The Seat of Health is Not in Your Pants.

Nope, it's not. It's in your tummy. More specifically, it's the 30-odd foot tube starting in your mouth and ending, well, in your pants.



Though it's one of the most underrated and unappreciated of organ systems, the digestive system is the foundation upon which health is built.

Through the digestive process we cultivate energy that fuels our metabolism, we absorb vitamins/minerals that fuel the chemical processes of life, and we excrete unwanted materials. A large portion of our immune system is located right in the middle of that big ole tube and now, new research is showing that our digestive track is the main source of "happy" brain chemicals.

Whether it's a head problem, a joint problem, a heart problem or a skin problem; good naturopaths know where to start! The digestive system, of course. Always the digestive system. We start there because we know that, when digestion in functioning optimally, many other problems "resolve themselves". I have seen the most bizarre and persistent of symptoms clear up with a few dietary tweaks and a handful of supplements.

"It's a miracle", patients exclaim! I'd love to let them go on believing that, but really, it's just some basic physiology.

What Does Optimal Digestion Look Like?

• You should have at least one bowel movement (read: poop) per day. It should be well formed, about the shape of a banana, and it should float (nice Monday morning talk, huh?).
• It should not be difficult to have a bowel movement, nor should it be urgent.
• You should have minimal gas, which for the most part is NOT foul smelling! It's true!
• You should not have bloating, indigestion, heartburn, or nausea at any point during the day.

Other signs/symptoms that indicate digestion may be "off": Mood issues, joint pain, skin disorders, headaches, just to name a few.

How Can I Optimize MY Digestive System?

1. Eliminate Food Sensitivities. You can figure this out by eliminating common allergens: wheat (and/or gluten), dairy, soy, corn, eggs, and possibly fructose. A naturopath can help with this process. Alternatively, you can have IgG food sensitivity testing done. This is a fast way to find out your major triggers.

A lot of people get really upset about this. They can't figure out why "healthy" food has to be taken out of the diet. It's pretty simple really........we are a society that consumes way too much of some foods and way too little of others.

Too much sugar, processed food and too many grains. Not enough fruits and vegetables and healthy fat. It throws digestion off and makes the digestive track sensitive to many foods, healthy or not.

When we eliminate the triggers and repair the bowel, we can return to a well-balanced diet, full of all our favorite healthy foods.

2. Optimize Stomach Acid and/or Digestive Enzymes. Again, a naturopath can take you through a super simple test to assess stomach acid production. A stool test can assess pancreatic output (read: other digestive enzymes). Without proper digestive acid and enzymes we cannot break our food down properly. This leads to large particles of food "leaking" through the bowel wall, into the blood stream where the immune system reacts to these seemingly foreign materials. This is often referred to as "leaky gut syndrome" and leads to a long and random list of symptoms.
*Note: Heartburn is actually a sign that you may NOT have enough digestive acid.....but that's a whole other blog!

3. Take Probiotics. Our digestive health begins at birth. When we pass through the vaginal canal, our brand new digestive tracts are inoculated with our mother's flora. From that point on, through the food we consume, the medications we take and our lifestyle choices, we cultivate/destroy our bowel flora.

Bowel flora is imperative to proper bowel function. Our tendency to overly processed & sugary foods, high stress lifestyles, prolific medication use and an obsession with hospital grade sanitation is destroying bowel flora balance in our digestive tracts. This leads to depressed immune function, a variety of illnesses related to immature immune development (allergies, eczema, asthma, ulcerative colitis, Chron's, etc), chronic yeast infections, and IBS.

We can fix that. Start taking a high-quality probiotic every day, or at least through cold and flu season, to improve digestion.

4. Manage Stress. The brain and the gut have always had a complicated relationship. We get nervous.....we get butterflies. We're stressed....we have diarrhea/nausea. It's no surprise that stress affects the bowels.

What's new? Well, medical Doctor Michael Gershon has written a book "The Second Brain" that explores the intricate link between gut health and brain health. It was previously thought that emotional disturbance led to digestive disturbance (in a top down model). Gershon challenges this with new research showing that digestive disturbance may actually be the cause (not the result) of emotional/mood issues (in a bottom UP model).

*Interesting Note: the gut is the source of 95% of our body's serotonin (the happy brain chemical). In Gershon's words: poor gut function "is as likely to cause depression as the brain is to cause IBS".

5. Stay Hydrated and Rested. Proper hydration and a good night's sleep both minimize stress on the bowel, improve bowel function and (sleep, in particular) allows time for repair of the digestive system.

Other: See your naturopath! This is the first step to a long and healthy life. If you can't get your digestive system on track on your own, get a little help. It will be well worth it!


Happy Healthy Monday to You All!