Digestion: More Than A Four Letter Word
When most people think of digestion, they likely think of eating food and then eliminating that food. Simple as a four letter word: poop. (There are many other four letter words for this, but I will do my best to keep this post clean) For those of you that don’t know, there is way more to digestion than these two daily occurrences. If you want to learn the ins and outs of how digestion works, I suggest you pick up the book Kick Your Fat in the Nuts or check this four week digestion course. In the meantime, I will do my best to break it down in much simpler terms so you can understand why it is so important for your health.
There are many good reasons I am always referencing how you are digesting foods in my blogs and posts. Most health issues people have today, including weight gain and too many others to list, have to do with the way you digest different nutrients. I learned this firsthand when I finally took the steps to correct the way I digest foods. I set out with intentions of dropping weight that was not budging with any other method, but I actually corrected many health problems that afflicted me for decades.
These ailments include, but are not limited to, chronic heartburn, cystic acne, frequent migraines and headaches, frequent sinus infections, constant drippy nose, itchy skin, insomnia, nausea, especially when trying to eat heavier foods like red meat, frequent anxiety, occasional depression, hypoglycemia, high blood sugar and chronic ankle/foot pain. This does not even touch on my weight, which was constantly fluctuating between the same thirty to forty pound difference. So when you hear me mention digestion over and over and over again, you see I have so many reasons to be thankful I finally took the steps to get my digestion back in working order.
You may be reading this blog just for the heck of it, but think you do not have any digestive issues. You eat, you poop; you live to eat and poop another day. If you have any of the symptoms listed above or have struggled with your weight, I am going to guess your digestion could use some improvement. And guess what – those are just the health problems I have experienced. There are tons of other issues I did not mention because I never had to face those health problems, but many of them likely occur because your body is not breaking down the food you eat properly.
Think of it like this – if you do not eat food, you die. If you eat just enough food, you live, but you do not flourish. When you start eating the amount and kind of food your body needs to thrive, you live at your most optimal level. However, if lifestyle choices over many years have taken their toll on you, you may be eating enough nutrients to thrive, but those nutrients are not being broken down enough to make it to your cells where you need them to help you be at your most optimal. If your body is not properly breaking down the food you need, guess what happens to it. Just like when you throw meat into a garbage can, it will rot and ferment until it is no longer recognizable as meat. It is now something toxic that will sit in the garbage can until your neighborhood garbage man comes to collect it.
You are not so lucky. Much like with the garbage can, if a person is unable to breakdown his food, the food rots and ferments in his stomach. Some of that food will eventually be eliminated, however, some of that food is going to be stored as toxins right in his fat cells. These toxins can eventually be eliminated when the coast is clear, but if he keeps consuming more foods that his body is no longer capable of breaking down, the coast is never clear and the toxins keep getting shoved into fat cells. The fat rolls start to multiply. I am not only talking about your everyday run of the mill junk food; even healthy, organic foods can be toxic to your body if you no longer have the enzymes to break them down correctly.
A few things that cause your body to stop digesting foods correctly include poor nutrition choices, such as processed or fast food, years of yo-yo dieting, medications and aging. Some people will never take the steps to correct digestion and will continue to live with the consequences of having rotting and fermenting food in their bodies. Gas pains, bloating, heartburn and no longer being able to eat some of your favorite foods become the norm. Some people’s digestion is so screwed up by the time they are older, they actually resort to eating baby food or consisting mostly on nutritional shakes since that food is already broken down for them. Yes, many of our older friends are buying up the Gerber, and it is not for their grandchildren.
So what can you do to abstain from resorting to strained peas and carrots in your golden years? You need to help your body breakdown the food you consume into usable nutrients. Every person is different, just as every person’s digestive strength is different. There are a lucky few who can fix the way their body digests foods just by making better food choices. They can eat less processed carbohydrates, less chemically laden foods and less processed meats, instead opting for grass-fed, hormone free organic meats, organic fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats like real butter and avocados. That is always the best place to start. If you cannot afford all of the food you consume to be the organic variety, just do the best you can. Take the time to learn which foods retain the most pesticides when grown through conventional methods. In this case, you really are what you eat.
If you have read any of my previous blogs, I know you are waiting for me to mention my trusty digestive supplements. Well, I am not here to disappoint, so here goes. Let me start by saying I am not a supplement salesman. I do not take time out of my busy life to blog about the lifestyle changes I made in order to take money out of your pocket with some junk supplements that you will take for a while, only to be wearing a size higher than when you first started taking interest in your health. Believe me, I have been there, done that and I would never wish that misery upon anyone who takes the time to read my blog. The reason I am writing this blog now, and why I write about these basic digestive supplements in my blogs and posts, is because they have changed my life. If you are wasting time on constant fad diets or are experiencing menacing health problems, I want to share how they can change your life too. Not every person reading this blog will need every supplement I mention, and that is why I am more than happy to provide a personal assessment of what will help you reach your health goals.
The basic components of digestion include hydrochloric acid and bile flow. When you start the chewing motion, your body starts to produce hydrochloric acid in order to help break down the food you consume into usable nutrients. Your body was not made to recognize a peanut butter sandwich, so the hydrochloric acid has to break that sandwich down into something your body can recognize as fuel. This is the part of digestion that aids your foods, especially meats and proteins, in not rotting and fermenting in your body. If you have weak acid from various lifestyle choices (poor nutrition or certain medications), the supplement recommended to correct this issue is called Beatine HCL found at the Natural Reference website.
The next step of digestion is when your body produces bile to help neutralize the acid. This also helps in effectively removing the unusable nutrients from your body. If your bile is too thick or sticky, this can result in a number of health problems like acne, nausea and gas. The supplement used to correct this issue is called Beet Flow. (Please note, it is very important to always take Beet Flow when supplementing with Beatine HCL to make sure the acid is neutralized properly)
If you have too much hydrochloric acid and not enough bile, this can result in diarrhea. If you do not have enough hydrochloric acid, this can result in constipation. If you do not have enough of either aspect of digestion, well, it results in a big mess that shows up in the form of other health problems.
The basic digestive supplements I talk about are not meant to be taken for the rest of your life. They are only meant to be taken for as long as your body needs help in restoring proper levels of hydrochloric acid and decent bile flow. How long you need to take them to fix your health problems really depends on how screwed up your current health is. When I started this program you can see I was pretty screwed up, and that was with me following health shows, reading health geared books and trying to live the best way I knew how. It took me about a year of really working on my health before I could finally say I was fixed.
When I first read about the supplements in the Kick Your Fat in the Nuts book, I was skeptical to say the least. Thankfully it came at a point in my life where I was desperate enough to try anything just to fit into my old clothes. I could not fathom the thought of becoming the mom who put everyone else’s health before herself, resorting to a life of baggy mom jeans and over-sized sweaters. My desperation for answers turned into a life of optimal health for my entire family. It also made me into a better mom, but not because I can now wear the same size clothes I wore in high school. I no longer need to jump from diet to diet in search of something that can help me feel good. I no longer have to spend days in bed with a head pounding so bad that I am sometimes unsure if I am having an aneurysm. I now know which foods will help my family flourish and how to prepare those foods instead of giving in blindly to most food companies marketing ploys. Did the supplements do all of this for me? Well, yes, they kind of did.
Before I took the steps to correct my digestion, I tried to eat all of the foods I knew were good for me. I tried really hard. Sometimes it worked, but it was never too long before my old cravings came back and I was hitting the sugar hard. Despite all of my efforts and all of the knowledge I retained over the years, I could not permanently eat the foods I knew were good for my health because of physiological reasons I was unaware of. I truly believe if I did not find these supplements to help me correct my digestion, I would still be reading every health book I could and struggling with yo-yoing weight. I believe I would be resorting to the same kinds of medications so many people resort to everyday just to make it through the day. Instead I feel great and have more energy than I ever could have imagined. (To learn more about how to fix your digestion, check out this four week almost free course here.)
Does that mean I always pass on my old favorites? Of course not, I am human after all. Since I fixed the way my body digests foods and have eliminated years of stored toxins, my body is better equipped to handle the occasional splurge. The good news is that occasional splurge does not result in an unstoppable binge or instant weight gain. It is very freeing. Also, fixing my digestion with the natural supplements I mentioned means I do not crave the junk foods any longer. Many times when I do try a food I used to love, well, it kind of tastes like cardboard. My body finally recognizes what it needs to thrive and it does not want the food that does nothing for my health.
I decided to write this blog before any of the other topics floating around my head because it is truly an important place to start when trying to correct almost any health problems that are plaguing you. I know digestion does not sound like the key to it all, but it is way more important than you realize. I was on the path to correcting my health for at least six months before I realized the effect I was really having on my body and future health. At first the weight was coming off, and that was all I cared about. Now I really want to take what I have learned and pass on that knowledge so my friends and family no longer have to struggle to find the answers.
If you would like to find out more information about how the basic digestive supplements can help you optimize your health, help you lose weight or fix health problems you are dealing with, please do not hesitate to contact me. Also, if you decide to order the supplements from Natural Reference, please use my practitioner code at checkout: nissahelpsme and email me for the instructions on how to properly use them.
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