Bloating be Gone: A guide to digestive health Part 1

It is that time of year when we become both excited and stressed about the sunshine and bathing suit season. Even with all the confidence in the world, it can be a scary thing to de-robe by the water. We want to look our best but bloating may be one thing standing in our way. Does your stomach commonly feel hard and distended later in the day, your pants feel a little tighter after work, still hungry but can't think to eat anything in fear of making it worse? Yes, bloating is a pain and never makes you feel good! Well, let's start to get to the bottom of it...

Common culprits:

• Food sensitivities - There are some foods that our bodies just aren't able to process.The most common food sensitivities I see that cause bloating are dairy, gluten, eggs, and red meat. You may not be sensitive to all of them, or it may be something different, such as prolonged exposure to processed foods, but eliminating them for 3 weeks, monitoring symptoms, and re-introducing them one at a time may give you some answers. (More on food sensitivities and elimination diets at a later date.)
• Low stomach acid - In most cases I see, heartburn is due to low stomach acid instead of high stomach acid. Yes its true...mind blown! Your digestion starts mostly in your stomach and therefore if it is impeded here, it can lead to issues further down, such as bloating. 
• Low digestive enzymes - Your stomach and pancreas are the main organs that secrete necessary digestive enzymes, such at pepsin, protease and lipase. If there are not enough enzymes, food does not get digested as completely causing issues.
• Dysbiosis - A fancy term that means an imbalance in your gut between the good and bad bacteria. Probiotics (the good guys), have many health benefits, including regulating your bowels and decreasing inflammation.
• Stress - All of these issues can lead back to stress. It goes back to the "fight or flight" and "rest and digest" idea of our nervous systems. If we put all our energy into fighting stress, we prevent adequate blood flow to our digestive system, which can lead to inflammation, poor organ function and a "leaky gut". Organs that can be affected are your stomach, liver, gallbladder and intestines. 

As it can be any one, or all of the above, its best to understand your digestion from the start. So...

Let's start at the very beginning...A very good place to start.

Digestion actually begins even before you take your first bite. Salivation, stimulated by hunger or smell, sends signals to your digestive track to start producing enzymes, stomach acid etc. You then take your first bite...yum! However, if your stomach is not able to produce enough stomach acid, or HCl, digestion is impeded. Heartburn is a common symptom of low HCl. At the end of the esophagus is a sphincter (an elastic band per say), and it opens and closes to let food into the stomach. Ideally, adequate stomach acid sends a signal to the sphincter to tighten, preventing any acid and food from irritating the esophagus while breaking down your food. This sphincter can become weak or lazy due to low acid (but also such things as overuse of ant-acids, stress, obesity and pregnancy), and symptoms may arise.  Protein is broken down first by HCl. Have difficulty digesting red meat? This may be why! If food is not broken down properly in the stomach, your intestines have to work harder and inflammation can arise, causing bloating. 

What can you do?

Bitters, such as the herb Gentiana lutea, will initiate digestion and help eliminate bloating very successfully. However, one of the best at home remedies for bloating and heartburn is organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Instead of suppressing stomach acid, it actually stimulates your bodies natural ability to produce stomach acid, while prepping your body for digestion. Even 1 tsp in water 10 minutes before meals will do the trick. Note that apple cider vinegar will not give relief if you have an ulcer or too much stomach acid. An HCl challenge, with your ND, is a useful tool to decipher if you have high or low stomach acid. 

If you have any questions about elimination diets, testing stomach acid, using apple cider vinegar or your bloating concerns please don't hesitate to book an appointment with me or your local ND. (More to come on bloating in the coming month.)

In health & happiness,

Dr. Karen

To gluten or not to gluten?

Gluten free grains and seeds :)

The term "gluten free" is starting to pop up everywhere, from baked goods, condiments, and even take out pizza. So...you may be wondering if going gluten free is right for you, or if it is just a "fad". 

May is Mental Health month and since gluten has been shown to be a silent cause of MANY mental health conditions (Dr. David Perlmutter's Grain Brain goes into much detail), I thought this was the right time to take you through why I believe this "fad" is more that just a fad. It may be your solution. 

Many diets have come and gone. So unlike fads in fashion, which I admit to caving to on numerous occasions, I am cautious when it comes to nutrition and tend to not waver on my recommendations. One of these recommendations however, for many of my patients, IS a gluten-free diet. This diet isn't necessary for everyone but new research is showing that around 1 in 10 people are sensitive to gluten (1 in 300 are celiac - inflammation on overdrive creating an autoimmune reaction to gluten). 

Are you gluten sensitive?

Are you suffering from any of the following?

• feeling sluggish
• brain fog
• headaches
• depression/moodiness
• ADHD
• memory loss
• anxiety
• let's not forget symptoms not associated with mental health - skin rashes, allergies, joint pain or any form of digestive issues

If you answered yes to any (or many!) of these symptoms, gluten may be the culprit. In Naturopathic Medicine, the terms leaky gut and food sensitivities are frequently used. When we frequently experience stress, we spend more time in the "fight or flight" portion of our nervous system and not the important "rest and digest" portion. This prevents proper digestion of food causing inflammation in the gut, which then leaks into our blood stream causing systemic issues. While symptoms could be triggered by a variety of foods because of this process, gluten can cause more issues due to over-exposure, over-processing and its effect on blood sugar.

Let's talk about blood sugar. When digested (if at all), these grains are broken down into glucose very quickly. The glycemic index (or surge of blood sugar) of whole grain bread is higher than a snickers bar or a banana (!), stressing our pancreas to produce more insulin in order to transport glucose into our cells. High blood glucose leads to inflammation - in our gut, joints, skin or the silent organ - the brain! There are no pain receptors in our brain and high glucose (and low dietary fat - but more on good fats later) can wreak havoc without any concrete indication. Inflammation will decrease neurotransmitter levels, which are responsible for keeping us happy and healthy, and affect our neurons and the signals they send for memory and so on. 

Gluten being over-processed, genetically modified and over-consumed is a whole different segway but I won't bore you with that today. Instead let's explore some basics. 

What exactly is gluten?

Gluten is a mixture of proteins, gliadin being one, in many grains. It is responsible for the chewiness of many bread products that we eat every day. It can be found in:

• wheat (most breads, pastas, cakes, cookies, donuts...you get the picture)
• barley
• farro
• kamut
• rye
• spelt
• many pre-packaged foods and condiments (eg. ketchup, soy sauce, salad dressings)

So what can I eat?

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms I suggest cutting out gluten for a month and keeping tabs on your symptoms. If you feel better, thats fantastic - keep it up. If not, more exploration with your ND is necessary. The gluten free trend makes it much easier to replace your bread for bread, pasta for pasta, cookie for cookie etc, but pre-packaged gluten free foods and some flours tend to spike your blood sugar even more. Therefore focus on healthy whole grains and legumes (think quinoa, buckwheat, sweet potato, rice). You'd be surprised what foods are out there when you open your eyes and experiment! The following foods are gluten-free:

• amaranth
• arrowroot
• buckwheat/kasha
• corn
• flax
• millet
• oats
• quinoa
• rice
• tapioca
• potato
• teff

Follow my food Fridays to learn some new recipes or check out my favourite food blogs for some more ideas. If you enjoy baking like I do, try experimenting with buckwheat, quinoa, and coconut flour! 

Its a lifestyle change and I understand it can be hard at first but trust me, its worth it for some people. You may not need to stick with it forever so check in with your ND. 

So clear your brain and get happy! In the words of Pharrell, - "Clap along if you feel..."

In health & happiness,

Dr. Karen