Digestive Ailments 57
stress might be the result of a major upheaval such as being fi red from
a job or the death of a close relative, but more likely it arises from tak-
ing on a responsibility that isn’t part of the daily routine: redoing a
kitchen, planning a wedding, job hunting, making preparations for a
trip, working overtime, and so on.The Worsening of an Intestinal Problem Because of an
Environmental Pollutant
Maria tells the story of standing in the doorway of her son Foster’s
bedroom one morning, when, as he woke up, he looked at her and
remarked that she had just cleaned her teeth. He said he could smell the
mint fl avor of her toothpaste—despite the fact that Maria hadn’t opened
her mouth even to say good morning. Foster had developed this acute
sense of smell after he and his family moved into a house that, unbe-
knownst to them at the time, harbored toxic mold.
Foster had had an intestinal yeast infection since he was a baby. The
fact that his stool had turned yellow after moving into the tainted
house indicated his yeast infection had worsened. With the multiplica-
tion of the yeast cells accelerating, more yeast cells were dying off and
turning into acid waste. This additional acid waste increased his
already-elevated blood acid levels, which, in turn, raised his stress-
promoting hormone levels. These raised levels increased Foster’s anxi-
ety and depression.
Foster and his family have moved out of the toxic house, but he is
still battling his intestinal yeast infection and accompanying emotional
problems.
The intestines are far more vulnerable to injury from acid waste
than the stomach because they don’t have the thick mucous lining the
stomach has. (The thin mucous lining in the intestines enables digested
food to pass through the intestinal walls into the blood and lymph
circulatory systems.) Acidic waste injures the intestines in several ways.
Besides infl aming intestinal tissues, it kills off the friendly bacteria that
aid in digestion and extract nutrients from digesting food. Diarrhea is
one outcome. The other is that invading microorganisms are no longer
kept in check. These unfriendly germs give off such poisonous wastes
as alcohol, ammonia, acetaldehyde, and formaldehyde, which, when
elevated, destroy the intestines’ mucous lining. Once this protective