Digestion is More Important Than You Think in Santa Clarita!

A healthy life consists of emotional, social and psychological health. Our Ekengren Chiropractic team is here to help you make the right choices.

Digestion in Santa Clarita

Have you thought about how important the function of your digestive system is, lately? Most people only consider it when they have a problem…heartburn, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea. Your digestive system must bring in substances that provide energy, fuel for our body as well as remove waste products. Also, the majority of your immune system resides in our gut.

Did you know that at 65 years old we only have 10% the amount of digestive enzymes that we produced when we were 20 years old?

The lack of ability to digest our food properly is a major factor in aging. The potency of the digestive tract starts with hydrochloric acid (HCL) secretion from the chief cells of the stomach – without sufficient acid secretion there is no initiation to the digestive process and protein remains intact and unavailable for absorption. Some of the primary signs of lack of acid secretion are canker sores in the mouth, allergy patches on the tongue, inflammation or rosacea around the nose, heartburn, a coated tongue, yeast overgrowth and bad breath. If you have any of these symptoms taking a HCL supplement will most likely benefit you.

Bile from the Liver and the Gallbladder Play a Major Role in the Action of the GI Tract

Bile assists digestion by emulsifying our foods (making it easier to digest). Bile helps promote peristalsis (the movement) of the food through the digestive tract. When bile flow is working correctly we have a strong urge to have a bowel movement in the morning, after eating or drinking. This is because the bile cleansed the digestive tract the night before.

How long it takes for food to go from mouth to anus is called bowel transit time. This time should be 12-14 hours. An easy way to determine this is eat two red beets and see how long it takes to be red in the fecal matter. If the time is too short then we won’t have enough time to properly digest our foods, if its too long the toxins will back up in our system. Our bile can get thick over time, like oil in your car. Taking whole supplements made from the stalks of beets can thin out the bile and revitalize your digestive system.

80% of Your Immune System Resides in the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT).

80% of the antigens the body uses for defense (immunoglobulins) are in gastrointestinal (GI) tract. When people get very sick they are given gamma globulin injections, to try and boost their immune system. The immune issue most likely started as an imbalance in gut ecology. When the good and bad bacteria, yeast and fungus get out of balance in the gut this leads to tissue of the bowel degrading, and leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut is a situation where undigested food particles leak through the gut into the blood stream and your immune system attacks these food particles. Do you know someone allergic to many foods? This is probably what has happened to them. We help this with and elimination diet and using whole food supplements to thicken the gut lining.

Gut Lining is Our Armor to the World

A majority of interaction of our body with the outside world is actually in the 400 square meters of your digestive tract, which is 200 times more than our skin. Every food and toxin that enters our mouth is addressed in our GI tract. When gut lining gets thin, patients tend to become more protective of their belly and become recluse from the world. When we use whole food supplements to start thickening the gut lining patients tend to be more powerful in their own body.

As you can see the digestive system is a powerful system of our body, which must be supported to create ideal health. Have questions on how to support your digestive system? Ask Dr. Ekengren…

Ekengren Chiropractic in Santa Clarita can help personalize what is best for you.