A healthy gastrointestinal (GI) or digestive system is the cornerstone of wellness. Your digestive tract not only processes nutrients, it also rids your body of toxins. An unhealthy digestion can compromise the body's immune system making you more vulnerable to a variety of illnesses.
When it comes to taking good care of yourself, there's nothing more important than what I call the "5 Rs" of gastrointestinal care: rebalance, remove, replace, reinoculate, and repair.
1. Rebalance your diet and your lifestyle.
Your digestion is extremely sensitive to physical and emotional stress and you need to watch and perhaps modify your eating and lifestyle habits. This includes avoiding or minimizing sugar, refined foods, such as white flour, and irritating substances like caffeine and alcohol.
Learning to deal with stress and developing relaxation skills, such as Guided Imagery can help support better digestion. Of course, changing habits is never easy. A nutritional counselor, life coach or even hypnotherapies can help you curb destructive habits and re-program healthy ones.
2. Remove any offending organisms, such as parasites and abnormal yeasts, which are quite common and can wreak havoc on an otherwise healthy system.
Although this can be done with pharmaceuticals, I often recommend that patients first consider natural remedies, such as herbal medicines and nutritional supplements.
I also encourage my patients to try an "elimination" diet that cuts out irritating substances and common food allergens, such as cow's milk, eggs, gluten (the protein contained in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats) and peanuts.
Although this approach may seem overly restrictive, a diet emphasizing whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, rice and beans, as well as certain fish and organically raised poultry often reduces GI issues and gives a better sense of well being. Try this diet and you'll not only feel better but have lots more energy.
3. Replace any needed digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid (HCL), and fiber.
Digestive enzymes and HCL break down food so that the bloodstream can absorb it and send it to the liver to be metabolized. Stress diminishes your body's ability to produce both HCL and digestive enzymes. If you have indigestion, gas, bloating or belching, or have food particles in your stool, supplemental enzymes and HCL may help.
4. Reinoculate the correct "probiotic bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria bifidus to maintain your digestive health.
When we are young, this bacteria is plentiful, but often diminishes with age or exposure to toxic chemicals, antibiotics, or excessive amounts of alcohol or caffeine. Probiotics supplements in the form of powder, capsules or tablets can help restore your natural levels of healthy bacteria.
5. Repair your GI by providing the proper nutrients to heal damaged membranes and optimize GI functions.
The nonessential amino acid L-Glutamine is helpful, as are the B vitamins, Vitamins C, A and E and zinc. Herbs such as aloe vera, licorice root and comfrey also help heal the mucosal lining of the GI tract. If after taking these vitamins, supplements and herbs you haven't notice improvement, your doctor or natural medicine practitioner can perform a few simple tests to hone in on the cause of the problem.
