Digestive issues can be all-consuming and dramatically change how you live your day to day life, not to mention they’re complex!
What if there’s a simple solution?
I always have a handful of clients who have had years of digestive struggles, IBS, or chronic diarrhea…
And they’ve had colonoscopies, endoscopies, other testing, tried probiotics, antibiotics, you name it.
But they still don’t have any answers or any leads…
And within days of bringing some basic digestive supports, things have completely turned around.
These aren’t your average drug-store-digestive-enzymes, mind you.
But the goal is to work WITH your body - support function, or supplement shortcomings in function.
In the stomach
Low stomach acid production can contribute to gas + bloating soon after meals, constipation or diarrhea, acid symptoms like heartburn or acid reflux, and even an aversion or distaste for meat. When stomach acid is not adequate, the stomach is slow to empty and has trouble breaking down key nutrients like animal proteins, B vitamins, and minerals. Unfortunately, those are also the nutrients needed to make stomach acid! So it can create a vicious cycle. Improving stomach acid levels can be an absolute game-changer for a lot of people.
Digestive enzymes
Building on that, digestive enzymes are released as a result of stomach acid levels. If our stomach acid levels aren’t where they should be, enzyme production will decline too. Digestive enzymes are important to breakdown our food into the chemical components: nutrients, to be easily absorbed in the small intestine. When food is not properly broken down, undigested particles can cause issues in the small intestine: gut inflammation, lower lactase (milk sugar enzymes) production, development of food sensitivities, and more. When used properly, digestive enzymes can make a WORLD of difference.
Gallbladder health + bile flow
Finally, the term “digestive function” also includes bile! Bile is produced in the liver, stored in the gallbladder and released into the small intestine when fatty foods are eaten. Bile also balances out the pH of the food coming out of the stomach. When we have robust stomach acid levels, that tells our body to release more bile. Bile is good for regularity, as it’s a natural laxative, and helpful for fat digestion and absorption. For those that don’t feel good after eating heavy/greasy meals, or deal with frequent nausea or upset stomach, supporting bile flow might be part of the picture.
I want to share some specifics, in case these could be helpful to you!
What if all that burping, bloating, acid reflux was easily resolved?
I *highly* recommend working with a practitioner when using supplements, and always connect with your doctor when you start supplements or adjust medications.
Some of my favorite products to support digestion are:
Hydrozyme - a low dose HCl (stomach acid) support. I do NOT recommend starting with stomach acid supplementation if you have active symptoms of heartburn/reflux/GERD. But this can be a great way to improve regularity, and reduce bloating
Digest Gold - digestive enzymes are essential for breaking food down, and can reduce bloating and heartburn/reflux symptoms without adding more acid (like HCL above)
BileMin or BetaTCP - gentle bile and gallbladder support, if you’re someone who doesn’t feel good eating greasy/high fat foods, or you notice BMs float, are a lighter color rather than dark brown or experience some level of constipation (not having satisfying BMs every day)
For those struggling with heartburn/acid reflux symptoms - there is a LOT of healing that needs to happen before we can really ramp up digestion.
Some supports that I love for acid issues:
Gastrazyme - an herbal + nutrient support to help nourish and restore the irritated stomach mucosal layer
Deglycerized licorice - known as “DGL”, licorice is a well studied herbal that restores the stomach lining on par, if not better than, typical ulcer treatment medications. This is a great product to use regularly, as well as on an as-needed basis for any acid symptoms between meals
Slippery elm bark powder tea - I recommend getting powdered bark to stir into hot water, for higher potency rather than the popular “throat coat” tea (which I love! But not for high doses of slippery elm)
These are some of my favorite basic digestive health supports, but they’re not the end-all in terms of gut healing. This is a starting point, to ease digestive discomfort while we’re getting to the root of what’s causing your body to not produce enough digestive juices, or develop acid symptoms and an irritated gut.
If you’re struggling with digestive health beyond the basics, and want to look deeper with comprehensive gut testing and a gut healing protocol, schedule a complimentary consult call to learn more about working 1:1.