Although the journey to healing complex and chronic digestive issues can seem long and tortuous, there are some steps you can take right now to improve your digestion, assimilation of nutrients and activate your digestive fire.
When it comes to addressing the root causes of your digestive issues I recommend you address potential environmental factors such as mould and chemicals in your home and workplace, as well as treating parasites, candida, streptococcus overgrowth and SIBO. Another major cause of digestive issues is heavy metal toxicity. All of these possible causes should be investigated.
If you want to upgrade your digestive health right now here are my 5 top tips.
# 1 Start your morning with celery juice –
Drink organic celery juice first thing in the morning after drinking lemon water on an empty stomach to rebuild your stomach acid levels. Low stomach acid is a very common cause of digestive issues. Optimal levels of these acids allow your body to break down food properly and protect you from harmful pathogens. Celery contains unique mineral salts that restore the glands that produce hydrochloric acid.
‘Another primary reason for digestive troubles involves hydrochloric acid. Medical research and science does not know that hydrochloric acid is not one acid, as taught today, but rather a blend of seven acids. Acid reflux occurs when the seven blends of beneficial acid diminish and bad acids produced by bacteria and viruses takeover. Gastritis is another condition that arises with the overgrowth of bacteria. A high amount of gas in the system is not due to a fungus, yeast, or candida as some may think, but due to the bacteria that is overgrowing in the digestive system.’ – Medical Medium
# 2 Take digestive bitters before each meal –
I recommend taking an alcohol free blend of bitter herbs 20 minutes prior to eating a meal. Digestive bitters stimulate our body’s own enzyme release throughout the entire digestive tract, as well as other integral digestive secretions such as stomach acid (HCl) and bile. My favourite is this liver tincture from Natures Answer because it is alcohol free and has no nasty additives. This tonic will also support healthy liver function and bile flow,
# 3 Prepare your meal with presence, love and care + Eat Mindfully without technology –
When you are preparing your meal take a moment to breath deep into your belly and remind yourself it is ok to take this time for you. Continue to breath deeply whilst you prepare your food. Play some relaxing music if this helps you. Send love to your food. Spend a little more time making your food look beautiful. We eat with our eyes. I also recommend trying to eat your meal away from your phone, television and computer. Before you eat take a moment to look at your food and smell it. Take it all in. I personally like to say a prayer before eating – I bless this food. I thank the universe for bringing this food to me. I thank this food for healing and nourishing me and bringing me health vitality and clarity.
# 4 Take Betaine HCL and Digestive Enzymes with your meal –
To further support digestion and get your digestive fire activated I suggest taking betaine HCL and high quality digestive enzymes with every meal. Betaine HCL is particuarly important when you are eating a protein rich meal as protein is quite difficult to digest and break down into amino acids. Begin with 1 capsule of digestive enzymes and betaine HCL. You will likely need to build up your dose of betaine HCL slowly until you feel a gentle burn.
# 5 Chew your food really well –
Just as Ghandi once said – eat your drink and drink your food. Try to chew your food really well, this includes smoothies and even juices. Digestion begins in the mouth where certain enzymes such as lingual lipase and salivary amylase begin to break down fats into fatty acids and complex carbohydrates into smaller chains and simple sugars.
BONUS TIP –
Do not drink liquids half an hour before a meal or at least an hour after a meal as this dilutes hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. This put a huge strain on your digestive system.
It is also imperative you are eating a healing, organic and wholefoods diet. This is another post in itself and will of course vary slightly from person to person. I also recommend you strictly follow food combining principles to optimise your digestion. I am passionate about health optimisation and will deliver tips for you to achieve this. A moderate approach will tend to achieve mediocre results especially if you are healing from a complex, chronic illness.
I will be elaborating on therapeutic healing diets and food combining in future posts so stay tuned!
Have you tried the above approaches? What has helped you the most when it comes to digestion?
With love, Amy
holistichealingwithamy.wordpress.com 