DIGESTION AND AGING WELL
As we age, poor digestion can show up as illness and health issues.
Digestion may not be something you think about often. You eat, your body digests the food you’ve eaten, you have energy, then you poop (hopefully daily). Maybe you are the opposite and think about your digestion quite often because of digestive dysfunction from foods you eat or because of being stressed all the time. Maybe you’ve had a surgery to have your gallbladder removed, or even parts of your digestive tract removed. No matter what, digestion is a critical step towards having good health, especially as you age and head into menopause. In this blog post, I am going to address how digestion affects four big areas in our bodies: hormones (endocrine system), immune health, heart health, and detoxification.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD DIGESTION
First of all, it is critical that you are eating properly prepared, nutrient dense foods in order to support good digestion. Eating foods that are as close as possible to how they are in nature is what your body needs to get the nutrients for building healthy cells. Eating a diet high in processed foods will put a stress on your digestion system and can cause a lot of health issues. Finding foods that are local and eating a variety of them will give you a good range of nutrients and it will help you not develop a food sensitivity that may happen because of eating the same foods over and over again. It is equally important to be able to cook your foods in a way that improves digestibility. Soaking certain foods like grains, beans, lentils, legumes and nuts will help remove the phytic acid, which is an anti-nutrient that blocks mineral absorption. Without soaking these types of foods you may have digestive issues and it will affect your body’s ability to absorb nutrients.
HORMONES AND YOUR DIGESTION
As we age and head into menopause, our digestion plays a big part in the function of the endocrine system, where hormones are made. Hormones require healthy fats for production, so eating a diet that has a balance of healthy carbs, healthy fats and quality protein is critical. When we think about our body’s systems and keeping them working properly, we have to start with our diet and digestion because it creates a domino effect on the rest of our body, whether your are eating healthy or not. If we eat a breakfast of a refined cereal with skim milk and a glass of orange juice with toast and margarine, it causes the same type of stress on our bodies as if we were being chased by a wild boar and running for our life. And when we are in a stressed state, our adrenals are constantly pumping out cortisol to release glucose for fuel. This leads to an overabundance of glucose (blood sugar) in our bodies and if we aren’t able to use it as fuel, it gets stored as fat around our middles. Excess cortisol leads to our adrenal glands “stealing” nutrients from our thyroid and other endocrine functions. Excess cortisol also leads to insulin resistance which can lead to elevated testosterone in women, low T-3 (thyroid hormone), estrogen dominance, pituitary imbalance, abnormal estrogen/progesterone ratios, low progesterone and increased estrogen in men.
If our digestion system is not able to properly digest and breakdown the nutrients needed for the endocrine system, then our bodies will not get the necessary nutrients it needs to create hormones. The endocrine system requires healthy fats, vitamin c, antioxidants, magnesium, and B vitamins for its processes. If the digestion system is unable to provide the proper nutrients needed from diet or if it is unable to properly break down nutrients into absorbable specific nutrients, the endocrine system will not be able to function properly. If your hormones are out of balance, it is critical to address blood sugar regulation and your adrenals before trying to balance hormones.
IMMUNE SYSTEM AND DIGESTION
The body’s digestion is the most important part of keeping a healthy immune system. As we age, it is important to keep a strong immune system so that we are able to fight off bacterias and viruses as we are exposed. The digestive system works in a parasympathetic state (relaxed state). In order for our bodies to be able to digest foods well and release appropriate enzymes for digestion of specific foods, we need to be in a relaxed state. We must have enough hydrochloric acid for our stomaches to kill any bacteria that enters through our foods, and to start the digestion process. A great way to know if you don’t make enough HCL for digestion is if you are never hungry in the mornings. If foods aren’t broken down and digested properly, it can allow for food particles to inflame and damage the mucosal lining of our intestinal wall. This can cause “leaky gut” which allows for undigested food to get into our blood stream, which can trigger our immune system to react to it as if it were a foreign particle. Eating foods high in fiber can be very beneficial for our digestion tract as it helps to feed beneficial bacteria in our gut and helps to remove toxins as it adds bulk to stools to be passed out. As we age, poor eating habits and digestion can manifest itself in illness and health issues.
HEART HEALTH AND DIGESTION
As we age, it seems that more and more people are diagnosed with heart problems. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US. Cardiovascular health is directly related to digestion. For instance, good protein digestion is critical to make taurine and carnitine which are the amino acids needed by the heart. We also need proper acidity in the stomach in order to be able to absorb calcium (calcium is the mineral that triggers the contraction of the muscles, including the heart) and to digest the B vitamins. Calcium and magnesium are both needed for a healthy heart. The liver and gallbladder must be able to properly digest and breakdown the healthy fats and fat-soluble vitamins for absorption. Our heart actually prefers healthy fats as its main source of energy. Eating a balance of healthy fats (think omega 3, 6, 9) is needed to avoid inflammation, which contributes to heart disease. Our gut microbiome must be healthy in order to produce vitamins B1, B2, B12, and K2. B vitamins support the hearts ability to regulate hypotension (low blood sugar) as well as other cardiovascular processes. K2 is the vitamin that helps get calcium to the proper places for absorption and keeps calcium out of places that it doesn’t need to be.
DETOXIFICATION AND DIGESTION
Detoxification is an important part of good health as we age. Often times, we think of detox as a process of just the elimination of our bowels. This is a part of detox, but only one part of it. Detoxification is directly related to our digestion system. For example, proper digestion can only happen in a parasympathetic setting (relaxed) and detoxification is the same: it only happens when the body is in a relaxed state. Detoxification happens in the digestive system when the digestive tract physically stops foreign molecules and bacteria from entering the body via the stomach digestion juices (hydrochloric acid) - thus, a good reason why you need enough HCL. It also filters the food and intestinal bacteria, while eliminating toxins and other unusable things out through the bowels. The intestines also contain probiotic bacteria that assist in the detoxification of many substances. The mucosal membrane in the digestive system needs to be heathy and in good working order and there needs to be a healthy balance of gut microbiome for the detoxification processes to happen.
As you can see, our digestion is a critical part of our health. Poor digestion can affect our bodies in many ways, and as we age, it manifests itself in many health issues and illnesses. The good news is that you can start making healthy changes at any age! It is never too late to create healthy habits that will support healthy digestion and better health.