Why Good Digestion Matters

Your digestive tract is around 5.5 metres long - the food you eat goes from your mouth, through your throat and oesophagus, to your stomach, then into your small intestine and large intestines and out the other end!

To ensure you are taking in all the nutrients your body needs, you need to be able to break down foods (chewing, digestion with enzymes, bile and stomach acid), and absorb them.

Here are some things to consider:

• Digestive enzymes are made from protein.

• Bile is made from cholesterol and a by-product of old red blood cells.

• Stomach acid requires zinc.

• Digestion and absorption of vitamin B12 needs good stomach acid and digestive enzymes.

• If you have any kind of digestive issue, from Coeliac disease to Chrohn's or Ulcerative colitis, inflammation from IBS, gallstones, GORD, or are taking medication, your digestion and absorption of key nutrients is likely to be compromised.

So, if you're not breaking down and absorbing nutrients from your food then how do you break down and absorb nutrients from your food?!

If you are stuck with inefficient digestion, this can cause you all kinds of issues. Think of protein - it might be that you're eating enough, but you are not able to make use of it. Protein is needed for antibodies, we need it to make hormones, and blood clotting enzymes, we need it for structures of bone and joints, skin hair and nails, we need it for fluid balance, and of course we do need it for muscle mass. We break down the protein we eat into amino acids, which we then build back up into different proteins that the body needs to function - but how well are we doing this?

Whatever symtoms you are experiencing, we can probably trace them back to some issue within your digestive system - which is why I ask so many questions about your digestion in our sessions.

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