By now, you’ve probably heard that gut health is critical to overall wellness. But do you know all the players in your journey to good gut health?
When we talk about the gut and digestion, we’re referring to a process that starts in the mouth and ends…well, you know where it ends…with elimination. In between, there is the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestines, the pancreas, the liver, the gallbladder, and the large intestines. All of these play a key role in digestion, and good gut health depends on all these systems working together.
On top of that, did you know that we carry about four pounds of microorganisms in our guts? These microorganisms, known as the microbiome, have been with humans forever and have evolved with us. They play a key role in keeping our gut healthy, so when their populations are negatively impacted, our gut and overall health is negatively impacted too.
Top 5 GI Symptoms
When our digestive tract organs and the microbiome are working well together, we take for granted how good we feel. Digestion is effortless, elimination is easy, and our bodies work well overall.
But when any part of the digestion process goes awry, our bodies are quick to let us know with these symptoms:
- Indigestion happens in the stomach and causes discomfort, nausea, burping, bloating and painful reflux.
- Bloating is the feeling of the belly feeling swollen or distended, in the stomach itself or anywhere along the digestive tract. Often this is uncomfortable or painful.
- Gas is a common issue that can cause discomfort and flatulence. A certain amount of gas is a natural byproduct of digestion, but large amounts, and foul-smelling gas are a sign of an unbalanced gut.
- Diarrhea is characterized by loose, sometimes watery stools that happen more frequently than usual. This is often the outcome of imbalances in the gut and poor digestion.
- Constipation, on the other hand, involves infrequent bowel movements and difficulty passing stools. This can cause discomfort and a bloated feeling.
How Digestion SHOULD work
Think of digestion as a top-to-bottom process. It starts in the mouth with chewing food and ends with a bowel movement 18-24 hours later. From top to bottom, here is what should happen, and what can go wrong.
In the Mouth and Stomach
What should happen
- Digestive enzymes in saliva start the breakdown of carbohydrates.
- Once food is swallowed, stomach acid starts breaking down proteins and separates Vitamin B12.
- Stomach acid kills pathogens before they enter the digestive tract.
- The lower pH created by stomach acid is a signal to the pancreas and liver to secrete digestive enzymes and bile for proper digestion. It also improves mineral absorption.
What can go wrong
- Poor chewing habits lead to swallowing bigger chunks of food that don’t get digested completely.
- Inadequate levels of stomach acid have a big impact. This can be caused by several factors, including age, stress levels, alcohol and a bacteria called H.Pylori. Low stomach acid results in proteins not breaking down well and Vitamin B12 not separating from foods for absorption.
- With low stomach acid, the pancreas makes fewer digestive enzymes, food isn’t digested as well, nutrients aren’t made as available to be absorbed, and minerals aren’t absorbed as well.
- Finally, low stomach acid can allow pathogens and parasites to survive and travel with the digesting food.
In the Small Intestines
What should happen
- Food that is being digested travels along the digestive tract as nutrients are absorbed through the gut lining. The gut lining has thousands of finger-like villi and microvilli, maximizing the surface area for absorption of nutrients and water.
- Food remnants proceed through the digestive tract, turning into stool.
What can go wrong
- Food intolerances and sensitivities can cause digestive symptoms such as inflammation, bloating and gas.
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) causes fermentation, bloating, gas, diarrhea and constipation.
- Celiac disease is an autoimmune response to gluten, a protein in wheat, barley and rye. This causes the immune system to attack and damage the villi and microvilli so they can’t absorb nutrients as well.
- Damage to the gut lining and intestinal permeability can cause an immune response and inflammation.
- Parasites can cause digestive symptoms and well as body-wide symptoms.
In the Large Intestine
What should happen
- The large intestine is where most of the microbiome lives. There are trillions of microorganisms here that communicate with our immune and nervous systems. There are beneficial microorganisms (probiotics), opportunistic, and pathogenic microorganisms.
- In a healthy gut, there is a robust population of beneficial microorganisms that keeps the opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms in check.
- In a healthy gut, the microbiome communicates to the rest of the body that all is well.
What can go wrong
- Dysbiosis is an imbalance between beneficial and non-beneficial microorganisms. Overgrowths of non-beneficial microorganisms can cause inflammation, gas, cramping, diarrhea and constipation. In a dysbiotic gut, messages of alarm are communicated to the body.
- Inflammation often causes intestinal permeability, leading to an inflammatory immune response and body-wide symptoms.
- Insufficient beneficial microorganisms allows non-beneficial microorganisms to take over. The overuse of antibiotics wreaks havoc on the beneficial bacteria in the gut, as does a poor diet, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, stress, and pesticide residue on foods.
Common Problems We Find in the Gut
H.Pylori is a bacteria that can reside in the mouth and stomach. It burrows itself into the stomach lining and raises the pH of the stomach. Some people with it are symptom-free, but others suffer from nausea, heartburn, belching and pain.
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) occurs when bacteria normally found in the large intestines find their way upward into the small intestines. They digest saccharides in foods being digested, causing fermentation, bloating, gassiness and diarrhea/constipation.
Dysbiosis occurs when microbes are out of balance in the gut. Insufficient beneficial microorganisms, and overgrowths of opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms can cause inflammation, intestinal permeability, cramping, gassiness, and diarrhea/constipation.
Inflammation can be caused by food sensitivities, poor diet, alcohol and overgrowths of inflammatory microorganisms. It is usually associated with intestinal permeability.
Intestinal permeability, or leaky gut, happens when the gut lining is damaged and contents of the gut leak into the body, causing body-wide skin, brain, joint, mood and autoimmunity problems. This can be caused by inflammation from food sensitivities, stress, alcohol, NSAIDs, and overgrowths of non-beneficial microorganisms.
Food sensitivities are common and can cause inflammation in the gut. We often use an elimination diet to identify the most common food culprits, such as gluten and dairy.
Functional Tests We Run
GI-Effects stool testing – this comprehensive stool test identifies several gut issues, such as low digestive enzymes and bile, H.Pylori, insufficiency of beneficial microorganisms, dysbiosis and inflammation.
SIBO testing – this breath test identifies overgrowths of both hydrogen-producing and methane-producing bacteria in the small intestines.
Food sensitivity testing – these blood tests check for inflammatory responses to many different foods to identify sensitivities.
The 5 Rs of Gut Restoration
At Radiance Functional Medicine, we use the 5-R framework of gut restoration, endorsed by the Institute of Functional Medicine.
Remove stressors by getting rid of things that negatively affect the environment of the GI tract, including food sensitivities, parasites and potential problematic bacteria or yeast.
Replace digestive aids by adding digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid, and bile acids that are required for proper digestion and that may be compromised by diet, medications, diseases, aging, or other factors.
Reinoculate the gut by helping beneficial bacteria flourish. This includes eating probiotic foods or taking supplements that contain beneficial GI bacteria, and by consuming prebiotic high fiber foods that beneficial bacteria like to eat.
Repair the gut lining by supplying key nutrients that can often be in short supply in a compromised gut, and that are known to help the gut repair its lining.
Rebalance lifestyle. Once we have your gut health in a better place, we take a holistic approach to gut health. Sleep, exercise, detoxification and stress can all affect the GI tract. We address all of these with our patients.
At Radiance Functional Medicine, we believe that food and lifestyle are medicine. We hope that you will allow us to help you heal your gut, balance your hormones, or find a way of eating that helps you thrive! Schedule an appointment to get started. Whether you are looking for a Nutritionist or Functional Medicine Doctor in Denver or your local area, we see patients in person and virtually. Call our office at 303.333.1668 to schedule your Initial Nutrition Consultation.
