My Digestion is Suboptimal

THE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO WEIGHT LOSS

PORTAL

DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCE

BLOCK 4 – MY ABSORPTION IS POOR, BLOATING FREQUENT & CONSTIPATION DISRUPTIVE

This section mostly focuses on irritable bowel syndrome and functional digestive issues as opposed to inflammatory bowel diseases like celiac, crohn’s and colitis (if you have been diagnosed with one of these consult with a specialist and then book in with me for the holistic support if needed).

Why proper digestion is important in weight loss:

You need to be eliminating waste and toxins.
You need to be absorbing nutrients so that your immune system and metabolic system are supported.
Digestion plays a role in balancing mood and can influence our energy levels.

We recently discovered that leaner people have a different probiotic balance than those who are overweight and if you alter your digestive flora you can lose weight easier. We cover it all in this section.

Where to start:

If you have been diagnosed with IBS or are suffering from consistent minor symptoms of digestive upset it might be time to trial digestive support.

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SYMPTOMS

The symptoms of digestive imbalance can be very general but if you experience any from the following list there could be optimization to be done. Check the list below to see where you stand.

Bloating
Constipation
Stomach pain
Acid reflux
Extra burping
Gas
Mucus or blood in the stool
Undigested food in the stool
Nausea

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WORKUP

Unless you have Crohn’s or colitis, diverticulitis, celiac, gastroenteritis or another diagnosable digestive condition functional assessments are the only way to discover what your potential cause of digestive upset could be.

We have a series of functional assessments available to us please check below to see what suits you best:

Stool changes: stool testing for inflammation, infection (parasite, bacteria, virus), enzyme function and malabsorption
Gas: small intestine bacterial overgrowth testing, h. pylori testing, food sensitivity testing, stool testing
Pain: liver function testing, urinalysis, small intestine bacterial overgrowth testing, h. pylori testing, food sensitivity testing, stool testing
Acid reflux: food sensitivity testing, h. pylori testing
Dark blood in the stool: stool test with referral from your family doctor, CRP, CBC, WBC, gluten antibody testing, liver function testing
Leaky gut (joint pain, rashes, headaches, low mood & digestive sx): zonulin test, diamine oxidase + histamine test

Need to run labs? Contact us.

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LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Lifestyle changes will depend on the diagnosis but we usually start with an elimination/challenge diet, assessing your micro-biome (probiotics) and making sure you have adequate digestion.

If you’re overfull or feeling bloated after meals start here – Was it that food? Consider an avoidance for a few days and see if your symptoms resolve.
If you’re noticing negative symptoms (other than bloating) with certain foods take three weeks off of that food and reassess. These can be symptoms such as joint pain, fatigue, headaches, rashes, diarrhea, gas or constipation.
If your bowel movements are better on certain days of the week begin a diet journal (and stool journal) immediately. Lets try to find out if there is any correlation between food choice and bowel function.
If you are having heartburn or acid reflux start with the basics of avoidance and track your symptom changes:
- citrus
- coffee
- alcohol
- spicy foods
- greasy foods
If you see undigested food in your stool consider an enzyme and try foods that support adequate breakdown such as:
- apple cider vinegar
- lemon
- pineapple
- papaya
If your symptoms are what we call “never well since” and that event was a course of antibiotics consider a probiotic.
If you’re not sure what’s going on with your digestion consider the following elimination protocol (track your symptoms and track your weight loss):
- Avoid dairy (including cheese, ice cream, milk and butter), gluten and eggs for three weeks
If your bowels are sluggish or you’ve dealt with significant constipation track your fibre intake. Lets evaluate your soluble versus insoluble fibre. Let’s boost water intake and see how things change. If there’s benefit continue if not let’s go to very simple things to speed up the movements:
- ground flax
- flax oil
- consume prunes and prune juice
- powdered vitamin C
- magnesium citrate
- exercise + water first thing in the morning
If you have suffered from loose stool or diarrhea for a while consider travellers probiotic for a period of 5 to 7 days. It’s called saccahromyces boulardii. It is very commonly known as Florastor.
- one capsule before bed – once they slow down or solidify stop the probiotic and switch to something broad spectrum in the 10billion range for a month.

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SUPPLEMENTS

Supplementation can be very helpful in digestive disturbance. The most common supplements used are probiotics, enzymes and herbs. See where you fit (depending on the symptoms you have) and remember knowing your cause of imbalance makes this process much easier.

Food sensitivities: glutamine, fish oil, probiotics
Leaky gut: glutamine, enzymes and probiotics
Constipation: flax oil, ground flax, psyllium, aloe vera, vitamin C, magnesium citrate, prune juice, laxative tea (as last resort)
Diarrhea: saccharomyces boulardii, BRAT diet (bananas, brown rice, applesauce, toast)
Acid reflux: DGL, aloe vera, slippery elm
Bloating: berberine, enzymes
Pain: berberine, slippery elm, marshmallow, aloe vera, enzymes
Undigested food in the stool: enzymes, Betaine HCL
Mucous in the stool: fish oil, marshmallow, slippery elm
diagnosis of IBS: Berberine