Do you ever feel like no matter what you eat, your digestion is just off? Maybe you're dealing with constant bloating, gas, or that sluggish, heavy feeling after meals. Or perhaps you've been trying to eat healthier, but your energy levels are still in the gutter, your mood is all over the place, and your skin just won’t clear up. If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone—digestive issues can affect everything from your immune system to your hormones and even your mental health.
The truth is, good digestion is at the core of overall health. When your gut isn't functioning properly, it can throw your whole body out of balance. But here's the good news: by addressing your gut health, you can start to feel better everywhere.
In functional medicine, we take a deep dive into understanding not just how digestion should work, but what happens when things go wrong and, more importantly, how to get them back on track. Let’s break down the essentials of digestion and explore how a functional medicine approach can help you heal your gut and get your health back on course.
How Digestion Should Work: The North-to-South Process
Digestion isn’t just about what happens in your stomach—it's a step-by-step process that actually starts in your brain, and runs “north” to “south”. Every phase, from the moment you think about food to when it moves through your digestive tract, plays a crucial role in how well your body absorbs nutrients and keeps your gut healthy. When everything is working as it should, digestion flows smoothly, but when even one part is off, it can throw the whole system out of balance. Let’s take a closer look at how digestion should ideally work:
The Brain (Cephalic Phase): Digestion starts with the thought of food. When you see or smell food, your brain signals your body to prepare for eating. This is known as the cephalic phase of digestion. Your mouth waters, salivary glands secrete enzymes like amylase (to break down starches), and your stomach begins producing stomach acid (HCl) and digestive enzymes. This stage is often overlooked, but mindful eating—where you sit down, smell, and taste your food—can significantly enhance digestion.
The Mouth: Chewing is the next crucial step. Saliva contains enzymes that start the breakdown of carbohydrates. Chewing thoroughly not only makes food easier to swallow but also signals to your stomach to produce more digestive juices for the next phase.
The Stomach: In your stomach, hydrochloric acid (HCl) and enzymes break down proteins into smaller molecules. Stomach acid is essential for not only protein digestion but also for killing harmful pathogens that enter with food. An acidic environment also signals the release of pepsin, an enzyme necessary for protein breakdown.
The Small Intestine: After leaving the stomach, food enters the small intestine in a semi-liquid form called chyme. Here, digestive enzymes from the pancreas (like lipase, amylase, and proteases) and bile from the liver and gallbladder mix with chyme to further break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The small intestine is where most nutrient absorption occurs. Its inner lining has tiny, finger-like projections called villi and microvilli, which increase the surface area for nutrient absorption.
The Large Intestine: Any undigested food, fiber, and waste move into the large intestine (colon). Here, water is absorbed, and beneficial bacteria ferment leftover fibers, producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that support gut lining integrity and overall health. The large intestine plays a critical role in forming stools and eliminating waste.
Each step of this north-to-south process must function correctly for optimal digestion and health. If something goes wrong in one phase, it can create a domino effect, leading to digestive dysfunction.
Where Things Go Wrong & How Digestive Dysfunction Begins
Digestive issues can stem from disruptions at any point in the digestive process:
Poor Chewing and Mindful Eating: Rushed meals, eating on the go, and inadequate chewing mean food reaches the stomach in large chunks, making it harder to digest. Skipping the cephalic phase (i.e., not taking the time to think about or enjoy food) can lead to insufficient stomach acid production.
Low Stomach Acid (Hypochlorhydria): The stomach requires an acidic environment (pH of 1.5-3) to activate digestive enzymes and break down proteins. Stress, poor diet, nutrient deficiencies (especially zinc), and age can reduce stomach acid production. Without enough acid, proteins remain partially digested, creating a breeding ground for harmful bacteria in the intestines and reducing nutrient absorption.
Poor Enzyme and Bile Production: If the pancreas and liver do not produce enough digestive enzymes and bile, fats and carbohydrates are not properly broken down. This can lead to bloating, gas, and malabsorption of nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).
Intestinal Imbalance (Dysbiosis): The gut microbiome is a community of trillions of bacteria living in the intestines. A balanced microbiome supports digestion, immune function, and even mental health. However, stress, a poor diet, antibiotic use, and other factors can disrupt this balance, allowing harmful bacteria to overgrow (dysbiosis), contributing to gas, bloating, and inflammation.
Leaky Gut (Increased Intestinal Permeability): The intestinal lining is supposed to be selectively permeable, allowing nutrients to pass into the bloodstream while keeping out harmful substances. When the lining becomes damaged—often due to inflammation, dysbiosis, or stress—it develops “gaps,” allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and pathogens to leak into the bloodstream, triggering an immune response and systemic inflammation.
Why Stomach Acid Is Important
Your stomach acid (HCl) plays a critical role in your digestion and overall health. It activates pepsin, an enzyme necessary for breaking down proteins into amino acids, ensuring proper protein digestion in your body.
Plus, the acidic environment in your stomach is essential for the absorption of vital minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, as well as vitamin B12. These nutrients are crucial for various bodily functions and maintaining your optimal health.
Not to mention, your stomach acid serves as a powerful defense mechanism against pathogens. It effectively kills harmful bacteria and other microorganisms that may enter your body through food and water, thereby protecting you against potential infections and maintaining a healthy gut environment.
Why I Don't Agree with Acid-Blocking Medications
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and antacids reduce your stomach acid production, which might temporarily relieve your symptoms of acid reflux but exacerbates the underlying issue.
And what most people don't realized is that the root cause of your reflux often involves low stomach acid rather than excess acid. By reducing acid, these medications impair your digestion and nutrient absorption, and can lead to dysbiosis, increased risk of gut infections, and a cascade of digestive dysfunctions over time.
What Happens to Your Microbiome After Taking Antibiotics
Your microbiome is a delicate ecosystem of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that play a pivotal role in your digestion, immune function, and even mood regulation. While antibiotics can be necessary for fighting infections (as a last resort), they don't discriminate—they kill both harmful and beneficial bacteria in your gut. This disruption can lead to:
Dysbiosis: An imbalance in the gut microbiome where harmful bacteria may overgrow due to the depletion of beneficial species. Dysbiosis contributes to symptoms like bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, and systemic inflammation.
Reduced Diversity: A diverse microbiome is linked to better gut and overall health. Repeated antibiotic use can decrease this diversity, impairing the gut’s resilience and ability to support digestion and immune function.
How Does Leaky Gut (Increased Intestinal Permeability) Develop?
Leaky gut occurs when the tight junctions in your intestinal lining become loose, allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and pathogens to "leak" into your bloodstream. This can trigger an immune response in your body, leading to widespread inflammation and contributing to various health issues. You may experience food sensitivities, autoimmune conditions, skin disorders, and mood disturbances as a result of this increased intestinal permeability.
Causes of Leaky Gut:
Chronic Stress: Increases cortisol, which can weaken the gut lining.
Poor Diet: Processed foods, high sugar intake, alcohol, and refined carbohydrates can damage the gut lining.
Dysbiosis: An overgrowth of harmful bacteria or yeast disrupts the integrity of the gut lining.
Medications: NSAIDs, antibiotics, and acid-blocking drugs can compromise gut lining integrity.
Why I Use GI Testing to Identifying Digestive Issues
As a functional nutrition practitioner, I use GI-MAP stool testing to gain deep insights into your digestive health. This comprehensive analysis provides detailed information about your gut's microbial balance, digestive functions, and inflammatory markers. With this personalized data, we can work together to create a tailored healing plan that addresses your specific gut concerns. I'm committed to understanding your unique digestive challenges and helping you achieve optimal health from within.
Microbial Balance: Identifies beneficial bacteria levels, pathogenic bacteria, yeast, and parasites.
Digestive Markers: Measures markers like elastase (an enzyme indicating pancreatic function), fecal fat (indicating fat absorption), and pH.
Inflammatory Markers: Tests for calprotectin and secretory IgA to assess gut inflammation and immune function.
Leaky Gut Markers: Zonulin levels can indicate intestinal permeability (leaky gut).
These insights help identify the root causes of digestive symptoms and guide a personalized plan for gut healing and helping you address symptoms impacting your quality of life.
The Functional Approach to Gut Healing
A functional approach to gut healing involves addressing the underlying causes of dysfunction and restoring balance through a step-by-step process:
1. Remove Triggers
When you're starting your gut healing journey, it's important to remove triggers that may be causing inflammation or sensitivity in your body. You'll want to eliminate foods like gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, and processed foods from your diet. These are common culprits that can upset your digestive system and hinder your progress.
Next, you'll need to address any infections or imbalances in your gut microbiome. This is where targeted antimicrobial herbs come in handy. You can use natural remedies like oregano oil, garlic extract, or berberine to help combat harmful bacteria and restore balance to your gut (but please work with a functional practitioner when taking supplements and herbs). These powerful herbs can be very effective in supporting your digestive health and getting you back on track.
2. Restore Digestive Function
If you're experiencing low stomach acid, you're not alone. Many people face this issue, which can significantly impact your digestion. To support your body's natural processes, you might want to consider adding betaine HCl and digestive enzymes to your routine. These supplements can be game-changers, helping you break down proteins more effectively and absorb nutrients better.
When it comes to fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, your body might need an extra boost to break them down properly. That's where digestive enzymes and ox bile supplements come in. They can be incredibly helpful in supporting your body's natural digestive processes. By taking these supplements, you're giving your body the tools it needs to make the most of the nutrients in your food. It's a simple step that can make a big difference in how you feel after meals.
3. Rebalance the Microbiome
When it comes to rebalancing your microbiome, you'll want to focus on two key strategies: probiotics and prebiotics. Let's start with probiotics. You can reintroduce beneficial bacteria to your gut by using high-quality probiotic supplements. Look for products that contain strains like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, as these are known to be particularly beneficial for gut health. Taking these supplements regularly can help repopulate your gut with the good bacteria it needs to function optimally.
But don't stop at probiotics - prebiotics are equally important in your gut-healing journey. These are essentially food for your beneficial gut bacteria. You can easily incorporate prebiotic-rich foods into your diet. Try adding more asparagus, garlic, onions, and bananas to your meals. These foods contain specific fibers that feed your good gut bacteria, helping them thrive and multiply. By consistently including these prebiotic foods in your diet, you're actively promoting a balanced microbiome and supporting your overall gut health.
4. Repair the Gut Lining
When it comes to repairing your gut lining, you have several powerful tools at your disposal. You can start by incorporating supplements like L-glutamine, zinc carnosine, aloe vera, and slippery elm into your daily routine. These natural remedies work together to soothe and repair your intestinal lining, helping to restore its integrity.
Don't forget about the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in your gut healing journey. These anti-inflammatory powerhouses can be found in foods like fatty fish, chia seeds, and walnuts. By including these in your diet, you're actively supporting your gut healing process and reducing overall inflammation in your body.
Lastly, consider adding bone broth to your menu. This nutrient-dense liquid is packed with collagen, amino acids, and gelatin - all of which play a crucial role in healing your gut lining. You can easily make bone broth at home or find high-quality options at your local health food store. By incorporating these specific strategies, you're taking active steps towards improving your gut health and overall well-being.
5. Reintroduce and Maintain
As you progress in your gut healing journey, you'll want to gradually reintroduce a variety of whole foods into your diet. Remember to be patient with yourself and pay attention to how your body responds. It's important to avoid known triggers that may have caused issues in the past, but don't be afraid to experiment with new, nutritious options.
To support your ongoing gut health, focus on creating balanced meals that are rich in fiber, which feeds your beneficial gut bacteria. Include plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables in your diet, as these are packed with polyphenols - compounds that act as powerful antioxidants and support a healthy gut environment. Berries and green tea are excellent choices. Don't forget to incorporate healthy fats from sources like avocados, nuts, and olive oil, as these play a crucial role in maintaining the health of your digestive system.
Takeaway from Digestion 101: Digestive Health is Foundational
Optimal digestion is foundational to overall health, and a functional medicine approach focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of digestive dysfunction. By supporting each stage of the digestive process, balancing the microbiome, and healing the gut lining, we can restore digestive health and prevent the cascade of systemic issues that arise from a dysfunctional gut. If you’re experiencing digestive symptoms, fatigue, mood swings, or other health concerns, looking at your gut health may be the key to feeling your best.
Book a Call with Functional Nutrition Practitioner, Eli Priest!
Are you tired of feeling bloated, uncomfortable, and just plain "off" after meals? I've been there too. Digestive issues can be frustrating and even embarrassing, but you don't have to suffer in silence. As someone who's overcome my own gut health challenges, I understand how these problems can impact every aspect of your life.
Let's have a real conversation about your health. I'm Eli Priest, a Functional Nutrition Specialist, and I'm here to listen to your concerns without judgment. Together, we can explore the root causes of your digestive issues and create a personalized plan that fits your lifestyle beyond these digestion 101 tips.
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