Look after your digestion

There is a phrase "you are what you eat", this is true to a degree, but more accurately it should be "you are what you eat, digest and absorb". These last two points are all about looking after your intestines. More specifically, digestion occurs in the stomach and the absorption is done in the small bowels. So how can it go wrong? If you don't digest your food then you cannot liberate from it the nutrients it can provide you. This opens the doors to all sorts of health issues as without amino acids, fats, carbs, vitamins and minerals your body will be starved of the building blocks it uses to grow and repair itself with. Problems with digestion usually manifest as bloating, burping / wind, acid reflux and indigestion. Naturopaths use supplements and remedies that you take with meals to improve digestion, not suppress it. The small intestines are responsible for filtering this nicely digested food, allowing the nutrients into our blood and keeping the "bad stuff" out to be excreted. The baddies include parasites, fungus / candida, viruses, bacteria etc.. Again, a plethora of health issues occur if the mucous lining of the small intestine is damaged as it will allow these bugs to either get into the blood stream or to grow out of control in the intestines. Common symptoms that would be experienced now might be constipation, diarrhoea, food sensitivities or intolerances. Also common, but less known for stemming from bowel issue are things like joint aches and pains and immune system problems as the undigested food particles and the other "baddies" mentioned get into the blood stream and our body naturally launches an immune system attack on them. The early naturopathic texts all mention that the bowel and digestion should be addressed first in any health problems. I have seen this to be true in more cases than not.