In case you missed the first post in this series check it out here for a brief introduction into what The Foundations are as well as what our idea of a properly prepared, nutrient-dense diet includes.
The next and arguably most important foundation is DIGESTION. Digestion is the first foundation because we depend on our ability to digest and use the food that we put into our bodies. In fact, the definition of nutrition is: the study of the biological processes used by the body to break down, absorb, and utilize the nutrients contained in food. Nutrients are then used to provide energy, contribute to the body’s structure and regulate and assist in body processes like enzymes and hormones. In easy terms, it would really suck to be eating a ton of kale, coconut oil, quality proteins and healthy fats if you’re body isn’t even using them. Therefore, digestion is absolutely necessary, as well as the body’s ability to eliminate the remaining waste. Yep, you guessed it… poop! Digestion is a HUGE multi-process system but learning how it all works will help you realize how important it is to your overall health.
Think of digestion as a north to south process.
It actually begins before you even put food in your mouth. The entire process depends on the step before it happening as it should. When it doesn’t, that is what causes dysfunction and the all too common digestive issues. For each phase of the digestion process you will learn how it is designed to work, then the typical things that we do to cause trouble along the way and how that might look.
IN THE BRAIN
The sight, smell & thought of food triggers the production of saliva to prepare for food (like when you smell fresh brownies! just thinking of it is making me salivate…). The brain and the body requires a parasympathetic state for digestion -but WHAT does that mean? It means you have to RELAX to focus on eating. This gives your brain time to process that you are eating and for your stomach and satiation signals to tell your brain when it’s actually full. The parasympathetic system conserves energy by slowing the heart rate, increases intestinal gland activity and relaxes sphincter muscles in the gastrointestinal tract – basically your body is just focusing on digestion because it is so important!
CAUSES OF DYSFUNCTION: As a culture we are stressed and in a constant sympathetic state, the opposite of what digestion requires. We have no respect for our food or what it does for our bodies. We eat on the go, in the car, too quickly and don’t chew enough if at all, sometimes using water to “wash it all down.” (I USED TO DO THIS!)
HOW TO IMPROVE: Sit down and RELAX before you eat. Take a few deep breaths and a moment of gratitude for your food. The act of saying grace can be more than just a spiritual or religious thing, it causes you to take pause and slow your brain down to just focus on the food in front of you. Reduce distractions while you are eating such as watching TV, driving or standing up in the kitchen.
IN THE MOUTH
The mouth is the physical gateway to the digestive system. Mechanical breakdown takes place by the teeth physically breaking down food into smaller pieces while chemical breakdown happens when the salivary glands secrete saliva to moisten the food & help with swallowing. Saliva includes salivary amylase which begins the chemical breakdown of carbohydrates while chewing. Have you ever noticed the more you chew carbs the sweeter they become? That’s chemical breakdown. When you swallow, peristalsis is what happens when your esophagus constricts and relaxes to create wavelike movements to move the contents along down into the stomach.
CAUSES OF DYSFUNCTION: If we are not chewing our food enough to brain does not get the message to trigger the proper digestive processes, including the release of saliva. If saliva is not released with it’s hormones and enzymes the breakdown of carbohydrates doesn’t begin in the mouth and the breakdown can’t complete in the small intestine which causes undigested starch to enter the colon. Undigested starch creates a dysbiosis and overgrowth of bacteria – we need bacteria and none is good or bad, but it needs to be balanced.
HOW TO IMPROVE: CHEW. YOUR. FOOD. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Your stomach doesn’t have teeth! Make a habit of taking a bite and then setting your fork down, this will force you to chew more. Aim for about 30 chews per bite. Yes, it is possible and you will enjoy your food even more.
IN THE STOMACH
The continuation of mechanical breakdown of food by churning (woo!). Gastric juice is secreted and includes mucous, pepsinogen, pepsin and hydrochloric acid(HCL). HCL and pepsinogen begin breaking down proteins into peptides which are smaller strings of amino acids that the body then uses as building blocks for cells as well as certain hormones. Stomach acid also disinfects, kills bacteria and parasites, activates pepsin so we can digest proteins, and aids in the overall breakdown of food. When the food is ready to leave the stomach it is a paste-like substance called chyme. In order to trigger the pyloric sphincter to open and move the chyme into the small intestine the food must be a certain pH level from the HCL. Stomach acid is 1.5-3 pH, which is extremely acidic, it could burn a hole in carpet!
CAUSES OF DYSFUNCTION: Low production of stomach acid is a chronic problem among our population. Many people take prescription acid blockers thinking that they have excess stomach acid causing their heartburn when 90% of people’s issue is not enough stomach acid. Whoa, what?! Common factors that can inhibit HCL production include stress, excess carbohydrate consumption, nutrient deficiencies, allergies and excess alcohol consumption. If you do not produce enough HCL your first line of defense against yeast, bacteria, viruses and parasites (which are all actually little proteins) is non-existent. With proper pH in the stomach they are digested by pepsin and if they are not they thrive in the low pH and cause issues in the GI tract. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or heartburn occurs because of the low stomach acid and incomplete digestion of foods causing the carbohydrates to ferment, proteins to putrefy and fats to rancidify. This causes pressure because the chyme needs to be a specific pH to move to the small intestine and that pushes the stomach acid up into the esophagus causing reflux. The burning sensation is because the esophagus is not designed to deal with acidic foods. Low stomach acid doesn’t always cause heartburn either, it can also be present as symptoms like bloating after eating, constipation, gas and belching. Diarrhea can also be a symptom, often because the body is trying to get rid of something you’ve eaten that it deems harmful.
HOW TO IMPROVE: Limit beverages, especially alcoholic while eating. Sipping on liquids is okay, but you don’t want to dilute your stomach acid. If you experience the above symptoms taking apple cider vinegar or lemon in water before eating can be beneficial to help stimulate gastric juices. Aim for about a tablespoon of lemon or ACV in 4-6 oz of water, or if you prefer, less water and take it like a shot. This can also help if you are experiencing heartburn, NOT TUMS. Tums do not help your stomach with more acid, they just mask the symptoms of heartburn. If you experience severe heartburn or GERD supplementing with HCL might be necessary to support your body until you can adequately produce it on your own.
IN THE SMALL INTESTINE
The acidity of the chyme causes mucus to release in the duodenum (top of the SI) – this is to protect the lining from the acid until it is brought to a more neutral level. The small intestine is both a digestive organ and a gland that secretes two different hormones, secretin and Cholecystokinin(CCK). Secretin stimulates the pancreas to release sodium bicarbonate which will bring the chyme to a neutral pH. CCK stimulates the gallbladder to release bile, which is absolutely necessary to emulsify and absorb fats and depends on the presence of fat in the diet to be released. Once the pH is neutral, pancreatic juice is released to complete the chemical digestion of: proteins into amino acids and polypeptides, fats broken down into fatty acids and carbohydrates into glucose (the form of sugar the body uses). Peristalsis then happens again to move the chyme into the next part of the SI, called the jejunum – this is where the nutrient absorption takes place. Villi and microvilli are these finger-like structures on the gut walls that absorb the nutrient molecules into the bloodstream where they are carried to the entire body.
CAUSES OF DYSFUNCTION: What happens in the small intestine depends on the pancreas and the gallbladder, which is where dysfunction can occur. If the chyme pH is not correct secretin is not excreted to trigger the release of pancreatic juice and sodium bicarbonate is not released to raise the pH so it burns the mucosal lining leading to ulcers. These both come from the pancreas and without it results in incomplete chemical digestion. The gallbladder suffers from poor quality fats or low-fat diets because bile is created by fats and is also triggered to be released by the presence of fat in the diet. If you are eating rancid, low quality fats (more on that in fatty acids) the bile will be thicker and not as effective. If you are eating no fat, the bile never releases and becomes crystallized in the gallbladder, which is designed to fill up and then empty bile repeatedly. This results in gallstones and usually the present way to solve gallbladder pain is just to remove it. But we need it to digest fats! If the gallbladder has been removed, we require supplementing with bile salts in order to digest fat. If people have a history of low fat diets the gallbladder must be re-trained to function properly and may require supplementation. Another major problem in the small intestine is the presence of undigested foods. These impact the villi and microvilli that are responsible for nutrient absorption. It actually wears them down and causes the mucosal lining to spread apart allowing food particles to escape through the lining and into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream the body recognizes them as invaders and it triggers an immune response. If this continues to happen we can develop food allergies because the body develops antigens, or cells that are specifically coded to attack the undigested foods. This also causes a constant, high amount of stress on the body.
HOW TO IMPROVE: Most of what goes wrong in the small intestine can be blamed on the processes that happen north. Not chewing food enough, low stomach acid and poor quality fats or a low fat diet all contribute to issues in the SI. Eating a diverse diet of healthy fats is important for quality production of bile, as well as the body to continue using it. Stomach acid is essential for small intestine health, since our food needs to be mostly broken down by the time it gets to the small intestine so that it can be absorbed. Leaky gut effects the immune system, brain health and our ability to deal with environmental allergies and viruses. Leaky gut has also been linked to mental health issues such as depression.
IN THE LARGE INTESTINE
The leftover chyme includes indigestible fibers, bile, water, dead/sloughed off cells cells passed on to the LI. Cells in the gut are being regenerated every 1-3 days, and every 21 days you have a completely new gut lining. The colon recycles water, waste and captures any lost nutrients that are still available with the help of the bowel flora. Finally it forms and expels feces.
CAUSES OF DYSFUNCTION: Undigested foods full of parasites, microorganisms and undigested fats try to pass into the colon but clogs or jams open the ileocecal valve – this can lead to abdominal pain and issues eliminating. Dehydration also effects not only the whole digestive system but also the colon.
HOW TO IMPROVE: Make sure you are hydrated and all of the above processes are functioning optimally. If you experience chronic elimination issues like constipation, diarrhea, floating stools or hard to pass stools it could be an underlying food allergy or issues digesting fat that needs to be addressed.
Now that you understand how digestion works, hopefully you also understand how it is fundamental to health and nutrition. Without digestion functioning properly it negatively effects almost every other process in the body.
The next installment of The Foundations is BLOOD SUGAR! Do you experience sugar cravings? Do you require caffeine or sugar to get going in the morning and experience an afternoon slump that will only be helped by more sugar or caffeine? What about inability to lose weight, infertility or overall sluggishness? These are all symptoms of blood sugar dysfunction. I will highlight optimal blood sugar function as well as tips to fix these common symptoms of blood sugar imbalance.
Questions about digestion? Feel free to reach out!