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Moving less and being dehydrated can impact your digestion, partly because these lifestyle factors can contribute to constipation. Another important consideration is decreasing levels of stomach acid, which can occur as you age or in times of stress. Low stomach acid can drive food sensitivities or contribute to dysbiosis, or an imbalance in gut bacteria.
What factors contribute to weak digestion?
Nowadays, unfortunately, it's quite common for people to worry that their digestive symptoms are getting worse, or perhaps they seem more intolerant to different foods, for example. So, I'm just going to run through some of the underlying processes that might be going on, which may mean that your symptoms have gotten a little worse:
1. Your stomach acid levels have dropped
It's often the case that people assume, or they've read or even been told, that they've got too much stomach acid. However, from a physiological perspective, it makes much more sense that people will struggle with too little stomach acid. This state can crop up as we get older, and also in times of stress; so, two really common scenarios, which result in your stomach secretions becoming less sufficient.
As we get older, it's quite common for certain processes to become a little less efficient (which simply means we may need to be slightly more proactive in supporting them). And then, in times of stress, your parasympathetic nervous system isn't so dominant and this is the very branch that helps to govern your digestive system.
If instead, your sympathetic nervous system is more dominant, this means you are in fight-or-flight mode, and your internal stress responses are churning away in the background, which can certainly hinder your digestion.
Stomach acid is actually really important – we want a copious supply! See, we need stomach acid to break down the foods we eat, absorb all our key nutrients, and to fend off bad bacteria and therefore protect the balance of bacteria and other micro-organisms that exist throughout the length of our digestive tract.
Now, this state of low stomach acid can actually give rise to a number of symptoms, many of which can often be mistaken for 'high' stomach acid. Some characteristic symptoms include acid reflux, heartburn, belching or burping. These symptoms can be related to low stomach acid, the reason being, that we have an important lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) at the top of our stomach.
This acts as a gateway between our oesophagus and our stomach. Crucially, this closes when stomach acid levels rise to a certain point, because, at this stage, your stomach is quite full and therefore we don't want those contents to travel up into the rather more sensitive oesophagus – pretty clever really!
However, what happens if it all goes wrong? If your stomach acid levels are instead too low, then your LOS may not get the necessary message that signals to it to close; and if it remains open at the wrong times, then this is when reflux can occur.
So actually, regardless of the levels of stomach acid, one of the other issues is that your stomach acid is getting into the wrong place. Your oesophagus is very sensitive and isn't prepared for acid to be there, and that's when it can be very painful. So, the functionality of the LOS can be a factor there too, but this quite often goes hand in hand with the low stomach acid.
Interestingly, low zinc status is another factor that is quite often linked as well. We need zinc to produce sufficient hydrochloric acid (stomach acid), which then, as above, could affect the workings of the LOS. Zinc is found in copious amounts in options like nuts and seeds or can be taken in supplement form, as with our Balance Mineral Drink. Another top tip too: an imbalance in zinc can often be signalled by white flecks appearing on your fingernails.
Importantly, low stomach acid can be related to the ever-growing problem of food intolerances or sensitivities as well. See, if you aren't breaking down your food properly into small enough units, these larger units are then travelling undeterred through into your small intestine, even reaching the large intestine partially undigested, and your body is not going to respond well to them.
This can put your body into self-defence mode. You might experience some discomfort. Diarrhoea might occur, as your body is trying to flush those foreign elements out. Practically, nutrient deficiencies may also be more likely to crop up if your absorption processes are hindered.
One last point on this is to consider if you are on any stomach medications. Medications that aim to lower stomach acid, such as PPIs, shouldn't be taken aimlessly. Consider how long you've been on them, and how your symptoms have progressed during this time.
These medications can certainly have their place; they may be helpful in the short term in some cases, especially if your oesophagus is very inflamed. But longer-term, these could potentially cause your symptoms to become worse, driving stomach acid too low, which can be linked with nutrient deficiencies and problems in other areas.
Now, what can you do to help? Bitter herbs are really supportive of your stomach. We can acquire bitter tastes in the form of lovely salad leaves; so, add more dark, bitter-tasting leaves into your diet, and especially at the start of a meal. This bitterness helps to gently stimulate your digestion into action.
Or we have digestive bitters in tincture form too. The herbal bitter remedy called Yarrow Complex, as the name suggests, is very bitter in taste as is our Digestisan remedy. So, these can be a nice one to take at the start of meals as well, just in a small splash of water so it remains tasting very bitter.
2. How you eat has changed
Your eating habits could also be affecting how your symptoms have developed recently. So, it's not just all about what you eat, but also how you eat, and how this is affecting your digestion. Stress is, again, one major factor to consider.
That stress could be shutting down your digestive system to some degree. So, there are obvious sources of stress or there are some less obvious sources; but stress for your body even in terms of distractions, in terms of your body not being properly tuned into the eating process, can be detrimental.
This can be as simple eating on the go, eating really quickly, or rushing your food. In these instances, your digestive system won't be getting those nice cues or warnings that food is incoming.
For this reason, employing some mindful eating can be helpful, and trying to employ more of those helpful habits once more, in order to help get your digestion back on track. Chewing your food properly is a must: at least 20 chews per mouthful.
3. The balance of bacteria has changed
Tying in nicely with my previous points, if you're not digesting your food properly in the earlier digestive stages such as in the stomach, then some larger molecules of food risk reaching the large intestine, where they will naturally be subject to fermentation by the bacteria that live there.
These bacteria will feast on anything that becomes available to them. And that's when the balance of the overall population of bacteria can risk being thrown off. Processed foods that aren't natural also aren't a natural food source for your bacteria, and they can release noxious or inflammatory elements as a result.
Gut bacteria balance can have a huge bearing on the presence of digestive symptoms. So, one of the best things you can do to support your gut bacteria is to include sources of dietary fibre in your diet, and a wide variety of them too. Aim to include a wide variety of plant-based foods; these should include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, beans - any fresh, fibre-rich foods you can squeeze in! This fibre is, crucially, going to directly feed your good bacteria.
4. You're dehyrated
This theme moves neatly into my next point too: dehydration. And one of the main issues that dehydration can contribute to is constipation. So, if your food waste is moving quite slowly through the gut, this can majorly upset the balance of bacteria too.
See, in this instance, all your food waste ends up lingering much too long in your intestines, where it becomes subject to fermentation by bacteria. And as they feast on old muck, unsurprisingly, this can create quite a toxic, inflammatory environment.
Ironically, as your gut becomes more irritated, diarrhoea can also develop; so, this can also be a symptom relating to constipation as well. So, if you're aware that your gut is quite inflamed or sensitive, but you also struggle with looser bowels, then it can also be helpful to consider if constipation could have been underlying first. Please note, if your symptoms are persistent, or severe, you should always have a check-up with your doctor.
To help counter the dehydration and subsequent symptoms, you would be looking to consume at least two litres of water, minimum, daily. Plus, ensure you prioritise plain water, rather than any other drinks.
Also, drinking at the right times is important. So, if you drink lots of water alongside your meals, or any other liquids for that matter, then you're going to risk diluting your lovely strong stomach acid. As before, it's this strongly acidic stomach acid which also helps support the next steps of your digestion. Your stomach acid helps to trigger the release of digestive enzymes, and helps to support the production of bile. And bile, in particular, helps to stimulate peristalsis, which is the unique movement of muscular contractions through the gut, which really gets your gut moving.
5. You're moving less
Perhaps, as we get older, or just in general as a result of busy lifestyles, you find you actually end up moving less. This could also have some negative impacts on your digestion.
Firstly, moving more and being more physically active can help to gently massage your gut and encourage peristalsis. Moving more is also a stress management technique, so those lovely, feel-good endorphins can help to counter stress, which is actually going to help switch on your digestion a bit more.
Moving more also supports your metabolism. Metabolism tends to slow as we get older, and this can be made worse at different hormonal stages. Low oestrogen, for example, during menopause, can also have some negative effects on our metabolism. So, if we are actively moving little and often, just as part of a bigger picture of diet and lifestyle tips, then that can also be really beneficial for our digestion via this process.
