Digestion
Something not right with your digestion?
Do you experience heart burn, reflux or indigestion? Always bloated despite what you eat?
Is this accompanied by abdominal pain? Is your skin pale or do you suffer from acne? Do you suspect you may have food intolerances?
Do you suffer from constipation or diarrhoea or maybe you swing between the two? Do you pick up every cold or flu that goes around? Do you suffer from debilitating fatigue?
These are all signs something may be going on with your digestion.
Why is digestion so important?
Your digestion encompasses your oesophagus, stomach, small & large intestines, liver, pancreas and gallbladder. The bacteria that reside in your digestive tract are also considered part of digestion and influences your ability to digest food, your immune system and even your mood.
Every cell in your body requires nutrients and fluids to function. Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, along with vitamins, minerals and water we consume all play a role in this functioning.
Your digestion is the primary site for the breakdown and absorption of food to yield nutrients, which are required for energy production, growth and repair.
As food moves through the digestive tract, various organ secretions and bacteria break it down into smaller parts. Protein is broken down to yield amino acids, fats are broken down into fatty acids, and carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars known as glucose. The nutrients are then absorbed through the wall of the small intestine into the blood stream where they are transported to the various parts of the body for use.
The digestive tract is also where we produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin and where a large part of the immune system is housed. This is where external and internal metabolites and toxins are detoxified and where our digestive microbiome lives.
It’s safe to say digestion is crucial to the body’s overall wellbeing.
What are some causes of poor digestion?
The following factors all contribute to poor digestion:
Stress | Low or high stomach acid production | Poor vagus nerve conduction | Food intolerances | Poor diet | Bacterial imbalances causing dysbiosis or SIBO | Enzyme deficencies | Inflammation | viral or bacterial infection | structural abnormalities | Genetics | Medications such as antibiotic use | Surgery such as a bowel resection | Ageing | Diseases such as Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis
How Naturopathy can help.
Improving digestive function is one of the most important steps to improve your overall health. Many health conditions can be linked back to poor digestion including poor immunity, skin conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea, hormone imbalances, fatigue, depression and anxiety.
As the ancient greek physician Hippocrates says, “all disease begins in the gut”.
Melissa’s moto when it comes to digestion is “test don’t guess”. She uses a range of functional pathology tests such as:
- Microbial stool DNA testing that maps your unique microbiome
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) breath testing
- Food intolerance testing
The use of functional testing removes the guess work and can shorten the length of time required to treat.
It also acts as a great way to track treatment progress. Although we strongly recommend testing, we also understand this isn’t always affordable to everyone and that’s ok. It doesn’t mean we can’t still support your digestive health. From here a care plan is formulated which will include the use of nutrition & lifestyle modifications, herbal medicine and nutritional supplements.
Care plans are tailored to the individual to suit their specific health needs & budget.
To understand the exact cause of why your experiencing digestive symptoms book your appointment by calling 0400 770 322 or
