Digestion. How's yours?

Let's talk digestion.  

When you think of yours, what comes to mind?

The thing is, when it's going along quite smoothly, we really don't think much about it.

But when there's a hiccup in the works (see what I did there), we pay attention.

Except sometimes there's been a hiccup in the works for so long, we begin to think of it as normal for us. We think it's just the way we are.  Trouble is, common isn't another word for normal. Digestive difficulties are common, yes, but they are anything but normal.  I'm talking about the usual suspects...heartburn, bloating, belching, gas, nausea, cramping, constipation, diarrhea, or a combination of any of these.  Digestion that is working the way it is supposed to doesn't exhibit these symptoms.  And people may even differ in the way they define these symptoms.  What is constipation, anyway?  How often am I supposed to be "going"?  If your normal is every three days, for instance, it may be your pattern, but it is not normal.  And it does matter.  

Why does any of this matter?  Well, obviously digestive issues can be uncomfortable and interrupt a person's daily work and play, but even more importantly, digestion is the foundation upon which all other body functions and systems depend.  If we aren't fully breaking down and absorbing the nutrients in our food, the building blocks for our cells, we wind up with cells that have poor function and structure.  Cells come together to form tissues, tissues come together to form organs, organs come together to form organ systems, and these organ systems make up the entire organism: you and me.  To have a healthy organism, we have to start with healthy cells.  Hence the need for complete, efficient digestion to break down the foods we eat into building blocks our body can use for repair and replenishment.  Eating the most nutrient-dense diet imaginable does us little good if our digestion isn't up to par.  It takes solid function for our whole body system to flourish.  It isn't a reach to say that chronic illness has it's root in a glitchy digestive system.  Our brain chemicals, the ones that keep us mentally and emotionally trucking along, sleeping well, and enjoying life, and our immune systems, which cause us problems when either up-regulated (in autoimmune conditions, or chronic infection, for instance) or down-regulated (when we come down with every bug making the rounds), are more closely tied to our digestion than most of us imagine.  It's why, as a nutritional therapy practitioner, I am trained to look here first in any instance of imbalance.  It's why we want to begin here first if we'd like to do what we can to prevent chronic illness from ever taking root.  If either of these scenarios interest you in your own health journey, I am here to help support your body's function from a nutritional standpoint.  If you are having some issues, don't let what is common fool you into thinking that it is normal. 

We'll be digging deeper into this subject in future posts.

Speaking of future posts...the plan is to keep them coming at a regular pace, and I mean more often than every six months (oops).  And speaking of imbalance, it turns out that having just the right number of irons in the fire can become quite the juggling act when adding an advanced course to the mix.  That advanced course required more time and brain power than I had to give without dropping the ball on something, and even that wasn't done in a conscious way.  I just sort of let the blog, which was barely up and running, slide.  I have a lot to say, and in addition to recuperating from the intense study, I'm making some adjustments in my schedule (i.e., goodbye, mindless facebook scrolling; hello, time management!) in order to have the opportunity to say it. Stay tuned!

#digestion #foundation #constipation #diarrhea #bloating #gas #nausea #belching #heartburn #brainchemicals #immunesystem #imbalance #chronicillness