What We Do:
Living with digestive issues is challenging. People often deal with anxiety about when the next occurence will arise, skipping out on social events or even missing work to avoid an embarrassing episode.
To resolve the issue, many try eating healthy foods, not realizing that their issue might be a food sensitivity or food allergy with one of those otherwise nutritious options. Others turn to doctors and medications for a temporary fix, but once the pills run out, the symptoms return, possibly with unwanted side effects. Some assume that the issue is genetic since their parents or siblings have similar symptoms, not realizing that the issue is related to the family’s eating choices and patterns.
People get to a place where they either give up and make the assumption that they just have to live with discomfort, or they have guesses about what’s going on and are willing to make changes but are unsure where to start.
This is where I can help. The key is correcting the full digestive system, not just treating the source of the discomfort. I do this through a thorough a combination of understanding your daily life (details gathered in the Initial Intake ) and by looking closely at your diet and any successive digestive challenges (details gathered with the MyFitnessPal app). Through this process, I’m able to see patterns and begin determining what foods are potentially challenging.
It’s important to remember that a long-term issue may take a while to fix, but in some instances the problem can be diagnosed and resolved in just 30-60 days.
Specialties:
What is digestion?
Digestion is the chemical and mechanical breakdown of food into the individual nutrients the body can use. This is a North-to-South process, top to bottom. An issue anywhere along the pipeline can lead to issues both upstream and downstream. Here’s a quick overview of how digestion works and some common digestion issues.
Digestion begins before the very first bite. When we see or smell food, or even if we just anticipate a meal, our salivary glands begin secreting digestive enzymes and the hydrochloric acid (HCL) in our stomach increases. This happens most effectively and efficiently in a relaxed, parasympathetic state. Jamming a muffin into your mouth while racing to get the kids to school on time is not conducive to creating a parasympathetic state. Neither is absentmindedly eating lunch while crunching numbers to meet a mid-afternoon deadline. We need to address these habits of distracted eating first before we can fix digestion.
At its core, eating should be an enjoyable process. Look at the food, smell it, offer up some gratitude to the earth/farmer/Creator who helped that food get to your table. Relax into that feeling of calm and take a bite. Put your fork down. Chew. Chew some more. And swallow. Then take another bite and repeat the steps, but remain mindful of the process of eating. Whether you’re dining alone or with others, make time for the meal. Don’t just think of it as fuel; remember that it’s an experience.
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MOUTH
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STOMACH
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SMALL INTESTINE
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LARGE INTESTINE
The Mouth.
Food needs to be chewed thoroughly in order to mix well with the digestive enzymes in the mouth. Remember that hunger is our bodies telling us what nutrients it needs. If we’re not breaking the food down properly in order to absorb the nutrients, we will continue to feel hungry, regardless of the quantity of food taken in. Thus, chewing thoroughly—and breaking down the food better—has the positive side effect of helping people eat less.
The Stomach.
The stomach is an acidic environment and contains high levels of HCL. Food in the stomach must be broken down and attain a certain pH level before the one-way valve to the small intestine opens, allowing the digestive process to continue.
Unfortunately, low levels of HCL in the stomach are a common issue. When this happens, proteins are not broken down and fail to reach the necessary pH level to spur the valve to open. As a result, the food sits in the stomach, putrefying and producing gas. This presents as acid reflux, which is often, incorrectly, treated with antacids. These pills might resolve the symptoms temporarily, but they are ultimately compounding the bigger, low-HCL problem. A more effective solution is to add more HCL to the stomach with a supplement and to increase HCL through proper digestive hygiene, which helps break the food down so it’s acidic enough to continue on the digestive path into the small intestine.
The Small Intestine.
The majority of digestion and nutrient absorption takes place in the small intestine.
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, more commonly known as SIBO, is a condition where bacteria from the large intestine invade the small intestine. The issue presents differently from person to person—diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, aching—and requires an antibacterial treatment. Standard prescriptions work, but herbal treatments can be just as effective without the side effects of traditional antibiotics.
Leaky gut, when the wall of the small intestine is compromised, allowing food to pass through into the bloodstream, is another common issue. Stiffness and inflammation result in the best-case scenarios; rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s Disease present in the worst-case scenarios.
The Large Intestine.
The large intestine houses the majority of the immune system, which is created and maintained by two types of bacteria: colonizing bacteria, which we took in as babies while going through the birth canal, and transient bacteria, which pass through the system in roughly 72 hours and need to be replenished regularly. Cultured foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut and kombucha that contain probiotics have the benefit of repopulating the transient bacteria. I recommend eating these foods every few days.
Health issues in the large intestine (also known as the colon) are mainly inflammatory issues and need to be addressed as such. We know what causes inflammation: sugar and stress. Eliminating sugar and managing stress are the first steps in resolving large intestine issues and really all digestive issues.