Naturopathic Solutions For Digestive Issues

Have you ever eaten a meal, and had to rush to the bathroom right after?

Have you ever had trouble with your bowel movements?

Have you ever had pain in your stomach or a burning sensation in your throat?

If so, you may have issues with your digestive system.

You use your digestive system for numerous activities throughout your day.

Issues in different parts of your digestive system can cause different digestive issues that may benefit from naturopathic treatment.

Your digestive system plays a role when you eat.

It helps to break down foods and absorb all the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients into your body.

As a result, it’s important to have a properly functioning digestive system.

Yet, many people have digestive issues and develop digestive diseases that impact their ability to function on a daily basis.

If you’re feeling pain around your stomach or gastrointestinal system, know that you’re not alone.

In fact, a whopping 80% of my patients come in for naturopathic treatment for digestive issues.

If you’re showing any symptoms of digestive issues, I can help.

As a naturopathic doctor in Toronto with a special interest in digestive concerns, I can help.

Read on to find out more or watch the full video about digestive issues and what natural treatments are available for you.

Digestive Issues Are Common, And Treatment Is Important

It’s great that people who suffer from digestive issues come see me, and that so many people identify this as something that needs attention.

That’s because without the proper functioning of this system, you risk the development of numerous diseases.

You also would be at a greater risk for mortality.

Consider this: the food you use to fuel your body and its functioning must be able to efficiently and effectively be broken down, and the nutrients absorbed.

That includes all that calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C you always hear about.

Without these nutrients being properly dealt with by your digestion system, you run the risk of health issues.

Nutrients all have their own individual benefits for your body, and deficiencies in the various nutrients can have wide impacts on your bodily functions.

What Happens When We Eat Food?

The process of digestion starts right away in your mouth.

When you bite and chew your food, salivary amylase helps you break it down to make nutrient absorption most efficient.

Salivary amylase is an example of one of the enzymes used in digestion.

You swallow the macerated food down your esophagus, landing it in your stomach, where it’s prepared for digestion.

There, your stomach acid goes to work.

It turns proteins into simple amino acids.

It turns carbohydrates into sugars, which your body uses for energy.

It takes fats and breaks them down into fatty acids.

From there, your pancreas will secrete some digestive enzymes to help you break down the fatty acids further.

Finally, the contents of your stomach move into your large intestines, small intestines, colon, and bowel.

And you know the rest.

Why Are Some Common Diseases Of The Digestive Tract?

The digestive system has so many diseases that it would be too many to mention in a single article.

Each of these diseases has an impact on different organs.

Although some diseases of the digestive system do have overlapping symptoms and organs impacted.

Here are a few diseases and conditions my patients often come to see me about, related to the digestive tract:

• Indigestion
• Gas and bloating
• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD
• Stomach ulcers
• IBS
• Collagenous colitis
• Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis

What Can You Do To Improve Your Digestive Health?

One of the things I recommend all my patients do is to figure out what their food allergies are, because these can cause irritation and inflammation in the digestive system.

Allergies can also cause an increased risk of specific diseases, which include digestive diseases.

RELATED: Naturopathic Solutions For Allergies

For that reason, it is even more vital to test for food allergies to reduce your risk of these diseases.

This can be done by looking for the symptoms of allergies, and getting tested by a physician.

Once a year, I recommend you do a naturopathic detox and elimination diet

You start with seven days of a very bland diet that contains none of the common allergens.

Once we have that baseline, you begin to reintroduce foods that are common in your diet one day at a time, so we can see if anything you’re consuming regularly sets you off.

Most commonly we see mild allergies to wheat, dairy, and soy, but sometimes also to more uncommon things such as iceberg lettuce and chocolate.

Another thing you can easily do to improve your digestion: don’t sit down to eat when you’re stressed out.

Stress prevents your body from producing enough gastric secretions, because it’s focusing on the stress and deprioritizes digestion, as a result.

If you’re dealing with chronic stress or anxiety, of course, that can be more complicated.

There are, however, natural ways that reduce stress that can help.

How To Stay Regular

A good question to start with is: what is regular?

You’d be surprised how different the answers I get are, but the right answer is one or two bowel movements per day.

This may differ based on your age, and gender, and various other demographic aspects.

You can accomplish your regular daily intake primarily by incorporating good sources of fiber into your diet, and drinking lots of water.

To get in fiber, consider adding more foods like fruits, lentils, and vegetables to your diet on a daily basis.

Dr. JJ’s Supplements For Digestive Issues

To give you a little overview on some of the treatments I use for digestive issues, here are four examples.

1. Betaine Hydrochloric Acid

Betaine hydrochloric acid is what we have in our stomachs to help us digest food.

If you don’t secrete enough stomach acid, you may need extra help to improve your body’s processing.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is, like the name suggests, made from apple cider that’s fermented.

It’s got a number of health benefits.

It can help manage type 2 diabetes, and lose weight.

Preliminary research suggests it may help lower hypertension as well.

RELATED: Naturopathic IV Therapy For Hypertension

It’s also an effective disinfectant and a natural preservative.

But for our purposes, it’s great for your gut health.

It helps kill and contain harmful bacteria.

As well, ACV helps close the sphincter of your lower esophagus, which can help prevent GERD.

If you’re pregnant or overweight, you’re at greater risk of GERD.

RELATED: Naturopathic Pregnancy And Lactation Support

However, make sure to get professional advice before taking it if you’re pregnant.

To see the best benefits, take a swig before a meal or last thing at night before going to sleep.

3. Probiotics

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that encourage growth of the ‘good’ bacteria in your gut, and help keep the ‘bad’ bacteria in check.

They aid in digestion and reduce bloating, but they also help manage IBS, IBD, and diarrhea, making them a great tool for me to have in my treatment repertoire.

RELATED: Your Questions About Probiotics, Answered

4. Digestive Enzymes

As you age, you secrete fewer enzymes, so you might need to supplement with digestive enzymes.

However, you definitely want to see a naturopathic doctor like myself before using these.

Having said that, I have enzymes at my disposal that can target and help with:

• Pancreatic insufficiency
• Lactose intolerance
• Food allergies
• Celiac disease
• Microbial control
• Colon health

RELATED: Preventing Colorectal Naturally Part 2

Questions? Ask Dr. JJ

Are you reading this and one of these points makes you wonder if you’ve been dealing with digestive issues?

naturopathic medicine can help.

Call now to book an appointment with me – Dr. JJ, ND – and I can help you assess if there’s a simple treatment that can fix your digestive issues quickly and painlessly.

Book your appointment with me, Dr. JJ, today.