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Many of you with food sensitivities or allergies will often suffer from poor digestion. Poor digestion can be a big key factor that causes food sensitivities and food allergies to be created in the first place

You have probably heard of the saying, ‘You are what you eat,’ but what is more important than that is, ‘You are what you assimilate (absorb)’.

If you are eating reasonably healthy but not digesting and absorbing all those nutrients properly then your body still isn’t getting the nutrition it needs to work at it’s very best.

Your immune system won’t have the vitamins and minerals it needs to work properly, and those undigested food particles will confuse your immune system creating more and more food sensitivities or allergies.

Symptoms Of Poor Digestion

Good digestion is imperative to good health, so lets take a look at what symptoms are produced when your digestion isn’t working too good so that you can figure out if your digestion needs help!

• Bloating
• Reflux
• Bad Breath
• Difficult bowel movements
• Feeling of fullness for hours after eating
• Belching
• Gas after meals
• Undigested food in bowel movements
• Malabsorption problems
• Peeling nails or vertical ridging on nails
• Candidiasis

If any of the above symptoms are something you encounter on a day to day basis, then it might be a good idea to start giving your digestive system some much needed TLC. Lets look at what may have caused your poor digestion so that you can learn how to fix it.

Digestion begins in the mouth

Chewing your food is exceptionally important to initiate proper digestion. As you chew, certain enzymes are released from your salivary glands to partially digest the food in your mouth. Chewing thoroughly also will prepare the release of digestive enzymes further down the digestive system tract, ensuring they are ready to continue breaking down the food you are chewing.

Even though this sounds like a pretty simple thing to do, many of you do not chew properly. Chewing does not mean take a bite of your food, chew it once, mix some soda in with it and stuff more food in your mouth all whilst trying to drive. This does not give your body time to release the appropriate enzymes for adequate digestion.

Follow These Simple Steps When Eating

• 1. Eat in a relaxed atmosphere, away from the computer and television and definitely don’t eat while you’re on the run.
• 2. Try not to drink a lot of fluids immediately before during and after meals as this can dilute the digestive enzymes impeding digestion.
• 3. If you must drink a beverage with your meals, stay away from icy cold drinks as the temperature of the drink can slow down the production of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) which is the next step for proper digestion.

The Importance of Stomach Acid

The next phase of digestion after you have swallowed your food, is in the stomach. As food enters the stomach, stomach acid is released (also known as hydrochloric acid) to begin breaking down the protein found in the food into smaller particles.

Adequate stomach acid is extremely important for proper digestion because it also lets the pancreas and gall bladder know that food is on it’s way. Stomach acid will stimulate the release of enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the gall bladder which assists in digesting the carbohydrate and fat portions of the meal.

If you do not have proper stomach acid production then all of this is greatly impaired, and you end up with partially digested food in your small intestine. This isn’t something you want because it can allow bad bacteria to thrive leading to inflammation and fermentation of the food.

This creates stomach upsets, gas production, stomach pain and bloating which are very common signs of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). With low stomach acid you will become more prone to food poisoning and digestive infections as your stomach is unable to sterilise your food. This in itself will create even further problems.

Undigested large molecules of food can also put your immune system on high alert because they are identified as foreign and dangerous to your body. This initiates a immune response to that food, creating food allergies and sensitivities.

What Causes Low Stomach Acid (Hypochlorhydria)

Low stomach acid can be caused by a number of things, but one of the most important contributing factors to low stomach is our diet. Diets that are high in processed foods, saturated fat and refined sugars completed with a lack of fresh vegetables and fruit is a wonderful way to cause low stomach acid and poor digestion.

Poor Diet

• 1. It does not contain raw fruits and vegetables that have naturally occurring enzymes to assist with the digestion of food. Your digestive system is constantly overtaxed for it’s supply of stomach acid and digestive enzymes to effectively digest your processed foods without any help from the food itself since it is so depleted in enzymes.
• 2. With a lack of nutritious food, you will become depleted in essential vitamins and minerals needed for optimum secretion of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzyme production. Zinc is a mineral which is needed to assist with the release of hydrochloric acid and B vitamins are necessary for optimum production of digestive enzymes.

Stress

Chronic stress is also another huge factor in low stomach acid and digestive enzyme production. Are you a worry wart, does your mind go hundred miles an hour. Do you eat while driving in your car on the way to work, or at your desk while you frantically type on the computer. Do these situations sound like ideal times to eat and digest your food? Well your body sure doesn’t think so.

All of these situations put your body into the fight or flight mode, which is what happens when you’re stressed. Your brain is perceiving your stressful situation as dangerous, so it prepares your body to either fight or run away.

To do so it shuts off your stomach acid and digestive enzyme production, and increases circulation to your muscles away from your digestion so your body is prepared for the dangerous situation.

As a result the food you ate while you were highly stressed will sit in your stomach for a lot longer trying to digest. With little stomach acid your stomach is unable to empty properly, causing your stomach acid to rise into your esophagus creating a burning sensation. This is also known as GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease) when it occurs for long periods of time.

Acid reflux medication known as antacids are commonly prescribed for this problem, by lowering stomach acid it reduces the reflux of acid into the esophagus removing the burning symptoms. Though they work well, they do not fix the cause of the problem which is poor digestion and low stomach acid.
If these medications are taken for long periods of time, it will worsen your digestion and inhibit your absorption of vitamins and minerals even further creating a number of problems related to nutrient deficiencies.

Other contributing factors to low stomach acid may include:

• Age: Unfortunately as we get older, our stomach acid will naturally decline which is why it is very common to have a lot of digestive problems later on in life.
• Gastrointestinal Infections

How to Strengthen Your Digestion

Strengthening your digestion is a multi dimensional treatment strategy to address the many contributing causes that I have discussed in this article. In Part Three of Healing Your Digestive System and Minimise Food Sensitivities I will explain how you can optimise your digestion through simple dietary changes along side natural supplements to get your digestion working at it’s very best.

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