Your digestive health has adirect link to your body's health. In fact, the quality of food you eat affects your quality of life AND energy. Find out how to improve your digestive health.
Your digestive tract...that mysterious 30-foot tube holds more solutions for your health than most of us could ever imagine.
Unfortunately, most of us feed our taste buds before thinking about how it affects our digestive health.
It's true, isn't it? Most of us have received our nutritional education from the media, influencing us with delicious tastes designed to meet every craving and convenience. It's not surprising that we'd forget the correlation between the quality of our food and thequality of our digestive health.
While it seems like a simple formula on the surface, it's much deeper than you'd think. That 30-foot tube which makes up your digestive tract is responsible for delivering the components of what you eat into your body.
So this tube needs to be in good condition to deliver needed nutrients to their critical digestion and absorption points.
In order to understand digestive health better, we talked with Nancy Spahr, Certified Body Ecologist, Certified Colon Hydrotherapist and Certified Natural Health Practitioner. She's studied AND seen it all from what goes in to what comes out at her healing center, Cleansing Waters.
Here are Nancy Spahr's 7 key steps for your digestive health:
- Choose high quality, fresh organic foods - Nancy has seen incredible changes when people go from boxed and canned foods to fresh, organic whole foods as part of the Body Ecology program.
- Incorporate a healthy mix of raw and cooked foods - raw foods have their own enzymes which are especially important when your body is healing and may be low on enzymes in general.
- Follow the 80/20 rule and have 80% of your plate full of healing vegetables.
- Chew thoroughly -Digestion of carbohydrates (starches, sugars) starts in your mouth with saliva and enzymes. The enzymes not only help break down your food, they also attack bacteria. Most people don't chew thoroughly, which makes digestion of food much harder when it reaches your stomach. Chewing is stage one of proper digestion.
- Understand the importance of stomach acid (HCl) - Stage two of good digestion happens in stomach and it is your stomach's job is to temporarily hold food and begin to break it down. Stomach acid is important for in this stage of digestion and while it does not actually digest the food, it triggers the enzyme pepsin to break down proteins. The stomach acid also destroys pathogenic bacteria and parasites, eggs and larvae.
- Aging, poor diet and lifestyle habits can cause an acidic condition of the blood. If your blood is acidic, your stomach thinks it doesn't need to secrete stomach acid.
- Not enough stomach acid means you cannot digest protein properly. The food stagnates and ferments (the wrong kind of fermentation), setting you up for illness.
- Heartburn, gas and bloating result from too little HCl, not too much. If you have these symptoms, you could be missing HCl or digestive enzymes. Nancy recommends Assist Dairy and Protein, which has HCl and pepsin to help your stomach do its job of digesting proteins.
- Pay attention to digestive enzymes -your food moves from your stomach to your small intestine, where 90% of nutrients are absorbed.
- Your pancrease produces digestive enzymes so that you can digest carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It relies on the gallbladder and liver for the bile necessary for the digestive process to take place. LivAmend can be useful at this stage of digestion also because it increases bile flow from the liver and gallbladder. Bile is necessary for healthy peristaltic movement and healthy elimination.
- Taking digestive enzymes with each meal , like Assist SI and Assist Dairy and Protein can help your body digest foods. They improve your body's ability to extract nutrients from the foods you eat. The enzyme, pancreatin, available in our Assist SI, is an excellent enzyme for this stage of digestion. All these enzymes help you avoid the gas, bloating and other digestive discomforts that often result when your body lacks the digestive enzymes necessary to break down and assimilate your foods.
- Incorporate prebiotics and probiotics - Your intestines (small and large) are the home of your inner ecosystem, where the friendly microflora (bacteria and yeast) live. The microflora help you digest and assimilate foods and keep your immunity strong.
- Most people's inner ecosystems are imbalanced, which can lead to leaky gut, an overabundance of pathogenic bacteria and yeast (like candida) and illness. Probiotic-rich fermented foods and drinks add healthy microflora to your intestines, bringing your inner ecosystem back into balance.
- Including probiotic-rich fermented foods, like cultured vegetables and probiotic liquids has been key to transforming people's health, in Nancy's experience.
- Nancy always recommends organic, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar
with "the mother." An excellent prebiotic, it feeds healthy microflora and aids your digestion. Try it in salad dressings in place of regular vinegar.
- Hydrate - Nancy has noticed that many people who first come into her healing center drink a lot of soda and coffee. Some even start their day with these acid-producing beverages and changing this habit can really bring about positive changes in your digestive health.
- Soda and coffee dehydrate your body, which can also sap your energy. Drinking filtered water, organic herbal teas and probiotic liquids provide energy and hydration.
- Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine both say that cold drinks slow your "digestive fire" or your "chi" (energy). Since life and healing require energy, focus on room temperature water and beverages or warm tea.
- Cleanse and Detoxify - The Body Ecology program goes a long way to helping your body cleanse and detoxify. At Cleansing Waters, Nancy and her team provide a variety of other detoxification services, an important one being colon hydrotherapy. Donna Gates is a huge proponent of colon hydrotherapy as a way to support your cleansing and detoxification.
- Pay attention to your stool - bowel movements should occur at least once per day and ideally after each complete meal. If you are not eliminating frequently enough, toxins will be accumulating in your colon and also throughout your entire body...right down to each individual cell. Your entire body will look and feel toxic!
- Cleanse your colon - everyone could use a colon cleanse. Colon hydrotherapy (colonics) is an ideal choice because 10 gallons of water are used to hydrate your colon, softening up hardened fecal matter and sweeping it gently out of your body. This actually allows your whole body to detoxify. Releasing toxins from your colon allows your liver to release more toxins, not to mention all of the cells in your body.
- Nancy recomnends 2 colonics within the first 48 hours. This allows you to get comfortable with colon hydrotherapy and also allows the water from the first session to soften any old hardened fecal matter to be swept away during the second session. Thereafter, her clients have 2 colonics in the next week and one per week for 6 - 8 weeks. After this, the colon hydrotherapist and client decide upon a maintenance protocol
If you have headaches, skin eruptions, constipation, gas, bloating, depression or lethargy as you begin your cleanse, a home enema can be your greatest tool to shorten these "die-off" symptoms of detoxification. Get your Home Enema Kit today to support your detoxification and health maintenance program.
tailored to the client's needs.
- Enemas are excellent between colonic sessions or as part of your healthy cleansing program. If you are experiencing constipation, gas, bloating, skin erruptions and other symptoms of die-off, doing a home enema can clease toxins from your body right at home and have you feeling more energetic and happier soon. When your body is cleansing faster than it can eliminate the toxins, you will experience the Herxheimer's die-off effect. Stay ahead of your toxins by actively cleansing. Your goal is to smoothly eliminate them in a consistent, steady manner.
- The Health and Yoga Home Enema Kit is perfect for doing home enemas because it includes a 2 quart stainless steel bucket and a 20-inch catheter that allows you to get water deep into your colon, where it can soften old hardened fecal matter.
About Nancy Spahr: Nancy had a long history of constipation, depression and candida, which she successfully healed through the Body Ecology program and colon hydrotherapy. Today, she shares her healing services with over 50 clients per week in her healing center, Cleansing Waters.
At Cleansing waters, Nancy and her team provide colon hydrotherapy, Body Ecology consultations and training, ionic footbaths and the Hothouse Total Health Spa.
Nancy is a Certified Body Ecologist and I-ACT Certified Colon Hydrotherapist. You can reach Nancy by calling 317-259-0796 or e-mailing her at:info@cleansingwaters.info.
WHAT TO REMEMBER MOST FROM THIS ARTICLE:
So many of us don't give much thought to our digestive system, yet it holds the key to optimal health! CBE and Colon Therapist Nancy Spahr shares with us seven key steps for healthy digestion to make sure that your body gets all of the nutrients it needs to prevent a number of chronic health issues. Digestive health can be achieved by eating fresh, organic foods, taking your time when you eat, and taking digestive enzymes to encourage healthy stomach acid levels during digestion. When you couple this with a Body Ecology diet full of probiotics and fermented foods and beverages, your digestion will improve significantly, and you will finally feel that zest for life once again!
When I eat something then burps starts......i have this problem from very long time...what should i do please help me
Posted on May 5 at 12:01 am
you can use zymnet syrup its an ayurvedic syrup by aimil pharmaceuticals 2 spoons after meal 3 times a days. u people will definitely feel a great change in ur digestion.
Posted on Apr 29 at 3:18 am
i want to solve my digestive problem.......i have so many problems in my stomach.....my mother is also suffering digestion problem...pls help us...and give us any solution...pls rep...my email address is v.xplora2008@yahoo.com......Thank you
Posted on Apr 3 at 10:38 am
Sara, what you need to do is when you eat food you must break it up by chewing it slowly which by the way helps you get full faster and without eating a lot. (Chew your piece of food at least 30x before swallowing it.)
Posted on Mar 21 at 6:26 pm
dear sir ,
i m suffring from digation problum and also my liver is fatty so what should i do ?
plz send me good tips for digation emprovment . and which type of food i eat .
thanks
Posted on Jan 19 at 3:03 am
I have problems with food sitting for a longer time in my stomach,
Posted on Jan 16 at 6:27 am
I have poor power of digestion,so what to do at this age of 20?
Posted on Dec 10 at 4:00 pm
This should really help one of my relative. He is really showing some sign of a "bad digestive system" like too being gassy and having constipation.
Thanks a lot Nancy.
Posted on Oct 10 at 11:11 am
hi, i am having an indigestion problem , whenever i eat food i start bloating , Moreover When i wake up in the morning i have a loose stool , Its a Daily practice now ,
Loose stool Early in the morning and rest of the day goes fine ,
Plzz help me ,, What should i DO ???
Posted on Oct 9 at 4:48 am
Hi,
I am saikrishna.I am suffering from indigestion.Can you please give suggestion to prevent from indigestion.Please please please..........................
Posted on Jul 4 at 7:45 pm
Mark,
Do you have a fruit bowl on your table? (What you see is what you eat). A wooden cutting board & sharp chopping knife? a wok? these are all tools for building a healthy diet. It starts in the grocery store, make the right choices there - mostly fruits and veg.
"An apple a day keeps the Doctor away" because it is hydrating and filled with fiber. Think of fiber as the street cleaner clearing a clean path in its wake...fiber cleans you out. Beans, Beans the musical fruit - not too much, because you will have gas, but beans and lentils are high in fiber as well as green leafy veggies and fruits. Whereas Anything white (bread, pasta, flour, rice) expands in your stomach making it more difficult to pass.
So, in summation - CHOOSE GREEN OVER WHITE.... & EAT THE RAINBOW, not the same thing every day.
Posted on Jun 27 at 1:09 pm
I have lots of bloating within 5-10minutes after eating and it looks like l'm pregnant for the rest of the day and that is just from eating breakfast. I have been told that my food is not breaking up enough before it gets to the small intestine but I don't know how to fix this problem. I have tried different enzymes, but problem not solved yet, very frustrating!!
Posted on Jun 18 at 6:42 am
hi everyone!! now first of all stop thinking that gas is a huge damn problem that can not be solved.. i can tell ya how to deal with it coz i have had it for about two damn years and i am perfectly healthy now.. what worked for me:
1. no dairy items in my diet first of all.
2.'' please don't exercise'' or take bath or any other activity that involves using too much of energy after having food. wait for at least 3 hours!! let the food digest!! relax!! take deep breaths!! this is such a simple thing and we dont realize it often!! remember no fast walking or running or jumping around after having a meal XD :)
3. another very very important thing - ''EAT SMALLER MEALS'' it has fantastic effects and it acts like a miracle in alleviating the symptoms of gas!! and by that i mean eat a very small quantity at one go.. u can eat like 10 times a day but remember less is always more when u have gas!!
4. drink water half an hour before food and 1 hour after having food..!! and drink only when u r thirsty!!
5. leave cofffee forever..! say gudbaye to alcohol junk foods smoking and dont fill your body with such shit.. these things deteriorate health!! and we all noe that!!
6. and and and to start with, have a lot of juices and stop cold drinks and pizza like i said dont feed urselves with garbage.. our body is a divine temple and let only pure and divine foods go inside it.. i am not advocating a veggie diet here but its a fact that '' farts of veggie people r far less stinking than those of non veggies'' seriously man!!
7. Dont live to eat.. Eat to live. go to kitchen less often.. eat less. and eat healthy!! (by healthy i mean fruits , fruit juices)
8. what to eat when u got too much gas.. jst eat rice.. it causes no gas at all.. and then u can have friuts like papaya, mango, banana.. and lots of rice again.. or go fasting for a few days!!
Finally getting rid of digestive problems is not a one step process.. it involves small changes in your daily lifestyle..! and i promise if u follow these things and make them a part of your daily life ur problems of gas, flatulence, burping will be gone in about a month's time!!
and i hope u change ur life forever like i did.. i am much happy now.. it feels so light and awesome!! and remember a quote from 'the alchemist'' -- when u desire to achieve somthng, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it..!! :-) gud luck :-)
Posted on May 31 at 11:44 pm
Im 15 and for a long time ive had problems with my stomach. I sometimes feel constipated. I get sharp pains in my side. I have to admit i rarely almost never eat any greens. I eat refrigerated and processed foods alot. And I don't really drink a lot of water or milk. I usually don't pass a stool very often. I maybe take 1 every 1-2 weeks or so, so I can tell I'm pretty bad. Somebody please help out and respond to this. I need somebodys opinion. I'm tired of having this. Thank you. Feel free to send me an email at markbalencia@yahoo.com and tell me honestly what you think. Again thank you
Posted on May 16 at 4:51 pm
My wife has following problem:
After meals she burps a lot. ( she is vegitarian) Cooked leafy vegitable makes her stomache upsets. Occasionally she gets constipatted. Pl recommend a remedy.
thank you.
Posted on Apr 28 at 5:45 am
First of all i say a big thanks to you all for the good work you are doing out there and hope all is well there! I have read through your article and seen a little of what i should do to help my health. But still want to list out my problems in case i can still get some help out there. First am not good eater which may be due to where am currently living. Yet still, the little i eat, i can feel my belly is well full and i fart very often and visit the toilet for more than three to 5 times a day. Last but not the least i sometimes have heartburns after eating some sort of food. Finally, what can i do if i cant get organic foods around me?
Posted on Apr 11 at 8:38 am
I really need help...my stomach is always full like a balloon for years....I don't have constipation problem but yet I always feel full...I look like a pregnant lady...please advice ....
Posted on Mar 31 at 5:41 am
Hi Cesar,
it seems that you likely have Helicobacter Pylory. Ask your doctor to prescribe a test for you. Good luck!
Posted on Feb 8 at 2:32 pm
im pooping 2 much
Posted on Jan 3 at 11:31 am
i love you ur look so pretty in that outfit
Posted on Jan 3 at 11:29 am
hello!!!!
Posted on Jan 3 at 11:19 am
i have so much gas .how can i solve it
Posted on Dec 31 at 4:14 am
In late october 2010 i had to have my gallbladder removed due to a 2cm stone and cronic pain of the digestive system after removal i felt better for months. Then in July 2011 my pains all started again after a barium meal they found now that i have an ulcer in the duodidium. I know that my diet now has to change and it is definately going to. Could you recommend for me some suppliments that will help to get my digestive system right back on the right track. As i live abroad the language barrier is hard in medical terms please help. I don't understand why doctors are not telling people about these good natural ways to help people.
Posted on Jul 21 at 12:18 am
i want to solve my digestive problem plz help me.............
Posted on Jul 4 at 3:23 am
i need help my stomach is always hurting when i eat when i drink always. im always burping always like i a have sii much gas and it feels good for a second then the pain comes back i been like this for months help ?
Posted on May 9 at 11:57 am