frozen yogurt if you want the maximum probiotic health benefits.”

He discusses colon cleansing and detox in the book and offers recipes for juice fasts. 

“Not brushing your teeth and not flossing on a regular basis is like ignoring a sleeper terrorist cell of bad bacteria in the mouth that do not just cause damage in the mouth but may cause you to have 9/11 of a heart attack one day,” Minocha said.

The mouth is the first encounter with foreign bodies and disease-producing organisms going into our bodies. He said the mouth is one of the dirtiest parts of the body and that bad bacteria there cause low- grade inflammation throughout the body, increasing risk for diseases like heart disease and Alzheimer’s.  

“This also has historical precedence,” Minocha said. “Hippocrates successfully treated a case of arthritis by performing tooth extraction.”

Even poor sleep increases risk of acid reflux or gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Incidence of peptic ulcers is higher among shift workers than daytime workers, Minocha said.

A chapter on hiccups gives some measures to help stop them; however, none of them has been subjected to rigorous testing. Prolonged hiccups may be caused by foreign bodies in the ear canal, cervical tumors, neurologic disorders, diabetes, alcoholism and diseases in the chest, Minocha said.

If a patient makes a claim regarding his illness, Minocha said he is no longer dismissive as he used to be because it did not fit in with the state of medical knowledge at the time. “Medical knowledge is fluid and dynamic,” he said, “and we all see the state-of-the-art medical treatments get outdated and proven untrue during our lifetime.”  

His book discusses reflexology, massage, acupuncture, aromatherapy and art therapy with modeling clay for children who are constipated. 

Minocha said the work is meant for informational use only and by no means represents recommendations for diagnosis or treatment of any reader. “Nothing in the book is intended to be a substitute for consultation with a licensed physician,” he said.

Minocha is a certified physician nutrition support specialist and a fellow in the American College of Physicians, American College of Gastroenterology and American Gastroenterological Association. Other books by Minocha are the “Encyclopedia of Digestive System and Digestive Disorders,” “Handbook of Digestive Diseases” and “Guide to Alternative Medicine and the Digestive System.”

Read more at www.minochahealth.typepad.com, and his social media sites are: facebook.com/doctoranil and twitter.com/dranilminocha. He can be reached at physicianwriter@gmail.com.

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