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| The Digestive System
You know you have a faulty digestive system if you suffer from:
Importance of Healthy Digestion The foundation of good health lies in proper digestion and elimination of food. All other health factors can be undermined if you don't digest and absorb nutrients well. You cannot be healthy if your body is unable to digest and absorb food because food provides the building blocks for your body and the energy that drives it. Any program you may use will be of limited value without good digestive function. Digestive Function Lab Testing Several different types of lab testing are available to assess the function of different organs of the digestive system. They can identify how well you are digesting food, whether you have food allergies or infections such as bacteria, parasites or fungi. Digestive Enzymes Without sufficient enzymes your body cannot break down the food you eat for assimilation. Low stomach acid and low digestive enzymes are common problems due to our poor diets and high stress levels. The enzymes present in raw fruits and vegetables help us digest foods more easily. However, these enzymes are destroyed in the cooking process. Your body's own production of digestive enzymes will become depleted if you eat too many cooked foods. When your digestive enzymes decrease, your body's other enzymes that are critical for all your body’s metabolism get pulled from the blood stream back into the digestive system. This leads to depletion of your enzyme reserve in other body systems. Enzymes are involved in every process in your body and depletion of enzymes is therefore a depletion of health. Effects of Low Enzymes Any foods you don't digest because of insufficient enzymes become toxic to your body. These partially digested foods provide a fuel supply for harmful microorganisms like yeast, bacteria, and parasites. Health sustaining enzymes are abundant in raw and lightly cooked vegetables and fruits, and these should be part of your daily food intake. Replenishing Enzymes If you have depleted your reserve of digestive enzymes through poor eating habits you can support your digestion with digestive enzymes until your reserve is built back up. The right dietary supplements will help keep you in a rebuilding state. Supplemental enzymes will help you to properly digest protein, fats, and carbohydrates, which are essential to maintaining overall health. Hidden Digestive Problems Dysbiosis is an imbalance in the healthy organisms that inhabit the intestinal tract. Dysbiosis can be caused by parasitic infections, bacterial overgrowth, or invasive yeast often referred to as Candida. Hidden inflammatory conditions can also interfere with digestion and cause dysbiosis. 'Sub-clinical' refers to problems that are frequently not detected because they do not cause obvious symptoms. Leaky Gut Syndrome "Leaky Gut Syndrome" is where the intestinal lining is damaged. As a result, molecules "leak" into the blood that should not be present and are attacked by your immune system causing inflammation and tissue damage. The immune system thinks the molecules are foreign invaders and mounts an immune response that we experience as an allergic reaction. Yeast and bacteria can also "leak" into the blood stream and cause many problems. Gluten and Dairy Food sensitivity is a common cause of hidden or sub-clinical inflammation in the digestive tract. For example, some people are sensitive to grains containing gluten such as wheat, barley and rye. Others react to lactose found in milk and dairy products; many people react poorly to soy. These types of hidden food reactions are frequently found in people with chronic health problems. The food sensitivity test allows you to determine if food related problems are a significant factor in your overall health picture. Parasites Many people think of parasites as a problem that only occurs when travelling abroad. However doctors are now discovering high levels of parasite infections in the ‘Western’ world. Parasites can get into your body when you eat at restaurants where there is poor hygiene, or when you eat from salad bars and buffets where food is left sitting out. Handling money, shaking hands with people and using public restrooms are all ways we are exposed to potential parasitic infections. You can also pick up parasites from animals and pets. Protecting Against Parasites When several people are exposed to the same parasite, one person may be able to fight it off while another may become infected. This has been widely seen in the press with various bacterial organisms, most notably the toxic E. Coli outbreaks. The E. Coli bacteria is found most often in beef products and has caused severe digestive illness and, in rare cases, death. While many people are exposed to the same tainted meat, some people react more severely than others. This difference in susceptibility is a reflection of the status of SIgA, the first line of immune defence. When you have normal SIgA production, the lining of your digestive tract is able to defend you from invading parasites. Research studies have shown that if you have lowered SIgA levels you will have a decreased ability to fight parasites successfully. If you would like to order a digestive function test, please contact me or schedule a complimentary 15min consultation. |