Eating Heavy Meals in the Evenings
A similar eating disorder occurs when the main meal of the day is consumed in the evening. Secretions of bile and digestive enzymes are drastically reduced later in the afternoon, and especially after 6PM. For that reason, a meal consisting of foods such as meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, oily or oil-fried foods, etc. cannot be properly digested at those times. Instead, such a meal becomes a source of toxic waste deposits in the intestines.
Undigested foods are always a cause of congestion, first in the intestinal tract, and then in the lymph and blood. This greatly affects the quality of digestion during daytime meals. Gradually, the digestive power, which is determined by balanced secretions of hydrochloric acid, bile and digestive enzymes, becomes subdued, causing similar side effects as a result of overeating. Therefore, eating a large meal in the evening is a major contributing factor in the development of gallstones in the liver. Eating food before going to sleep also upsets the digestive functions, for similar reasons. Ideally, there should be at least three hours between eating and bedtime. The ideal time for evening meals is at around 6PM.
Excessive Protein Consumption
Excessive protein consumption leads to thickening and congestion of the basement membranes of the blood vessels (capillaries and arteries), including the liver sinusoids. Consequently, much of the serum cholesterol is hindered from leaving the blood stream at the sinusoids. Therefore, the liver cells assume that there must be a shortage of cholesterol in the body. This ‘shortage’ stimulates the liver cells to raise cholesterol production to abnormally high levels (some of the cholesterol is needed to shield off damaged areas in the walls of arteries). However, many of the membranes and openings of the sinusoids are congested with accumulated protein fiber (collagen). Since this prevents the sinusoids from absorbing the produced cholesterol, almost all of it is forced to leave the liver via the bile ducts. Hence bile, which excretes cholesterol into the small intestines, becomes too saturated with cholesterol. This causes the formation of small clumps of cholesterol crystals, mixed with bile components, in the liver bile ducts and gallbladder.
Interestingly, Asians generally have a low protein but fat-rich diet rarely, and rarely have cholesterol stones in their gallbladders. On the other hand, cholesterol stones in the gallbladder are very common among Americans whose diet is rich in flesh and milk protein.
Dietary fats play only a secondary, almost insignificant role in raising cholesterol levels in the blood. The liver cells produce most of the cholesterol the body requires on a daily basis for the normal metabolic processes. It is only when the basement membranes of the sinusoids are thickened through protein deposits that the liver raises cholesterol production to abnormal levels. Other factors that also generate excessive amounts of protein in the blood include stress, smoking and drinking alcohol or coffee. Once enough of these degenerate proteins are deposited in the blood vessel walls, the liver cells automatically raise cholesterol production. The side effect of this response is gallstone formation.
If you are not a vegetarian it is best to cut out meat, pork, eggs and cheese, and keep other types of animal protein to a minimum. Although all animal protein has a gallstone-generating effect, white meat, including chicken, turkey and rabbit, cause the least damage to the liver, provided they are of free-range origin and not eaten more often than once or twice a week. It is best to avoid fried and deepfried foods as they aggravate both the gallbladder and liver. Once your taste for meat or other animal protein begins to diminish, you can gradually switch to a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet.
Over 2/3 of the world’s population is vegan and has no access to animal protein. It shows no signs of such degenerative illnesses as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, etc. About 95% per cent of the body’s protein is recycled; the rest of it is manufactured by bacteria in the intestinal tract and/or supplied by plant foods. The common assumption that you need to eat protein-rich food on daily basis is not only misleading but also totally unscientific.Human breast milk is the most important and balanced food there is for a newborn child. However, in comparison with cow’s milk, it contains almost no protein, that is, just about 1.5%. Right from the beginning of life, the growing physiology is naturally prevented from receiving concentrated protein foods. It is, perhaps, for this reason that life-long vegans have the lowest incidence of gallstones, heart disease and cancer.