How to Figure Out What’s Going Wrong With Your Digestion

Digesting is something we will do several times a day for the rest of our lives. Be in the know how about what’s happening so you don’t feel in the dark.

There’s so much in our control in terms of the food we feed our bodies all day every day; your food is either your medicine or your poison. The truth is you can be eating the healthiest foods but if you’re not able to digest them properly, they can be wreaking havoc on your gut! The sad part of this equation is the fact that 3 out of 5 of the most widely used over the counter drugs are actually for digestion related symptoms. But we also know that continued drug use only causes symptoms to get worse over time, since they aren’t addressing the root of the issue. By just going about treating symptoms, we allow for more serious health issues to develop. If only we understood more about our digestion and how it is supposed to be working, we wouldn't have to be on medications for life.

Your food is either your medicine or your poison. The truth is you can be eating the healthiest foods but if you’re not able to digest them properly, they can be wreaking havoc on your gut! 

So how can you tell what’s really going on (or wrong!) with your digestion?

Well, the fact is that most of our digestive symptoms come from our food not being broken down properly. Either we are stressed or we don’t chew enough or our body doesn’t make the right enzymes to break down the carbs, proteins, and fats in our food. This results in undigested food molecules such as proteins putrefying in our body-- literally, rotting and causing gas, and not to mention becoming food for bad bacteria to feed on and grow. 

Here’s a list of the major organs, the common dysfunctions and what causes them:

The Stomach

Do you suffer from gas, burping, or belching within an hour of eating? How about stomach cramps, diarrhea soon after meals, feeling like not eating breakfast, feeling better if you don’t eat, and loss of taste of meat and/or high protein foods? These are all signs from the stomach, and are all indications of not having enough stomach acid to break down the protein in our food. The dysfunction is happening in your mouth and/or your stomach and this could lead to the proteins putrefying and causing horrid horrid gas in your small intestine. If there’s undigested food in your stool, this is a sign that the pancreas isn’t making the requisite enzymes. Abdominal bloating 1-2 hours after eating or certain foods making you feel tired or bloated is a further sign that you aren’t making enough enzymes.

If you struggle with acidity on a regular basis. Visit my article on How To Cure Acidity Naturally. 

The Liver & Gallbladder

The liver makes bile which breaks down fat and it stores it in the gallbladder, whose role is to slowly trickle the bile into the small interesting so that all of our fat can get emulsified. 
If you suffer from nausea or have a bitter taste in your mouth, if greasy or fatty food makes you feel sick to the stomach, if you get motion sickness easily, and/or you have pain under the right side of your ribcage: your gallbladder needs support. Dry skin, itchy feet, skin peeling under the feet indicate that you’re not getting enough of the anti-inflammatory fatty acids, or, if you’re getting them but aren’t absorbing them properly. Greasy, shiny, or clay colored stools are another sign that your gallbladder needs support and you aren’t digesting fat properly! 

The Small Intestine

If you have airborne allergies, if your pulse speeds after eating, or you  experience hives, these are indications that your immune system is in inflammation mode. Since 80% of the human immune system is situated alongside the intestines, allergies are indications of imbalance in the intestinal flora as well as a weakened gut lining. Remember that most of our digestive dysfunctions are because food isn’t getting broken down properly and thus putrefies in the gut. In this case, the large, undigested particles of food, especially proteins, start to break holes in the gut lining, leading to these large food molecules being able to break unhindered into the bloodstream where the proteins get attacked as invaders, the classic allergenic response. 

The Large Intestine

FiInally, dark circles under eyes, excessive foul smelling lower bowel gas, bad breath or strong body odors, a coated tongue, or IBS symptoms indicates dysbiosis in the large intestine and a lack of proper fiber needed for gut motility.
Well, that was a lot!

Stay tuned for our next episode where we help you how to decode the individual support your body needs for these dysfunctions.