4 tips to improve digestion

To say that we are what we eat isn’t completely accurate; we’re actually what we manage to breakdown, digest and assimilate.

Weak digestion is a very common problem. Some of the most obvious symptoms are heartburn, indigestion, bloating, cramping, gassiness, constipation and diarrhea.

Other issues that can be linked to poor digestion are food sensitivities and allergies, chronic fatigue, weight issues, skin issues such as dry skin, acne and rosacea, brittle nails, pernicious anemia, osteoporosis, many autoimmune conditions have been linked to the gut and of course conditions like irritable bowel syndrome are directly linked to poor digestion.

If you would like to learn practical tips and tools that you will be able to start implementing in your life right away healthier food, please join me for an information-packed workshop.

 

Here are my top 4 tips to improve digestion:

1-Don’t eat when stressed or anxious

Our fast-paced and stressed-out lives are not conducive to healthy digestion.
Our bodies have evolved to be very efficient. For our early ancestors, when the stress hormones got turned on, that was a signal to prepare to fight or to run for their lives.

When stress is high, our bodies are just not capable of efficient digestion.

Be mindful of how you are feeling around meal time and avoid eating if you are feeling especially anxious or stressed. Hydrochloric acid or HCl is an essential part of healthy digestion as we will discuss later. Stress turns off the natural secretion of HCl in the stomach.

The old fashioned tradition of giving thanks or saying grace before a meal is actually a huge plus for digestion since it forces us to slow down, allowing the body to prepare to receive nourishment. The anticipation of the delicious flavours, the smell and the sight of food all prime the system to begin digestion.

2- Chew, chew, chew
The importance of careful chewing can’t be emphasized enough. Digestion begins in the mouth with the mechanical breakdown of food and the mixing of food particles with enzyme-rich saliva that begins the chemical breakdown of certain foods. When we gobble down our food, we skip this step putting a huge strain on the rest of the digestive process.

Get in the habit of putting down your utensils between bites and don’t fill your fork until the bite in your mouth is chewed thoroughly and swallowed.  Many clients have noticed that simply slowing down and being a little more mindful at mealtimes has made a huge difference with digestive issues.

3- Incorporate fermented foods  
Fermentation has been used for thousands of years. Every culture has a tradition of fermented food. Perhaps the most popular and widely known fermented food is yoghurt.

Germans have traditionally fermented cabbage to make sauerkraut, Koreans also have a delicious version of fermented cabbage and radish called kimchi, the Jewish tradition is known for  naturally fermented pickles, eastern European countries ferment milk to make kefir, the Japanese ferment grains or soybeans to make miso and China ferments tea to make kombucha.

Fermenting food is a great way to preserve food for later use but the fermentation process provides many other health benefits. Fermenting foods actually boosts the food’s enzyme and nutrient content making foods more bioavailable and it provides beneficial bacteria that are indispensable for digestion.  Digestion is a highly enzyme-dependant process making fermented foods superstars for digestive health.

Eating a little fermented food with each meal is a tasty and easy way to support digestion and provide the body with beneficial bacteria.  Beware of pasteurized products or products that skip the fermentation step and simply add vinegar. Here are some of my favourite brands:

Kefir provides about 30 strains of beneficial bacteria to support digestion compared to yoghurt that provides about two or three strains.

Kefir can be found in any grocery store, I suggest buying plain unsweetened kefir and sweetening it yourself with good quality sweeteners like maple syrup or raw honey. Raw honey is also a great source of natural enzymes to support digestion.

Here is a delicious recipe you can try with kefir.

 

4-Increase stomach acid.
Our stomachs are designed to be very acidic. Hydrochloric acid (or HCl) is secreted by the cells that line our stomach and provide acidity that is crucial for several reasons; it is necessary for digesting the protein we eat by activating key enzymes, it acts as a natural antiseptic by inhibiting pathogens that hitch a ride into our systems through the food we eat, it is necessary for mineral absorption, and finally it determines the speed at which our stomach empties.

When we don’t produce enough hydrochloric acid, the food we eat sits around in the stomach longer than it should which can lead to putrefaction and fermentation in the stomach (think of hamburger meat left out in damp 37 degree Celsius weather) contributing to a lot of discomfort, gas and bloating. In an attempt to process and digest the food, the stomach continues to churn and mix its contents. Occasionally, the contents will back up into the esophagus creating a burning sensation commonly known as heartburn, or acid reflux.

The conventional mindset is to suppress stomach acid when that burning sensation arises. However, it’s important to note that if there was sufficient acid available in the stomach to efficiently deal with the ingested food in a timely manner, then there wouldn’t be any burning or reflux in the first place.
By suppressing or neutralizing stomach acid with antacids, we are in effect further impairing digestion that was likely weak in the first place.

If you have ever taken antacids, or suffer with GERD, heartburn or acid reflux, I highly suggest you read the following article.

In his book Why stomach acid is good for you, Dr Jonathan Wright estimates that about 90% of American’s don’t produce enough stomach acid.

Here are some reasons why low stomach acid is so common:

Stress: stress interferes with the secretion of HCl.

Age: many experts believe that HCl secretion declines as we age which explains why overindulging and overeating don’t go over quite as well as we get older.

Processed and refined foods: our standard North American diet (SAD) that is to say, highly refined and processed foods, impairs the natural secretion of stomach acid and robs the system of necessary nutrients that are needed for the digestive process.

Alcohol: too much alcohol can interfere with stomach acid as well as the use of certain over the counter and prescribed medication.

Here are some things you can do to boost stomach acid naturally:

Raw apple cider vinegar before meals. Raw apple cider vinegar is a fermented food that is full of beneficial enzymes and beneficial bacteria. Apple cider vinegar will also help correct the pH of the stomach. Take 1 tablespoon in a little warm water before meals.

Digestive bitters have been used for thousands of years and are a natural way to support digestion.

Digestive enzymes and HCl with pepsin.  Most folks respond incredibly well to the lifestyle and diet changes that I’ve listed above and don’t require additional support. However, occasionally digestive enzymes or supplemental HCl can be appropriate. Always consult with a health professional before taking supplements.

A final word on overweight and digestion:
Poor digestion is often a contributing factor to weight issues. If the food you are eating isn’t efficiently being broken down, metabolized and absorbed, the system will continue to signal hunger in an attempt to nourish itself. This applies especially if the foods eaten are highly processed and enzyme depleted. Switching to more natural and nutrient-dense foods, while supporting digestion and elimination, always results in some pretty noticeable changes.

If you would like to learn more tips to make healthier food choices, please join me for an information-packed workshop.

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Going with good enough

I was having dinner with a colleague the other evening and we were discussing how lucky we were to be doing work that was so satisfying and, well, fun.

He previously worked in a high pressure job in the corporate world dealing with deadlines and giant amounts of stress. A near burnout was his red flag to make the scary career change and listen to his heart and what his body was telling him. My experience working with seniors and a very sick dad is what prompted me to empower myself and take control of my health and happiness.

We both agreed that the reason our new careers are so uplifting and motivating is because we get to share with every single one of our client’s amazing transformations and journeys. Hearing from clients on a daily basis, how their diet and lifestyle changes have improved their health and wellbeing is motivating.

Being immersed in the holistic nutrition field and having principles and facts re-affirmed constantly, through research and reading, is another factor that inspires me and has led me to embrace the changes that I’ve implemented in my life. Looking back, these changes have happened gradually and gently but have amounted to a pretty major shift in the healthy direction.

I often wish that I was a better writer to be able to share some of these amazing testimonials, tips and tidbits of information with you to inspire you the same way that I am inspired. When I do sit down to write or try to put something together, I become paralyzed, constantly tweaking and reworking blog posts that end up never getting shared.

How long should the text be? How do I tie everything together so it flows? What if people think it’s dumb? What if people get tired of hearing from me? I have at least half a dozen texts sitting around that I haven’t been brave enough to share.  I never thought of myself as a perfectionist but apparently I was wrong.

A mentor recently shared this statement that resonated: ‘’Go with good enough. When you’re waiting for perfect, the world will never get your help’’

So I’m going for it! I’m committing to 6 blog posts/newsletters (I’m still not sure what the difference is) over the next 6 months. They may not be coherent, they may be too long or too short, and there may even be an occasional typo, gaawwd.

I would also like to invite you to a workshop that I’ve put together that was also designed to inspire you: Foods that heal, foods that harm. In this workshop I will share my top health tips; practical tips and tools that you will be able to start implementing in your life right away. We’ll also demystify some common misconceptions and provide you with tools to make better choices at the grocery store. I hope you can join us.

As thank you for tuning in today, I’m sharing a delicious no cook brownie recipe that was shared with me by a client. I recently pulled it out and thought I’d whip up a batch for the holidays.

I’m not much of a baker because I don’t do well following recipes but this recipe is Kimmy proof.

I suggest soaking the nuts overnight to improve their digestibility. The nuts and the chia seeds provide beautiful healthy fats and great fiber. I decided to make my brownies into little balls that I then rolled into more cocoa powder. I keep mine in the freezer for when that chocolate craving hits. When clients confess to chocolate cravings, my mind always goes to a possible lack of magnesium in the diet. This is quite common since we burn through magnesium like crazy with stress; cocoa is a great source of magnesium.

If you’d like to learn more, Kim will be sharing her tops tips for better health in a workshop. Learn simple things you can do to begin shifting your health today.

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Nature’s best medicine.  Water

Perhaps you want to start taking better care of yourself, lose a couple of pounds or just feel better overall? Water is always step one.

Do you suffer from digestive disturbances, heartburn or constipation? Do you get a lot of urinary tract infections? Do you have dry skin? Is your urine very dark? You may be ignoring your body’s many cries for water.

Before reaching for a Tylenol next time you get a headache. Try a couple of glasses of water and wait about 15 minutes; it’s surprising how many headaches are due to dehydration. It isn’t uncommon to see long standing conditions disappear simply by adding water.

Despite its importance, most people I meet don’t drink enough water. About 20% of the population don’t drink any water at all and about 42% drink a mere 2 glasses a day or less.  Did you know that the thirst signal can actually be confused for hunger when your body is in a state of dehydration?

A lot of folks get discouraged when they attempt to increase their water intake because they’re constantly running to the washroom.

Have you ever forgotten a plant outside and let it get really dried out? Did you notice that when you first watered it when it was in that very dried up state, the water just poured right out the bottom?

Our bodies react similarly when severely dehydrated. Attempting to guzzle two or three liters a day when you usually only manage a glass or so, will result in the water pouring right back out.

The key is to start gradually. I generally suggest increasing your water intake by one cup first thing upon waking and maybe one cup between lunch and dinner and do that for a week. The next week add another cup in the morning and another cup in the afternoon and so on.

Keep in mind that our bodies are most contracted and acidic in the morning since a lot of detoxifying happens during the night while we sleep. So starting your day with one or two glasses of water is really a gift and a great habit to get into.

The more water you drink and as your body rehydrates, the more you will notice the thirst response returning.

 

Join me for a practical workshop if you would like to learn a simple formula to calculate your personal water prescription.

Concerned about weight loss? 

We are all exposed to toxins from our environment, from our food, the air we breathe, personal care products etc. Whatever toxins the body cannot metabolize will get stored far away from the major organs such as the liver, heart or lungs. Most toxins are stored in the fat and in joints, basically out of harm’s way and away from essential operations.

So when you ask your body to release fat, it automatically implies that you will be releasing toxins into the system. Your body will never release these harmful and reactive compounds into the system and into the circulation if you are not giving your body the means to eliminate them through the bowels, urine or sweat. Metabolism will slow down or even come to a screeching halt if it has to, rather than expose the tissues to harmful toxins.

When clients come to me for weight loss, I always get them to chart how much water they are taking in on a daily basis so that they can make the connection between weight loss and sufficient water intake.

What they always notice is; days when weight loss stopped or plateaued are always preceded by days when they were out and about and didn’t manage to get all of their water in. When they resume their proper water intake, weight continues to come off.

I hope this has inspired you to drink a bit more water this holiday season.  I promise it will help you maintain your weight and help prevent putting on those unwanted pounds. Increasing water intake is simply a habit that needs to be changed.  Find a trick or method that works for you.

I find that having water in plain view is my best incentive to drink. I also prefer water at room temperature. One client claims it tastes sweeter that way.  I also like to power drink in the morning so that I can quit early in the evening to avoid too many trips to the bathroom at night. Some clients keep elastics around their reusable water bottle. If for example you calculate that you need to fill your water bottle five times a day, you would place five elastics around the bottle and remove one each time you’ve polished one off.  Some clients get more water in if they drink from a straw. There are also apps that you can download onto your phone to remind you to drink.

Try to drink most of your water between meals. Drinking large amounts with meals will dilute digestive juices, reducing digestion and assimilation. Sipping small amounts with meals is fine.

Finally, keep in mind that nothing replaces pure water. Coffee, tea, soda and concentrated juices will upset our water balance and can act as diuretics, causing us to eliminate more water than the beverage contains.

Pure water is nature’s best medicine.

Would you like to learn more practical tools for overall health and prevention or just get inspired to make wiser choices? Join me for a workshop where I will share my top tips; practical things that you will be able to implement right away that will have noticeable impact on your diet and health.

 

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