The Pancreas and Duodenum

THE PANCREAS—BOTH ORGAN AND GLAND

Returning to our consideration of the endocrine glands and the spiritual essences behind their purpose and function, let’s take a holistic view of the pancreas and its dual role as both gland and organ.  I’m going to touch on the blessings of the pancreas as well as the results of abuse of this precious member of our “sacred anatomy.” 

The pancreas, depicted here embracing and being embraced by the duodenum, the first twelve inches of the small intestines, offers an enormous blessing in the body temple.  That blessing is twofold: as an organ of the digestive system and as a hormone gland of the endocrine system.  Most of the body of the pancreas serves as an organ and is taken up in the production of enzymes and alkaline rich digestive juices that are used in the process of digesting the foods we consume.  Pancreatic enzymes help break down proteins into amino acids, the building blocks of tissues, and start the process of converting carbohydrates into simple sugar for energy. 

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge them for a closer look at details. Artwork was generously provided by my brother-in-law David Stefaniak) 

An Islet of Langerhans

Embedded in its spongy tissues are tiny glands that produce insulin, among other chemistry.  They are called islets of Langerhans after the young scientist who discovered them, Paul Langerhans.  Insulin is a hormone produced by Beta cells in the islets. It escorts sugar to the cells as fuel for energy.  It “parks” on a designated cell receptor site and delivers its sweet package. These tiny endocrine glands are located toward the tip of the tongue-shaped pancreas as it stretches out toward the spleen on the left side. They make up from one to two percent of the pancreas mass. They have five different cells: Alpha, Beta, Delta, PP, and Epsilon cells.  An interesting feature of the Beta cells is their electrical connection with each other but not with other cells.  It is the Beta cells that are destroyed in the case of diabetes mellitus (Type 1, or insulin dependent).  

Let’s talk about the abuse of this precious organ-gland first—and we’ll take up this entire post to have a thorough look at what we might be doing to cripple the pancreas and short-circuit our health.  Let’s look at dietary factors first.  

THE CURSE OF CORN SUGAR — aka “HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP”

The statistically rapid rise in diabetes mellitus and obesity in America is nothing short of alarming. Two thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third are obese. The unfortunate—and really criminal—aspect of this epidemic is in the fact that we could have easily prevented it.  The criminals are the manufacturers and processors of synthetic sugar, glucose (dextrose and corn sugar—also known as “high fructose corn syrup”). No other sugar, including honey, is capable of causing diabetes, even when fed in large amounts to animals.  According to research done at the University of Frankfurt in 1953, “the addition of 10 to 20 grams of honey to the usual diet of diabetics DID NOT disturb the sugar balance.“

The culprit is alloxin which was found to quickly destroy the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans without disturbing any other body tissues.  When incurable diabetic test animals are needed for experimental use, they are given alloxin to destroy their islets of Langerhans. 

This begs the question “are we getting alloxan in our foods?”  The answer is yes, with definite certainty. Alloxan is formed by the action of oxidizing agents such as chlorine, chlorine oxides, etc. on xanthine, a normal constituent of tissues (muscle, liver, pancreas, thymus, spleen) and of urine, which carries zero to one percent, and of common foods like cereals, malt and yeast, and of meat foods.  The artificial sweetener Splenda has a chlorine molecule as a carrier for sucralose. 

Xanthine is a synergist of vitamin E.  It facilitates its function in protecting the genes of the chromosome of the cells from oxidation and enzyme damage.  It also seems to facilitate the elimination of excess cholesterol from the liver.  Vitamin E is the primary nutrient in wheat germ, and it is destroyed by commercial food-processing practices.

Dr. Royal Lee, who founded Standard Process Labs in Palmyra, Wisconsin, did extensive research on Vitamin E and the impact bleaching of wheat flour has had on human health.  Here’s just one of his findings dated as far back as 1948, indicating how long we’ve known about the harmful effects of refined carbohydrates, such as bleached white flour, on our health.

Since these poison chemicals destroy both the xanthine and the vitamin E of the cereal germ, it is of interest to learn that xanthine can reduce the need for vitamin E in animal feeding tests. (Reported in Nutrition Reviews, Jan. 1948, p. 118.)  In fact, we might legitimately consider xanthine as a member of the vitamin E complex. A xanthine compound — theophylline — is used in medicine to relieve heart symptoms of vitamin E and G deficiency. And xanthine is found associated with E and G vitamins in wheat germ.

CHLORINATED WATER AND WHITE BREAD, AMERICANS’ POISONS

The obvious next question would be “where might we find chlorine and chlorine oxides in our foods?”  Well, all municipal water is treated with chlorine to poison the bacteria—and unless you live in Milwaukee where the chlorinated water is filtered through activated carbon to eliminate the chlorine in a 15 million dollar treating plant (thanks to Milwaukee’s breweries, the city’s best water customers, who can’t make beer with chlorinated water as it poisons the yeast) you’re getting daily doses of chlorine if you’re drinking municipal water right out of the tap.  

Where else?  In all white flour products, white bread being the largest consumed white flour product in the American household.  How do you think they make whole grain wheat flour white? With bleach made from chlorine dioxide, a patented process non the less.  Chlorine dioxide succeeded nitrogen trichloride (AGENE) after its patents ran out and it was conveniently eliminated by the FDA when it was found to cause fatal epileptic reactions in dogs. It, too, functioned as a bleach and bug killer by releasing free chlorine, so it is quite probable that the action of flour bleaches in predisposing humans to diabetes and obesity has been adversely impacting the public health for the past sixty or seventy years since the 1940’s.   

Glucose (corn syrup) causes low blood sugar as well as diabetes, which leads to a predisposition to heart disease, lassitude, brain fatigue, high blood pressure, overweight, irritability, and mental depression, to list the findings of a 1950 report.  This tells us how long we’ve been enabling these “diseases” in America.  (They’re not actually “diseases” but simply the symptoms of malfunction in the body caused by abusive dietary practices.) This is criminal behavior on the part of everyone in the food industry from the processors of synthetic sugars on up to the Food and Drug Administration.  

Dr. Lee says this about that: 

In dealing with foods, the Food and Drug [FDA] long ago set up the principle that ANY added poison in ANY food was too much.  It is regrettable that principle cannot be the guiding force in government instead of commercial expediency — and political expediency.

THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT OF DIABETES

There are other ways of destroying the endocrine function of the pancreas.  There is the emotional component, for instance.  All of the endocrine glands are controlled and nourished by spirit. They have no direct connection to the controls centers in the brain. Spirit exerts a vibrational influence upon their hormonal secretions.  The pancreas is particularly influenced by our emotional climate and expression.  It is thought to be the vibrational gateway to and from our emotional realm.  What’s going on with us emotionally—the quality of energy flowing through our hearts, in other words—directly impacts the functions of the pancreas—as it does all seven glands— both as a digestive organ and as an endocrine gland.  Just as fear shuts down our immune system, negative emotions such as resentment, envy, grief and attitudes of complaint and criticism, held for long periods of time, gradually shut down the endocrine cells in the pancreas.  

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that these negative destructive emotions block out the flow of the positive creative spirit of love, which in the pancreas is differentiated as the “Spirit of Blessing.” We’ll spend more time with this aspect in my next post.  Suffice it to say that an attitude of blessing and a sweet spirit foster a healthy pancreas.  Contrarily, an attitude of cursing and a bitter and complaining spirit foster an unhealthy pancreas, simply by virtue of the fact that they exclude the presence and flow of loving energy.  Love nourishes the body.  Hate, resentment, envy and grief deprive the body of vibrational nourishment.  Without the cohesive vibration of love, the body cells start disintegrating and falling apart from one another. 

I vividly remember a neighbor years ago, when I was a young man, whose husband passed away.  She wasn’t that happy a person even before his death, but afterwards she fell into a slump of grief and depression for a very long time, probably fear as well in her loss of what was likely a more stable and secure life with him around. He ran a shop and she didn’t work, to my knowledge.  Within the year of his passing, she developed diabetes and very shortly thereafter passed away.  I always felt, even at that early age in my life, that her lengthy grieving led to her undoing.  Grief is a natural and essential phase of letting go of a loved one.  But one has to let go and stop grieving eventually, or else one’s life essence will be drained away, which I feel happened with this lady.

We’ll continue in a more uplifting consideration next post.  Until then, be a blessing and change your health . . . and the world. 

To your health and healing,

Anthony Palombo, D.C.

Email: tpal70@gmail.com 

Follow my blog to get automatic email notices from WordPress of new posts. Also, visit my HealingTones.org blog and enjoy the current series of articles “4th Density Apocalypse 2012.”  I always enjoy reading comments on my articles and appreciate the time my readers take to send them along in the comment feature.

References: Dr. Royal Lee, Vitamin News, Part of the Royal Lee Library Series, Published by The International Foundation for Nutrition and Health.

Artwork by David Stefaniak

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