Boosting appendix function may be the key to healthy gut flora, based on research by Duke University assistant professor Bill Parker. He has found that the appendix is a special, protective “green house” for healthy bacteria that our bodies need. These bacteria are crucial in the proper functioning of our digestive system, which is a major component of our immune system.
If you’ve been eating yogurt with active live cultures of acidophilus, or if you’ve been taking probiotic supplements, it may also be helpful to do
reflexology concentrating on your right foot, outside edge of the sole, right hand side, about 3 fingers up from the heel. X marks the spot on this reflexology diagram. Everybody’s body is slightly different, so use your sense of what is right for you. Essentially what taking probiotics or eating yogurt does is repopulate the good bacteria living in our intestines. This population can be diminished or wiped out by antibiotics (taken as medicine or eaten in non-organic meats), “the flu,” or when overtaken by too much yeast which also live in the intestines.
Duke’s Bill Parker says that good bacteria live in “‘biofilms’,” in other words, adherent colonies of bacteria that are growing on the inner lining of the appendix.” When they are needed back in the intestines, some of them migrate there and reestablish a healthy bacteria volume, helping with digestion and immune function.
When your healthy bacteria are at a good level, you should not have strong cravings for carbohydrates, which is what an overgrowth of yeast causes (carbs are what they feed on), you should easily avoid colds and flus, and you should experience normal, healthy elimination (no constipation or diarrhea).