By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
There are normal waste disposal or elimination mechanisms of the body – urination, bowel movement, exhalation and through physical, mental and emotional activity. Aside from these, women have menses, childbirth and breastfeeding to discharge what is not needed by their bodies. It’s a law of nature – if you take in something, you have to give or bring out another thing. You cannot just take and take and take. For the human body, what we normally bring out, we call waste but in reality, these “wastes” are needed by the other creatures and creations of the universe. (Hope there’s a better term.) We bring out carbon dioxide which is needed by plants. We bring out pee and poo which is part of the earth, whether it goes directly to the ground or through the septic tank. And this part of the earth will somehow find its way … also to the plants. Everything goes in a cycle- no choice, that’s the way we are designed.
These normal elimination processes, however, will be overwhelmed if we eat excessive expansive or contractive foods. In these situations, our body will resort to abnormal elimination processes like diarrhea, coughing, frequent urination, abnormal sweating and abnormal emotions. These processes are cleansing mechanisms for our body to restore its balance and prevent further damage in the body. It’s like when there is so much water in the dam, the floodgates have to be opened or else the dam will burst. In the case of the human body, if it not able to excrete or bring out these excesses, it may take years for the “dam” to burst – in the form of heart attacks and strokes or the other degenerative diseases of today.
Extremely expansive foods (or yin foods) are milk, chemicals (vetsin, medicines, additives), sugar, chocolate, honey, soft drinks, cheese, yoghurt, white bread and cookies, tropical fruits.
Extremely contractive foods (or yang foods) are eggs, meat including poultry, salt and salty cheeses.
Diarrhea is with us all year round but becomes more prevalent at the start of the rainy season. Some diarrheas are accompanied by stomach ache as the body tries to hasten the purging of the excesses and toxins. People nowadays blame the water for the diarrheas. However, investigation of our patients show that water is the NOT the usual cause of the diarrhea. If water is the problem, then most of those people who drink from a certain water source would get diarrhea. But this is not the case- the affected people drink from varied water sources. Extremely expansive or extremely contractive foods are the most common cause of diarrhea and stomach ache. Dr. Aileen Ludington and Hans Diehl in the book Health Power, Health by Choice Not Chance stated that “Infants fed formula or cow’s milk are 70% more likely to develop diarrhea and ear infections when compared to babies exclusively breast-fed.” Animal foods like milk, meat and eggs are favorite food of the bacteria E. coli which is a common cause of diarrhea. E. coli are microscopic and they are all over, especially in congested areas like urban areas, because mixed garbage (meaning animal products are surely present) is everywhere. They also abound in feces, whether it is human or animal poo. Imagine all those askal and puskal (astray dogs and cats) around us. Our microscopic housemates also like cream, cheese, ice cream, hamburger and macaroni salad.
Diarrhea and stomach pain are not new diseases so there are many home remedies that people around the world have discovered to treat it. Although, of course, for adults, we can just fast and just drink soup and water. Because once the toxins or excesses are eliminated and our body is cleansed, then the diarrhea will stop naturally. If you are generally eating well, a few bowel movements will be enough to cleanse your body. That would take about a day. After that, you would be well. No need for any medicines or dextrose. Let us trust the body’s healing power. Let us be cautious, however, with infants and young children and the elderly as they have can be easily dehydrated so we make sure they get enough fluids. We should drink as much or more than we bring out.
In the Philippines, rice coffee is one of the effective home remedies that people have been using. A lot of our kakailians have experiences of their mom or their lola making rice coffee for them when they have diarrhea or stomach ache. In 2007, an outbreak of diarrhea in Ankileng, Sagada was controlled and treated with rice coffee.
Rice coffee has a centering energy and so it stabilizes the expansive energy of yin foods. It also calms the irritability of the digestive tract. It also adsorbs toxins and neutralizes the acid in the stomach and intestines. One can drink as much as you like.
How to make rice coffee? Roast rice till black but if the patient is a child or baby, roast to just brown as the child may not like the bitter taste. When cool, store it in an airtight bottle. To use, spoon roasted rice in a pot or kettle of water (1 tablespoon rice to 1 cup but you can have your own mixture) and boil till the water gets brown or black (depends on how concentrated you want it). Drink slowly. It is more effective if the liquid is chewed first before swallowing. As we said in an earlier issue, chewing alkalinizes the food or drink making it gentle on the stomach. Saliva is alkaline while gastric juices are acidic. Chewing also gives a signal to the stomach that there is something coming (take note that the stomach can’t see) and so it has time to prepare for it. You can eat the rice after. If the person is vomiting, wait a few minutes before giving the rice coffee. For best results, drink this without sugar or milk. Sugar and milk are expansive foods and thus these will even give you more diarrhea and stomach ache.
Unpolished rice is best. Rice is available in every Filipino home and roasting rice takes only about 20 minutes. This makes rice coffee a very accessible affordable remedy. In the middle of the night when someone has diarrhea or stomach ache, you don’t have to panic and call your friend what to do. Just drink rice coffee. So it would be very convenient if you have some in your cupboard. (But, of course, if the patient is dehydrated, better consult the clinic or hospital.) You don’t even need to have diarrhea or stomach ache to drink it. It is a good tasty beverage. For coffee addicts, this makes a healthier option- you get the coffee without the caffeine. **
