Summer Spotlight: Digestion
‘Tis the season to focus on digestion
We’ve moved into the season of “Late Summer” in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The organ associated with this season is the spleen - the digestive system! If you’ve ever been to an acupuncturist, you know that we ask a bajillion questions about your digestion….and there’s a good reason for it. As the ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, said: “All disease begins in the gut.”
Digestive issues are common in my practice. People come to see me with everything from chronic diarrhea or once a week bowel movements to starting the day with a flat belly and looking five months pregnant by 7pm.
Poor digestive health is linked in research to everything from Parkinson’s disease to anxiety, infertility, fibromyalgia, ADHD and many other conditions.
I suspect many factors at play in the epidemic of digestive complaints – high stress levels, chlorinated drinking water, our bodies having to process “non-food” foods, and poor soil nutrient status, among others.
I believe mental/emotional digestion and physical digestion are bi-directional and synergistic. Many patients report increased digestive issues when dealing with extra stress. And research shows that the gut microbiome impacts mood, cognitive function and stress response! The digestive system communicates with the brain via the vagus nerve, immune system, and microbial metabolites, among other things.
The good news is that we can support digestion by working on our stress levels, and improve mood by working on digestion! Hallelujah, look at the interconnectedness!
One of my favorite functional lab tests for getting a deep-dive on the gut is the GI-MAP. The GI-MAP is a DNA-based stool analysis that gives me a comprehensive snapshot of your gut health. It shows me where you’re at in terms of microbial imbalances, pathogens, inflammation, as well as how your digestive and immune systems are functioning at the root level. From there, I use this precise data to help me formulate a healing plan that is specific to you & your microbiome!
Any way you look at it - Traditional Chinese Medicine, functional medicine, or emotional wellbeing - digestion is central. Undigested emotions and past experiences can become imbalances in how we function in the present. Likewise, untreated pathogens and poor gut terrain create imbalances in the gut that can lead to dysfunction in the whole body.
When our digestion is strong, we are absorbing the nutrients we need to feel grounded, energized, clear-minded, and well-resourced ….. physically and emotionally.
If you’re curious about what’s going on in your gut, want to feel more grounded and clear, or have something else on your mind, let’s connect.