By Frank Tabino | Category: Natural Remedies, Natural supplements, NUTRITION, Stomach health
Having been in the Nutrition business for over 25 years, I hear quite often my customers say things like “I’m overwhelmed, where do I start” or “I feel awful, but I’m not sure what to focus on first”. I truly believe the gut is the foundation for all good health and with a little supplementation you can change the way it functions and improve your well-being.
Although a healthy diet is essential to good health, eating healthy foods is only the first step. In order to stay healthy, our bodies must be able to assimilate the nutrients from our food. No matter how healthy your diet may be; if the vitamins, nutrients and minerals in your meals are not being properly absorbed, your health will become progressively worse. This is why holistic doctors believe the digestive tract is the “foundation of optimal health”.
Poor digestion is more than just gas, bloating or acid reflux. Poor digestion can contribute to serious illnesses like osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and cancer. When your digestive tract is not functioning properly, critical body systems do not receive an adequate nutrient supply. This sets the stage for the beginning of sub-clinical nutritional deficiencies, and it is only a matter of time before these nutritional deficiencies start ruining your health.
The Culprits of Poor Digestion
Improper Levels of Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) in the stomach
When there is an inadequate amount of HCL in your stomach, your body cannot fully breakdown food. This causes the food to travel through the digestive tract in an undigested condition, causing the food to rot, which produces symptoms such as gas, bloating and heartburn.
Also, low stomach acid levels send the wrong message to the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The LES is a muscle at the bottom of your esophagus that closes during the digestive process to stop stomach acid and partially-digested food from traveling back into the throat. Low stomach acid levels signal the LES to stay relaxed, which allows both acidic juices and food to be regurgitated into the esophagus and/or the throat.
When these symptoms occur, most people will reach for an Antacid. But the problem with this is that antacids, while they do provide temporary relief, they actually reduce the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach (HCL). One of the most appalling aspects of antacid use is the more you take, the more you need. If you are using or abusing them on a regular basis, your ability to absorb nutrients will significantly decrease over time. This will eventually destroy your health.
Imbalance of Gut Flora
Keeping the digestive tract well seeded with friendly bacteria is not only essential for proper
digestion, but also absorption of nutrients and overall health. When levels of friendly bacteria drop, the entire digestive system suffers and eventually your overall health will suffer as well.
As we age, we can lose up to 90% of the friendly bacteria in our gut. Drinking chlorinated water, alcoholic beverages or taking prescription antibiotics also decreases probiotic population. When the ratio of good bacteria to bad is lowered, the result can be excessive gas, bloating, constipation, intestinal toxicity and poor absorption of nutrients.
The Road to a Better Belly
Sure it would be ideal if our bodies could function like we needed them to just by eating our fruits and vegetables. But in this day and age, with the odds stacked against us, we sometimes need a little help from nutritional supplements.
I have found 3 helpful supplements, which my family and I use daily, to get your digestion working up to speed.
The first one being Aloe Vera Juice Concentrate. Aloe Vera Juice is an adaptogen. In short, an adaptogen is something that super charges the body’s natural ability to adapt to external changes and fight off illness. Aloe Vera not only helps to soothe and cleanse the digestive tract, it also helps to regulate either constipation or diarrhea.
The second supplement is called Digestin. Digestin contains enzymes that help aide the entire digestive process. It can help reduce symptoms such as gas, bloating and heartburn. My wife Toni carries a bottle of these in her purse and swears they changed her life!
And last but certainly not least, a great way to balance out the bacteria in our bellies is to take a Probiotic Supplement called I-Flora. Each capsule of I-Flora contains 15 billion CFU (Colony Forming Units) of friendly bacteria. Some probiotic formulas contain as little as 1 billion CFU, so choosing the right probiotic supplement can make all the difference in the world.
