Raphael Kellman M.D. - Gut Reactions: A Radical New 4-Step Program for Treating Chronic Stomach Distress and Unlocking the Secret to Total Body Wellness

Gut
Reactions

A Radical New Four-Step Program
for Treating Chronic Stomach
Distress and Unlocking the
Secret to Total Body Wellness

Raphael Kellman, M.D.,
and Carol Colman

BROADWAY BOOKS NEW YORK

Contents

To Rav and Karen Berg of the Kabbalah Center for transmitting the soul of life to methe mystical teachings of Kabbalahfrom which this book is derived. They have taught me that unconditional love, and overcoming our reactive nature through sharing, heals physical disease at its root.

To my parents for bringing me into this beautiful world, a world that they colored with compassion and sharing, for which I am eternally grateful.

Acknowledgments

We do not create new ideas, and we ourselves do not discover new scientific theories. Rather, new ideas and theories make their way to us. This book is based on ideas that found me while resting on the shoulders of others, and is the end result of a transcendent yet imminent light radiating through many helpful individuals. These people are like musicians in an orchestraall required for the production of the symphonyand without their help this book could not have come to fruition.

First, I would like to thank Janice Vallely, my agent, who, through refining and even rejecting numerous ideas of mine, opened up a space within me for new thoughts to emerge. Her insight and intuitive feel for frontier thought are blessings to me. And thanks to Carol Colman, who also helped in this process and who worked closely with me to make this book a reality. Her skills and practical intelligence were as necessary for this book as form is to poetry. And thank you to my editor, Ann Campbell, for her expertise, intelligence, and enthusiasm.

I would also like to thank my many teachers, colleagues, and friends, such as Abe and Sarah Hardoon, and Ruthie and Moshe Rosenberg of the Kabbalah Center, among others. Viktor Frenkle, M.D., who is no longer alive, taught me that meaning is healing. As I ventured into the field of mind-body medicine, wrought with my new ideas that threatened to shatter the very foundation of conventional medicine, I realized I was not alone when I encountered people like Larry Dossey, M.D., Andrew Weil, M.D., Bernie Siegel, M.D., and Deepak Chopra, as well as the works of contemporary physicist/philosophers such as David Bohm, Gary Zoukaf, and Frijtav Capar. I knew that a new worldview, which would change our way of understanding the world and our bodies, was emerging. Most important, through the prism of Kabbalah, as taught to me by the enlightening teachings of Rav and Karen Berga prism that is beginning to awaken us from a collective progressive forgetfulness that spanned thousands of yearsI learned to see, with a new heart and spirit, the awe-inspiring new ecology, and a world free from the shackles of ego and rational mind, and from the confinement of space, time, and motion.

Much thanks to Jo Sgammato and Peggy Dace for their help.

I would like to thank my staff, who contributed enormously not only to this book but to the development of my holistic medical center, The Kellman Center for Progressive Medicine, and especially Evelyn for her work on the computer. To Gabriel Rabner, a wonderful nutritionist who helped with the dietary plans. To my brother Barry, whose business acumen and practical brilliance can make anything a reality. To David Haik, who helped me appreciate the power of words. To Linda Friedman, who read the manuscript and gave helpful tips. To my brother Harvey and my friend Leon and the many other friends over the years with whom I shared so many wonderful Buberian encounters.

Part I

The Mind-Gut Connection

Awaking the Mind in the Gut

You dont have to be in pain! You dont have to be held hostage by an angry, unpredictable stomach. You dont have to pop a Pepcid before every meal, take a Tagamet to eat like a kid again, endure endless Maalox moments, or devour a roll or two of Tums every day. You dont have to be addicted to antacids. And despite what the endless stream of antacid and laxative ads say, you dont have to pump your body full of drugs to coax your gastrointestinal system to do what its supposed to do.

The solution is simple: Follow my four-step program for treating chronic stomach distress, and you can heal your gut and regain your health.

I have treated thousands of patients suffering from gastrointestinal (GI) ailments, ranging from peptic ulcers and heartburn to chronic abdominal cramps, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), inflammatory bowel syndrome, and many other conditions. I know from my practice that my dramatically different approach to the treatment of gut problems can bring health and vitality to the tens of millions of people who suffer in silence or receive misguided treatment at the hands of well-meaning physicians.

In this book I will tell you about safe and natural ways to restore normal gut function without medication, by using nutritional supplements, a bio-ecological diet, and a new lifestyle plan. You will see how easy it is to live symptom-free without harsh drugs or extraordinary medical interventions. Most important, the benefits of my program extend far beyond the gut. A healthy gut is the key to maintaining a healthy body. By following my program you will significantly reduce your risk of developing serious illnesses down the road such as heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimers disease. You will also see improvement in other seemingly unrelated problems. And you will feel better than you have in years.

At the core of my program is the belief that before you can heal your gut problems, you must learn to think with your gut. I will show you that there is a mind in the gut and that we must understand it in order to feel better and regain health. I will show you how to use this powerful insight to cure your gut problems quickly and effectively. I will give you the actual tools you need to understand what your gut is telling you, and modify your lifestyle accordingly and effectively.

An Epidemic of GI Problems

A decade of practice has taught me that most GI problems are the result of mindless eating, an unhealthy lifestyle, and years of ignoring the mind in the gut. Despite the fact that most gut problems are easily preventable, gut disease has recently reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Consider the following statistics:

62 million Americansup to half of all adultssuffer from chronic GI disorders.

Americans lose a total of 229 million days of work annually because of GI problems, at a cost of $14.5 billion a year.

Severe indigestion accounts for 8 million visits to the doctor and 1 million visits to the emergency room each year. Second to the common cold, GI problems are the most common reason why people seek medical attention.

American adults spend an average of five hundred dollars per person annually on laxatives.

Americans are addicted to antacids and acid blockers. We spend $6.8 billion annually in prescription and over-the-counter products to relieve indigestion. In 1999, Prilosec, a powerful acid-suppressing drug, surpassed Prozac and Premarin as the top-selling prescription medication in the United States!

But gut problems are not only exacting a steep toll in terms of medical expenses and lost productivitythey are robbing people of their lives:

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., killing more people each year than breast cancer.

The rate of new cases of esophageal cancer (associated with GERD) is increasing faster than any other cancer.