You Are What You Absorb (not just what you eat)

By Healing Inside-Out Nutrition, Margaret Alstead

^{Many times a day we have choices about the foods we will put into our bodies. These foods become part of us and consequently have far-reaching effects on our health.}

What foods do you choose? How do you get the most out of your food?

Clean Food Choices

First, we need to choose clean foods. If the foods we eat become part of us then making whole-food choices is key. If the food we eat is full of processed chemicals (think about all the boxed foods in the grocery story) or full of chemicals (think pesticides), then everything in that food becomes part of us.

Digestion is Hard Work

Digestion is tough on the body. It is work. We can make it easier for our bodies to digest our foods by eating in a quiet area and relaxing while we eat. This is the first step to be sure that we will be able to absorb our food. Chewing our foods thoroughly is important as well. (I am guilty of not always doing this!) Mindfully eating is also key at mealtimes. (I will blog further about this at some point.) Over-eating makes digestion and absorption more difficult.

Stomach Acid

Stomach acid…..Digestion requires enough stomach acid. So, if you are taking acid suppressing medications (antacids, H2 blockers, PPIs), you are probably not digesting your foods optimally. We need stomach acid for the best digestion and we need it to protect our bodies from microbes and organisms that can be on our food. We cannot absorb all our nutrients from the food we are eating when we have low stomach acid. These medications were never meant to be taken long-term. We can work together, along with your doctor, to come up with ways to help you improve this process. Another thing to consider is our gallbladder. Do we still have a gallbladder? Without a gallbladder we may need additional support to help with digestion.

Heartburn and GERD

A note about heartburn and GERD: these are symptoms to something more going on, not an end diagnosis. If you have been ‘diagnosed’ with these, let’s work together to get to the root cause and treat what is causing the issue not just the symptom.

Leaky Gut and Absorption

Healthy guts are needed for absorption. We want our bodies to be able to get rid of the bad things that we put into them. With a leaky gut or intestinal lining that is not healthy, we will allow bad things to get into our bodies. These are things we are absorbing but don’t want to be. So, absorption is about getting our bodies to absorb the foods and nutrients we want it to while eliminating the toxins and bad things we don’t want to absorb.

Detoxification

Detoxification or detox is not a fad-term in digestion like you may be hearing out there. This is a process that your bodies (liver and colon) go through each time we eat. It is very comprehensive and needs many nutrients to do its job. Eating nutrient dense foods is key to help your body naturally detox.

Bowel Movements

Poop and elimination are activities (well, they are) I talk about every day. I want each of you to be having a bowel movement every day. What may be ‘usual’ for you may not be healthy or normal. So, constipation and hard stools are common and I can help you overcome this. On the other hand, diarrhea is a clear sign that we are not absorbing our food.

Summary

To wrap this up, let’s review. Relax, rest, mindfulness, chewing, stomach acid, absorbing, detoxing and pooping. These are the keys to be sure you are absorbing the foods and nutrients you are choosing to eat.

If you struggle with any of these things, let’s work together to get you feeling better.

Margaret Alstead, Healing Inside-Out Nutrition