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You're listening to episode number six of the Fat Fueled Female podcast.
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Welcome to the Fat Fuelled Female podcast. I'm your host Marja Chow, a holistic nutritionist, personal trainer and proud dog mama of two. I am obsessed with helping women achieve their goals, feel confident in their skin and become empowered health advocates. This podcast is designed to help ambitious women thrive on a low carb, high fat lifestyle.
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So tune in each week as we talk all aspects of nutrition, improving your fitness enhancing your mindset so that you can take inspired action and live your best life all starting from the inside out.I'm so happy to have you here. Now let's get started.
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Hello, and welcome back to the Fat Fueled Female podcast. In this episode, we're going to talk about how to improve your digestive system your digestive capacity. Do you have a food baby?
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You know, digestive distress is a real thing. And the health of your entire body is dependent on the health of your digestive system. One of the main reasons why I became a holistic nutritionist was to selfishly learn how to support my oversensitive, constantly bloated, often annoying digestive system.
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So in this episode, I'm going to go over five actionable steps or tips you can put into action and use starting today. So bloating, constipation, diarrhea, are all symptoms or signs of have some form of imbalance within the gastrointestinal tract, or some sort of sensitivity or allergy to a specific food you may not be aware of.
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So let's get in to step number one or tip number one. Chew your food sounds so basic, but is so fundamental.
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So what I like to ask people is are you a slow eater? Or are you a fast eater? When you think about you know, eating a meal, how many times do you chew your food before you swallow?
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Think about that. Now, I am naturally a fast eater so I really have to be mindful when I eat and have the awareness and be present while I'm eating. You essentially should chew your food and this may sound crazy 20 to 30 times before you swallow.
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So like if you're a fast eater like me, you might like what I like to eat like five or six times and down it goes. Let's be intentional and conscious and present when we are eating and try to chew your food 20 to 30 times before you swallow.
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So why do we have to worry that much? Okay, so carbohydrates, unlike fats and proteins, you have these enzymes that is really this enzyme called salivary amylase, which is secreted from your saliva, which actually breaks down carbohydrates.
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So carbohydrates actually start digesting in your mouth if you were to chew a piece of bread or something sweet. So you're gonna chew it 30,40,50 Times gave that's a little bit obsessive, 50 times, but that piece of bread would start to taste very sweet as your teeth and that enzyme are mechanically and enzymatically breaking down that carbohydrate.
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So by the time the food makes it down the esophagus, into the stomach, and the stomach is where protein and fats began digesting. If you mechanically break down your food more efficiently, the entire digestive process is gonna be a lot smoother.
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So when food gets to the stomach, it's like semi solid and then it turns into a liquid with stomach acid hydrochloric acid, it's like I refer to the stomach as like a washing machine. A turning washing machine, taking that semi solid food and bringing it into a liquid state.
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So properly chewing your food sets the stage for greater digestion, absorption, assimilation, and elimination. So all of that comes together to get the most bang for your buck and get the most nutrients out of the food you're consuming.
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Chewing your food well, also prevents overeating. If you are a fast eater and you're really hungry sometimes it's just like mahhhhh you're throwing everything in your mouth, down the esophagus into the stomach.
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So if you eat slower, you're gonna be mindfully tasting each bite and the texture and you're going to have the signals from your brain and your body and your stomach be more in sync and work in your favor.
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So learning to slow down and slow down with each meal makes such a huge difference. Again, it brings you into that present state, instead of just like, a lot of the times we can be eating, and then we're thinking about our to do list or we're pondering other things that were just eating subconsciously, right?
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It's like a skill, you know, it's, it's not a skill, it's like something you just do. It's like brushing your teeth, when you first start to brush your teeth. You know, as a kid, you're like, okay, how do I brush each tooth and like, you know, it's like, you're more present.
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And as we eat, a lot of the times our minds are in so many different other places. So bringing your awareness to the present, tasting the texture, chewing your food, and this will help the entire digestive process.
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A big bonus is it is free and doesn't cost any money.
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Okay, so let's move on to point number two, eat in a calm, relaxed state. Okay, so the body has two branches of the nervous system. The first branch control controls all digestive system function, from the secretion of saliva in the mouth, all the way down to the work of the liver and the kidneys.
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So this nervous system is referred to as the parasympathetic nervous system. You can remember this by thinking of this system as rest and digest. So parasympathetic is rest and digest.
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The other nervous system the other branch governs our stress response, also known as the fight or flight.
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So an example of the fight or flight nervous system being activated, is you're like driving late to school, you know, while noticing your gas tank is on empty, or you're stressing out about a deadline at work or you're having to make dinner for your family and you realize you have none of the ingredients or the groceries.
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So this system, you know, this fight or flight should be turned on, when we are exercising, or if we are stressed out, we see like some you know, it's a nighttime there's a dark alley, you see some like weird person in the dark alley.
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And you like, okay I need to get the heck out of here. That's when it should be turned on. But nowadays, many people are chronically stressed, and the fight or flight response is taxed.
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So when the nervous system when the fight or flight is turned on, it inhibits digestive digestion. So instead of blood being sent to your abdominal cavity to break down your food, your body's like, wait, it cannot differentiate if you are running down that dark alley from someone weird you see in that alley.
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Or if you are stressed out with work, fighting with your partner, going over your to do list, whatever it may be. Blood will be sent to your extremities to your arms and your legs as your body is like, wait, you're you're in fight mode, you're in flight mode.
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We need to move our body when in actuality it's like you're just having a mental stress. So the same hormonal response occurs, so in other words, when this nervous system is activated, you cannot efficiently digest your food, since your body views this type of stress as a threat.
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So again, bringing it back to that conscious awareness. Take a breath before each meal, sit with your food. Try to be in the most calm, relaxed environment as you can be and be intentional when you are eating.
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Okay, number three apple cider vinegar, your BFF. So if you don't know what Apple Cider Vinegar is, it is fermented, which means it contains raw enzymes and beneficial bacteria for the body.
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As I mentioned, think of your stomach as a washing machine right churning the semi solid food which you efficiently broke down by chewing it 20 to 30 times into that liquid state.
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So in order for nutrients to be efficiently broken down the stomach requires HCL so hydrochloric acid stomach acid. So apple cider vinegar has a similar pH to HCl. S
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o if you don't know what pH is, it stands for a potential hydrogen and it is a scale ranging ranging from zero to 14. Anything closer to zero is more acidic. Anything closer to 14 is more alkaline.
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So stomach acid is around 1.5 to 2.5. So super acidic, it needs to be acidic, the stomach needs to be acidic a as I said to break down food to kill any sort of microbes or bacteria that could be found in your food. So by taking apple cider vinegar, it gives a surplus of digestive juices to get everything moving.
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So HCl stomach acid is highest in the morning and starts to decrease as the day progresses. So this tip can be helpful, especially in the evening, right?
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If your HCl is highest in the morning, it's going to be less towards the evening. So you can take HCl, you can take it in the morning, you can take it at lunch, but maybe the most beneficial would be to take it in the evening.
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Essentially, because your stomach acid is going to be lower. Stomach acid can also decrease after age 40. And stomach acid can also decrease if you are under a lot of stress.
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Another thing you can do is take a hydrochloric acid supplement, which will give even more of that stomach acid more, to break down your food.
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Oh what I want to remember when I was in nutrition school, I use apple cider vinegar every day, I found this I think after what book I read it in, but it's like easiest salad dressing.
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It is one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and then you can mix any sort of like high quality fat, so extra virgin olive oil, or you can do like an avocado oil. And then you just do one teaspoon, so one tablespoon of that fat, and then one teaspoon of Dijon mustard. And like that will be enough for your salad.
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But you could like tenfold that and then make it into you can put in a mason jar or in a little glass jar, keep it in your fridge for like a couple of weeks. So that is such a great, easy, easy, easy, easy peasy salad dressing that you can try to experiment with.
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Okay, moving on to number four take a digestive enzyme. So digestive enzymes break down the food you eat, which allows our bodies to absorb the nutrients. If we don't have enough digestive enzymes being secreted from the pancreas and the small intestine, the body is not able to utilize all the nutrients found in food.
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So although you may be eating well, you know you're eating all this like grass fed meat organic, nutrient rich, nutrient dense. But if you're not able to absorb it, you're missing the entire kind of point of eating whole foods, real foods, high quality foods.
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So I like to give this analogy for people to understand. Say your partner or your friend or your co worker, whoever it may be, buys you a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
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And you're like, oh my gosh, thank you so much these are stunning, I'm going to go grab my vase and put these flowers in water in the base.
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So you put the flowers in the vase, and you're about to water, the flowers, you water the flowers, and there's a massive hole at the bottom of the vase. So the flowers aren't going to be able to get any of the nutrients from the water.
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So that's kind of how I like to explain to people it's like you can be eating all the best quality foods but if you're not absorbing it, it's kind of a waste.
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So there's different types of enzymes we have like Metabolic Enzymes in our body, which speed up processes. We have digestive enzymes, as I mentioned, made in the small intestine and the pancreas.
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And then we have food enzymes, which are found in raw foods. So if you take a digestive enzyme supplement, it's just giving you more support more of a helping hand to actually break down your food.
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And you can do this you know, the thing is you can do these in cycles, like you could do like four to six weeks of taking digestive enzymes, see how your body's responding.
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And then you can continue or you can take a break like there is no right or wrong way to do this. But taking a digestive enzyme isn't going to hurt you it's only going to help you.
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And number five, take a probiotic so probiotics are a mixture of several different strains of bacteria, aka micro flora. The good bacteria lives harmoniously with us in our digestive system all over our body actually, and plays an important role in our immunity.
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So when the diet consists of processed foods, excess sugar or constant antibiotic use, this can cause the bad bacteria to overthrow the good bacteria, causing yeast overgrowth, parasites and other harmful invaders, which can weaken the immune system so not so good.
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So having colonies of good bacteria supports the colon intestines and can assist with healthy transit time and elimination.
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So being backed up, it's no bueno. I find that a lot of females it's more prevalent don't eliminate as often as males do. Like when I have clients fill up their intakes for intake forms.
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I find that some women they eliminate once every two to three days. And just because that symptom is common does not mean that is normal, there are some form of dysbiosis or imbalance in your GI tract okay.
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So, again our health is basically determined by the function of your digestive system that is what is indicative to how our entire body functions, your digestive system.
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So supplementing with a good quality probiotic can really be beneficial. So how do you choose a probiotic.
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Most people are just there are three different types of probiotics. Most people are just usually familiar with the one referred to as Lactobacillus Bifido. acidophilus probiotic. So
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Lactic acid probiotics, you can find them over the counter at most local drugstores are at Whole Foods. And these types of probiotics have been shown to help symptoms of IBS.
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And IBS is really, diarrhea, constipation. Again, it's some form of imbalance. IBS is just a blanket term that, you know, practitioners will be like, we don't really know what's going on with you when there is some form of you know, it could be small intestinal SIBO small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which is bacteria in the small intestine where it shouldn't be.
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The integrity of the small intestine is very delicate, or it could be something like you have H Pylori. You have bacteria in your stomach, there shouldn't be bacteria in your stomach.
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So the Lactobacillus Acidophilus Bifidobacterium has been shown to support IBS, as well as support brain fog and help regulate blood sugar.
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The second type of probiotic is fungal and yeast probiotics, and they are called saccharomyces boulardii.
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And this is a normal part of the microbiome and most people aren't aware of these types of probiotics. T
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his type of probiotic can help with killing H. Pylori in the stomach because it's an antifungal.
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And then the third type of probiotic is soil based probiotics, Bacillus bacteria, and these types of probiotics are organisms found in soil. And they can help support the gut and are remarkable since they are produced in the soil and this is what we lack a lot from our diets.
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So also adding fermented foods such as kimchi sauerkraut, got shots, kombucha, be mindful of kombucha even though it's fermented, there can be a lot of sugar in there.
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And then lastly, pay attention to what you are eating and see how your body reacts after you consume certain foods, right? Like the most common suspect foods are gluten, dairy, corn and soy.
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So if you're feeling if you're constipated, if you're bloated, if you've diarrhea, if you have acid reflux, if you have any of those above symptoms, try removing one of those food groups for four to six weeks, and then see how your body responds.
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And then if you notice a difference, keep it out. Or if you're like, I don't really notice a difference, add it back in and then remove something else, right.
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It's all trial and error if you want to go down this route on your own and just be intentional and have you awareness and be connected with your body.
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So I hope this information helps and gets your digestive system flowing. There are also liver and gallbladder support. I refer to the liver and this is really important in the digestive system. I refer to the liver and the gallbladder as a Batman and Robin.
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But I already went over these five tips. So I will save the conversation about the liver and the gallbladder for another episode.
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So thank you so much for hanging out with me today. And I will catch all you beautiful humans and next week.
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Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed what you heard, make sure to subscribe to the podcast. And if you feel you got some extra value from this episode, it would mean the world to me. If you could head over to Apple podcast or whatever service you're listening to this podcast on. Drop a five star review and let me know your thoughts on the show.
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This helps more people like yourself find the podcast and if you're not already following me on social media right now is the time you can find me on Instagram at Marja Chow for all your nutrition tips, tricks and inspiration or visit my website fatfuelledfemale.com where you can download my free seven day keto meal plan with recipes. Thank you so much for tuning in. I will catch you next week.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
