Inner Health-Outer Ecology by Steven Johnson, D.O.

Author: by Steven Johnson, D.O.
Issue: LILIPOH #35 - Spring 2004: Digestion
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Steven Johnson, D.O. is the medical director for Foxhollow Clinic. Located near Louisville, Kentucky, the clinic is a new inpatient initiative integrating anthroposophical, allopathic, and holistic modalities to treat patients with acute and chronic illnesses. The clinic is also developing a retreat and conference center. Learn more at 502-241-4304.

Lilipoh: What makes digestion/nutrition such an important topic today?

SJ: That's because today, we are seeing many changes in the ecology of our digestion and those changes are having a great impact on childhood illnesses as well as many chronic adult illnesses. A balance in the intestinal flora in our digestive tract helps us to assimilate food and to eliminate by-products from our blood through evacuation or excretion of the gut. Today, imbalances are common this is largely a nutritional problem that mirrors what we are seeing in our natural environment today the micro and the macrocosm are always connected.

Lilipoh: Can you say more about this relationship between our inner ecology and the environment?

SJ.: There are now many environmental factors disturbing the gut ecology. We are inundating our foods with hormones, growth factors, genetic engineering and antibiotics. Also, many pesticides and toxins now in food find their way into our digestion. Modern agricultural practices also cause deficiencies in trace minerals, such as zinc and selenium, which help us to eliminate toxic elements in the food, as well as support biological processes. All of this alters the immunity of our body and the ecology of the gut. Just as when the ecology of the farm is disturbed, the basic production of nutrients in the body is also disturbed. This is at the root of the many early-appearing chronic illnesses we see today. It is something we have to overcome. It is not the only reason, but it is where a lot of the imbalances start.

Lilipoh: What problems result from these digestive imbalances that you describe?

SJ: Our ability to assimilate our food is challenged more and more. When not properly digested, foods cross into the blood not fully broken down and so you could say the ego or the individuality can't assimilate these foods in the proper way. They are seen, then, as foreign because they are still somehow connected to nature. We are seeing more sensitivities to certain foods because we can't properly digest them. When the body "perceives" food that is not fully digested as foreign, the immune system reacts by producing immune complexes which are often neurotoxic. That manifests in the higher rates of chronic diseases like arthritis, autoimmune illnesses and others. We are also seeing it in behavioral disorders in children. This is becoming a very significant issue. When the nutrition problems are removed, you can see a level of improvement. The problem is not only one of digestion, but we are seeing that it is a very strong factor.

Lilipoh: It's disturbing that eating, which is supposed to help us, is instead creating more problems for us!

SJ: Part of the problem is that food grown through large-scale chemical-dependent agriculture has diminished nutritional value. We see the deficiencies I mentioned in trace minerals. Minerals and metals also help the self or ego to overcome unhealthy environmental influences via a balanced immune system and elimination processes. Without them, your ability to eliminate harmful substances such as pesticides and mercury is impared. And all of this puts a large strain on the etheric body.

Lilipoh: The "etheric body"?

SJ: In Chinese medicine this is what we call the chi the life forces which enable our bodies to grow and renew. In anthroposophy it can be called the body of formative forces.

Lilipoh: What should we be doing if we want to have healthy digestion?
SJ: We have