Resolving Digestive Problems
What are Digestive Problems?
The digestive system is an intricate system that can be disrupted by disease, diet, and emotional stress. Common digestive problems such as heartburn/GERD, IBD, and IBS cause millions of Americans to suffer daily and limit quality of life. Digestive problems often result in symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, gas, stomach pain, and stomach cramps.
Like any complex system, your digestive tract is affected by its internal and external environment and can get out of balance.
When it does, the results can include annoying and uncomfortable symptoms. Allowed to continue over time these symptoms can become progressively worse and include abdominal pain, changes in bowel movements and other symptoms that are signs of serious problems and disease in their developing stages.
Causes Of Digestive Problems
Stress
Stresses of all kinds, physical, emotional and mental, are the primary causes of poor digestion. All unconscious activity in the
human body, including both our reactions to stress and digestion, are controlled by the autonomic nervous system. When humans experience stress, as a survival mechanism, the body diverts energy, blood, enzymes and oxygen from the digestive organs to other areas of the body. In addition to mental and emotional stresses like fear, anger and worry, physical stresses including infections, trauma from injuries, surgery and environmental toxins can have a major effect on our digestive efficiency.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics can kill a high percentage of the naturally occurring beneficial bacteria that we need for digestion. They affect these
necessary bacteria as well as the pathogenic bacteria they are designed to protect us against.
Poor Diet
Processed food consumption
Low fiber diets
Not enough raw food
Food allergies
Junk foods
Eating Habits
When food is swallowed after only a few short chews, those food particles are harder for the body to digest and can result in gas, bloating and indigestion.
Fruits should be eaten alone. Since they are high in enzymes, they take only 20-30 minutes to travel through the system and for their nutrients to be absorbed. When eaten with other foods which need much longer transit time, fruit will ferment in the transit process causing gastric distress.
Combining proteins with heavy starches like pasta and potatoes stress the digestive system.
Drugs
All drugs and chemicals are basically toxins to the digestive system. Many drugs directly affect the digestive organs and digestion itself. Over-the-counter, prescription drugs and recreational drugs that can affect digestion.
Environmental Toxins
Modern life is full of environmental toxins including chemicals, radiation, solvents, food additives, air/water pollution, mercury
and other metals. When exposed to them, the body naturally reacts to detoxify, which uses large amount of energy that leaves little energy for proper digestive function.
Genetics
As with all functions and organs genetics plays an important role in digestive functioning and our ability to withstand stress and
resist digestive problems and diseases. Problems experienced by family members can be clues to our own genetic strengths and weaknesses.
Adopted from digestivesplus.com and webmd.com