A Step by Step Guide to Help Transform Your Digestion
Are you ready to transform your digestion? Let me walk you through some basic steps you can take while you’re getting started on your gut healing journey.
Assess the Problem
There are a variety of different things that can be happening with your digestion and getting to the root cause is important because the cause determines how you address your symptoms.
What do you struggle with?
Common Complaints:
Constipation
Diarrhea
Pain
Gas
Heartburn
There are many different causes to the problems I listed above. There can be imbalanced gut flora, a lack of fiber or water, inflammation, hormone imbalances, etc. Keep in mind that many of the things I am about to discuss are not medical advice and you should seek care from your primary care doctor before making changes. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t do it, and make sure you consult your doctor before incorporating herbs or supplements into your routine!
Remove Obstacles to Cure
In naturopathic medicine, we have something called the Therapeutic Order. This allows us to take a look at our patients in steps. The first step establishes the foundations of health where we identify and remove the obstacles that are preventing you from getting better. This is removing the obstacles to cure and some examples in gut healing include: alcohol, processed/packaged foods, and toxins.
Cut out alcohol
Cutting out alcohol is important. Alcohol is inflammatory and causes damage to your gut. When you drink alcohol, an inflammatory response occurs and the proteins that are holding the cells of your gut lining together are broken down, causing leaky gut.
Alcohol also messes with the bacteria that make up your gut microbiome and changes the environment.
A large portion of your immune system comes from your gut and when you drink alcohol, this has a big effect on decreasing the function of your immune system found in your gut, putting you susceptible to infection.
To properly heal, you should stay away from alcohol while doing a gut healing protocol. Without cutting alcohol out, you will continue to cause a breakdown in the gut barrier and prevent proper healing from occurring.
If you’re having trouble with this one, you may want to ask yourself, what is the alcohol doing for you? Are you drinking socially? Are you drinking to cope with a certain emotion?
Cut out processed packaged foods
Stay away from processed and packaged foods. Have you ever looked at the label on some of your favorite go-to snacks? Some of the ingredients will shock you!
The majority of packaged foods have added sugars, salt, and ingredients that are overall, not good for your health. There are so many ingredients that are put into packaged foods that cause damage to your gut lining and microbiome. For example, carrageenan is an additive used in cheeses, nut milks/dairy alternatives, creamers, etc. Carrageenan has been shown to cause inflammation on the gut lining and many who have had symptoms of bloating, irritable bowel syndrome, or even ulcerative colitis noticed feeling better after eliminating foods that contained carrageenan.
Limit exposures to toxins
All of us come into contact with toxins multiple times per day. There is no avoiding it, but trying to limit that exposure can really help. There are ways around avoiding certain toxins, so don’t worry, we’re not all doomed.
The microbiome is highly susceptible to toxins that enter into your digestive tract. Some common toxins you should look out for include BPA, BPS, heavy metals like arsenic (rice), mold, mycotoxins, parabens, phthalates, food additives and many more. While it's almost impossible to cut out all exposure to toxins, reducing the amount you are exposed to every day is a great start.
Your gut is sensitive to the chemicals you come into contact with. This damages the lining and can cause issues later on. If you’re ready to help heal your gut, download my free Gut Repair Guide.
Support Weakened Systems - Nervous System
I find that many of us forget and neglect our nervous system. Your nervous system is an extremely important part of digestion. How does your nervous system come into play here? Your nervous system is made up of two parts, your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight, SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest, PNS). Your sympathetic nervous system is most active in times of stress and is responsible for increasing your heart rate, breathing rate. The SNS also takes blood away from your skin and internal organs (like your digestive tract) to bring nutrients and oxygen to your heart, muscles, and brain.
Your PNS is responsible for relaxation. This is important for digestion because now all the blood that was being taken away from your internal organs can be brought to these areas and pick up nutrients and supply oxygen to all the cells in these areas.
In a parasympathetic state (PNS) your body will be able to perform digestive functions like contraction in the digestive tract while we're trying to digest food and relaxation of the sphincters (doors between organs) throughout the GI tract.
Check in with your nervous system
Before you eat, I suggest you check in with your nervous system. How do you do that? You can ask yourself a few questions:
· Do you feel stressed, anxious, angry?
· Are you distracted while you are trying to eat?
· Do you feel like your breathing or heart rate is fast?
If you answered yes to any of these, chances are you are not eating your meal in a parasympathetic state. Let’s fix that!
Try these tips:
1. Experiment with about 3-5 minutes of mindful breathing or meditation before eating
2. Gargle with water before eating (this stimulates your vagus nerve, a parasympathetic nerve!)
3. Turn off all distractions (TV, phone, etc.)
4. Check in with your senses before and while eating. Enjoy the colors, flavors, smells, and textures of your food
5. Schedule regular mealtimes and try not to skip meals
In regards to the last one, schedule regular mealtimes and try not to skip meals, if you tend to do this, you are putting your body more at risk for being in fight or flight (sympathetic mode). Your body is going to wonder when the next meal is coming. Your nervous system doesn’t know how to differentiate between a skipped meal and the instinctual drive for food.
Also, let’s make sure this isn’t you!
Do you want to take your healing to the next level? Check out my Gut Repair Guide.
Support Weakened Systems - Digestive System
Now that we’ve supported your nervous system, let’s make your digestive system happy!
Chew your food
This relates to regulating the nervous system as well as supporting digestion. Taking the time to completely chew your food allows you time to explore all the flavors and textures of food. Your mouth is also the first part of digestion. Completely chewing your food allows the enzymes in your saliva to break down the food, along with the mechanical action of crushing by your teeth.
No water at mealtimes
Why? Your stomach has acid, hydrochloric acid, that helps break down the food you eat. If you saturate your stomach with fluid that has more of a basic pH than your stomach, this part of digestion will be limited. Your food is no longer entering the acidic environment it needs to break down and the rest of your body will have to work overtime to break down the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates you just ate. This can end up triggering more bloating. Try to stay away from all liquids, including water, 30 minutes before and after meals. A common question I get is, what about soup? Eating soup is okay!
Bitters
Herbs like gentian, dandelion, and chamomile, have a bitter taste. These herbs are in a tincture form and when you take them before meals it stimulates your digestive system. You will have a flow of more gastric juices like your stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Bitters are also great at helping detox, stimulating appetite, and help repair damage to your gut wall.
There are also many foods that are bitter including the following:
· Arugula
· Apple cider vinegar
· Dill
· Dandelion Greens
· Jerusalem Artichokes
· Saffron
· Kale
· Green tea
· Other Vinegars (balsamic, rice wine, red wine)
You can eat these before meals, I like to have an arugula salad with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Please note if you have been diagnosed with IBD (Crohn's Disease, ulcerative colitis), gastric ulcer, gallbladder disease, gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), kidney stones, or gastritis you should NOT consume concentrated bitters. You should not consume bitters if you are pregnant.
Trial of digestive enzymes
Your pancreas is an organ that helps support blood sugar, but it also secretes enzymes that break down your food when it enters into your intestines. If you’re having issues breaking down food, your body may need extra support with digestive enzymes. What this does is gives your body a break because it isn’t having to work as hard to pump out a ton of digestive enzymes, so your body has time to heal.
Eat a diverse diet
Eating many plants helps give your body and bacteria diversity. Your microbiome consists of so many different strains of bacteria and they all strive off of different sources of nourishment. Your bacteria will feed on these plants, and they will be able to grow and flourish from this diversity.
Eat a lot of fiber
Fiber helps to keep you pooping. Without fiber you will struggle with constipation. Pooping is important because it’s a way to get rid of what your body doesn’t digest and it flushes out toxins and waste from your body’s cellular processes. Another reason to incorporate more fiber into your diet is to feed the cells of your gut lining. Certain fiber is broken down by the bacteria in your gut then the cells of your large intestine feed off of the broken-down material.
For most people, the required amount of fiber is about 25-40g per day. Here are some ideas of foods you can start incorporating to eat more fiber:
10-15g fiber per cup of lentils
9g fiber per cup of boiled green peas
8g fiber per cup of raspberries
5g fiber per medium-sized pear
2g fiber per oat bran muffin
4g fiber per medium sized apple with skin
4g fiber per cup of instant oatmeal
1g per cup of brussels sprouts
3g fiber per 1 oz (~23) almonds
6g fiber per 1 oz (2 tbsp) chia seeds
Trying to repair your gut can be a lot of work sometimes. As a naturopathic doctor, I follow the 5 R’s of gut healing, remove, replace, repair, re-introduce. Interested in learning more about how you can take these steps to heal your gut? Check out my Gut Repair Guide here.
Incorporate Food That Helps Support Gut Healing
You may have seen my blog post about many foods that are awesome for gut health. If not, you can check it out here, but let’s go over some of the basics below.
Bone Broth
Bone broth is a great option when you are trying to heal your gut because the broth contains many essential nutrients. One main nutrient to point out here is glutamine. Glutamine is an amino acid that helps support your gut lining.
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body and is used by many different systems including the digestive system, immune system, and the liver. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is one of the largest utilizers of glutamine, helping with producing more cells that make up the GI lining and providing energy to the cells there.
Amino acids like glycine and arginine are also found in bone broth that help lower inflammation.
Probiotic Rich Food
Some may find probiotics hurt their stomach and make their bloating worse, if this is you, you may have something called SIBO. But for those of you who find yourself okay with probiotics, you should try getting your probiotics from food. Which foods are high in probiotics?
Fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, tempeh, fermented pickles (fermented is the key here, not ones that are in vinegar) and miso are rich in probiotics from the fermentation process. Probiotics are actual strains of bacteria, live microorganisms. They are helpful for many things including producing nutrients (vitamin K, B6 and B12), creating a barrier between the outside world and your body, and preventing pathogens from taking over. There are many different strains of bacteria found in your gut, some are responsible for slowing or speeding up the time food takes to leave your body, others help make food for your cells in your large intestine, and make nutrients that your body uses (like the vitamins I mentioned above). An imbalanced gut microbiome can cause symptoms like bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation.
Ghee
Ghee is clarified butter with a rich, nutty taste. Ghee is simmered down to just the fat, removing all the casein (milk protein) and lactose (milk sugar). Ghee is high in omega 3 fatty acids and butyric acid which is a short-chain fatty acid. Why are short-chain fatty acids so important? They are food for the cells of your large intestine, decrease inflammation in your gut, help support the gut barrier, and interacts with the immune system.
Carrot Juice
Carrots contain a high amount of vitamin A which is an antioxidant that helps prevent against oxidative damage. Vitamin A is also important for maintaining the mucosal barrier in your gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. The mucosal barrier helps protect your body against pathogens like bacteria and viruses. Drink about 4oz per day.
Aloe Juice
Aloe vera juice has a big impact on the gut. The gel from aloe is a demulcent, which means it will sooth and calm irritated and inflamed tissues. Aloe is high in polysaccharides (sugar), vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc. You can use about 4oz per day, and it may take about one month to see results.
Some may not like the taste of aloe vera juice and carrot juice, so I find it helpful to use these juices as a base for one of your favorite smoothies.
Eating food that contains nutrients that are healing is so important in any healing protocol. If you’re interested in taking the next step, download my Gut Repair Guide to get started.
Herbs that Help with Symptoms
There are definitely times that you need a little something to take the edge off the symptoms. There are many herbs that can help with bloating. What are they?
Ginger
Fennel
Peppermint
Rosemary
Cinnamon
Lemon balm
Chamomile
These herbs are all carminatives. Carminatives are very good at coordinating the movements of your gut, causing less pain when food is moving through and calming the muscles. They also are very good at helping get gas out of your digestive tract. So basically - helping the bloat!
You don't need all these herbs at once, a tea with one or two can work. I like to make a chamomile peppermint tea on those days I seem to be a little more bloated.
If you struggle with heartburn, you shouldn’t use peppermint, it will make your symptoms worse.
When trying to heal your gut, sometimes the symptoms can be so frustrating. I always recommend many herbal teas that contain something like this while doing a healing protocol, so my patients and clients don’t suffer throughout their journey. If you’re ready to get started on your healing journey, check out my FREE Gut Repair Guide below.
