Digestion

Is your digestive system embarrassing you?

While the subject of digestion is very broad, it is an extremely important factor in our health. Improper digestion of our food, leads to improper absorption of those all-important vitamins, minerals and nutrients that our entire body uses on a daily basis.

Almost all of us have had some form of symptom of poor digestion during our lives, what’s important is that we do not ignore these signs that our body is giving to us and turn that acute sign into a chronic problem. When some of the basic ones occur, such as gas, bloating, belching, constipation or diarrhea, we should take notice and review the previous 24 hours to see if there is something in particular that we have consumed or done that could be causing it. Did we eat something new or eat at a new place? Did we eat too quickly or not consume enough water? Are we ensuring that what we are eating is nutritionally dense?

A common saying is: “You are what you eat”, but in reality it should be: “You are what you absorb”. You could be eating all of the right things, but if your digestion is not working optimally then it could be all for naught. Digestion begins in the mouth and continues all the way through the stomach, intestinal tract and colon. Each step of the way is important and neglecting one stage and offset the rest. If we don’t take the time to chew properly, then the amylase in our mouth does not have time to properly break down the starches and carbohydrates. If we drink too much liquid with our meal, then the hydrochloric acid (HCl) in our stomach becomes dilute and cannot work on the proteins. If we don’t practice proper food combining, then the different digestion times of the foods can affect how other foods are being broken down and absorbed. If we consume foods that we have intolerance to, our intestinal tract will protect itself from them and reduce absorption of everything. If we do not ensure we are consuming enough good fats and fibre, we can affect how well our colon functions.