Good old digestion. We all know we have to digest food that we eat for energy but how do you know if you are actually digesting your food correctly, breaking down nutrients and absorbing the vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats into your cells? We need proper digestion for good health and a functional digestion system to collect then eliminate toxins, dead cells, and other debris from our body via our elimination pathways. Another important part of proper digestion and an effective digestion system, is to be a member of the immune system defense team- to block off any enemies or invadors into the system. STRESS can change all of this as any stressor alert that activates the “EMS” – emergency response team starting in the brain with the hypothalamus (activating the HPA Axis), takes priority over all other functions. Digestion is put on hold. We will talk about the PNS vs. SNS in part two of this blog talk.
Digestion starts north… in the brain when we see and smell food! When we eat something- we begin to breakdown our food right away as digestive enzymes, acids and other chemicals mix with the food in the mouth. The digestion process continues down south into the stomach and into the small intestines. The gut wall lining works as a protective barrier and filter to keep undigested food and smaller particles from escaping from the gut out into the bloodstream. The “army” that is in charge of blocking the particles from escaping, “team Villi” is very sensitive and if they job gets irritated or broken down then the barrier gets damaged. The damaged gut wall lining becomes unstable and not as powerful so “items” escaped into the the bloodstream where they are not welcomed.
The gut wall lining cells are continually replenished to maintain “strength” to defend the “kingdom” of the Gut. The gut wall lining is one of the fastest cell turnover areas in the body. This is why I find the research and the be
nefits of the new product “RESTORE 4 LIFE” so interesting plus I am curious to see how it works on myself as well as clients to improve the function and health of the cells in the gut wall lining (www.restore4life.com).
The health of the digestion system and the gut wall lining, impacts the overall health including the brain health (gut-brain connection) and immune system (peyers patches). We need our cells to get the hydration and the nutrients they need to optimize the function of all of our body functions, body systems and overall health.
Since the availability of energy and nutrients to the cells of the microbiome has an impact on overall health, then should we not focus on the gut health if searching for optimizing our health overall? The length of time digesting food, the acidity of the stomach (1.5-3.0 pH), the balance of the intestinal bacteria and the strength of the immune system are also all depending on STRESS and our nervous system.
IF Stress is ON, digestion system is turned OFF.
Stressors activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) which is the emergency response nervous system or “Fight or Fight” nervous system. Stress takes priority over all other functions as digestion and put on HOLD while we deal with the perceived THREAT at hand. Ideally, that perceived threat passes and we recover then move on, switching back into the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) to “rest and digest”.
Continue to part two…
Coach Debbie Potts
