Your bowels always tell a tale on you. If your bowel movements aren't normal, you're eating the wrong foods. If you have heartburn, indigestion or take antacids, you're eating the wrong foods. If you have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), you're eating the wrong foods. If you need laxatives, have too much gas or strong odors, you're eating the wrong foods and not drinking enough water. Beans are notorious for producing gas in the bowels. Beans are healthy and good for us, therefore should be included occasionally in meals. There are ways to cook beans to reduce gas production, and taking a product called "Beano" also helps.

In the summer of 2003, I saw Bill Maher on Jay Leno's show. He said that the top 4 selling prescriptions were for stomach medications. I agree with him that this means our bodies are crying out to us that we're eating the wrong foods. It also occurred to me that if you take an antacid pill 30 minutes before eating, you are actually planning to have heartburn. How crazy is that?

If your bowels aren't working properly, then all that nutritious food and all those expensive supplements aren't getting completely absorbed. That's one reason why supplements don't seem to work in some people. How do you get your bowels working properly? Avoid man-made foods. Fiber supplements are not truly natural or the best option. Eating foods high in the good fiber contained in vegetables, fruits and the whole grain flours I use, are the best option. Eating foods high in the good fats of omega 3 fatty acids such as salmon and walnuts reduce inflammation in the bowels and stomach. Taking omega 3 fish oil softgels and ginger extract softgels also helps. A person should have two to three bowel movements daily. It's the manufactured, processed, refined foods, bad fats and additives that cause the bowels to malfunction. Foods high in bad fats stay in the bowels longer, which is very harmful. This is one reason why Dr. Atkins diet is not a good idea. Wheat, especially white flour, and sugar also do great harm to our bowels. Eliminate these harmful foods and additives, eat only natural foods, and the bowels magically begin to function normally. This must be maintained at least 90% of the time. My recipes use foods that are especially high in fiber. Yogurt with acidophilus eaten daily (I use Dannon), and fresh ginger tea, are helpful for IBS and other digestive problems. Antibiotics destroy the good bacteria in our bowels that is needed for good digestion. Taking acidophilus tablets, up to 20 or 30 million units daily, will improve your system with good bacteria. Feeling better will be very noticeable.

Most heartburn will disappear when the bad fats are avoided. The harmful fats are the saturated fats in the skin and fat of animal meat, fried foods, too much butter, hydrogenated oils, trans fatty acids, and manufactured products that contain these. Eggs are good for us and the yolks contain lecithin which breaks down fat in the body. Antacid medications are a band-aid fix while the real problem marches on. The positive change in my stomach and bowels occurred noticeably within two weeks of my nutrition change. I had taken Zantac for over twelve years, and was able to stop completely within 3 months.

Celiac Sprue Disease is a serious condition in which the bowels can't tolerate a speck of gluten. 25% of Americans are gluten intolerant. That's why my recipes are also gluten-free. It's good for the rest of us to maintain at least a low gluten diet. My research showed me that other gluten-free cookbooks were unfortunately high in white sugar, fat, and harmful calories. The benefits of my recipes for the digestive system are enormous. My recipes contain ingredients familiar to everyone. Once my bowels functioned normally, supplements that in the past had little or no effect on me, now worked really well. Our digestive systems were meant to process nature's food, not man-made food.

What kind of fuel are you putting in your body?