Gastroparesis = partial stomach paralysis and delayed gastric emptying
Before beginning any detoxification program, the first place to begin, is with a thorough health assessment and evaluation of your unique situation allowing recommendations to be tailored specifically to meet your needs.
This is particularly important when it involves health conditions (e.g. gastroparesis, Crohn’s, intestinal strictures, interstitial cystitis, pancreatitis, extreme acidosis and toxicity, etc.) that make the diet aspect of your health program more complicated.
These conditions can require frequent fine-tuning and lots of trial and error. It's also important because usually a person doesn’t have just a single problem. Rather, they have multiple problems to account for.
It's important to assess, monitor the condition of, and address any identified weaknesses related to the:
- adrenal glands (synthesize neurotransmitters for the autonomic nervous system)
- thyroid gland (controls rate of metabolic processes)
- parathyroids (which govern the utilization of calcium, thus affecting calcium channels for triggering release of neurotransmitters)
- pancreas (produces bicarbonate to neutralize hydrochloric/stomach acid; plays pivotal role in proper digestion of carbohydrates and fats)
- and pituitary gland (controls the adrenals, thyroid, and parathyroids)
This is essential to success in reversing gastroparesis. Given that the rest-and-digest functions are stimulated by the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system, which is presided over by the cerebellum, and that nausea, a symptom that frequently accompanies gastroparesis, can often happen due to lymphatic pressure, inflammation, or toxicity affecting this part of the brain (and can be relieved with an ice pack applied on the back of the neck), you may want to be mindful of a compromised cerebellum having a role to play in some cases of gastroparesis.
Common symptoms of cerebellum weakness include:
- nausea
- swinging blood pressure (including blood pressure dropping rapidly when rising from a horizontal or seated position to an upright vertical position too fast)
- balance maintainance and posture problems
- frequent vertigo (dizziness), disorientation, and motion sickness (e.g. seasickness, car sickness)
The type and quantity of solid food you can tolerate at any given time will depend on the severity of your gastroparesis. This will fluctuate and can be influenced by other tissue weaknesses. During times of stress, emotional instability or trauma, and anger, the rest-and-digest processes will be interrupted due to negative impact on the adrenal glands.
A careful diet transition, much like advocated and taught by prof. Arnold Ehret through his ‘Mucusless Diet Healing System‘, will be crucial.
If cooked food (including stewed or baked fruit) or liquefied food is all you can tolerate in the beginning as you work your way through with the herbs to gently detoxify and strengthen the body, as well as increase motility (contraction of gastrointestinal tract muscles to move contents along), then that's no problem. Start at your own pace and move forward in baby steps.
Neurotoxic heavy metals (e.g. mercury, cadmium, lead, aluminum) in the body must be removed promptly to rule out any impact they may be having on your health condition (also as a preemptive measure against developing any other heavy metal-related health problems in the future). Silver amalgam fillings must be removed and toxic mold exposure addressed as soon as possible.
Diet
When it comes to meals, you want to keep them as simple and well-combined as possible. Try to only eat in a relaxed and calm state and chew your food thoroughly. Portions should remain small, but you can compensate by eating more frequently each day winding down at evening time leaving a few hours before going to sleep (i.e. try not to eat a few hours before bedtime).
A common tip often given for when consuming liquefied foods, is to do so slowly, as to not consume too large a quantity of food within too short a frame of time.
Another tip, following a meal, is to go for a gentle walk to take advantage of gravity to help move the food along.
Blended (e.g. smoothies), mashed (e.g. mashed sweet potato), and puréed food (e.g. veggie soups), as well as thoroughly strained and optionally diluted homemade juices will sometimes be preferable to solid food. Steamed or cooked fruits and vegetables may be preferred over their raw counterparts.
Forgastroparesis, there are certain fruits and vegetables that, as a general rule, people cope better with in contrast to other foods which produce gas, bloating, nausea and so forth.
The lists below are a starting point. You can copy the lists and, as you figure out and experience which fruits and vegetables you respond best to and which your body doesn’t cope well with, modify the lists accordingly.
Fruits
- Applesauce (homemade only)
- Bananas (as with any fruit, make sure they’re ripe!)
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe melons
- Clementines
- Galia melons
- Grapes
- Honeydew melons
- Kiwi
- Lemons
- Oranges
- Passion fruits
- Pineapples (eat only when picked ripe off the plant)
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
Vegetables
- Beets
- Butternut squash
- Carrots
- Celeriac (celery root)
- Celery
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant (nightshade; generally not recommended during detoxification)
- Endive
- Ginger
- Green beans (generally not recommended during detoxification)
- Jerusalem artichokes
- Jicama
- Leeks
- Lettuces (all)
- Parsley root
- Parsnip
- Pumpkin
- Spinach
- Sprouts
- Squash
- Sweet potatoes
- Tomatoes (nightshade; also very acidic when cooked)
- Turnips
Supportive Herbal Formulas and Single Herbs
(NOTE: These are preferably to be used as part of a comprehensive protocol and not in place of it).
Formulas
- Adrenal Support and/or Endocirne Glands
- Brain & Nervous Systems
- Stomach Tea (try the tea before the GI Renew formulas; with the GI Renew formulas, you can open the capsules if capsules upset your stomach)
Single herbs
- Ginger root (ground/powder; at least 1 gram/¼ teaspoon per day) (to help increase peristalsis)
- Licorice root (tinctured or cut & sifted and taken as an herbal infusion starting with 1/2 to 1 cup per day) (to increase peristalsis and strengthen the adrenal medulla) (contraindicated with high blood pressure)
Three helpful teas/infusions:
- Ginger root tea: nausea; helps to increase motility
- Peppermint tea: nausea; abdominal pain; gas and bloating (avoid with esophageal burns; acid reflux type symptoms)
- Chamomile tea: nausea; relaxing and calming
How to Heal the Cerebellum
Being that the cerebellum is part of the brain, and is thereby situated in the head, we address the cerebellum in the same manner we'd go about addressing the rest of the brain and most other parts of the head.
- Again, make sure to try and rule out any heavy metal implications through tests (if any, remove silver amalgam fillings ASAP) and health assessments.
- Work specifically with the Brain & Nervous System formulas and the Circulation (Upper) formula.
- Refer to question, Draining the Head: How can I do this faster?
Complementary therapies:
Now, keep in mind, as opposed to most approaches out there, we’re not concerned with the treatment of symptoms nor the management of “disease.” Rather, the emphasis is on fixing the underlying root cause which, for one, requires a total overhaul of diet (particularly for individuals that follow a “standard” diet or the typical “GP-friendly” diet). But there are therapies that help with (1) making life a whole lot easier by alleviating symptoms, or also (2) aiding the healing process overall.
1.) Acupuncture
Acupuncture, if you can find a good practitioner, has been found to be a very beneficial complementary therapy for alleviating symptoms in those with gastroparesis.
2.) Biomagnetic therapy
Biomagnetic therapy, using medical grade and high quality magnets applied topically (and correctly), is another powerful and complementary therapy worth considering primarily because it inspires more energy at the cell level (essentially recharging the cells like a battery in a similar fashion to how raw foods do), contributes to altering the cellular environment favorably, alleviates pain and supports detoxification and regeneration, through magnetic fields, while bypassing the gastrointestinal tract (helpful for those having trouble ingesting foods and supplements).
BiomagScience provides a powerful biomagnet therapy kit.