Struggling with Digestion? Here’s What You Need to Know

Digestion is the front door to the house of nutrition. No matter how nutritious the food one consumes is, it will mean nothing if the body is unable to break the food down into the simple forms of nutrients the body is capable of using. Everything vital for life, except oxygen, enters the body through the digestive tract.

Digestion begins in the mouth with chewing which accomplishes the task of breaking food down mechanically and mixing it with digestive enzymes. Food then moves to the stomach where powerful digestive enzymes are released. These enzymes eradicate potential infectious organisms, break down protein molecules, and prepare minerals for absorption.

We Have a Problem

Many serious health conditions begin with faulty digestion. Medical

offices are filled with those who suffer from colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulosis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hemorrhoids, ulcers, irritable bowel disease (IBD), and stomach and colorectal cancer. Millions of prescriptions are written for antacids alone every year.

The stomach is one of the hardest-working organs in the human body. Each day the stomach releases about 2 liters (a little over 2 quarts) of digestive substances. Production and regulation of the potent hydrochloric acid by the stomach requires a great deal of energy. The stomach lining ranks with the heart and brain as the most energy-demanding tissues in the human body. Lack of stomach acid results in several dire consequences. Nutrients which require stomach acid for absorption include calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin B12 .A protein called intrinsic factor must bind with vitamin B12 for the absorption of the vitamin. This binding of vitamin B12 and intrinsic factor can only take place in an acid environment.

An acid environment in the stomach is also essential for the digestion of protein. Hydrochloric acid is essential for the activation of pepsin, one of the stomach’s most important enzymes involved in the breakdown of protein. A good part of the digestion of protein is accomplished by pepsin and protein digesting enzymes (proteases) secreted by the stomach.

Stomach acid begins to decline around age 30. By the age of 70 about one-third of the population suffers with serious decline in stomach acid. Symptoms can be aggravated by overeating, alcohol consumption, and habitual use of antacids. Most older people think that digestive problems originate with too much acid in the stomach because they have learned what they know about the digestive process from television commercials rather than from physiology textbooks.

Lack of hydrochloric acid is a contributing factor to a number of age related problems including bone loss (calcium deficiency), loss of energy (magnesium deficiency), and anemia (iron deficiency).

In addition, the hydrochloric acid in the stomach prevents bacteria in the small intestine and colon from traveling up the digestive tract. Overgrowth of bacteria in the stomach can take place if hydrochloric acid is lacking or is neutralized by antacids. 

So What Do You Do?

Here are 5 tips to help you restore good stomach digestion.  If you are on an over-the counter antacid you will wanting to gradually decrease the dosage and add in suggestions below.  If you are on a prescription antacid, this is a much longer process to reduce and eventually come off the antacid.  Remember, I am not a medical doctor and can not give medical advice, only holistic healing suggestions.

Tip #1

Avoid drinking carbonated and ice cold beverages 30 minutes before your meal.  This “shocks” the blood vessels in the stomach lining and slows down the production of hydrochloric acid and pepsin.  Avoid drinking large amounts of liquid with your meals.  Sip on room temperature or warm beverages for better digestion.

Tip #2

Reduce your consumption of fried foods (or avoid them completely), your consumption of sugar, and your consumption of refined, white flour products.  All of these are very “acidic” in a bad way.  They require more stomach acid (and further down, bile salts) to break down.  Google the “acid/alkaline” chart and follow a low-acid and higher-alkaline diet.

Tip #3

Include a high-quality mineral complex in your daily supplement regime.  Initially, as you try and come off antacids, you may need as much as 1,000mg daily of calcium.  Calcium is an alkaline mineral and will help alkalinize the body quickly.  Do not take calcium carbonate, it’s chalk.  This is what is in Tums!

Tip #4

If you want to decrease antacids you will want to add in some “soothing” herbs for the digestive tract.  Herbs like Slippery Elm, Marshmallow Root, DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice), and Aloe Vera can be very helpful to soothe the stomach lining.

Tip #5

Begin to take a “pro-digestion” supplement that includes HCL (hydrochloric acid), Pepsin, and enzymes with every meal. Start with one, and if you still get heartburn, increase by one with each meal until you no longer have heartburn after a meal and you feel like your food digests well and leaves the stomach within 2-3 hours.  I have had some people who are coming off of antacids, have to get up to 5 per meal initially!  That means their stomach acid was really deficient and needed to be restored.

In health,

Chris Mckee

Certified Nutritionist at Achieve Integrative Health