As a Naturopathic Physician, I see the connection between digestive health and total health in each and every one of my patients, my family members, and myself. Our digestive tracts are much more than what you see in the pages of a book or on a poster in a classroom. Not only does it contain the tube that runs from our lips to our rear end and the accessory organs of the liver, pancreas, salivary glands, etc, it also contains it’s own center of nervous system control, houses the majority of our immune system, and is a major hormonal system in our bodies.

As you can see our guts are busy and very connected with the rest of us. In this article, we will focus on the long tube of our digestive system and specifically the “skin” of it that actually forms a barrier between us and the outside. Did you know that the food we eat technically resides outside of us? We aren’t what we eat; we are what we absorb! This is another reason why finding the right diet for you is so important - we want you to eat foods you can digest and absorb well. It’s another reason why keeping your digestive “skin” healthy is so important - hello Calendula tea!

If you would like to learn more about the liver, please check out this article I wrote when we were exploring Dandelion.

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning

Well, let’s actually back up a moment before we dive into the mouth.

Digestion actually starts in your mind. When we see, smell, taste, or think about foods we enjoy, neurons in our Hippocampus send signals through our vagus nerves to our digestive tract to warm things up. Your mouth salivates, your stomach rumbles, blood is driven to your guts, and digestive fluids get flowing. This is an important step. Think of it as pre-heating your oven or defrosting your food before you cook it. Everything is just going to work smoother from here. In conditions such as depression, this step is often missing and leads to a profound lack of appetite. When we eat on the run, this is often missing as well. Our digestive tract works very hard for us, let’s give it a chance to keep up!

Now, let’s talk about the mouth. Go ahead and run your tongue around inside your mouth. You will notice the smooth, moist surface that your tongue finds. This is called mucous membrane and is what makes up your entire digestive tract (GI tract). In some areas, there are more laters of cells to give more protection - like here in the mouth. In other areas, like your small intestine, it is only one cell thick to allow for absorption of nutrients.

In your mouth, the breakdown process of food production begins. The cells of the lining secrete mucus and enzymes that protect the rest of you from the bacteria rich environment of your mouth.

Next, food moves down your throat and into your esophagus. A complex wave of muscle contractions allows for this to happen. Nerves from your brain as well as through the muscles of the esophagus allow for this to happen. More immune cells are involved here to keep bacteria outside your body cavities. A common issue here is heartburn also known as GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease). This is an issue where stomach contents move backwards and up into your esophagus eroding the lining and causing the burning sensation many experience after eating an especially large meal. Soothing herbs such as Calendula, Marshmallow, and Licorice can be helpful for relieving the symptoms of GERD; however, to get to the bottom of why your stomach contents are coming backup (reflux), be sure to talk with your Naturopathic Physician to get things back on track!

The esophagus empties into your stomach, and amazingly elastic organ that can sit quietly under your lungs or stretch to hold up to a gallon of food. When full, the stomach can push down almost to the pelvis in some people! Here, things get even more complex! Your stomach secretes many different substances that allow you to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates from your meal. Some of the substances that are secreted here are gastrin, mucus, Hydrochloric acid, Intrinsic factor, Pepsinogen, lipases, histamine, serotonin, and somatostatin. Each chemical has it’s own job, but they are created and added to your food from the cells that make up the “skin” of your stomach. Issues such as gastritis, stomach ulcers, and infections create havoc in your stomach’s ability to make these vital substances. Intrinsic Factor for instance is necessary for your ability to absorb Vitamin B12. No Vitamin B12 - no red blood cells and a whole host of other issues.

From your stomach, what was once food - now a liquid substance known as chyme moves into your small intestine. Here the final steps of digestion complete and absorption begins. Both steps again depend on the health of the “skin” that lines this hollow tube. Proteins and carbohydrates are broken down into absorbable amino acids and monosaccharides. This is very important as our body will not have an adverse reaction to absorption of either of these substances. However, in cases such as increased intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”) small proteins, bacteria, and other partially digested substances can cross into the blood stream creating inflammatory conditions and food sensitivities. Again, we aren’t just what we eat, we are what we absorb and when we absorb substances that aren’t fully processed, this wreaks havoc in our blood and across our body systems.

Finally, we enter the Large Intestine also know as the colon. Here water is absorbed back into the bloodstream along with electrolytes and nutrients our helpful gut bacteria create from our undigestible foods - B vitamins and vitamin K. As the remains of our meal make their way to our rectum, they are stored until we are ready to evacuate them and be done with the process. This whole process takes between 16-24 hours in a healthy system and results in soft, well formed, easy to pass stools 1-3 times each day.

Yes, us Naturopathic Physicians do tend to talk about poop a lot. That’s because the state of your poop gives us an idea as to the state of your digestive tract. Constipation, diarrhea, blood, visible mucus, worms, undigested foods, strange colors these are all of interest and valuable information we can use to help you on your journey to your health goals. Healthy gut = Healthy body.

We spoke mostly about the physical aspects of the digestive tract here, but you should know that this topic can get quite deep into mental health states, immune system issues, and nervous system issues from the brain or from your gut brain. Did you know that your digestive tract has more neurons than your spinal cord? That’s a big deal.

If you are dealing with gut pain, inconsistent bowel movements, gas and bloating, or chronic inflammatory issues that no one seems to be able to figure out, it’s time for a gut check. Similarly, if you have chronic conditions that are only partially managed with your current therapies, consider speaking with a Naturopathic Physician about your gut health.

Next steps may involve changes in diet, specific herbs or other supplements, blood or stool testing, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, manual therapy to the abdomen, mindful eating practices, combinations of the above therapies, or other approaches.

Aren’t you sick and tired of being sick and tired? I know I was!

To our health!