tential damage to the small intestine. Drug-resistant bacteria is a looming threat of this generation, and is largely contrib- uted to by overprescription of antibiotics. Acid blocking drugs, used for heartburn and reflux, can quell the symptoms of these things in the short term but do little to treat the cause. Taken long-term, they increase incidence of osteoporosis, pneu- monia, antibiotic-associated diarrhea and nutrient malabsorption. Virtually all classes of medication – from benzodiaz- epenes to steroids to statins – can have some GI side effect. Solution: Take antibiotics ONLY when absolutely necessary. Antibiotics do not work for viruses (colds, flus, etc). Do not take antibiotics without the confirmation of a bacterial infection. Always take pro- biotics alongside of antibiotics, or follow- ing antibiotic therapy if you are through and didn’t take probiotics when you were on antibiotics. Acid-blocking drugs were originally only meant to be used for 3-9 months, and I strongly recommend that you don’t use them longer than that. This amount of time should be adequate to get to the underly- ing cause of heartburn. Educate yourself on the side effects of the drugs you are taking. My favorite website to check these out at is
www.drugs.com
7. Stop using surfactants and harsh chemical cleaners: This is especially true for those with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), Celiac, and leaky gut. The surfac- tants DSS and SLS are used to induce colitis in lab rats and are well established in the literature to worsen inflammation in the digestive tract. Harsh cleansers can prevent the cell differentiation and division that is required to heal an inflamed, irri- tated GI tract. Solution: There are many alternative,
naturally-slanted cleaning products out there. To start, swap to the “free” versions of the products you use like laundry de- tergent, dishwasher soap, shampoos, body washes and the like. Companies like Sev- enth Generation, Method, If You Care and others offer safe, hypoallergenic products. If you are crafty, you can also make your own! It’s amazing what a bit of baking soda and vinegar will do to clean the surfaces of your home and body. There are pages and pages of recipes for homemade clean- ing products if you do a Google search.
8. Stop selling yourself short on sleep: The Natural Triad Magazine
connection between adequate sleep and awesome digestive health may not be in- tuitively clear at face value, but it’s criti- cally important. During sleep, the para- sympathetic branch of the nervous system becomes active. This is also called the “rest and digest” branch and it tempers it’s partner, the sympathetic or “fight or flight” branch. During sleep, our digestive system gets signals to work optimally and smooth- ly. When we miss out on sleep, these pre- cious signals are lost. If it goes on long enough, digestive symptoms we’ve never experienced before may pop up – maybe some heartburn, maybe a bit of belly pain or gas.
Solution: Guard your bedtime. Many of us pride ourselves on being able to function on minimal numbers of snooze time, but we’re not doing our bodies any favors. Have a bedtime routine: unplug from electronics at least 30 minutes before bed, and sleep in a dark, cool room. Your body will thank you.
9. Stop drinking chlorinated water and taking chlorinated showers: Chlorine is added to water as an antimicrobial agent, and as such, it strips our healthy gut flora as well. It combines with compounds in the water to make chloroform and other nasty things that are known carcinogens, so it is a good idea for a lot of reasons to skip the chlorine. The effects are amplified when we shower, as we breathe in the shower steam via the lungs and absorb these compounds through our skin. A re- cent blog by Food Renegade summarizing studies on the effects on chlorine states that the majority of our chlorine exposure is from showering in chlorinated water, with a 10 minute shower being the equiv- alent of drinking ten 8-ounces glasses straight from the tap. Solution: Drink fresh, filtered water
and get a filter for your shower too. Many such systems are available. At our house, we have a 5 cylinder whole-house water filtration system that is installed right where the water comes into the house from the city. It cost about $500 for materials and installation and between $100-$200 per year to change the filters. It’s one of the best investments we’ve made.
10. Quit overtraining: Like under sleeping, overtraining creates an imbalance in your nervous system that favors the “fight-or- flight” (aka: stressed) response. This means there is not enough time or resources to
optimize healthy digestion. Excessive cardiovascular training (more than one hour 4+ days per week of medium inten- sity, medium duration activity like jogging, spinning, etc) stimulates cortisol and cat- echolamines with nothing to offset them, triggering and solidifying a more stressed out physiology which in turn does not foster optimal gastrointestinal function. Solution: Mix up your training. Swap a couple mega-cardio sessions for leisure walking or shorter, more intense bursts with sprints, plyometrics or weights. This style of training releases hormones like human growth hormone and IL-10 that oppose and offset the effect of cortisol, tempering the overdominance of the fight- or-flight branch of the nervous system and thus aiding digestive function. You may also notice that your waistline begins shrinking with this type of training as well.
11. Stop wolfing down your food and eating on the run: Did you know that lack of chewing is one of the top causes of gas and bloating? When we bolt down our food and don’t chew, not only are we swallowing excess air, but we are putting an extra burden on the stomach, digestive enzymes, acid and bile to break down food into teeny tiny particles. If we can’t break down food adequately, that leads to gas and bloating from fermentation by the gut bacteria and a revolt by the small intestine that likes everything in really small pieces. When we don’t sit and relax to eat, but eat in our cars, on our feet or while walking to a meeting, that disturbs our nervous system and creates sluggish and disordered digestion.
Solution: Place your fork down in between bites of food and chew until the food is a soft paste. Do your best to sit down while you eat, guarding your meal times as you would sleep time or time for exercise. Slow down while you eat and be mindful of the taste, texture and smell of the food. Interestingly, these very tech- niques also can prevent us from overeat- ing. I can hear a sigh of relief from your intestines already…
Dr. Jillian Teta is a medically trained natu- ropathic physician having graduated from Bastyr University. Her practice is at the Naturopathic Health Clinic of NC, located on Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem. Visit
www.FixYourDigestion.com for more in- formation. Or call 336-724-4452 for an appointment.
JANUARY 2014 33
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