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Heal:
The Adrenal Glands - Anxiety - High Cholesterol - The Gut - The Heart  - Inflammation - The Kidneys - The Liver - The Lymphatic System - Malabsorption - The Medulla - The Nervous System - The Pancreas  - The Pineal Gland - The Reproductive System - The Thyroid

Malabsorption

In my experience as a health professional, a basic nutritional principle has proved to be a most helpful guide: it is not what we eat that counts, but what we digest and assimilate. (Bernard Jensen, Iridology Volume 2)

Absorption - Nutritionally, the process by which nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal tract into the bloodstream to be used by the body. If nutrients are not properly absorbed, nutritional deficiencies (malabsorption) will result. This can affect the body’s fuels and building materials as well, leading to enervation, starvation and deterioration. (Dr. Morse - The Detox Miracle Sourcebook)

​Malabsorption  - Nutritionally, an inability to absorb nutrients from the intestinal tract into the bloodstream. Primarily due to impactions, inflammation and poor pancreatic digestion. (Dr. Morse, The Detox Miracle Sourcebook)

As you can see in the Iris chart, everything radiates out from the digestion and affects every part of the body via the circulation, lymphatic fluids, and the nervous system. As well as problems within the various parts of the digestive system the state of chemistry of the digestion affects the entire body by the balance of acid alkaline and the assimilation of nutrients which becomes a part of the bloodstream and is circulated through the liver to every part of the body. (Farida Sharan, Iridology, A Complete Guide)

Malabsorption may be defined as a difficulty in absorbing nutrients from food, and may manifest in myriad ways in the body. Typically those who experience malabsorption also experience weight loss, excessive thinness, muscle wasting, dry hair and hair loss, anemia, weakness, and fatigue. There are four stages in the digestive process. When we consider malabsorption we are primarily looking at the 'Digestion' phase and especially the 'Absorption' phase.

1. Ingestion: eating food and swallowing it.
2. Digestion: breaking down food into smaller pieces by mechanical and chemical means in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine.
3. Absorption: moving the nutrients from the food into the bloodstream and the cells of the body.
4. Elimination: removing the undigested waste from the body through the large intestine and the anus.

Causes of Malabsorption

The primary causes of malabsorption are: 1) Mucoid plaque; 2) Chronic lymphatic congestion in intestinal tract, especially problematic in the small intestines (both mucoid plaque and lymphatic congestion block absorption capacity); 3) Poor pancreas function (the pancreas secretes alkalizing  enzymes into the duodenum that assist the digestion of  fats, carbohydrates, and proteins); 4) Chronic adrenal glands (healthy adrenal glands play a significant role in the utilization of most of the body’s minerals and trace minerals (some of which act as precursors to vitamins such as vitamin B12) through adrenal cortex production of mineralocorticoid steroids; 5) Sluggish liver/gallbladder (the gallbladder secretes bile produces by the liver that assists in the break-down and subsequent absorption of fatty acids) 6) Low parathyroid/thyroid function (due to the parathyroid and thyroid's critical role in calcium utilization)

In the duodenum, bile produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, is added along with pancreatic juices. The bile, which is the only digestive juice that contains no enzyme, breaks up and emulsifies fat particles. The bile also activates the pancreatic enzyme just as hydrochloric acid activates pepsin in the stomach. The pancreatic juice helps digest carbohydrates and proteins and converts the fats partly processed by bile into fatty acids and glycerol. The intestinal juice contains four enzymes which complete much of the digestion process before the food is absorbed through the intestinal mucosa into the blood and lymph vessels that line the intestinal walls. During this process, the digesting food is being propelled along the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of the small intestine (about one inch in diameter and twenty feet long) by peristaltic motion, as the small intestine secretes hormones that signal the pancreas and liver to stop injecting digestive juice and bile into the duodenum. (Bernard Jensen, Iridology Volume 2)

Once foods are broken down, we must now absorb these building materials, fuels and other components, which include: tissue salts, vitamins, tannins, alkaloids, flavins, and the like. These components are now carried by the bloodstream to the cells for energy, stimulation, building and repairing, or stored for future use. Absorption is accomplished through the villi (fingerlike projections on the surface of certain membranes) and small pores all along the mucous membranes of the small and large intestines. This absorption should be simple, but most people’s intestines become impacted with a thick rubber-like substance called “mucoid plaque.” This thick plaque, which develops in the GI tract, is made of gluten, mucus, foreign protein, and other food by-products that act more like glue than nutrition! Refined sugars, grains, meats, and dairy products are the foods that are most responsible for the formation of this plaque. This “mucoid plaque” blocks the nutritional components of our foods from being adequately absorbed into the body. (Dr. Morse, The Detox Miracle Sourcebook)

Malabsorption - As Seen in the Iris

The primary iris marking indicating malabsorption is the ‘malabsorption ring,’ a jagged, dark, uneven ring located in the pupillary margin, the zone directly surrounding the pupil that also reflects the health of the stomach lining. There are quite often small splits in the iris fibers, or radii solaris, originating here and radiating out into the stomach zone. Along with the malabsorption ring, additional signs include lymphatic congestion in the small intestines blocking the process of nutrient absorption, mucoid plaque throughout the intestines, pancreatic disturbance, and adrenal insufficiency. One may also observe congestion or low function in the liver/gallbladder zone or thyroid/parathyroid weakness.

Malabsorption - Detox & Herbal Protocol

As we observe the root causes of malabsorption and the common manifestations of malabsorption - excessive thinness and muscle loss - we are also able to determine the pathway to healing. Of primary importance is to cleanse the entire digestive system, the intestines and digestive organs. This can be done through a colon cleansing protocol that begins the process of removing mucoid plaque and lymphatic congestion in the intestines; herbs that address the pancreas, adrenal glands, gallbladder and liver; and an alkalizing, cleansing diet primarily of fresh fruits, juices, and leafy greens. For slowing down detox when it becomes unsustainable one may eat hot nourishing food such as a sweet potato for dinner and/or vegetable 'medicine' broth.
Additional protocol specific to malabsorption are topical herbal applications made of nourishing, strengthening, alkalizing, and mineralizing herbal teas and infusions or topical application of herbal tinctures. (see video for more details)

While we may address  malabsorption through specific organs and glands and herbal protocol, the process of detoxification will essentially remain the same – with the kidneys and lymphatic system being of primary importance, the ultimate goal is to achieve better kidney filtration and thus begin to remove lymphatic congestion throughout the body, improving the lymphatic system's ability to remove defunct cells in our body, ultimately restoring the body's innate healing process and ability.

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