Are you really what you eat?

You are what you eat. We have all heard this, but how much of this is true?  I want to challenge this common saying. Don’t get me wrong, what you put into your body has a significant impact on your body, but there is something more to consider here. You probably learned back in grade school that when you eat food, it moves down your digestive tract where it is broken down, and then you eliminate what you don’t need. But there is so much more to “chew over” when we talk about the digestive process. Instead of “you are what you eat,” I would rather like to say, “you are what your body can break down and absorb.”

Because look, if you don’t have proper absorption happening in your gut, you can eat the healthiest foods on the planet, but it won’t matter if you cannot absorb the nutrients. In this article, we will explore the process that happens between your plate and the leu.

Let’s Take a Journey Through Digestion

Digestion begins before food even gets into the mouth. Just the smell of the food, or the sound of the clanking of plates being set, signals a cue to happen. Your body starts to prepare for food. This activates our salivary glands. The more saliva we produce, the more enzymes are present for nutrient breakdown and delivery. A message is sent from the brain to the parts of the digestive system that need to prepare for their job ahead.

The food then enters the mouth. We begin to chew. This is a critical piece to the process and not readily thought about much. Those enzymes that are secreted to help break down our food start doing their job during chewing. When we don’t chew it enough, this process cannot be completed, and the rest of the digestive system now needs to work harder to break things down. To learn more about the process of chewing and its importance when it comes to digestion and blood sugar regulation, check out this article.

After chewing, the food travels to the stomach and is churned by muscles to break down further. Here the food is introduced to more essential enzymes such as pepsin and lipase that break down fats and proteins.

Now we move into the small intestine, where most nutrient absorption occurs. While absorption is happening here, the gall bladder releases bile to help break down fats. The pancreas then releases additional enzymes to break down additional fat, protein, and starch. The nutrients are absorbed, as well as glucose, etc., and transferred across the intestinal wall, where it then enters the bloodstream.

The food that is left moves into the large intestine. Some additional absorption happens here, such as some micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and water. The rest is released as waste.

Absorption

Ok, so now that you have a visual of the journey, let’s talk about absorption if you imagine your digestive system as a superhighway for the nutrients that we get from our food. We have all these cells in our body; that’s what our body is essentially made up of. When we eat, we translate the nutrients microscopically into those cells. That’s what food is for; It’s fuel for our cells. But when our gut is damaged, we will not absorb the nutrients appropriately and filter out all the “bad” stuff.

What’s the bad stuff? Toxins. Now toxins don’t only have to be manufactured processed stuff and chemicals, although we don’t want that either. Toxins can also be the result of food intolerances. When we can’t tolerate certain foods, they become toxic to our bodies. Microscopic particles of toxins can then start to absorb into our bloodstream when our body is not moving them out as it should be. So food is information for our body. Meaning, we can feel energized and nourished from our food, or our body may feel sluggish, drained, and foggy. Do any of those feelings resonate with you?

Imbalanced Microbiome

Understanding how this process works, it is essential to understand the microbiome. This environment, mostly in our small intestines, is a kingdom of bacteria, fungus, and protozoa, known as microbiota. They are harmonically balanced to create a beautiful symphony. Each species of these bacteria works together to create a balanced system, like an orchestra. They each have a job to do in creating this beautiful harmonic piece and is a well-oiled machine; until it’s not.

When some of these microbes outnumber others, we have an imbalance, and then the symphony, well, it doesn’t sound so good. The music is out of tune. Some microbes will grow in numbers and end up drowning out the others. This is known as dysbiosis.

We have several microbiomes throughout our body, the skin, the lungs, the urinary system, but the main one is the gut. All the other microbiomes branch off it! If you can think of the gut microbiome as the root of the tree, when it is unbalanced and not functioning right, all other branches or systems become affected. Have skin issues? Start with the gut. Anxiety? Yup, in the gut. Brain fog, migraines, UTIs, Depression, hormone imbalance? Yes, we must not ignore the gut. And of course, there are your actual digestive symptoms that come up, such as heartburn, constipation, gas, and diarrhea.

Please consider any of these as your “warning sign” that your gut needs some attention! Pay attention before they turn into chronic situations, such as Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, IBS, leaky gut, and candida overgrowth, to name a few.

What Could Happen?

Some conditions that are commonly occurring as a result of dysbiosis are some of the following. These may go undiagnosed for years, leading to chronic illnesses. They will also impair the proper absorption of nutrients, causing physical ailments and emotional and mental imbalances.

SIBO

SIBO is what happens when we have that too many bacteria in our small intestine. There has just been an overrun of those “bad” bacteria that have completely taken over and outnumbered the good. When this occurs, it may be because your small intestine just isn’t moving things through the system very quickly, and the bacteria hang out longer than they should. Once those harmful bacteria outnumber the good guys, those bad guys end up multiplying quite rapidly.

The good news is, it can be reversed. Most of the time, it just takes some lifestyle changes. There are instances that antibiotics are used, but this can be risky and trade in one GI condition for another.

Some signs and symptoms to look out for:

• Abdominal discomfort
• Nausea or a queasy stomach
• Bloating
• Indigestion
• Loss of Appetite
• Feeling uncomfortably full after meals
• Fatigue
• Gas
• Diarrhea
• Constipation

Candida Overgrowth (Yeast Overgrowth)

As I mentioned, these microbes are not only bacteria but also protozoa and fungus. Candida happens to be a fungus, and the candida itself is not the primary problem; it is the environment in which it has to grow. When we get this unstable bacterial environment, this will allow the candida to flourish and grow in numbers. This is where the issues start to arise.

The biggest issue? It’s the byproduct of yeast. It turns out that after these candida guys feast out in your gut, they leave behind dead yeast, as well as toxic chemicals called mycotoxins and gliotoxins. These can be released into your bloodstream and leave you feeling drained and sluggish, as well as suppress your immune system. So what are some symptoms of candida overgrowth? Brain fog, bloating, gas, chronic fatigue, and mood swings.

When it comes to proper absorption of nutrients, the wall of your gut becomes impaired, and that’s where all of the absorption takes place.

What can cause an overgrowth of yeast? (1)

• Taking antibiotics (this kills the good bacteria in the gut)
• Consuming a diet high in refined carbs (this will feed the Candida and allow it to grow out of control)
• Chronic stress will create an environment for the yeast to flourish
• Drinking too much alcohol also feeds the candida

Stress

Our bodies are designed to react to stress in a “fight or flight” response to danger. When you think of the classic example of a human running from a lion, it served us well for survival. When the stress response kicks in, your blood is directed away from your digestive system. That was the survival mechanism so that we could run!

Our brains don’t know the difference between the stress of a traffic jam, a project you have due, or the kids screaming in the back seat of the car; from the lion chasing you. The response is the same!

When the stress response is activated, your body perceives danger (fight or flight), and whatever calories were consumed are stored as fat. This will also slow down your metabolism.

Conversely, when we are in a relaxed state, our bodies will burn more fat. Stress also plays a significant role inadequate absorption because, as I just explained, the stress response causes blood flow to be drawn away from our digestive system. 

Stress response on = digestion off!

Relaxed state = Digestion on!

The question is, “who you are being when you eat?” Before food passes across your lips, you can ask yourself this question if you are about to eat under stress, and if so, pause and take a few long deep breaths.

 Leaky Gut

Along the intestinal wall is a barrier. This barrier allows certain nutrients to move through into the bloodstream. This is how our cells get fueled. Again, it’s a great system until it’s not. In the case of a leaky gut, the barrier becomes impaired. Think of cheesecloth with small, tiny holes lining the intestinal wall. In the case of a leaky gut, those holes become more prominent, allowing other substances to move into the bloodstream that does not belong there. May hear this referred to as impaired permeability.

Now, undigested food particles, toxins, bacteria, fungus, and anything else that’s in the gut start floating into the bloodstream. Our liver also gets overworked because it’s not able to filter all this stuff out efficiently. Our immune system begins to react because those particles are recognized as invaders, and the immune system goes on the attack. We now have an overworked immune system, which will increase our risk of illness.

Our protective barrier is now impaired, and we end up with a leaky gut. No Bueno!

Food Sensitivities and Intolerances

I do want to make mention of food intolerances. What kinds of symptoms are we talking about when we think of digestive symptoms? Here are a few to consider: 

• Constipation
• Gas
• Diarrhea

And of course, if you have known or suspected

• IBS
• Crohn’s
• Colitis
• Candida
• Leaky Gut
• SIBO

These are the apparent symptoms, but I will tell you that even if you have skin issues (even eczema or psoriasis), brain fog, anxiety, sleep disturbances, fatigue, headaches, gout, achy joints, hormone issues, etc., it could indicate food intolerance and/or a damaged gut! When we start to develop food intolerances and have digestive symptoms, this usually means that the gut is damaged.

With food intolerances, your body is reacting to those foods as if they were toxins. What’s more, in the case of food intolerances and sensitivities, we may have these symptoms that become the “norm,” such as sluggishness, brain fog, achy joints, gas, and bloating, skin issues. Ya, know, just feeling like garbage, basically, and just dealing with it. There is a very high chance that it may be something in your diet.

The big ones? Gluten, dairy, and processed sugar and flour! And I will add caffeine, but don’t throw your coffee at me. Some of us drink far too much, and it is no longer benefiting us. I’m just sayin”.

How Do We Fix it All?

The good news is we can start to heal our gut in 3-5 days. However, keep in mind that long-term damage requires more time. If you are pretty compromised, it took some work to get where you are, right? So, it will take some time to reverse things. It doesn’t happen overnight.

That being said, a great place to start is a detox or cleanse. The more damage, the less that our body will absorb the good stuff. So, we can eat all the kale salads we want; the nutrients we provide to our bodies are not necessarily getting to where they need to be due to the gut’s dysfunction and damage.

When we cleanse, we allow our digestive system to rest and cool down for a minute because we stress this system a lot.