Are you hungry for food and the life it brings? I just love food and the joy it brings, especially during the summer months with all of the family parties and social events. Sometimes I just lay there with my stomach so full I can hardly move or roll over. That’s the problem!! If I can’t move, how can I exercise? Exercise?!??! I think I’ll just lie here a little longer and have another piece of blueberry cream cheese pie. Does this sound familiar? It does to me some days.
We can attend all of the wonderful parties and enjoy all of the foods, just don’t eat until you are stuffed. When we eat to excess, we get the washing machine effect in our stomachs. You know, when you overload your washing machine and the soap just sits on top of the clothes and doesn’t mix in with the water? This is what happens when we overload our stomachs. The digestive enzymes don’t mix well with the food, and improper digestion occurs. Here are some helpful hints with eating.
1) Try to eat your proteins such as meats with vegetables. Vegetables are a neutral food and can be eaten with both high starch and high proteins.
2) Eat high starch foods such as bread and rice with vegetables. Again, vegetables can be digested well with either starch or protein.
3) Eat fruits alone as a meal or between meals as a snack. Fruits are digested quickly and if you place them in the same meal with proteins, the fruit will ferment as protein takes a longer time to digest.
4) Eat a diet consisting of 50% vegetables, 20% fruits, 20% proteins, and 10% fats. Remember to not eat the fruit with meals.
5) Water is best sipped during a meal rather than drinking a lot of water. If you drink a lot of water with the meal, the digestive enzymes are diluted and it is harder to have appropriate digestion.
6) Eat dessert first as life is too short!!! No, eat dessert, but just a little and later on after the meal. You can add almonds or nuts, to slow down the “jet fuel” effect of the sugar. Make desserts that involve better choices for the sugar.
Follow these ideas, and you will have a much better digestion, and you will still be able to eat and have fun at those family parties. Here’s to your health! For more information, call the office at 801-298-4646.
What is Leaky Gut?
The digestive system can be thought of as a long tube through the body that begins in the mouth and ends at the anus. All of the organs and glands of this system work together tot take the foods that come into the body and convert them into useable nutrients that can be utilized by all the cells, tissues, and organs.
In the mouth, the teeth tear and grind the food and mix it with saliva before it is swallowed. The food then travels down the esophagus into the stomach. The food may stay in the stomach for up to an hour and a half where it will begin a digestive process through the action of its own inherent enzymes.
As the food moves through the lower portion of the stomach it is mixed with the highly acidic gastric juices which neutralize any enzymes it contains. The food is liquefied before passing through the pyloric sphincter into the small intestine.
The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes and the liver produces bile. The enzymes and bile are released into the intestine to assist with the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Most of the nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine. This organ is approximately 6 meters long with a surface area about the size of a tennis court.
This large surface area is created by folds of the intestines as well as villi and microvilli that cover the intestinal surface. The villi are covered with countless epithelial cells which, along with protective secretions form a tight barrier between the contents of the intestine and the blood stream.
The intestinal wall has been specifically designed to be selective to what is allowed to cross into the blood stream. This barrier has been put in place to protect the body from foreign invaders.
By the time the food passes into the large intestine, most of the nutrients have been absorbed. The remaining mass consists of dietary fiber and water.
Foods should pass through the entire digestive system in 12-24 hours after ingestion. Bowel movements should occur 2-3 times a day.
A properly functioning GI tract:
- absorbs small food particles to be converted to energy
- carries nutrients like vitamins and minerals attached to the carrier proteins across the gut into the bloodstream
- detoxifies the major toxins that have entered the body
- contains immunoglobulin or antibodies that act as the first line of defense against infections
Leaky Gut Syndrome refers to a condition of the intestinal wall. The tissue has been weakened and larger food particles and toxins are allowed to cross the intestinal barrier. This can lead to many health problems.
Special Points of Interest
- Most nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine
- The intestinal wall has been specifically designed to be selective to what is allowed to cross into the blood stream
- Leaky Gut is a condition where the intestinal tissue has become weakened and larger food particles and toxins are allowed to cross the barrier
Contact Dr Giles Directly!
Phone: 801-298-4646
Email: FamilyWellnessInfo@yahoo.com
Address: 565 West 2600 South, Bountiful UT 84010