The Blood Gas Theory: The Cause of Gas/Bloat On A Cleansing Diet
The blood gas theory has not received very much attention in the scientific world outside of chemistry, and is very rarely discussed in a nutritional sense. This is quite disappointing because; when the blood gas theory is understood many of the problems that people experience while cleansing can be understood as well.
Quite simply explained the blood gas theory consists of the following… There are bacteria in our stomach that work to break down the food we eat in order to digest it. As the bacteria break down the food for us they give off gas as a byproduct of this process. Gas production is inevitable when it comes to digesting. This is why we pass gas every day, and would die if we didn’t. However, the amount of gas that we produce can be minimized by improving the types of foods we eat and by combining them properly. By doing this we create less digestive work for the bacteria in our small intestine to do. In result the bacteria will give off less gas. LESS WORK = LESS GAS
When we eat a standard American diet (SAD) and combine our foods poorly our digestive systems must work ultra hard which produces excess gas. Since most people eating a poor diet eat multiple times a day, they do not give their bodies enough time to fully break down meals and to diffuse the gas that is produced. Therefore the gas cannot escape from the body and becomes trapped in the system. Gas is like a rock in the body, it is very hard and nothing can pass by or around it; the gas acts as a wall. This is why gas causes constipation, when there is gas in the colon no waste matter can pass around it, and it gets stuck.
When an enormous amounts of gas is produced and cannot leave the body, it has to find somewhere else to go. So where could it possibly go? When the digestive system becomes full of excess gas it will permeate the stomach lining as well as cells in surrounding areas. This process occurs through a very commonly studied scientific phenomenon called diffusion. The gasses defuse into the cells in our body which expand the cells and create blockages that make it difficult for that cell to perform its metabolic function. This is possible because cells consist of a special membrane or barrier. The membrane acts like a gate, allowing certain things to enter and other things to exit in order to create a balance within the cell that is optimal for metabolic functioning. In diffusion, molecules travel from areas of high concentration to low concentration. So if there is a high concentration of gas in the digestive system it will diffuse to areas of lower concentrations located in other areas of the body. This is how gas pressure builds up in the cells.
When we cleanse our system we are giving our digestive system a time to rest. During this time the body begins to break down excess materials/toxins that are being stored up, Releasing the stored toxins. As we cleanse, our cells also begin to release the gas that has been stored. Again this falls right back to the law of diffusion. When the digestive track empties out due to more complete digestion or fasting, the concentration of molecules in the GI becomes lower than it is in the cells. Therefore, the gas molecules (along with the toxins) begin to move from the area of high concentration (compacted cells) to an area of low concentration (GI tract). Once in the GI the gas is released through flatulence and causes bloating.
This is why we become increasingly gassy and bloated when we cleanse. So the hard truth is that we won’t deflate instantaneously upon embarking on a cleansing diet. This further also ties into why we would feel more bloated and full after eating vegetables than we would after eating something dense like a chocolate bar. This is because the vegetables are cleansing and awaken old gas more so then a dense chocolate bar, which will further compact the body, allowing the gas to stay dormant within the cells.